Performance BMW Magazine May 2018 Retour à l'édition précédente

This month is all about engine swaps. The draw of taking an unsuspecting car and endowing it with something far more powerful under the bonnet is irresistible and has resulted in some truly spectacular builds over the years. Take our cover car this month, for example; building this S85 V10-swapped E30 M3 was no easy task and a lot of blood, sweat and tears have been poured into this project but the end result, with 500whp courtesy of a raft of engine upgrades, is truly something special. Of course, not everyone has the sort of budget to create a car like that but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy an engine swap if you've got less cash to blow. The super-clean air-ride E28 in this issue started out life as a humble 518i but now enjoys 2.8-litres of straight-six M30 power, while the red E30 Cab from the UK you can also read about this month is powered by a mighty-fine M52B28. There are also plenty of amazing non-BM engines just ripe for swapping and while doing that might get you some hate from the purists, you'll be having too much fun to care. Just look at the wild, 600hp, 2JZ-GTE-swapped E46 we've also squeezed into this issue. Of course, with so many BM and non-BM engines out there to choose from, it can all get a bit overwhelming, which is why we've put together a rather large guide for you in this issue. It's not an ultimate hands-on, how-to guide, rather a look at some of the best and most popular engines out there and we've also looked at some of the challenges involved with these swaps, the engines' modding potential and how much it'll actually cost you to buy your chosen motor. Hopefully it'll inspire you to get swapping!