High Revving N/A V8 Engine Swap - Thoughts?

[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.

[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]

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.

This would have been lovely! I did briefly consider a rebuilt S38 motor that's 3.6 - 3.8L and revs to 8000 rpm, but dismissed it because of it's weight. Plus they're getting super rare to find nowadays.

[purna97]

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).

Oh it's crazy and so not worth it! It's a shame because a lot of newbies would consider them, not knowing how much cheaper it is to do elsewhere.

Grooty is my go to in Adelaide and can't even begin to imagine how my E30 would be without him haha!

[lukeADE335i]

I’ve bought a couple of things from him over the years - he’s a good bloke and very reasonably priced.

[purna97]

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

Ok so I had a quick chat to RPE and it looks like it will be roughly 35k pounds for the motor alone. That's sadly a little too high for me, not to mention the added 15k pound sequential that mates to the engine, and honestly given the short rebuild times of the motor, it wouldn't last long on the road.

Pretty epic engine though and definitely something I'd consider if I was purely building an all out race car!

[purna97]

I’ve bought a couple of things from him over the years - he’s a good bloke and very reasonably priced.

Indeed! He'll actually likely be who ends up doing the fabrication and install of whatever motor I choose in the end.

[2mAn]

Someone has posted a thread about this particular motor, though you'd need to do some custom work... but its the Maserati F136 (I think thats the code) that came in the early 2000s' ... 4.2L ~400bhp and an 8000 rpm redline. Italian V8 noises instead of the S62. Early ones were dry sump also.

I havent seen any engines for sale on BaT but the cars themselves seem to have bulletproof motors. Typical problems revolve around the clutch when paired with the F1 gearboxes

[varg]

Ok so I had a quick chat to RPE and it looks like it will be roughly 35k pounds for the motor alone.

I'm curious, how much does that built, dry sumped, 9,000rpm stroker S65 cost? 35k GPB is $44,000. I see S65s for US $6,000+, VAC dry sump kit $7,500, that's where I stopped searching but I'm willing to bet a 4.2L stroker kit is $10,000+. Half way there with no labor and no head parts counted yet.

[purna97]

Someone has posted a thread about this particular motor, though you'd need to do some custom work... but its the Maserati F136 (I think thats the code) that came in the early 2000s' ... 4.2L ~400bhp and an 8000 rpm redline. Italian V8 noises instead of the S62. Early ones were dry sump also.

I havent seen any engines for sale on BaT but the cars themselves seem to have bulletproof motors. Typical problems revolve around the clutch when paired with the F1 gearboxes

I did see that but I don't know if they actually went through with it. Would have been a nice motor to swap in, and I'd probably try and pair it with a DCT gearbox instead which seems a little better than the older F1 style gearboxes.

The F131 motor I'd be looking to swap in would be a 3.6L, with 420 hp at the crank and a 9000 rpm redline (with headwork to support this redline), so would be a pretty insane little set up.

[2mAn]

Based on Ferrari 360 Modena prices on BaT, I can’t imagine how much the motor would be, let alone to build it up!

what kind of budget do you have

[purna97]

I'm curious, how much does that built, dry sumped, 9,000rpm stroker S65 cost? 35k GPB is $44,000. I see S65s for US $6,000+, VAC dry sump kit $7,500, that's where I stopped searching but I'm willing to bet a 4.2L stroker kit is $10,000+. Half way there with no labor and no head parts counted yet.

So the built S65 would be a bit over half the price at 22k pounds. I've been speaking to Elise Racing in the UK for this and they've quoted 14k pounds for a 4.2L long block (with all the headwork), 6k pounds for the dry sump and 2k pounds for all the ancillaries and a custom intake which sits a little lower (a necessity to ensure the E30 hood closes). A DCT which bolts up directly to this is another additional 2.5k pounds with new clutch packs.

The Ferrari engine, with have a rebuilt bottom end to factory specs and headwork to get it to 9000 RPM, will cost a bit extra (3k pound extra roughly) from Elise Racing as well. However this is expected given that it'll need custom intakes and plenums (as the current ones face the other way for a mid engined set up), and will also need a custom engine to gearbox mount to get it working with the same DCT (which is an added 2.5k pounds as stated above).

For both set ups, it'll cost an extra 3.2k pounds for the custom Syvecs ECU, but this is what Elise Racing have tested extensively and it's also one they've used for DCT control as well.

Both very very expensive set ups and at the end of the day may not be worth it. So far, I'm just planning and doing research to see whether it can be done or not.

[purna97]

Based on Ferrari 360 Modena prices on BaT, I can’t imagine how much the motor would be, let alone to build it up!

what kind of budget do you have

Yeah it is pretty crazy.

Honestly the budget for this is pretty undefined and will all depend on what engine I choose. Right now I'm pricing up a few options and seeing what options are feasible. The ultimate limit of what I will spend though is the price of my M3 as I'd be looking to sell this to fund the build.

[e30davie]

Yer if you've got budget for a Ferrari 360 Modena engine built conversion, just buy the Ferrari Modena....it will be way better. There was a 360 at the local coffee and cars the other week, what a cool machine. Best enjoyed in red, with manual gated shifter.

I mean at this level of cost, nothing is out of the question in terms of options, pick your gearbox and engine and just make it work. cut the body around the engine and gearbox, mount everything, then rebuild the car around all the things. Then apply paint and carpet to taste.

[purna97]

Yer if you've got budget for a Ferrari 360 Modena engine built conversion, just buy the Ferrari Modena....it will be way better. There was a 360 at the local coffee and cars the other week, what a cool machine. Best enjoyed in red, with manual gated shifter.

I mean at this level of cost, nothing is out of the question in terms of options, pick your gearbox and engine and just make it work. cut the body around the engine and gearbox, mount everything, then rebuild the car around all the things. Then apply paint and carpet to taste.

They're pretty incredible cars for sure, and honestly it was my dream car as a child for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately the price for the car, at least here in Australia, is now at least 2 to 3 times what it would cost for me to do the swap, and whilst an actual 360 is 2 - 3 times cooler than a Ferrari swapped E30, I simply can't afford that amount right now.

But you're right, this kind of budget opens it up to many different swaps, which is what I'm contemplating in my head and hopefully later this year you guys will have more details on the path I've ended up going down!