High Revving N/A V8 Engine Swap - Thoughts?

[purna97]

Or one of the motorcycle-based V8s. 10k redline and keep the weight low.

HOLY SHIT, THIS WOULD BE INSANE!

I shall be contacting RPE now haha, thanks for this mate. It's literally got everything I wanted, low displacement, lightweight, flat plane crank and high revving, all around 100 kg.

I did briefly consider a motorcycle engine in my head but dismissed it thinking it wouldn't have sufficient torque. But this 2.7L option is worth considering. I shall keep you posted with what they say!

[purna97]

I think nando hit the nail on the head. Crazy swaps like this are likely more entertaining to watch somebody else do than to have in real life. Value-wise, extreme engine swaps are best suited for a basket case rolling shell as cutting and fabricating parts of the chassis will tank the value, so start with something that's already at rock bottom.

I see your car is a 318i, is that with the m10? A built turbo m10 would certainly be a unique project these days and I think you'd be pleasantly surprised by it. A big plus for me would be preserving the weight balance of a 4 cylinder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSQeYaQlbWE

Yeah that's definitely a fair point. I'd only want to drop that kind of money on my current E30 though, having spent so much to get it to where it sits right now, so hopefully I can avoid any unwanted modifications to the chassis.

And a turbo M10 would be plenty fast too, but was hoping for something N/A at this stage. My car also has had it's little M10 removed years ago and now sports a freshly rebuilt 2.7L M20. It's quite a nice little engine, but obviously wanted to see if trying something more extreme was worth it or not.

[lukeADE335i]

Also fun fact, the starting price for an M54 swap with Brintech is now $35k, which is just a joke.... I know reputable shops that would do a job like that for $10 - $15k max.

Lol... ok, that is a joke. I thought $25k was already over the top & their conversion parts are very steeply priced vs other options that are out there too.

Maybe they think they’re Kindigit (next step will be $200k builds).

[It's Soda Not Pop]

Image if the engineers back in the 80's developed a small displacement V8 using the the M42 heads. 3.6L revs to 7500-7800. BMW E30 CS-R.

[It's Soda Not Pop]

Or one of the motorcycle-based V8s. 10k redline and keep the weight low.

This would be wild

[Victell]

Or one of the motorcycle-based V8s. 10k redline and keep the weight low.

[It's Soda Not Pop]

Or do a V8 swap just pick a reliable one.

[E30 Wagen]

I think nando hit the nail on the head. Crazy swaps like this are likely more entertaining to watch somebody else do than to have in real life. Value-wise, extreme engine swaps are best suited for a basket case rolling shell as cutting and fabricating parts of the chassis will tank the value, so start with something that's already at rock bottom.

I see your car is a 318i, is that with the m10? A built turbo m10 would certainly be a unique project these days and I think you'd be pleasantly surprised by it. A big plus for me would be preserving the weight balance of a 4 cylinder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSQeYaQlbWE

[nando]

I mean, V8s are cool - but this car is much more original and far more valuable with an M20 in it. And you can certainly put money into an M20 and get something quite enjoyable.

The thing about these super spendy "ultimate" swaps is nobody ever keeps them for long. I think for good reason - it just isn't as fun in reality as it is in your dreams, and by the time you've done all the work and spent all the money, most people just get stick of it and want to move on.

Finally, the S65 is pretty heavy, parts are expensive and it's not exactly BMW's most reliable engine ever. It's been done before but again, nobody ever keeps them after they finish the swap and I don't think that's a coincidence.

[purna97]

Thanks - yes, I’m in Adelaide. Club registration changes things a lot.

How handy are you on the spanners? Just for context, if someone else is doing it for you, Brintech charge around $25k for a basic M54 swap, which is straight forward by comparison.

The cost of getting someone else to do something like this would be astronomical.

I'm generally pretty mechanically minded, but yeah this would be outside what I could do. Given the custom fabrication work and engine building involved, a lot of it will likely have to be done by someone else. Yes it'll cost a lot, but will be good to have it all done properly. I'm happy to attempt wiring things up like the gearbox, dash, ecu, and even try and learn the tuning/programming side of things, but definitely will need the help with mechanical installation.

Also fun fact, the starting price for an M54 swap with Brintech is now $35k, which is just a joke.... I know reputable shops that would do a job like that for $10 - $15k max.

[lukeADE335i]

Thanks - yes, I’m in Adelaide. Club registration changes things a lot.

How handy are you on the spanners? Just for context, if someone else is doing it for you, Brintech charge around $25k for a basic M54 swap, which is straight forward by comparison.

The cost of getting someone else to do something like this would be astronomical.

[purna97]

Love your enthusiasm, and a neat looking e30 you have there. I’d be pretty reluctant to extensively mod (as you’d need to for this project) a neat M-Tech 1 like you have given where values have gone.

On the high revving V8, if running costs are too high on an e92 M3 because of the insurance cost, then wouldn’t a modded e30 with the same engine be potentially impossible to insure? Overall it will end up more expensive than the M3.

A while back we discussed the Ferrari F136 V8 as a potential e30 swap. Has the same flat plane crank as the 360 Modena engine and is available with a dry sump, but can be had relatively cheaply from a Maserati.

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...motor-into-e30

Oh dude I had no idea you were in Australia too haha! Just saw your number plate on your car (nice E30 btw!), and realised it was from SA too. I've since moved to Melbourne, but the car is still in Adelaide at the parent's place.

Also, just FYI, the insurance values I just quoted were from Shannon's.

[purna97]

Haha I get that! These options are definitely very day dreamer builds, but it's the ones that I'd be tempted to try and attempt, or at least price up if I were to sell my E9X M3. Having owned the M3 makes me want to see if it'd be cool to try something other than the M5x, S5x, LS swaps out there.

Also those S62 daytona race motors would be incredible!

[moatilliatta]

A stock or bolt on E9X M3 is cheaper and more disposable than properly sorted and swapped packaged E30 with a stock S65, not to mention a 35K motor with short rebuild intervals..

Its fun to dream, but keeping things within their means will make obtainable goals a lot more joyful, Ie a complete car not on jack stands forever.. Don't let anyone stop you reaching for the sky though.

I like S62 daytona protoype motors, but I really enjoyed seeing those cars race. It would be my achilles heel into the V8 world.

[purna97]

Hey mate, thanks heaps for your response!

It's strange, but having a heavily modified E30 isn't actually too expensive to insure here in Australia, provided that the car is quite old and will usually be under some sort of historic limited registration (where you can only drive it up to 90 days a year). It's really weird when I first got quoted up on it, but for context, my M3 insured for $70000 AUD agreed value costs $5000 per year in insurance, whereas a high powered and modified E30 with the same insurance company for the same agreed value would likely be $1000 AUD.

Thanks for pointing me to that article, should be an interesting read! I've heard of that engine before, but always thought that the Ferrari versions were flat plane crank, whereas the Maserati's were cross plane (unless Wiki has it listed wrong).

And yes I'm a little reluctant to do an extensive modification too. It would be so easy to just slap in a nice M20 and call it a day haha, but there are obvious temptations to having a really cool drivetrain.