Turbo M42 Race Car

[Spiff325iS]

That is quite a beast there..seriously..Wow. HOpefully I'll get to see that car in action some day.

[Jand3rson]

Jesus, what a beast. Must be insane to drive.

[Jordan]

Whats been done to the engine internally? Down the line I either want to boost the M42 (would be happy with 250rwhp) or do a OBDI S52 swap.

[rob_e30]

Very interesting engine.

What coil are you using? did they take much mods to install?

Thanks again. The coils are standard coils from the M54 motor used in the E46 cars. A plate has to be made but other than that it's pretty straight forward. Aside from the mounting plate it's just hardware (threaded rods, lock nuts, nylon spacers, etc.) We had a batch made up for our use and sold the extras. People work on having more made from time to time. Check out the GB section of M42club for details. I'm not sure anyone is selling them as complete kits the way we did. Oh yeah, you do have to trim the outer mount hole off one side of the #1 coil to get it in the valve cover but it's a very easy mod.

[rob_e30]

Whats been done to the engine internally? Down the line I either want to boost the M42 (would be happy with 250rwhp) or do a OBDI S52 swap.

The bottem end was rebuilt using many custom components. CR was lowered I'm going to be a little coy with the details as we think we've found a way to build a competitive DM car (or at least engine) for BMW CCA at a somewhat lower cost. Most cars are either S14 or M50/52 powered. The displacement limit for DM is 2980cc and FI has a 1.5x actual displacement penalty. Our car is below the 1986cc displacement threashold that would push us into CM.

[Jordan]

The COP conversion brackets are available on M42club yes. I just completed the conversion on my motor.


Maybe you can PM me the details of your secret internals?

[Hick]

Very cool!

Are you limited on the boost you can run or are you not willing to run higher?

Reason i ask; Otis, a guy on here, has a 2.1L m10 with over 350rwhp. I would think that the m42 would be able to put more down with the better flow that 16v's have to offer even at 1.8L.

[rob_e30]

I think that the engine and turbo are good over 20lbs. of boost. Until we improve the head flow, I'm not sure that a lot more HP makes sense as we have a bit of a narrow power range and some other areas of the car to round out. I'm confident the car as the power to be competitive with the current motor and config. We need to turn our attention in the next few weeks to suspension setup and the diff.

As far as a 2.1L M10 versus a 1.8L M42 keep in mind that it's 15% more displacement, and as the say "There's no replacement for displacement!"

[Garageaholic]

...and as the say "There's no replacement for displacement!"

I agree 100%

[Hick]

Dispite the different in displacement its definetly got enough power. I wonder what numbers you will get once on higher boost.

[scabzzzz]

I didnt think that was an M42. Looked like a 3.5 from a 535 to me.. haha. Doh.

M42's are good motors. You can rock em real hard and they hold up nice. Love the car though.. Awesome videos.

[Rocla]

Thanks again. The coils are standard coils from the M54 motor used in the E46 cars. A plate has to be made but other than that it's pretty straight forward. Aside from the mounting plate it's just hardware (threaded rods, lock nuts, nylon spacers, etc.) We had a batch made up for our use and sold the extras. People work on having more made from time to time. Check out the GB section of M42club for details. I'm not sure anyone is selling them as complete kits the way we did. Oh yeah, you do have to trim the outer mount hole off one side of the #1 coil to get it in the valve cover but it's a very easy mod.

Thank you. I found the blueprint from m42club, and sure will be doing this at some point.

[Yakinho]

Really cool car man, sort of reminds me of the old Datsun race cars.

[twenty318is]

Just wondering if you willing to divulge what kind of engine management you are running? as i know that is one of the troublesome parts of a m42 build.

Thanks Glenn

[rob_e30]

Just wondering if you willing to divulge what kind of engine management you are running? as i know that is one of the troublesome parts of a m42 build.

Thanks Glenn

It's a custom Tec3r from Vic Sias at www.siastuning.com