N20 engine swap

[evil02]

30 minutes ago, irdave said:

 

I think the Haltech Elite ECUs will run all that. 

 

Haltech and or any M1 series Motec is plenty smart enough to do it but, someone has to program it and that is were the real challenge starts, lol.. My guess would be that if you can understand how the cam system works then, the rest would be just like any other motor. 

[tzei]

1 hour ago, evil02 said:

someone has to program it and that is were the real challenge starts

After cam hurdle there are DBW setting to be figured out... 

[johnbmason]

There's one in town and it's one of the most solid runners I've ever seen. He's at every car show, and I think the only time he hasn't shown up was when he blew a tire. Super reliable.

[evil02]

This just makes the N20 look silly -  

 

 

[irdave]

1 hour ago, evil02 said:

This just makes the N20 look silly -  

 

 

Well, yeah, but...  One of them is a bazillion dollars and the other can be had for a couple grand from the sounds of it.

 

And between the intake noises and the transmission noises, that car has my undivided attention.

[irdave]

6 hours ago, jimk said:

 

@irdave if you hadn't bought that dandy air box ........

That tune has some trick stuff for handling the 5th throttle.

 

Is there a cold start injector on the car that you're firing up top?  Nice.  Wiring starts tomorrow.  Gotta' figure out how to get the IAT sensor in the intake tract...

[evil02]

6 minutes ago, irdave said:

 

Well, yeah, but...  One of them is a bazillion dollars and the other can be had for a couple grand from the sounds of it.

 

And between the intake noises and the transmission noises, that car has my undivided attention.

 

A quick google and the N20 doesn't really sound like the best engine. It's described as fragile and seems people only tune to about 350hp. Thats a pretty weak 4cyl engine of this era..

 

Yes, The crisp shifts are blowing my mind.

[waynesiebrecht]

I have been thinking about this for some time.... day dreaming really.  I have so many other projects.

 

However, if you can figure out how to do this with the N20 and 6 speed manual, 350 hp in 02 body is almost stupid power...

the S14 is cool as can be, but wicked expensive now and had been so so on the reliability / tuning / power.... but way fun.  The N20 might be a way to bridge the gap, cause the M40, M42, M43, M44, N42, N43, etc.  just suck in stock form, not much for tuning.

 

Yes people have had problems with this N20/N26, but there are fixes for the factory problems ... can be reliable all day long and are getting cheaper.  

 

Then the next step is the B48 for future builds (about the same size) and there is even a race version of that, the P48, that they are using in the DTM, 650 hp....  These replaced the N20/N26 in 2015, but are still too pricy used... they will get cheaper

 

 

[jimk]

1 hour ago, irdave said:

Gotta' figure out how to get the IAT sensor in the intake tract...

Shut your eyes and drill

[newtobmw]

On 1/30/2021 at 9:12 PM, EvilEmpire said:

May have myself a N20 cheap with DME, anyone make any progress on doing this swap? I have a chassis that is in need of an engine....

I have had to drop it for now. The owner bought of the the silly priced S14's on BAT. He was even accused in the comments of artificially driving the price up. Truth told he got excited and so did someone else. At least we have an engine for the project.

I still think the N20 is a good idea. There were some guys that put a S55 in an E30 so its possible to N20 a 2002 from an electronics standpoint. I will just have to find a shell and do it myself at some point.

[johnbmason]

16 minutes ago, newtobmw said:

I have had to drop it for now. The owner bought of the the silly priced S14's on BAT. He was even accused in the comments of artificially driving the price up. Truth told he got excited and so did someone else. At least we have an engine for the project.

I still think the N20 is a good idea. There were some guys that put a S55 in an E30 so its possible to N20 a 2002 from an electronics standpoint. I will just have to find a shell and do it myself at some point.

 The S14s are hilariously overpriced in every way. The N20 could be cool, but takes a ton of maintenance. There's a shell of a 2002 for sale locally that I keep debating buying to do an N54 swap with. like, cut down the rear axels to make it fit, keep the electronics and what not, but use as much of the 2002's interior and style as possible. It'd be an insane amount of work, and would only really make sense using a shell that's already pretty fooked up.

[TobyB]

https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/cam-bearings-badly-damaged-with-only-20k-miles.1286563/#post-18880738

 

just leaving this here...

t

 

 

Edited February 8, 2021 by TobyB

[newtobmw]

3 hours ago, TobyB said:

https://www.e46fanatics.com/threads/cam-bearings-badly-damaged-with-only-20k-miles.1286563/#post-18880738

 

just leaving this here...

t

 

 

They redesigned the parts in 2015 didn't they? If you bought a yard engine I would update it. If you are taking on the swap I don't think guides would be world ending. Reading the thread speculation was the bearing fail was due to oil starvation caused by guide bits blocking the passages. A new guide set would fix this too.

[2002iii]

6 minutes ago, newtobmw said:

They redesigned the parts in 2015 didn't they? If you bought a yard engine I would update it. If you are taking on the swap I don't think guides would be world ending. Reading the thread speculation was the bearing fail was due to oil starvation caused by guide bits blocking the passages. A new guide set would fix this too.

If you read some more of it you'll see it's not only the guides that are the issue.

 

Also they talk about the thinner oils being an issue. 5w30 is great for mpg but not so much for engine wear. I blame the government for pushing too high mpg standards.

[newtobmw]

5 minutes ago, 2002iii said:

If you read some more of it you'll see it's not only the guides that are the issue.

 

Also they talk about the thinner oils being an issue. 5w30 is great for mpg but not so much for engine wear. I blame the government for pushing too high mpg standards.

Just gave it a re-read. They were saying there was a switch to 0W20! That's as thick as water. They are reaching the limits due to government pushes for sure. The other issue on these is the carbon build up on the intake. I have an N55 and will have to walnut blast the valves. I still think if you went through one with the new bits and ran good oil they could be ok. My N55 has been bullet proof but its well maintained an only has 120K on it so far. I also have stuck to 5W40. Its cold here so thicker than that isn't better for me. -33 Celsius this morning!