saab b235r into e85 z4

L

LazySixer

New member
Hi All,

I’m new to this forum and I have a some questions in relation to a swap I’m planning on carrying out.

I’ve recently bought a Saab 95 aero and the plans were to bring it back to its former glory but alas the handling is not what I’m after and the sheer weight of the car is a little too much after experiencing the z4.

Now to get to my questions.

1. Has this swap been carried out before?

2. I will be using a standalone ECU for the engine, will I be able to keep the stock gauges and controls?

3.will the GS6-53DZ trans fit in the tunnel of the Z4 or will modification be required?

Those all the questions for now but if anyone else sees other issues that will arise from this do let me know.
 
Welcome to the board. :) Good luck with an interesting project. Alas I can't answer your questions.
 
LazySixer said:
Hi All,

I’m new to this forum and I have a some questions in relation to a swap I’m planning on carrying out.

I’ve recently bought a Saab 95 aero and the plans were to bring it back to its former glory but alas the handling is not what I’m after and the sheer weight of the car is a little too much after experiencing the z4.

Now to get to my questions.

1. Has this swap been carried out before?

2. I will be using a standalone ECU for the engine, will I be able to keep the stock gauges and controls?

3.will the GS6-53DZ trans fit in the tunnel of the Z4 or will modification be required?

Those all the questions for now but if anyone else sees other issues that will arise from this do let me know.
Click to expand...

The B235R Engine is quite 'Tall'. I would check dimensions, as I fear it may not fit?

I have a Z4 and a SAAB 9-5 Aero, they are definitely two different beasts. I did consider doing something similar, but the SAAB engine actually suites a big heavy car, and I would think the sudden wedge of power as the big turbo spools up might be quite unsettling in a light, rear wheel drive Z4. I also stuggled to find a suitable RWD gearbox to fit. I think the one off the 3.0 litre Omega was looking like the best option. In the end I have decided to leave them both in their natural state and go for a 3.0 Z4. I Wish you the best of luck. :thumbsup:
 
Welcome to the forum. :thumbsup:

I can't offer any advice on your proposed engine swap, but I imagine it would be fraught with complications! You'd save yourself a world of pain, time and cost just buying one of the more powerful Z4 models.
 
I understand that it will be a hard task but I don’t want a basic runaround z4, even with the 3 litre it seems too common for my liking and I want to build something unique.

I understand with the power band of the engine it might not be suited for the car but I plan on running a diesel 6 speed from a 325D/330D, to my understanding the diesel gearboxes are stronger and have longer gears which should help with the torquey nature of the Saab engine.

The easy tuning of the Saab engine is also appealing as throwing that money at an m54 or an n52 will not be worth my while as reaching 350hp on either will require reworked internals or in the m54s case a supercharger which already is gonna cost more than this swap if I’m doing it myself over a long period.
 
You might struggle with gearboxes due to space. This was one reason the ///M didn't come with SMG2, as the box was too big.
 
I had a look at the gearbox I’m planning on getting which is the GS6-53DZ which just going by the pictures and the proportions of it compared to the stock box it looks to be of a very similar size of not the same as the stock 6 speed but just being able to handle more torque if I do decide to change up the pistons and turbo in the b235r.

The ECU I have had my eye on is the ecu masters emu black as it has the e46 CAN-bus protocol so I will try to keep as many of the stock gauges working as I possibly can as I want the car to look stock at first glance and from the interior.

I will be starting a build thread once the process begins as now im in the research phase of it and figuring out the main parts I will need to put the engine in the car itself.
 
Good luck with your project - I'll look out for updates. :thumbsup:

But are you sure you chose the right forum user name? :lol:
 
Good luck with your project, I can understand why you’d want to build a unique e85, someone put the M5 V10 into one quite successfully, however putting a turbocharged four pot in has been done before, I’ve often wondered how the S65 V8 would fair inside an e85
 
I saw a build thread where a guy was putting in a stroked s65, I think he chose it due to the better balance of the car since the v8 would sit closer the the firewall than the s85 since it’s one cylinder shorter. I would love to swap in a Volvo 5 pot but as those are very scarce and much more expensive to obtain than this Saab engine was as I got the whole car for a very good deal since the suspension needs a rework.

For the body controls, do they work independently from the main DME for the most part? As from what i have read is they still need a signal from the ECU through the CAN-bus as the ECU I’m planning on using has an e46 protocol for that so I’m hoping that will be able to communicate with some of the systems currently in the car. I cannot find too much information on this as all I can find is people using the MK60 dsc as a stand-alone for some of their builds.

For the throttle I was also having problems deciding whether to keep it DBW or try to change it to a conventional cable throttle for the response but from reading it will be better to make a custom intake manifold from the stock Saab one and fit a larger DBW throttle body as some have said that is a choke point in the stock intake system.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom