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BMW M3 rig motor swap

LightBnDr

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Apr 26, 2014
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So I have a cute little rock rig that I built almost 10 years ago. She has a reliable 4.0 that has proven to be an excellent power plant. Zero complaints

I have a customer of mine that owns a 2004 M3 that was a track car. As soon as I worked on it today he told me all about this LS swap he's about to do.

Soooooo I said well lemme snag that motor, trans and harness etc from you. He said sure.

Here's the pickle in my head (not my mouth). It's a DOHC 3.2L, makes it's 330 ponies up in the 8k rpm range and torque in the 5k area. It's a tighter package than the 4.0 and I could put it lower in my chassis. I could go much faster and feel cooler.

I have a toddler right foot. My 4.0 has been lucky to see 2k rpm in 10 years. Lol

So really my question is, would any of you guys do that swap ? If you're a BMW guy gimme some feelings on the animal.
 
I would be willing to bet that the Beamer I6 may actually be weaker at 2000 rpms than what you have, plus, be more finicky and less reliable. But it may be lighter.... until you start adding all the extra wiring and bs needed to run it
 
Absolutely not. It sounds like you have a well sorted rig that doesn't give you any issues. Based on your self described driving style, the 4.0 makes power where you need it and the new motor will require a different approach.

The 4.0 is reliable and has cheap parts readily available. It is already in the rig and isn't costing you money. Doesn't sound like you would be gaining much from the swap.
 
muddinmetal said:
I would be willing to bet that the Beamer I6 may actually be weaker at 2000 rpms than what you have, plus, be more finicky and less reliable. But it may be lighter.... until you start adding all the extra wiring and bs needed to run it
Agreed. That's why I threw the question up. Would anybody be willing to chunk the down low torque for an 7500k screamer
 
creepycrawly said:
Absolutely not. It sounds like you have a well sorted rig that doesn't give you any issues. Based on your self described driving style, the 4.0 makes power where you need it and the new motor will require a different approach.

The 4.0 is reliable and has cheap parts readily available. It is already in the rig and isn't costing you money. Doesn't sound like you would be gaining much from the swap.
Agreed. That's what I was thinking and feeling as well. While I looked at it today I wondered if it was really worth the swap for the kind of wheeling I do.

I won't lie, l love putting my foot into them as a track car. Guess I pictured me doing the same on the trail
 
LightBnDr said:
Agreed. That's why I threw the question up. Would anybody be willing to chunk the down low torque for an 7500k screamer

Think of it as a tow rig. Sure it makes a lot of "power" but would it be useable?

X2 on the lowered Sami... that is a bad ass idea. Maybe even an old 240 or 260 or 280z
 
I have one of those that my girls and I are building. Spose i can stash that donor motor and stuff for a later swap.

Agreed.

I just wondered if anybody else got excited about it like I did
 
I'm all about ridiculous fast vehicles that shouldn't be fast. So lowered sami or rav4 with an m3 drivetrain as a screw around track and donut car has my name ALL over it.
 
Swap it in some old unwanted 70s GM X body car that originally came with an I6. Bonus points for obscure Buick/Oldsmobile/Pontiac variants.

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Those little engines can make stupid power, I have a guy that works for me that has a M3, he put a super charger kit on it, and a few other mods, with a good tune. He lays down just shy of 500hp. It's a nasty sleeper car.
 
Totally true. They are a sweet little power plant. It's a bit of a smaller package and a smidge lighter than the I beam of a 4.0L that we all know.

Knowing they are a high RPM screamer along with working on them all the time I just love pushing them hard. I just got real pumped about it. So I thought I shouldn't pass up this donor setup.

I do agree that it's really not a good swap for my rig for obvious reasons. Reliability in the middle of nowhere is valid concern.

I REALLY think it would make a great home in an old back road runnin car.

So maybe a build thread in the future?
 
LightBnDr said:
So I have a cute little rock rig that I built almost 10 years ago. She has a reliable 4.0 that has proven to be an excellent power plant. Zero complaints

I have a customer of mine that owns a 2004 M3 that was a track car. As soon as I worked on it today he told me all about this LS swap he's about to do.

Soooooo I said well lemme snag that motor, trans and harness etc from you. He said sure.

Here's the pickle in my head (not my mouth). It's a DOHC 3.2L, makes it's 330 ponies up in the 8k rpm range and torque in the 5k area. It's a tighter package than the 4.0 and I could put it lower in my chassis. I could go much faster and feel cooler.

I have a toddler right foot. My 4.0 has been lucky to see 2k rpm in 10 years. Lol

So really my question is, would any of you guys do that swap ? If you're a BMW guy gimme some feelings on the animal.
I would talk to the shop that's going to be doing the swap for you and see what they think.
 
We run a 98 4.0 in our juggy and love it. We can keep up with all the v8 buggy's. some times we hake it look easy because we are not mashing the motor.

Understand about the weight tho. We have been thinking about putting an aluminum head on it. But the cost and don't know about the reliability of them for what we do. So we are on the fence on that for right now.
 
All installed and running right, it would be super cool. And for some body that is a BMW tech that knows all the ins and outs of that setup it would be fine, but for the rest of us, I'd say stay with what you have. Reliability and parts availability, everybody on the trail has worked on a 4.0 at least once, not having to carry a set of E torx sockets and wrenches and other dumb German ****, man I'd stay with what you got. If a BMW guy is ditching it for a GM engine, that should tell you something right there. Now if you can find a really old BMW to swap that stuff into, that would be cool. Or maybe a Yugo :flipoff1:
 

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