2.1 IS

Post Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:29 pm

I know there is a 2.1 is on here but what is the score with doing one,i.e parts required,bore needed etc. What sort of power is on tap from one aswell,I think my IS needs the chain doing but as its high miles it would make sense to rebuild it over winter.
If I was to go bigger capacity,I would be tempted to supercharge at the same time as that was the original idea...is there scope to lower the C/R when choosing the bigger pistons.......

Post Sat Dec 08, 2007 1:07 am

chain = few hours work, 2.1 conversion = many months work and lots of Ã‚£Ã‚£. parts are really up to your imagination as there's nothing that bolts straight on. Pistons - custom, rods - custom, crank there are plenty of options including m44, bm motorsport, diesel, schnitzer and hartge cranks. as for lower CR, as pistons would be custom you can have any CR you like. if you're thinking of SCing there's no point doing anything too drastic, standard internals with custom pistons would be the sensible option, would save you a fortune too.

Post Sat Dec 08, 2007 11:43 am

Cheers,I didnt want to go mad with custom bits anyway. Did you build your engine or somone else?

Post Sat Dec 08, 2007 5:17 pm

not trying to be funny but i did wonder of the 183bhp you got was worth the amount of work over the 2.5 swap.

although i guess doing it your way it is still a genuine 318is

Post Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:05 pm

schuey wrote:Cheers,I didnt want to go mad with custom bits anyway. Did you build your engine or somone else?

Well, bit of both really. Had the engineering work etc done by an engine builder, rest by me

HairyScreech wrote:not trying to be funny but i did wonder of the 183bhp you got was worth the amount of work over the 2.5 swap.

although i guess doing it your way it is still a genuine 318is

it's faster than a 325 by quite a bit, and is a lighter and more modern engine with much better fuel consumption etc too. IMO it's just a better engine all round for what i want. It also still has loads of potential. I have a 7.5k rpm redline (although I only go to 7k because it makes peak power beneath this beause of the cams/inlet i'm running) and a much bigger powerband than an m20, it pulls extremely strongly down low and is much less lazy than a six. For me, it's just what i want. I'm sure other people would prefer a lazy silky six, but that's them and not me. Also worth bearing in mind I could run mine to well over 200bhp if i wanted the engine spec'd that way. It's only lower because I had it r/r'd on the standard inlet and have mild cams in there for daily driving (I do a lot of miles). I'm looking at going slightly a wilder inlet cam because I think I can get away with a bit more without affecting daily driving characteristics. That should bring me towards the 200bhp mark, I may run ITBs again at some pt too, though i'll prob only do so on special occasions. then it would be well over 200bhp i'd imagine.

tbh an m20 never came into it for me. Options were 320is - expensive, lhd, not as usable on a day to day basis as they're short stroke and not strong enough at low rpm; m50 conversion - awesome but losing the character of the car; or proper s14 engine, demlot style, in mine, but big bucks, and not a new engine, also less of a project for me, and more expensive insurance.