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V8 E30 Project


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I'm wondering if it was more difficult going the BMW V8 route, than a Ford5.0L or LSx route?

 

I realize it's BMW in a BMW chassis, but it wasn't like wiring harnesses just plugged in, right? Still a lot of customizing to get that platform together.

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318 motor weighs 220 lbs

325 motor weighs 258 lbs

M62B44 weighs 308 lbs

 

Not bad when you compare it to the common swaps these chassis typically see:

E36 M3 motor weighs 333 lbs

M50/M52 motors weigh around 300

 

Plus this motor pushes the weight back compared to their I6 motors.

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318 motor weighs 220 lbs

325 motor weighs 258 lbs

M62B44 weighs 308 lbs

 

Not bad when you compare it to the common swaps these chassis typically see:

E36 M3 motor weighs 333 lbs

M50/M52 motors weigh around 300

 

Plus this motor pushes the weight back compared to their I6 motors.

 

That's pretty fantastic. That alone is a pretty compelling reason to do the swap. I believe an LS engine is somewhere in the neighborhood of 500lbs fully dressed.

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You know you want to jewtoys. E30s aren't getting any cheaper.

 

And I would be surprised if this motor was lighter than an LS. I pulled all of those from the same website so maybe they were all dry weights?

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And I would be surprised if this motor was lighter than an LS. I pulled all of those from the same website so maybe they were all dry weights?

 

The dry weight of a 2004 corvette LS1 manual trans engine with flywheel and with all accessories, according to the site I pulled it off of, is 497.2 lbs. I imagine newer LSX engines are lighter. Keep in mind, this is fully dressed so alternator, air-conditioning pump, etc...

 

People always talk about how light the new alloy LS engines are but let's put this in perspective. An iron Chevy 454 big block was about 650lbs dressed. I remember when my father's cousin was showing me his Jaguar (that used to be owned by John Glenn and was swapped by GM jag in FLA) that it was a significant weight decrease because the jaguar v12 was 700+lbs. The fact that we are sub 400 lbs for modern v8 engines is amazing to me.

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From e36lsx.com

 

Weight.

There is a lot of mis-information pertaining to the weight gain of the V8 swap. A lot of people are claiming there is no weight gain, but they are removing air conditioning, catalytic converters, insulation, and other items. They may also be running smaller batteries, and they may weigh the car with an empty tank of gas, or they may simply be guessing what their cars weigh.

 

A stock, fully-dressed 325 engine and 5-speed transmission weighs about 530-550 lbs. 328 engines with aluminum blocks weigh less. All M3's came with cast-iron blocks.

 

An aluminum block LSx engine with the T56 transmission will add at least 100 pounds to the weight of a stock 325 with the 5-speed.

 

A small-block V8 with the T5 transmission will add at least 200 lbs to the weight of a stock 325 with the 5-speed.

 

A small-block Ford V8 weighs about the same as a small-block Chevrolet (within ten lbs). We aren't sure why people insist that the Ford small-block is up to 100 lbs lighter than the Chevrolet small-block.

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I didn't weigh anything so all my information is regurgitated.

 

Just keep in mind this is a M62B44 dual overhead cam motor, not a pushrod LS. The M62 is all aluminum and even some magnesium, but I would still be very surprised to learn it was lighter than an LS.

 

That said handling is great and the car is a blast to drive and the extra power and weight is handled by the new suspension and brake upgrades.

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I got an offer for full asking today ($11,000), but the car hit the reserve ($10,000) with 5 days remaining on ebay this morning.

 

I am going to let the ebay auction run it's course and if it doesn't work out I'll reach back out to the guy who offered me $11,000.

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