engine transplant for kitcar
Discussion
Hi, planning a kit build (sebring) and thinking about engines etc. was considering an engine from a bmw 335i 2008 onwards. looks capable of 300hp and nearly 300lbft, all alloy with direct injecn, regenerative breaking etc, and 31mpg combined. if i could fit all that in, can anyone think of any technical reasons it can't be done??
to be able to afford it i'd probably look to a car that's been written off, so presumably should be aware of critical damage to engine etc.
if i wanted to try and make best use of as much of the clever electrical wizardry like e diff, abs, dsc etc, are there any technical probs with this? eg would wheels have to be same diam at original car for dsc to work etc are all speed calculations relative to other wheels instead??
also does anyone know if the ecu etc would complain if certain original parts weren't used eg refuse to work because couldn't detect parts for abs, dsc, ediff etc etc?
come to think of it, is it the ecu that controls all that stuff or does it just control the engine itself?
any advice gratefully accepted!
Ta
to be able to afford it i'd probably look to a car that's been written off, so presumably should be aware of critical damage to engine etc.
if i wanted to try and make best use of as much of the clever electrical wizardry like e diff, abs, dsc etc, are there any technical probs with this? eg would wheels have to be same diam at original car for dsc to work etc are all speed calculations relative to other wheels instead??
also does anyone know if the ecu etc would complain if certain original parts weren't used eg refuse to work because couldn't detect parts for abs, dsc, ediff etc etc?
come to think of it, is it the ecu that controls all that stuff or does it just control the engine itself?
any advice gratefully accepted!
Ta
I think you are asking for trouble trying a project like that. The car is likely to have a least 2 ECU's (engine & body) plus possible extra ones for regen braking, ABS, aircon, alarm, diff etc. All will probably comunicate by canbus / fibre optics. I think the system would get very confused if you delete any of these (even omiting the dash gauges). When it doesn't work you are on your own and will at the very least have to invest in a BMW diagnostic tool (£5k+?) to switch some options off (if that is even possible).
Good Luck!
Good Luck!
I put a 1996 BMW 4.4 V8 and Tiptronic box into a Cobra replica using a stripped down 740i loom and it was a nightmare to do, but fantastic when done.
BMW will give you absolutely no help whatsoever and God forbid if you ever manage to get your hands on a BMW computer to help with the ECU programming as everytime it gets logged onto the mainfreame through the ethernet the boffins in Germany check to see which ECU its talking to..........and if not 100% kosher alarm bells start to ring.
I bought all my parts from the local BMW dealer, and my company car, on which they did all the servicing and the dealer principal himself told me that if I ever dared to drive my Cobra onto the forecourt he would instruct his guys to push it into the road!
So unless you can re-design , re-build, re-wire and re-programme at least 5 ECU's better than their original designers without any outside help whatsoever I'd give it a miss.
Instead buy a crashed pre 2000 M3 manual, strip out the loom in one piece and retro fit just the bits you need to fire up the engine....FAB breakers are the guys to talk to.
Cheers,
Tony
BMW will give you absolutely no help whatsoever and God forbid if you ever manage to get your hands on a BMW computer to help with the ECU programming as everytime it gets logged onto the mainfreame through the ethernet the boffins in Germany check to see which ECU its talking to..........and if not 100% kosher alarm bells start to ring.
I bought all my parts from the local BMW dealer, and my company car, on which they did all the servicing and the dealer principal himself told me that if I ever dared to drive my Cobra onto the forecourt he would instruct his guys to push it into the road!
So unless you can re-design , re-build, re-wire and re-programme at least 5 ECU's better than their original designers without any outside help whatsoever I'd give it a miss.
Instead buy a crashed pre 2000 M3 manual, strip out the loom in one piece and retro fit just the bits you need to fire up the engine....FAB breakers are the guys to talk to.
Cheers,
Tony
Obtaining the factory BMW programming gear isn't that difficult at all actually 
,knowing how to use it without turning your car into an expensive paper weight is somewhat more tricky - but the knowledge and kit is out there.
Still even with what I've learnt on the subject (thanks to a thread on here actually) - I would still advise against a modern engine transplant because of the quantity of ECU's involved (at least 10 of them).
,knowing how to use it without turning your car into an expensive paper weight is somewhat more tricky - but the knowledge and kit is out there.Still even with what I've learnt on the subject (thanks to a thread on here actually) - I would still advise against a modern engine transplant because of the quantity of ECU's involved (at least 10 of them).
Hi, thanks for the encouragement;) !!
If you had to chose an engine for healey 3000 replica, what would you choose. V8's seem a little on the loud side, and do drink a fair bit, but would be easy drop in and drive - LS3 new is only 4k and a standard engine. I like the idea of a revvy 6...
If you had to chose an engine for healey 3000 replica, what would you choose. V8's seem a little on the loud side, and do drink a fair bit, but would be easy drop in and drive - LS3 new is only 4k and a standard engine. I like the idea of a revvy 6...
bludgeoner said:
Hi, thanks for the encouragement;) !!
If you had to chose an engine for healey 3000 replica, what would you choose. V8's seem a little on the loud side, and do drink a fair bit, but would be easy drop in and drive - LS3 new is only 4k and a standard engine. I like the idea of a revvy 6...
I'd go for as near to the original had as possible, maybe a 6 pot Triumph engine. What's the point of building a rep of a classic and ruining it with a modern engine? Then there is the MOT to think of with emissions, go for an old engine and you have no worries.If you had to chose an engine for healey 3000 replica, what would you choose. V8's seem a little on the loud side, and do drink a fair bit, but would be easy drop in and drive - LS3 new is only 4k and a standard engine. I like the idea of a revvy 6...
If you want to go modern then something like something like a Zetec maybe the way, easy and cheap to set up plus fast and economical.
Edited by falcemob on Saturday 1st November 23:36
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