m42 tuning

Discuss general engine, turbo and supercharger conversions in this section

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reggiesbabe
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Sat Aug 01, 2009 4:20 pm

hi folks im thinking of doing a m42 swap and i just wondered what kind of power could i get from a tuned m42 engine while spending say 250 300 quids has anybody done ITBS and how hard is it ,if its not great i might just stick with the m50 project
E30BeemerLad
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Sat Aug 01, 2009 4:30 pm

Poxy gains on the M42 for a few hundred quid I would have thought (assuming it is running sweet in the first place)

I would stick with the M50 project, if you need any M50 bits related to the swap let me know as I have a few spares knocking about, including a plug & play loom for a non-vanos M50, M52 manifolds, E36 engine mounts(legs)
DanThe
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Sat Aug 01, 2009 4:37 pm

You wont get any reasonable amount of power for £300, stick another zero on the end and you should have a good NA 200hp engine

£300 should be enough to get the M50 in and working
sweep
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Sat Aug 01, 2009 4:40 pm

I dont understand why people do 318is m42 engine conversions..
Poor sound and engine note of a 2litre pinto.
tomtomiS
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Sat Aug 01, 2009 4:46 pm

sweep wrote:I dont understand why people do 318is m42 engine conversions..
Poor sound and engine note of a 2litre pinto.

thats hardly fair, comparing it to a ford....
sweep
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Sat Aug 01, 2009 4:48 pm

Yeah thats below the belt im sorry :cry:
Scruffymurphy
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Sat Aug 01, 2009 7:25 pm

M42 swap is staright forward, so there's not alot involved for the amatuer. You'll be doing well to get more than 145bhp from one in good shape with a chip though. The only way to get decent power from them is supercharging or a 2.1 build.

I would go for the M50 swap also if I was living in the UK. the M42 makes sense in Ireland since our car tax is criminal. €900 per year for a 2.5 and €500 for a 1.8.
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