re: Chevy/Ford V8 conversion

[John Edward Miller <jem@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>	 Has anyone on the list performed or witnessed a V8 conversion in an
> E28?  I know at least one person has put a modified 400ci big block V8
> into a 535i or '88 M5 that was tracked around Ohio & East Coast.  
<snip>
> To me, you would lose the character of the car to an extent that I would
> have to ask why you didn't use a more appropriate car.

For what it's worth, I think he was proposing swapping into a 528e, which
IMO could be nothing but an improvement if it was done right.

> 1. You now have a very heavy motor up there, and I can't imagine that the
> car would handle as well as it should.

A Ford 289/302 would not be any heavier than a big-six; with aluminum
heads, water pump, intake, and shorty headers it'd be somewhat lighter.
It's also shorter so could be set back a long way compared to the six, and
I'd expect that the overall weight distribution would come out better than
a big-six and certainly no worse than the eta-motor.

A Chevy LT-1 will be a little (not much) heavier, as would a 351W Ford; a
late-model Camaro LS1 and its aluminum block will probably be no heavier
than a smallblock Ford.

> 2. The diff. would probably be fine...  until you sidestep the clutch one
> day...   Put a ford 9-inch in?  Now the handling is gone, and you have a
> car that only looks like a Bimmer.   You could graft in a Corvette setup
> in the rear, but that would be big money.

Nah.  Anything that can handle a healthy big-six motor can handle a healthy
V-8.  
 
> 3.  The american V8's have wonderful torque, but the bandwidth is limited
> and the top end is not there in the same way as the Bimmer motor.

I just picked up an '89 Mustang track car with a fairly high-strung EFI
hydraulic-roller 351W - idles a little rumpety-rump, pulls fine down to
1400RPM but gets a little chuggy below that.  Backing down a notch on cam
would make that 351 a hell of a nice street engine - as it stands right now
it goes right to 6200RPM about as quickly as I can think about it, but it's
still got tons of oomph from 2000 on up.  It's plenty flexible, has more
than enough rev-range to suit me, considerably more low-speed grunt than
our 540i (notwithstanding of course that the car weighs 500 lb less.) 

I'd think that the first big problem that would have to be addressed would
be the vertical component - Ford EFI systems, in particular, tend to use
fairly tall manifolds, and cutting a big hole in one's hood is definitely
out of character.

> A. Put a nice Corvette LT-1 & 6 speed setup  in a more appropriate car.
> Say, an early Chevy II and go have some serious fun.

Why would an early Chevy II be more appropriate?  They're flexible tin
boxes with seriously sloppy suspensions.  Of course, it'd be an easy swap.  

> B. Put a 540i V8 in your Bimmer and go like stink, and still have a BMW!

Let's compare costs: the engine and drivetrain parts to do the Detroit V-8
swap will cost you somewhere between $1500 (junkyard Mustang 5-liter and
AOD transmission) and $15-18K (fresh fully blueprinted ~385HP 351W or LT-1,
new T-56 gearbox, lots of extras.)   If you could find a decent used BMW
4.4 w/6-speed it'll probably run you at least as much as the latter number,
and it'd be at least as hard to integrate into an older 5.

The biggest problem with most engine swaps is that either (a) they're done
as total hack jobs or (b) if they're done well there's still a ton of
little stuff - oil pans, linkages, electricals, and the little NVH issues
that either take a while to iron out or, worst case, can't be fixed.  

John.

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