Which engine would you choose for a swap?

[djjerme]

this is one of those threads that when it was first posted i figured it would die after about 9 entries or so. how it has made it all the way to 162 is almost unfathomable.?

Because this has been one of those threads where it was allowed to venture off topic, but it was beneficial. Almost kind of an information dump for all of us on the pros and cons of motor swaps. It's been civilized, and informative.

If only the rest of the world could discuss topics in the same decorum...


:)

[nando]

stock M30 is a bit weak especially for its size, hypothetically it has more torque potential because it's a bigger engine and there's room more much more cubes if desired. On some of the mild builds the torque starts at 200+ from 2000rpm and never lets off. Paul Burke used to be the man.
Power potential is probably about the same on a built engine as it has a big bore and can fit a huge inlet valve and flow essentially what a smaller bore 4V does.... Pursuing that too much distracts from the torque delivery as the valvetrain has some limitations (unless you get some radical custom parts) that will affect drivebility and lessen some of its strengths.

totally different style of power delivery though so certainly a matter of preferences.

N52 makes peak torque at ~2000rpm as well (thanks to advancements like vanos, VVL, DISA, etc). It's like having the same flat torque curve only with a more compact engine that weighs like 150lbs less, and it revs to 7000rpm stock.

I like M30s, they are old school cool, and tough as nails - but I wouldn't personally want one in an E30. Actually, it would be really cool to dump it into some old American rat rod..

[djjerme]

I like M30s, they are old school cool, and tough as nails

You wanna know just how tough the M30 is: After another car (full tube frame stock car) ran headlong in to the front of mine, taking out the radiator and pushing the whole front end of my race car in, I fired it back up after the collision and didn't see any smoke and everything looked good, so I continued to race for 2 more laps at full throttle. But then the smoke came and I limped back to the pit and parked it. The radiator had been punctured and lost all coolant on the initial hit, and I was running 2 and half laps at full throttle with no coolant.

I was still able to fire the car up and drive it in the trailer, and we actually moved it under it's own power 4 more times until I got it back to my place earlier this year to disassemble the car. Upon tearing the motor apart, every piston was missing pieces on the crown edges, the cylinder bores had bits of piston melted/fused in to it, but the head gasket had held, and all the bearing surfaces were fine. Head surface was checked and is flat and no cracks.

They are a tank.

[nando]

yeah, it reminds me of the dodge 225 slant 6. you couldn't kill that thing. I saw one in a junkyard with a 6" hole in the block. I bet it still ran too..

[Motheye99]

yeah, it reminds me of the dodge 225 slant 6. you couldn't kill that thing. I saw one in a junkyard with a 6" hole in the block. I bet it still ran too..

They call it the power tower. They're pretty legendary.

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[djjerme]

Honestly, straight 6’s in general across the board are beefy motors. BMW M20/M30/..etc, slant 6, the old blue flame six and stove bolt sixes of GM, the ford sixes, the mercs, the old Datsun sixes in the 240-280z, the 2JZ. Hell even AMC couldn’t screw up an inline six.


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[digger]

N52 makes peak torque at ~2000rpm as well (thanks to advancements like vanos, VVL, DISA, etc). It's like having the same flat torque curve only with a more compact engine that weighs like 150lbs less, and it revs to 7000rpm stock.

I like M30s, they are old school cool, and tough as nails - but I wouldn't personally want one in an E30. Actually, it would be really cool to dump it into some old American rat rod..

my logic is if you're going to swap an engine then you want it to be a significant step up (based on personal priorities) to what can be achieved by modifying what you already have installed using the costs to do an actual swap.

based on this i wouldn't do a M30 swap either if i started with an m20 nor probably most 24V swaps

[wworm]

my logic is if you're going to swap an engine then you want it to be a significant step up (based on personal priorities) to what can be achieved by modifying what you already have installed using the costs to do an actual swap.

This is why I think I'm having such a hard time making a decision. I have an m10 car so any option is going to be fantastically better....
The most cost effective option I have is an m30 swap using the g240 thats currently in my car, and I love the sound of a sohc i6, but a friend of mine has offered to sell me his old s52 for $100 lol. It just needs the head to be rebuilt.(burns enough oil to make me nervous about failing smog). M20 sounds great too but cost to build a 2.8 is intimidating and since I'd be doing all the work for a swap anyways it makes sense to swap something that has a little more power in stock form.

[Motheye99]

This is why I think I'm having such a hard time making a decision. I have an m10 car so any option is going to be fantastically better....

The most cost effective option I have is an m30 swap using the g240 thats currently in my car, and I love the sound of a sohc i6, but a friend of mine has offered to sell me his old s52 for $100 lol. It just needs the head to be rebuilt.(burns enough oil to make me nervous about failing smog). M20 sounds great too but cost to build a 2.8 is intimidating and since I'd be doing all the work for a swap anyways it makes sense to swap something that has a little more power in stock form.

Not having access to a 100$ s52 I paid 250$ for a m54b30 from pick your part. I originally wanted a 2.8L m20, but the cost to hp just isn't worth it right now. M54 is alot cheaper (so far).

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[wworm]

Not having access to a 100$ s52 I paid 250$ for a m54b30 from pick your part. I originally wanted a 2.8L m20, but the cost to hp just isn't worth it right now. M54 is a lot cheaper (so far).

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the deterring factor for me on an m54 is being unable to use the stock headers/cats for BAR. I do like the weight differential that an alu block offers though.

[varg]

I originally wanted a 2.8L m20, but the cost to hp just isn't worth it right now.

Yeah you don't get a lot for the extra 300cc given the cost. NA or Turbo.

[Motheye99]

the deterring factor for me on an m54 is being unable to use the stock headers/cats for BAR. I do like the weight differential that an alu block offers though.

Did I say M54, I meant M52....;) They're very similar but M52 exhaust manifolds are better, so i've heard, I've never BAR'd before so I don't know how closely they check your block.

[wworm]

Did I say M54, I meant M52....;) They're very similar but M52 exhaust manifolds are better, so i've heard, I've never BAR'd before so I don't know how closely they check your block.

Yeah. I've read that m52 manifolds work sometimes for smog visuals so might be good with BAR too.

[digger]

This is why I think I'm having such a hard time making a decision. I have an m10 car so any option is going to be fantastically better....
The most cost effective option I have is an m30 swap using the g240 thats currently in my car, and I love the sound of a sohc i6, but a friend of mine has offered to sell me his old s52 for $100 lol. It just needs the head to be rebuilt.(burns enough oil to make me nervous about failing smog). M20 sounds great too but cost to build a 2.8 is intimidating and since I'd be doing all the work for a swap anyways it makes sense to swap something that has a little more power in stock form.

starting from an M10 going to M30 makes some sense. its like big brother

[wworm]

starting from an M10 going to M30 makes some sense. its like big brother

that's where my head was at until this s52 came along..now I'm conflicted lol