i know the engines are quite expensive but i did a search and i cant find anyone whos thrown a viper v10 into any bmw. not an e30 either. anyone see anything about this?

Way too heavy with an iron V-10 block (8.0l). The new ones would be lighter, but still heavy. Would throw the balance of the car way off. It would probably fit being a pushrod engin (but very snug).

alot heavier than an ls1? i need to drop my front another 1/2 inch anyways lol

alot heavier than an ls1? i need to drop my front another 1/2 inch anyways lol

Dude...are you serious???? The LS1 is an ALUMINUM block (i.e. much lighter than iron) and is volume wise, a much smaller engine. Anyhow, though the V10 used in the Viper IS all aluminum (back when Chrysler owned Lamborghini in the early nineties, they had Lambo re-design the truck V10 to have an aluminum block and heads; before Diamler-Chrysler -- Chrysler gave up on lambo and sold them after 3 or 4 years) it is a big engine: long and wide. Just do some custom body work to stretch the nose of the E30 about 6 or more inches ;)

back to an ls1 then. thanks for straighting out my stupid idea!

i wouldnt rule it out till you run a tapemeasure over a motor and engine bay. iv seen a bmw v12 in an e30 before, and anything's possible. i would've thought the v10 would be narrower than a v8? and since e30 is made for a six, the engine bay should be long enough for a v10 shouldnt it? my 1uz fits in my e21 and its quite wide due to the quad cams.
you should be able to find motor weights and dimensions somewhere on the net.
if weight distribution's going to be an issue, some carbon guards and bonnet might be on the menu. and put a couple more subs in the boot if its still a bit front heavy lol.

it would be nasty to see it done

One crutial item of any motor swap is exhaust sound. Usually, you wind up with a comparatively loud exhaust just because of the fact that there is rarely room for a donor engine's OEM mufflers.
Check out the sound of a Viper. I know of no one who really likes the sound. It tends to drone, and so does the LS motor, but the drone of the V-10 is anoying to some.