It shouldn't be too hard to make the 215 work in the Beemer. You will almost certainly have to upgrade the axle though, as BMW axles tended to use undersize ring gears. Jim
You're not kidding Jim!! I don't think I'd trust that rear for much more than 200lb/ft. Good enough for normal driving, but any form of abuse would certainly be the end of that one. At least it currently has 3.91 gears, so it should just blow off the tires. Wishful thinking, huh? I like the idea of keeping it IRS though. I think maybe a Nissan/Infinity R200 rear setup might work out pretty good. There is even an R233 which has just over a 9" ring gear. The R200 can be found in early to mid 90's Q45's or J30's and also the 300ZX. They supposedly can handle 700hp. Still researching it though. At least there is an LSD option with those. I really like the idea of the alum. V8 in a car like this. The overall weight of the engine/tranny swap wouldn't upset the balance & handling, which of course is one of the big appeals of the early 3 series. Not to mention the light weight of the car.....somewhere in the 2500# range.
I used to hang with some guys who were big BMW enthusiasts, even crewed at the 24 hrs of Nelson Ledges with them a couple times, but eventually drifted away. They didn't have much tolerance for other brands. This might be something to consider, you wouldn't want to be ostracized from your peer group for your engine choice. Or maybe it doesn't matter to you but I thought I'd point that out, as from my perspective that would probably be the biggest problem with the swap. But hopefully your buddies are different. Jim
Oh, I've run into quite a bit of that attitude on various bimmer forums. Oddly enough though....I've also run into some open minded BMW enthusiasts. Some are such extremists though, that they'd just as soon burn 'your' car to the ground - than let 'you' do what you wanted with it. What's funny has been the response to those late model owners that didn't realize their 5 speed auto tranny was from GM.:bla: I've seen several LSx swaps into various BMW models. There are even kits on the market now. Maybe if BMW put enough power under the hood, people wouldn't be looking for American HP to take its place!! Or British, as the case may be.:beers2: It's my understanding that both the Buick/Rover V8 and the LSx engines share similar outside dimensions. Shouldn't be a huge weight difference either.
I could swear these are Olds heads.. the Buick and rover rocker covers are flat straight up like a nailhead..... not at an angle like the olds and SBC Covers are.
Oh, but there is. That LS engine is surprisingly heavy for an aluminum engine. IIRC I think it's heavier than the SBB with alloy heads and an iron block, maybe heavier than one with iron heads too. Why I don't know. I never noticed those heads, but there's more than a little different there. Where have you ever seen a set of those valve covers before? And why would anyone pick Olds heads for a NA 300hp 7200 rpm engine? Nope, that just doesn't make any sense. There has to be a different answer. Obviously not the typical Buick or Rover heads either. Oh Curtis!! We need answers!! Jim
Not sure what a fully dressed Buick/Rover V8 weighs, but here's what I found on the LSx engine. The iron truck blocks add about 80lbs.
That's a whole lot more likely. It'd take good heads to make that kind of power. While engine weight figures vary widely depending on the ancillaries weighed with the engine, the SBB 350 is commonly shown to weigh 450lbs. So while there may be some advantages to the LS1 weight isn't one of them. Especially when you can build a 340 with aluminum heads using stock parts and get down close to 400, depending on what you can come up with for an intake. Jim
