a guy that im'ed i would suppose from this site told me he had a 4.4 from a 540/740 in his 320. Is this possible and what would it take..


RvS

I have personally never seen that done, it would seem to be quite expensive, that motor is expensive. It would also make the car handle like total shit, going from a little 4 banger to that motor. Not reccomended if you still want your car to actually be able to take a corner I would say.

I am involved in a V8 into an e36 M3 conversion for SCCA street mod autoX racing. I will be fabricating the headers/exhaust for this car (4th place at this years nationals).

I have spent some time measuring this engine and took a few minutes measuring my e21- it WILL fit but it won't be easy and I doubt anyone has done it yet. It will require custom headers (probably easier to build than the e36...), relocation of the brake system to inside the passenger compartment, completely upgraded cooling system. The engine will require a custom oil pan and dry sump system (the factory pan is HUGE). The factory 6 speed will require fabrication of a new trans tunnel/mount (there is a guy that builds adaptors to run a BW T5 or Tremac 5 speed which are smaller). The HP would also require a rear end upgrade.

As far as engine weight goes, the V8 weighs slightly less than the iron block M3 6 cyl., it's also shorter so the weight is towards the rear a little more. It would handle about like a 323!

As far as cost, engine/trans sell for $3000-$5000 depending on miles/demand-not too bad considering I could easily dump $3000 into a M10 stroker engine and end up with 200hp.

It's a very tight fit, requires lots of custom fabrication but built correctly it would be one hell of a car. I have a cherry '78 non-sunroof 320i just begging for this, I also have the talent/skill to pull it off-just don't have the $$ or time right now.

Just think of the look on the "ricers" face at a stop light when you rumble up in a little e21 packing 350 n/a hp, 6 speed, full cage, stripped interior, lexan windows, racing seats, Korman box flares/'glass bumper/spoiler, huge sticky tires on custom 3 piece wheels, and coil over suspension- all done to "street rod" quality..... Yeah, I've thought about this a little...

ken

The aluminum 4.4L V8 wouldn't be that much heavier than an M10 iron block, and would probably be lighter than a small 6!

That would be a helluva shoehorn. Those 4-valve V8 heads are really wide.