MadaboutKitcars

Peter

If you go back to page 3 of the Sportster/Cabrio there is a thread called "Unhappy owner". He has bought an M3 engine to go in his kit, but was looking to sell it. I know he was offered £3k for the engine gearbox wiring etc. Dont know if this is in the dream budget, but what a car it be..............

Peter

I did a lot of research into the engine options for my Cabrio, before deciding to go for the M50 2.5.
My decision was based on:
As relatively new design as possible
As efficient as possible
Electrically simple

Patrick is right about the M52. When BMW replaced the M50 with the M52they had to meet tougher emission/insurance regulations. They then had to increase the cc upto 2.8 to achieve the same power output as the M50 2.5
By simply changing the inlet manifold from the M50 2.5 on to the M52 2.8 will take the BHP up to 220BHP. These are advertised on ebay and I have seen them make £100 each. I have one which I may well sell in the future when I am sure my modification to my manifold has proven successful - we have to chop 75mm out of the manifold to fit it in the Cabrio - not sure if you'll have to do the same in a Sportster - I guess you may have to as ???? has a purple Sportster fitted with the M50 and he has fitted a special home made glass fibre elbow, but I think this is believed to restrict the air flow at the top end.
Have a look at my site on flickr to see the drastic action necesary to make it fit a Cabrio.
I chose not to go down the M52 route as the engine electronics are tied in to the cars central locking system and even the electronic key- so if you do go down this route be prepared to either adopt the entire M52 wiring loom, or make sure you know a good BMW electrician who can reprogram the chip to blank off the ingition switch, door lock sensors and all the others before the engine will work.
If you are prepared to take on the electronics of the M52 it should be a lovely engine with twin Vanos (variable valve timing on both inlet and outlet valves) the M50 has only single Vanos on the inlet.

Let us know what you finally decide to do, as this is really interesting.

Regards
Mike

I'll see what I have on my CDs re: E46 wiring

I found a wiring diagram cd that covers the E46, just sorting something out, will email you later

By simply changing the inlet manifold from the M50 2.5 on to the M52 2.8 will take the BHP up to 220BHP. These are advertised on ebay and I have seen them make £100 each. I

One on Ebay at the moment

140284684840

Robin

Bit more on that here: http://328compact.co.uk/index.php?section=25

With a remap it will be closer to 240bhp

Useful info, thanks.

Not sure about the gearbox yet. My e30 box was a very low milage 'box from crashed e30.
If I can pick up a 328i gearbox and I could sell the M20 box?

Lots of other things to ponder....

Do I need the cats and lamda sensors? If not, will it pass an MOT?
Do I need a new radiator?
Will my electric fan still fit?
Will I need an expansion tank?
Purge control valve??
Will I need to move/different alternator?
Will I need to put concrete blocks in the back to stop the wheels spinning!

And probably a whole bunch of other things that I haven't thought of yet....

Peter

Peter
As you have already registered your car, I would guess you do not have to fit the Cats: would this only be necessary if you declare the revised age of the engine? - however, the lambda(spelling?) sensor is linked in to the ECU, so could cause problems if you don't
Your electric fan will still fit - you have much more room in the Sportster than the Cabrio and mine is mounted in a similar way to yours
What radiator/expansion tank do you have now?
The alternator has to be moved to the opposite side in the Cabrio - Marlin make a bracket, but don't buty it !- you learn by experience - It does not work with the original BMW alternator, and is designed for a smaller Lucas item. I have altered my bracket to allow the original to locate on the oposite side - Despite what Marlin tell you there is plenty of room
You may have to either cut the manifold and shorten it, or make a new intake elbow. Marlin recommend cutting the inlet manifold - drastic stuff - as in their Demo car, and Chris Cunliffe has done this too. Andrew Curtis preferred to make a new inlet elbow for his Sportster - I have photos - I can post it on my Flickr site if you are interested?
I think you'll need alot more than the odd concrete block to stop the wheels spinning!! - What a hairy motor you are going to have!!
Do keep us informed on progress
Regards
Mike

As I understand MOT rules if you take a new car and put an old engine inside it has to pass old MOT standards - but you need to prove engine age.

You take an old car and put a new engine in and it has to pass the MOT standards for the original chassis.

Now here's the the one I'm not sure on, the Sportsters first registration date in my case is 2007. So is the chassis classed as old or new? It has an age related plate which would lead me to assume that the engine passed F plate regs, but then the date of first registration is only a year ago.

Meh I hate "grey" area's when it comes to this stuff.

Thanks for the tips, Mike. I've got pictures of the Lucas alternator mounted on the other side but like you would like to re-use the BMW one if I can. I don't fancy cutting the manifold. I think i'll get the engine in and then figure out what to do. Any more pictures would be useful, thanks.
I'm also going to try to re-use the cats if they will fit under the car as i'm not sure it'll pass MOT tests without.
I think I also have something called a Secondary Air Injection but I think that is just to reduce emmisons after start up.
Did Marlin suppy your engine mounts or make your own? I wouldn't mind a picture of each mount next time your in your garage with your camera.

cheers

Peter