engine and drivetrain 4G63 turbo -> 2002?

[talonvoodo]

Hi y'all! I am a newbee that has come into ownership of an old 2002 (from a brother). The car is in good shape sans the engine. I come from a DSM background (evos-eclipses-talons) that all run the 4g63 so I am familiar with the engine and know what they are capable of.

So my obvious question is, "has anyone done this motor conversion before? Yes, I did use the search button but to no success. I see many people swapping in the m20 engine but I have a doner car just waiting for the engine to be taken out of it. It may be sacreligious to put a japanese motor in a bmw but that is just how it is going to be so no need to flame me.

I have alredy found a bellhousing adapter that mates the 4G63 motor to a supra tranny so that it is in the proper longitudinal layout. The bay seems like it would have plenty of room and the weight difference can't be that much since both are cast iron 4 bangers. My main concern would be the output shaft of the tranny to the rear diff. I imagine the rear difff isn't overly strong. Is is possible to swap a diff from a 5 series or even the old 6 series?

Sorry for all the questions. I wanted to see if anyone had actually done this swap. The allure of 400 turbo horses with 2000 lbs seems SO right to me!

[SOUTHBAYeric]

DO IT! I would love to see somebody do that swap. There have been a few people that have swapped the CA18det so jap turbo fours aren't out of the question. I am not sure if the supra trans would fit in the 02 tunnel but if you have some sheet metal and a welder anything can be done. As for the differential you should do a 320i LSD and see how much power it takes to grenade one of those. I think the limit is around 300 horse with some big tires attached to the ends of it. Some other issues would be motor mounts, fuel and ignition control.

[bimmerboy]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

while your swaping the engine and the drive train. swap the rear subframe, axels, and differential.

Output shafts are weak and chromoly ones are about $800 if you can find a set around.

Axels will need to be custom.

Differential. Curtis can't put 300HP down without going through them like tin cans. It must be upgraded if you plan 400hp.

4g63 and the crappy motor it is. I'm not going to even go into the voodoo associated with removing/plugging piston coolers and balance shafts. 4g63's are trouble. Pure and simple. If you know of a 400HP 4g63 that has run for a year without a wrench touching it. Please post it because no one can find it. A safc, a 16g, a fmic and some 1g rods will not get you 400hp.

It would probably be just as easy to put a awd 4g setup and swap the 02 shell onto 4g drivetrain components and have a 4wd 02.

[SHELLAC]

Have to agree with the last post.

If yourr set on a turbo Jap fout motor, then the SR Nissan really is the best choice in terms of durability and availability of parts. Personally i dont like the way they feel to drive, but they do produce the power. Also, small point , dont ever expect a good map out of an SAFC, all your doing is modifying the airflow signal,, which in turn changes the timing. They are useful tools for tweaking in the 10-30 sorta HP range, but a Power FC or a custom map on the original ECU would be far superior.

Has anyone sucessfully tried splicing in an LSD from another car?? Over here Nissan R200 vlsds are 10 a penny, as they were fitted to what was called in the States the 240sx. Those things are strong, and the aftermarket options for uprating the lockup (1way,1.5 way and 2 way) are huge.

Personally i'm a bit sick of spending huge amounts chasing crazy HP-been there, done that so i'm steering away from Jap to go classic racing as i want a fairly simple life with a sweet handling light car with good brakes and lots of feel, but yeah,, truthfully it would be an awful lot of fun

Good luck, whatever you choose to do.

[-=Charley]

well, your one saving grace for purists would be the supra tranny which is made by Getrag (assuming you go with the v160 or 150). the turbo would be placed on the driver's side (i believe) which interferes with the brakes and steering box but you could hang a set of wilwood pedals under the dash. mating the two driveshafts shouldnt be too much of a problem for a shop. the rear diff would definately be a weak point in the 400hp 2002. search around, there has been a couple who've swapped in E30 diffs/subframes i think. 4G63 powered '02...yes. please do it. then i'll build an SR-powered one and run circles around you. hahaha

good luck bro

[daniswaytough]

it'd be an engineering accomplishment and creative feet deserving mad props, but it wouldn't be an 02 anymore.

[talonvoodo]

Yeah I was really disapointed when I took a closer look at the rusted area around the rear wheels. It looks like the rust has gone all the way through the body. It was a washington state car that spent a lot of time in the cold and rain. Instead of killing myself to get the body panels fixed, I wonder if anyone makes fiberglass panels? Hmm...

The SR20 engine might keep up until you spin a rod bearing! J/k. I love those motors too. There seems to be a TON of room in the engine bay when you consider the large sheet metal piece near the hood hinge can go away and the extra area can be used for an intercooler and its piping. The only area I'm not too sure of is the bell housing. I also gotta research the rear differential a bit more. When did BMW start putting LSD in it's cars. I had an e30 318i that was open but I thought the 325's were limited slip.