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Car Forum / BMW Cars / April 2006

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Jeep and BMW

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Matthew Warren - 09 Apr 2006 22:20 GMT
I have noticed a lot of you in here own jeeps, some of your names I even
recognize from eyars of mostly lurking in the jeep groups.  So I have a
question.  I have a '91 YJ four banger that is really tired... was thinking
of doing the often discouraged conversion to the six cyl... and then I
thought why not use a BMW I6?  other than the obvious headache of marrying
the two electrical systems and drive lines, it seems like the engine would
fit the application well.  Nice smooth, torquy straight six that would
actually perform decent on the highway as well as off road at high RPM if
needed...

now I know that there are gunna' be those that cry herresy... but what do
you think about the application?  Has anyone tried it... seems like I can't
be the first to ponder it.  Was thinking about a 3.5 (M60?).  Thanks

Matt
'91 318Is
'91 YJ
Joe C - 09 Apr 2006 23:41 GMT
Get yourself a Jeep 6
forget the BMW I6!!

Joe
'89 YJ
'02 325CI

> I have noticed a lot of you in here own jeeps, some of your names I even
> recognize from eyars of mostly lurking in the jeep groups.  So I have a
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> '91 318Is
> '91 YJ
Branden Nelsen - 10 Apr 2006 13:05 GMT
Do this ;)

http://www.off-road.com/4x4web/features/1999/03/

-Branden

I also own a 99' BMW 528i and a 99' I6 Wrangler

> Get yourself a Jeep 6
> forget the BMW I6!!
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>> '91 318Is
>> '91 YJ
Corey Shuman - 10 Apr 2006 15:03 GMT
Buy a 96-99 Land Rover Discovery, most of the parts are BMW branded and
you will be amazed what it can do in comparison to the Jeep... Oh yeah,
and its a V8
Huw - 10 Apr 2006 23:11 GMT
> Buy a 96-99 Land Rover Discovery, most of the parts are BMW branded
> and you will be amazed what it can do in comparison to the Jeep... Oh
> yeah, and its a V8

While I am quite fond of the Discovery, you will find next to no BMW parts
in it. The 2003- Range Rover on the other hand............

Huw
Corey Shuman - 14 Apr 2006 17:23 GMT
I think you should look again, heads are bmw remans, gauges, stepper
motors, Airflow meter, stereo, amps, seat controls, seat motors, clock,
locks, window regulators, the list goes on and on... pull the parts,
take a look, there is a bmw stamp on each of them. also alot of the
parts interchange, lots of E38 4.0 motor parts are the exact same. Keep
in mind that BMW funded rover for a good part of the 90s before they
gave it to ford.  and while the 03-5 RaRo has the bmw motor, isnt that
as far as it goes? suspension etc.. is still LR, right... at least
until ford has them for a while longer... ;)
E28 Guy© - 10 Apr 2006 22:11 GMT
> Get yourself a Jeep 6
> forget the BMW I6!!

I would tend to agree.  Ought to be lots more of them around for an
installed price that will pale in comparison to the misery you'll
endure making this unholy alliance work.  FWIW, the 4.0 in my Grand
Cherokee puts out more power than the 3.5 in my 535is ...
--
C.R. Krieger
'01 JGC
'88 535is
Matthew Warren - 11 Apr 2006 00:44 GMT
>> Get yourself a Jeep 6
>> forget the BMW I6!!
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> '01 JGC
> '88 535is

Thanks to all... I kind of figurd that is where I should come out, but
thought I would seek a broader opinion.  Thanks again.

Matt
Fred W - 12 Apr 2006 13:54 GMT
> Get yourself a Jeep 6
> forget the BMW I6!!

I agree.  The Jeep I6 is a tractor motor, making tons of torque at low
rpm.  That is what that type of vehicle demands.  A BMW I6 *requires*
revving.  You would not be happy with that combination, even if you
could even figure a way to marry the BMW engine to the Jeep drive train.

Signature

-Fred W

Jeff Strickland - 11 Apr 2006 02:32 GMT
The BMW motor won't work well in your Jeep, ESPECIALLY if you are into
offroading. The BMW motor makes its power and and torque well above idle,
but the Jeep really needs its power to come on just off of idle. There isn't
enough torque in the BMW motor to make offroading very rewarding. Now, if
you wanted a Jeep that could do 130 mph, and kicked the power on at 3000+
RPM, then the BMW motor is just the thing.

I suggest you look at a V8 instead of a 6 anyway. The 8 and the 4 are the
same length, the 6 is much longer. This means that stuff has to move fore or
aft with the 6 that might remain where it is with the 4 to 8 conversion.
And, the 8 makes torque at idle, if you get the right one.

>I have noticed a lot of you in here own jeeps, some of your names I even
>recognize from eyars of mostly lurking in the jeep groups.  So I have a
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> '91 318Is
> '91 YJ
Fred W - 12 Apr 2006 14:31 GMT
> The BMW motor won't work well in your Jeep, ESPECIALLY if you are into
> offroading. The BMW motor makes its power and and torque well above
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> fore or aft with the 6 that might remain where it is with the 4 to 8
> conversion. And, the 8 makes torque at idle, if you get the right one.

Nah.  There is tons of room in the engine compartment of a Wrangler for
an inline 6 and the 4.0 liter straight 6 makes plenty of power way down
low.  That, and you can buy a complete drive train (engine, transmission
and transfer case) that was factory equipment and will drop right in.

Signature

-Fred W

Jeff Strickland - 15 Apr 2006 03:36 GMT
>> The BMW motor won't work well in your Jeep, ESPECIALLY if you are into
>> offroading. The BMW motor makes its power and and torque well above idle,
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> That, and you can buy a complete drive train (engine, transmission and
> transfer case) that was factory equipment and will drop right in.

Of course there's plenty of room. but, if one is converting from 4 to 6, why
not convert to 8? The cost is essentially the same, but the reward is much
higher. I've got a Jeep with the L6 motor, and I wouldn't change it for the
world, but if I had a 4, I wouldn't hesitate to drop in an 8 instead of a 6.
Fred W - 15 Apr 2006 12:33 GMT
> Of course there's plenty of room. but, if one is converting from 4 to 6,
> why not convert to 8? The cost is essentially the same, but the reward
> is much higher. I've got a Jeep with the L6 motor, and I wouldn't change
> it for the world, but if I had a 4, I wouldn't hesitate to drop in an 8
> instead of a 6.

A couple of reasons.

Most importantly, weight.  While the cast iron 6 cyl is no
featherweight, dropping a big V8 lump in there will certainly bias the
weight even further towards the front and probably require some custom
respringing.

Vibration.  An I6 is smoother, especially at low rpm than any V8.

Ease of conversion.  You just find a junker Jeep with the drivetrain you
want and transfer the goods.  Jeep does not fit V8's in and modern (fuel
injected) models.

Gas mileage.  Except the 4.0 Jeep I6 is a freekin gas hog already, so
forget about that one.

In reality, while I owned an I6 Jeep Wrangler before, the 4 cylinder is
actually the best engine, for a host of reasons.  Yes, the vibration is
a bit higher but, hey... we're talking Jeeps right?  It weighs much
less, has nearly the same power and torque and the fuel mileage is
almost normal.

Signature

-Fred W

Matthew Warren - 15 Apr 2006 14:15 GMT
> In reality, while I owned an I6 Jeep Wrangler before, the 4 cylinder is
> actually the best engine, for a host of reasons.  Yes, the vibration is a
> bit higher but, hey... we're talking Jeeps right?  It weighs much less,
> has nearly the same power and torque and the fuel mileage is almost
> normal.

I can't agree that the 4 is the best... it has no where near the power of
the 6, the fuel economy is about the same and they don't hold up.  The six
lasts for 200k pretty easily, where both of the 4 abngers I've had are
getting noticibly tired at about 100k.

Matt
Jeff Strickland - 15 Apr 2006 16:28 GMT
>> Of course there's plenty of room. but, if one is converting from 4 to 6,
>> why not convert to 8? The cost is essentially the same, but the reward is
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
> has nearly the same power and torque and the fuel mileage is almost
> normal.

I agree that the 4 is perhaps the best engine in a Jeep. The ONLY downside
to the 4 is that it is a gutless wonder on the freeway, but it shines in
nearly every kind of offroading environment, especially where brute strength
takes a backseat to finesse and proper line.

Having said that, I still like the 8 over the 6 IF these are transplant
options away from the 4. The weight of the 8 isn't significantly greater
than the 6, and since it's shorter the weight is biased towards the center
of the vehicle anyway.
Matthew Warren - 13 Apr 2006 17:58 GMT
> The BMW motor won't work well in your Jeep, ESPECIALLY if you are into
> offroading. The BMW motor makes its power and and torque well above idle,
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> or aft with the 6 that might remain where it is with the 4 to 8
> conversion. And, the 8 makes torque at idle, if you get the right one.

Buick 455?  anyway, the most favorable in my eyes is a diesel... but  right
now just exploring options.  Thanks to all for the input.

Matt
Jeff Strickland - 15 Apr 2006 16:39 GMT
>> The BMW motor won't work well in your Jeep, ESPECIALLY if you are into
>> offroading. The BMW motor makes its power and and torque well above idle,
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> Buick 455?  anyway, the most favorable in my eyes is a diesel... but
> right now just exploring options.  Thanks to all for the input.

Well, no. I was thinking more along the lines of a small block V8. The most
popular candidate seems to be the Chevy 350, or the Ford 302. There is a guy
in California that drops in 5.0L Mustang motors into Jeeps. He is a bit
pricey, but if he can do it and you can do the swap of another engine, you
can drop in the Mustang motor too.

One thing to keep in mind is that you will have to keep the smog system of
whichever is the NEWER, the motor or the chassis. That is, if you find an
old Z28 motor from a '69 Camaro, you will have to make it work with the smog
equipment that you have on the Jeep -- which is probably the next best thing
to impossible -- but if you get a motor from a late model Mustang, then you
have to bring it's engine management computer along too.

I'm not very excited about the prospect of diesel fumes on the trail, but
the low end torque is cool.
Todd Zuercher - 15 Apr 2006 20:40 GMT
>>> The BMW motor won't work well in your Jeep, ESPECIALLY if you are
>>> into offroading. The BMW motor makes its power and and torque well
[quoted text clipped - 29 lines]
> I'm not very excited about the prospect of diesel fumes on the trail,
> but the low end torque is cool.

Personally I've always wanted to put a Chevy 4.3 v6 in a Wrangler (use
an S-10 Trany and t-case (Chevy and Jeep use the same basic transfer
cases).  I think my 4.3 S-10 has better low end and off idle power than
the 4.0 Jeeps I've had.  But it doesn't have as much top end power as
the 4.0 i6 and is definitely not a smooth or pleasant engine in any way.

Signature

========================================

Todd Zuercher
mailto:tzuercher@earthlink.net

========================================

 
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