any ever do an engine swap on an e31? any web sites that detail the process?

-scott.

Hey Scott I'm new to this forum I have always looked through the forums, I registerd when I saw your question as to e31 removal. I should be complete with mine in the next three weeks, it was impossible for me to just remove & replace engine and not fine tune everything around, under, over and between. I did alot of research before I went for it, and learned more then I ever thought I would. Feel free to email me anytime, buy the way have you ever been around one of these 12's when they let loose, I busted through the psngr side of the block, lets just say I no longer had to remove the oil pan to get to my pistons, all I had to do was reach through the Crater like hole and inspect it right from the engine compartment and if you were standing on the driver side I could tell you what color socks you were wearing. Kidding aside, I through a rod, I through a rod all the way to Jersey.

So how big of shot did it take to blow the side out of the V12?

I through a rod, I through a rod all the way to Jersey.

:eek:

my thought, because i love the 8 series body style and i will never be able to afford csi ("csi-tampa" - i crack myself up), was to find an 840, something on the less expensive side, and upgrade the engine. i think the v-12s are fairly collectible so i don't want to pull the engine from one of those. but to just upgrade a the v-8 and put in a manual tranny might make a really nice daily driver. there's a lot of space under the hood so i figured the logistics would by too bad.

or is this just another in my long list of bad ideas?

Collectability doesn't seem to be an issue with any 8 series except the 850CSi.

The early V12s are available for under $10k now. Poor maintenance is catching up with the 8 Series now:(

BMW still treats you like you are driving (and can afford) a $90,000 car if you show up at the dealership:eek: $400+ to change an oil pan gasket?

There should be a fair number of 840s with bad Nicasil engines out there and they are a perfect candidate for a LS6 swap. Engine weight is about the same and 6 speeds are easier. Grafting into the electronics to get the car to believe that it is ok would be the main trick. Some of the integration between systems is going to be interesting to patch.:)

I can buy a '91 850 for about the same as the cost of the next stage of go-faster for my 840. That is getting discouraging:(

mmmm... LS6...

that's kind of what i was thinking as far as the low price availability of 840s and 850s, but i hadn't even thought outside of the bmw engines. at the risk of blaspheming, maybe cram some american muscle into the bugger. i can see the flames coming already with the mention of a chevy big block in an e31.:nono

how involved are the electronics in the 8 series? obviously, they're OBD2 so i'm thinking that eurosport or active could burn a chip to ignore all those pesky sensors.

my options are start a project car (such as this) or go FI with my ///m3. work provides me daily driver so down time isn't even an issue. what's the old adage? and idle car is the devil's plaything?:devillook

Thru the '95 model year the 8's are all OBD1.

The problem is in the Body computers expecting signals either generated by the engine controllers or second hand engine signals from other boxes.

Most of the car is as straightforward as the dudes who later invented I-Drive would let it be :(

I sometimes think that rolling a window up in an 8 uses about the same amount of components and circuitry as the Space Shuttle would use to control an airlock hatch :)

If you think that I am joking just remember that the 8 automatically rolls its windows up at around 100 MPH to control its aerodynamics at high speed.
The windows can all be operated thru the Central Locking system.
Front door windows have a 1/2" autodrop whenever a door handle is lifted to protect the glass and seals. That also helps keep from overpressuring the car when a door is closed.

Ohhhh... Don´t ever do that! A chip that cut´s off the OBD-II sensors is the worst thing you can do to a BMW. Seriously. We can program OBD-II over here, so that´s no prob...

My idea would be: Get an 850i 6speed (M70, OBD-I). Then you have all you need for upgrades over in the states. A tunable car (OBD-I), a manual6 that can easily be upgraded to withhold around 700hp and 7000ftp torque...and you just need an engine.
Here: Take a M70, combine with S52 Raceheads and reprogram. Along with a differen Crankshaft and modified pistons and valves you can end up around 650hp normally aspirated. Now combine that with a TwinTurbo setup and your´re talking about 1000hp! That´s the cheapest way to get insanely high amounts of hp´s AND torque. With a low boost, riding around 800hp, is just great!

http://www.tranceshark.de/album_pic13.jpg

does anyone acatully have that setup? where would you get a crank?

Ohhhh... Don´t ever do that! A chip that cut´s off the OBD-II sensors is the worst thing you can do to a BMW. Seriously. We can program OBD-II over here, so that´s no prob...

My idea would be: Get an 850i 6speed (M70, OBD-I). Then you have all you need for upgrades over in the states. A tunable car (OBD-I), a manual6 that can easily be upgraded to withhold around 700hp and 7000ftp torque...and you just need an engine.
Here: Take a M70, combine with S52 Raceheads and reprogram. Along with a differen Crankshaft and modified pistons and valves you can end up around 650hp normally aspirated. Now combine that with a TwinTurbo setup and your´re talking about 1000hp! That´s the cheapest way to get insanely high amounts of hp´s AND torque. With a low boost, riding around 800hp, is just great!


I thought the S52 heads don't fit?
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=531845

hmmm, turbo isn't my taste, but everything else sounds workable. the s-52 race heads, how hard are those to find?

the more i think about it though, i'm liking the ls-6 idea - no shortage of power parts there.

hmmm, turbo isn't my taste, but everything else sounds workable. the s-52 race heads, how hard are those to find?

the more i think about it though, i'm liking the ls-6 idea - no shortage of power parts there.

Based on the other thread, I don't think the S52 heads fit. Plus, from a logical perspective, they shouldn't fit.
M70/S70/M73- all based on M20, meaning they kinda took 2 M20s and mashed them together.

Since the M50+ heads do not fit on a M20, why would they fit on a M70?

Take a M70, combine with S52 Raceheads and reprogram
After Porting & Polishing, Opening up the Water flow, Big Valving, Springs etc... What's left to do to the head? And who has S52's on there V12? What exactly do you mean by Reprograming the heads, I'm curious! I have never heard of that, Thanks!

Just got answer from Henry. The Power Plant can actually get the M70 engine upto 520HP @ 6600 RPM with a 7K RPM redline.

Not Cheap at Roughly $19K + Car.

A Standard 6L conversion will give you 440 HP