I've been pondering this for a while now. When i prove myself a decent driver my dad is going to let my drive/have/buy his nice 78 bmw 320 2door. Its been set up for autocrossing and is very lightweight and very sportscar feeling. Right now it has the stock 4banger in it with some upgrades im guessing. Im kind wondering if a 13b turbo engine would fit in there and if the drivetrain will hold up/can be upgraded to handle more power. If i go through with it im thinking use one from a heavy rear-end damages fd and use the stock twins or a small single turbo on it. The 4bangers hp is about 140 im guessing right now. The good thing about it is thaty it gets great fuel milage. The car is a historic vehicle asof this year and doesnt have to pass smog testing. Anyone have dimensions of a 13b? This may be a fun project to dow ith my dad once he recovers from his open-heart surgery.

I think it would be really hard, you'd probably need to rig up a mazda tranny and custom driveshaft.

I would consider the old school M3 engine (200hp? - 4cyl) it would probably bolt right in.

Maybe, I just kinda enjoyed the thought of making it rotary powered somehow. Considering i've never driven it it may be pretty fast with the 4banger in it now.... My dad hasnt really let it loose anytime i've been riding in it.

I have a friend that is like a Vosko in the BMW world. He has one '86 m5. for a 3.5L 6 cyl that thing moves.

If you wanna go crazy, some company makes a turbo kit for the newer m3 engines. you'd be alllllll set.

Use a 86-89 M5 engine in it then you still have the straight six torque.They make about 210hp and ran 14.5 stock.I love those earlier BMW's.Don't destroy it with a rotary swap.Find a light POS car to drop one into if you have your mind set on a swap.If you do the swap you'll need custom mounts for everything you could prolly use the BMW rear seeing as they're built tough need to run the EFI with hi flow fuel system and a drive shaft.Good luck.

Hmm i was just pondering a little with it. So a 86-89 m5 engine and rear drivetrain would fit in it? Its not exactly mine yet like i said just pondering some more. Whats the mpg numbers on those m5 engines? I could always just add to the motor thats already in it.

its been done before, it saw one in a magazine once in the early 90's



mike

cant be that hard. i saw an old beemer in the autotrader down here in S. Fl with a 13b-t in it...

The E30 M3 motor is the way to go. But a rotary would fit, with a fair bit of custom work of course.



J

Hey 'Slacker!

Whaddup! I've done the BMW/rotary swap... in a '69 BMW 2002 ('87 T II set-up) a few years ago. Not to mention, helping a friend do the swap on a '78 320 (13B NA).

You gotta wanna do it if you are truly considering it 'cause like 'Chainsaw said, some custom stuff has to be done (i.e. driveshaft, eng./trans. mounts, hole for shifter). Other than that, it is totally "do"-able & fun to drive.

Though, if I were gonna do a 320, I'd go TURBO to make it worth the work.

By the way, my '69 BMW '02, I'll just say... TOO MUCH FUN!!!

-==nvr2mb

Cool, glad to see its been done on the same car by someone on here. I doubt its gonna get done but hey thinking gets you places or something.

most tuners will drop a 13b into one of those old school bmw 2002. cars are rwd, very light and i believe some were made pre 73. i might be mistaken.



http://www.panasport.com/BMW%202002.gif

Someone agreed with something I said. WOOHOO!!!

i built a 13BT bmw 325is a few years ago, the car has a T04S w/downdraft webbers on a 91TII block.

it wasn't that hard to build me and a friend made adapters from the TII mounts to the factory bmw mounts, and built a tranny mount out of some very heavy steel. the whole swap took 2 weeks of just hanging out in the shop and barely working on the car.



in the end i parted the car out to finance my FD project. i can say that that car was possibly the most fun i have ever had piloting something with 4 wheels. i had 4.28 gears from a 91 325is in the car with 15" rims, the car would get completely sideways in thier gear at 3/4 throttle!! it was a handful to drive, but lots of fun.



i'll post pics of my car tonight if i can get vosko to put them back on his server for me https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/smile.png



btw, you will need a custom driveshaft, mine cost me $125 to have made, and you will need either a E30 (88-91) M3 diff or a E30 325IS diff to handle the power. you are also gonna be snapping stock axles like twigs, so get yourself a rear subframe outta an E30 M3, that way you can use the stronger M3 axles.



my friend put a turbocharges 3.5 liter bmw540 motor into a bimer 2002ti body and had drivetrain problems simmilar to mine. he was putting about 450hp through axles that were like 1.5 inch in diameter, i sold him the M3 subframe from my 325 and he was able to adapt it to the 2002 chassis. the 320 that you have is much more simmilar to the E30 cars, and the M3 subframe may even be a direct bolt in....



if you have any other questions just ask



i also think i still have the motor mount adapters and tranny mount from my project, they may work in your car if you are interested.

i need to get pics of the bmw, it doesnt look like any old ones i've seen really. i'll try tonight although i doubt its gonna touch snow and thats all over... It may end up being cheaper then a 7 or not, but it would definatly be kinda unique and different.

it would be a cool swap



mike

i wanna drop a 20b in a first gen or miata :bigthumg: now thats a cool swap

i know what the 320's look like they're kinda in between a 2002 and 318

20b FB would be a cool swap with a hefty price tag on it.relocating the rad and motor mounts and the amount of small stuff needed.But at least Directfreaks fuel system thread would be a good place to start on one.It would prolly go sideways at freeway speed by punching it with that type of torque. :bigthumg:

i think putting the 20b into a 1st gen wouldnt be too hard



mike

Really?I hear the 20B is quite a bit longer than a 13b.The you would have clearence issues with the crossmember.

I'm planning to find out - not for a while yet though. Long-term plan with my GSL-SE is a carb'd N/A 20B, streetported with nitrous https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...#>/biggrin.png



Don't hold your breath though . . .



J

Really?Cool.I'm leaning to a Stock 20B with standalone managment.When I find a cheap FB to start tearing down.At 3000US$ they're pricy tho.If I get started on another one at least I can drive this one around during the summers.till the 20B is ready.I want to get the driveline in one next winter.20B with a S4 T2 tranny with custom motor mounts.need to relocate the rad and find room for twin high flow oil coolers and IC in the front of the car tho.We'll see what happens next winter.If I do a 20B FB I need a project name.The engine will remain stock with just a simple down pipe and exhaust upgrade and managment tuning.Better to stay stock on such a expensive engine then blow it up.

call it tree rota super projekt numba one!

Hmm, i just started wondering again and came up with this question, how would i hook up the bmw dash stuff to the rx7 engine harness?

hahahaha.

SPEED NYC could tell you seeing as he did the swap but the engine harness on ealier 13b's is just the wiring for the senders to the guages unless you convert the BMW to EFI.You can just run a carb setup on a 13b and run the stock wiring to the senders for the stock gauges.You will have to hook up the alternator to the stock wiring to see as it is part of the 7's engine harness.You can't drive it without power to turn it over.

having a bmw like that is NOT something to be destroyed.i and people in my immediate family have been through that before. with bmw's if you have ANY rare model, keep it that way. if you really want to put a 2 rotor in a bmw, get an 87+ 325 or something, easily picked up for under 3k ( engine would cost more than entire car ). theyre still light and have THOUSANDS of parts available through bmpD, or dinan etc etc. with my old car ( 2001 m3 ) i was pondering the question about putting an m5 engine in it, but decided against it ( cost mostly ), and that most "m" cars and other rare bmw's are best left alone. when i get another bmw ( 2002 m3 conv ), it will be stock with a few proven techniques to make it faster hehe. as for now, with most cars, like fd's etc etc. keep them as they are, later in life you'll be kicking yourself for the engine swap.

Like a said before it was just a odd pondering and most likely will not be done.

That thing is pretty sweet as it is, may beat some civics?

yeah the wireing is a joke, just hook up the alternator wire and split the coil leads to the 2 coils you will need for the 13B.



as for rare models, the 320 is by no means rare. i love bmw's and have studied them almost as much as i have rotaries, there is nothing special about a 320 that should deter him from doing this swap.



now if it was a M1 or Z1, thats a diffrent story https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/smile.png

yah around here there arent any rare bmw's, 97 m3's go for mid teens



mike

mike, i have the BIMMER mag that that car appeared in a few years ago

heres some very old, very bad pics of my 13BT 325 is



http://www.vosko.net/photos/roan/interior.jpg



http://www.vosko.net/photos/roan/front.jpg



http://www.vosko.net/photos/roan/bmwmotor.jpg



i have better ones on my comp, just gotta get vosko to upload them

these were in the early stages, before i had real IC pipes, and i was using TII TID's clamped together https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/smile.png

Cool pics man. What year is that 325?

it was an 84 (shorter wheel base and lighter than the 87-91)

but it had 91 leather interior and 91 wrap arround bumpers instead of the steel 84 bumpers.

it was a fun lil car, and i wish i never partd it out. i'm seriously considering building another one (mabye a 90 M3) with the 13BREW and T66 thats currently in my FD. the FD may get a supprise

Let me guess.Is there going to be a 20B FD project starting up?

Sounds cool man. :bigthumg:

thats cool :bigthumg:



mike

i'll build another one and trade you for the FC since you like it mike..... https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...#>/biggrin.png