stroking a m42?

[nickmp0wer]

that kempower.be actaully has the s42 listed on their site.

http://www.kempower.be/racedif/raceengines.htm

[38927]

if the s42 was made by motorsport, does anyone have any factual information about it. That link isn't very believeable. Also, this is the first ive heard of such a thing. Where can one of these things be located? or seen.

[Febi Guibo]

I am still considering doing it + working out details re: a nice M42 build. It's a tough proposition and I have to admit my mental reasoning to do it is slipping a little.

I guess it comes down to "how much do I like the 318is?" ...

doing a swap makes more sense hp/$ effectively but it turns the car into, well, another car.

I really like lightweight, high revving 4-cyl cars... eg: if the Mk1 GTi came as a RWD model, I'd be all over it. I got the 318is because I *love* how it drives.

So, that's the issue. The cost to build an M42 to say, 175-180 hp is going to be really high and it *might* net 140-145 hp at the wheels at around 7000 rp (this is still all theoretical)... still the hp/lb ratio puts it (fairly) close to stock E30 M3 power and the car still balanced exactly the same, w/the same dynamics, etc.

anyway, the expense is like, high, and the expertise to do the M42 at this level is waaay out of my league. It's going to take a lot of time and money. For example... these dudes set up n/a M42 engines for SCCA GT2/3 racing: http://www.gttechnic.com/gt2_gt3.html. I think the race engine program retails for like, $20k.

Still percolating...

[screamingbmwe30]

no

[Febi Guibo]

um, yeah, the race engine has been ruled out... as if..

[Bavarian3]

"if the s42 was made by motorsport, does anyone have any factual information about it. That link isn't very believeable. Also, this is the first ive heard of such a thing. Where can one of these things be located? or seen."

Very little information is known online... there are people who should know about it though... call up Chuck Stickley or Tom M at PTG....

S42 is real... it replaced the S14 motor during the 92/93 Super Touring series ... the numbers are real too...

http://www.thegaffer.com/motorsport/cars/bmw/autos/740.php

[Victell]

must it be NA?

[Bavarian3]

[asubimmer]

dang that sure would be a nice addition to my car.

[ehlpitel]

Everyone who has dreams of building the M42 has to realize it has a harmonic balancer that is no good past 7200 rpm, that is the first obstacle in building a M42 screamer. The second, third and so on are as follow: it needs solid lifters, it needs Megasquirt, which no-one has been able to setup on the M42, YET, and the e30 M42 lacks knock sensors...with that being said, I would love to build a NA m42 but it really isn't very practical, maybe when I do a swap and hove my motor lying around I might attempt it, but it would probably end up as a pure-race motor, fairly unsuitable for the street.

[Bavarian3]

I don't think you need to worry too much about knock sensors... many engines do not have them and are making quite a bit of power...

This ofcourse as long as you have the correct tuning...

[DrMcDave]

MS has been setup on a m42, that dude that wrecked his 318is had just finished it. i can't seem to recall his name though.

[ehlpitel]

I don't think he was 100% complete, but he was very close.

[CO318is]

I have been looking for information on the elusive S42 for quite sometime, thanks for the link...

I have read that you can use the pistons out of a Euro S50 engine to bump displacement up a little bit... Also the throttlebodies may be able to be adapted...
http://www.gttechnic.com/catalog.html also has some information about this engine

[Luke318is]

A cheaper, easier and imho better solution would be to add a ltw flywheel, and do a MAF conversion with some dyno time.

apparently some m42s with no AC came with a lightweight flywheel, mine has a single mass apparently.