75 2002 project car with S54 motor, $15K

[Gordon]

Not mine, no affiliation, etc...

For those of you who have been breathing some real high octane fumes

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/pts/1919195681.html

I'm sure this car would go like stink but some serious brake work would be in order to make it stop with this motor. I would think it would be a tad bit front end heavy. I wonder what's the weight difference between a M20 & S54 motor?

M car 6 cyl motor conversions have been done before in 1600/2002's. Joe Bill Dryden did it in his 67 1600. Dryden was a Lockheed F16 test pilot who had Ray Korman do a M5 S38 conversion in his Euro spec 67 1600ti. Unfortuneatly, Dryden was killed in May 93 during a low altitude ejection from his F-16. The Roundel did a feature article on the car about the time of Dryden's death. The family sold the car after his death and I last I heard about the car was nearly ten years ago where it was for sale on Bimmerforums. It has since vanished. I heard that Dryden's car was insanely fast, i.e. change your underwear after a ride in the car. I still have my copy of the Roundel with the article on Dryden's car.

G-Man

[KrautByTrade]

M20 weighs in at about 260, and an S52 is 330.

70 pounds is quite a bit, but that thing would go like hell.

Not sure about his ambitious $15K price tag, though!

[Gordon]

Seller is dreaming to get $15K for an unfinished project car. I've seen on Craigslist recently here in CA, complete E36 M3's that have been wrecked going for $4K or less if you want to go the S52 route.

G-Man

[yert315]

He states it is the s54, not the s52. big difference, both in price and power. Interesting swap nonetheless

[Guest Anonymous]

I have been thinking about putting a six cylinder M engine in my 1600. Right now it has a 2002tii engine. Since, I am restoring the car I decided to take out the engine and prep the car, which brings me to my point. I was convinced the s54 was the way to go and then I started comparing engine weights between the m10 and the s54. Some websites (http://bmwclub.tomsk.ru/?q=node/162) list the m10 and weighing only 180 lbs., and after having just taken it out of the car, no way does it weigh that little.

Additionally, I have seen the s54 weight listed anywhere from 326 lbs. (http://www.bimmerforums.com/engine_faq.php) to 475 lbs. If the s54 engine only weighs 146 lbs more the swap is feasible in my humble opinion, but if it weighs 295 lbs more than the m10, then I don't see how the swap would work without messing up the entire dynamic of the car.

I know its long post, but does anybody have accurate weights for these engines? Any advice or thoughts on this kind of swap would be greatly appreciated.

[creede]

Just do a turbo M20 swap. It's only around 70 lbs more than the M10. Ditch the front bumper and move the battery to the trunk and you are easily half way there to getting rid of the additional weight. Plus you get more power than an S52, and it's a well documented install (at least the M20 part) and a lot cheaper.

[Guest Anonymous]

I gave some thought to turbocharging the m10 motor I already have, but then that would require fuel injection, ecu's, map sensors, intercoolers, etc. The cost gets pretty high pretty quick. As for bumper removal and battery relocation, that was done many years ago, but I get your thinking.

Additionally, I have an e30 325 is right now, and, although I love the car and drive the hell out of it, the rocker arm technology, idle speed control, crappy MAF just seem like too old technology. I get the irony that I want to put an modern engine into a 41 year old car, but that's what make the project interesting to me. Plus, I don't have an extra m20 engine lying around, and the cost to turbo charge it is not cheap. Even if I were to scavenge parts (turbos, intercoolers, etc.) from a salvage yard, I would still have to fork over for lower compression pistons, head work and studs, oil cooling and piping, and a rebuild before I ever got started, which would makes me question turbocharging in the first place. Lastly, I have owned two Supra turbo's both a Mark III and a Mark IV and, although they were both great cars, I don't miss the turbo lag one bit. If I could do it relatively cheaply, and with a modern trim configuration, then it could be an option.

So, the dilemma stands. One of the major problems is that I find so many varying numbers on BMW engines, both performance specs and weights, but mainly weights.

thanks for all the input