diesel......

[jonboy]

Hi... my first post-intro post....
all opinions gratefully received.......

1975 cs mileage unknown as the kms odometer only goes to 99999 60000 m on a 38 year old car unlikely........recent engine work was total top end overhaul, skimmed head, new valves and guides, new camshaft, .....one new old stock carb, other serviced,.....
all put back together and within 500m serious overheat and basically, this time to the mechanic.... I've always done my own work until now but life's necessities meant 'down the mender's '

They say ' block's warped'...I've obviously blown the head gasket, maybe a water pump problem, and the cause was definitely a failure of one of the little cooling system tubes under the rear carb....causing loss of vital fluids.

My question....rebuild or heart transplant.....? or as I am inclined to do, off with the head, a new gasket( and new tubes and check the pump of course) and see what happens....
can the whole block warp as they suggest....heads yes, but the block ...???

They are looking at an engine out total rebuild and I am just not that rich...

Though the plus would be a 'new' engine as opposed to a scrapper's unknown quantity...Whaddayatink everyone??

and as this is the threads title..... there's a whole load of diesel BMs here and plenty motors in the wreckers what about a diesel conversion if I go down the transplant route... its 25% cheaper, 20% better mileage, almost the same power nowadays...we're not talkin tractors here.....

maybe I should divvy up these questions into seperate threads....

 

[Polariscsl]

Arrrgh no, you can't do that many miles to justify a diesel in a coupe?!!

 

[DerSchwede]

An E9 should have an M30 (or a relative engine like M90 or M88). Anything else is just ridiculous!

 

[rb1971]

I am going to be in the (very likely) minority who thinks this is not a terrible idea. If you are doing a non-original restoration, then your own vision should be your guidance. It's not like there are few enough of these cars left that each one needs to be in a museum.

As much as I love the original ones, I'd love to see this if you actually go forward with it.

 

[decoupe]

Which way to go

If your car is in good shape and reasonably original then find a used m30 based engine - just about any inline 6 BMW used on any 5, 6 or 7 series up to 1990ish. They made - what - a million of them star, so good luck. Installing is what will add up the dollars but a little DIY and a manual it is a satisfying labour intensive but doable process.

On the other hand - like rb1971 said - there is a lot of very interesting options others have done that open a whole new options. Bore, cam, flow, boost or swap anything that you can figure how to fit in and hack the engine management. I have several friends with boosted m10 motors that do 300 rwhp and some serious 400-600hp m10 based Swede insanities. Also cuts a bunch of weight off the front wheels and moves the centre of rotation back. Pretty cheap to do and they made millions of that little 4 cylinder so if you blow it up- just get another and swap that hardware over.

Must stop drinking.

 

[couttsdesign]

YES! DO it!

I'm putting a diesel into a 1975 2002. See my thread here:

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/topic/120815-diesel-conversion-vw-tdi-19-alh/?hl=diesel
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=359959&highlight=bmw+2002

I also own a 1973 CS coupe and I did consider putting a diesel in it. I would have liked to put in a twin turbo N47. It's a four cylinder motor that gets 204 BHP, 295 lb ft, and probably 40+ mpg combined in a coupe (depending on tire size and gearing). What's not to like about that? Basically, that's a bit more power than our base coupes, TONS more torque, and probably more than DOUBLE the mileage!

The main reason I did not pursue this project was because I'm in the US and getting the parts and ECU tuning support would be difficult (but sounds like you are in Europe, right?). BMW has very little history and support for diesel in the US. However, VW has been selling diesels here for over forty years. There are lots of diesel conversions using VW diesel engines and therefore lots of information and knowledge out there. So, yes please do the BMW diesel conversion and get the chain of knowledge started. You would be the first!

In case you do indeed go for it, I can tell you now that you will need to source a 3.07 side loader differential in order to help get the RPM's down. Of course this will coincide with the gearing of whatever transmission you use.

Good Luck, you have my vote!

 

[Dave L]

Last post: confusion: diesel swap in CA?

I am slightly confused about this last post about the diesel swap in the 2002 in California. Maybe I have been given incorrect info over the years. I was told that 75 and later year cars are all subject to emissions/smog standards. diesels are exempt (because they cant pass). but, the requirement is based on the VIN number, not the engine type. If the VIN number was originally a gasoline engine you will still be required to smog it, it can never pass, so you will have a car that can never be registered? So, I had been told that if you are going to build up a diesel motor you have to locate a diesel VIN car first. I got most of my education on this from a guy that was brewing up his own diesel fuel, so he was building a car to run on it based on a diesel version e28. I'd love to hear more if I have been incorrectly informed all these years.

Dave L
Orange, CA

 

[IS3FIFTY]

Section 3362.1 of the California Code of Regulations prohibits any engine change that degrades the effectiveness of a vehicle's emission control system.

Also this is from the CA Air Resource Board:

Engine Changes
Engine changes are legal as long as the following requirements are met to ensure that the change does not increase pollution from the vehicle:

• The engine must be the same year or newer than the vehicle.
• The engine must be from the same type of vehicle (passenger car, light-duty truck, heavy-duty truck, etc.) based on gross vehicle weight.
• If the vehicle is a California certified vehicle then the engine must also be a California certified engine.
• All emissions control equipment must remain on the installed engine.
• Vehicles converted to 100% electric drive, with all power supplied by on-board batteries are considered in compliance with the engine change requirements. All fuel system components must be removed prior to inspection. For additional information contact the ARB helpline at (800) 242-4450

Conversion to electric seems your best bet

 

[couttsdesign]

1975 and older cars are exempt from smog. 1976 cars and newer are still smogged.

 

[deQuincey]

An E9 should have an M30 (or a relative engine like M90 or M88). Anything else is just ridiculous!

hummmm....
+1
diesel ?, ridiculous

 

[kasbatts]

Do it, modern BMW diesels are awesome, size for size would blow the doors of any standard M30
The 3ltr twin turbo would be the weapon of choice if it was me, man that motor has got some mumbo

 

[m_thompson]

I didn't find any 335d engines with Google. I did find lots of wrecked 335d. Many had front end damage which might include the engine. One is a 2011 rollover for $12,600. That would provide all of the parts and electronics for the conversion. You could sell the remaining parts from the wreck to get a little of your investment back.

http://www.salvage-cars-for-sale.info

 

[jonboy]

How ridiculous is the m57 straight six with more hp than the m30, double the mpg and 80% cheaper at the pump, let alone much less maintenance and maybe four or five times the life...?

I knew this issue would upset a few purists, and each to their own opinion, but ridiculous it ain't.

I have a 1978 td 240 merc which is just about to roll up 1600000 (1.6 million kms) a touch short of a million miles... the bubbly's chilling nicely for the big day...
and 'er indoors' car was a Peugot 1.9 diesel that racked up 600000 kms with the speedo not working for it's last year and was still running fine when it was scrapped for other reasons

I like diesels.

 

[IS3FIFTY]

I have a 1978 td 240 merc which is just about to roll up 1600000 (1.6 million kms) a touch short of a million miles... the bubbly's chilling nicely for the big day...
and 'er indoors' car was a Peugot 1.9 diesel that racked up 600000 kms with the speedo not working for it's last year and was still running fine when it was scrapped for other reasons

I like diesels.

The mileage is impressive, I concede. However, you would not have driven your "Merc" more than 10 km if your exhaust pipe was located in front the car and you had to smell your own fumes... I see quite a few of these in So Cal and they are terrible if you happen to be stuck behind them. Between the black smoke and the smell. I can't imagine my coupe doing this.

BTW, coincidentally today I saw a brand new Porsche Cayenne and it had a very discreet "Diesel" badge on the side. I was very surprised as I didn't realize that Porsche had gone Diesel. Also, if you spend $60K on a car, do you really care about saving $300 or so per year on gas?

 

[ablank135]

Having just dropped in a 3.5, I'm hardly a purist, but doesn't replacing the engine with something massively torqueier open up a whole can of worms with regard to engine mount strength and body rigidity/flex? Not to mention what modifications would be required downstream in the drivetrain? I'm just asking--the OP's question sounds simple, but I bet there are huge implications ($$$$, time and complexity) with deviating quite this far from stock. And I'm all for deviants, don't get me wrong. Just some potential watch-outs, right, experts?