Youll probably wanna kick my teeth in...

[Brandoncw]

So, I'm sure plenty of you have heard of putting a 4bt cummins or a VW TDI in these rangers. I've even seen yanmars, kubotas, John deere, and a 3 cyl reefer engine done. But I've never seen or heard of someone swapping in a 3.0 turbo diesel out of a BMW 335D.

Stock Hp and torque figures paired with the good fuel efficiency of these engines makes it seem pretty attractive. On top of it all, it's one of few examples of an engine that was worth a hoot that BMW came out with

I was thinking if I could get my hands on a good donor car I could make the swap relatively straight forward swapping in both the engine and transmission. Try to use as many of the rangers oem sensors as possible to keep the dash working, while also using the BMWs oem sensors to keep the engine happy. Do any of yall think it's worth the trouble for the possibly one of a kind swap?

Ps, I weld for a living so fabricating mounts and stuff isn't an issue

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Just curious what year is your truck? Probabjy be eaiser on an older one then a newerish one.

Anything is possible with a sawzall and welder.

 

[Brandoncw]

Just curious what year is your truck? Probabjy be eaiser on an older one then a newerish one.

Anything is possible with a sawzall and welder.

I've got the 99 ranger with the flex 3.slow. only thing going for it is about 21-25 mpg highway on 87 octane

 

[rusty ol ranger]

I've got the 99 ranger with the flex 3.slow. only thing going for it is about 21-25 mpg highway on 87 octane

I really have no idea on how hard or easy itll be but im going to guess the PATS system is going to give you absolute fits

 

[Brandoncw]

If I get a complete donor, I'd imagine I could get the sensor out of the beamer and wire it in the rangers place, then just glue the beamers key behind the dash somewhere. But honestly I have no idea how the bmws PATS works if it's even anything like what I have

 

[rusty ol ranger]

If I get a complete donor, I'd imagine I could get the sensor out of the beamer and wire it in the rangers place, then just glue the beamers key behind the dash somewhere. But honestly I have no idea how the bmws PATS works if it's even anything like what I have

No idea lol. i know it can be worked around but wireing and things is not my strong suite.

I know guys have had issues with it just trying to go to a 302

 

[Brandoncw]

No idea lol. i know it can be worked around but wireing and things is not my strong suite.

I know guys have had issues with it just trying to go to a 302

Efi I assume? Cause when I was younger I had the same issue with a 4.0 swap into a 94 I used to have. Couldn't get injectors to fire. Learned what was wrong after I got rid of it. But quick search on Google says BMWs use the same type of system with a chip in the key so I imagine it wouldn't be that difficult if I keep the sensor and key

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Efi I assume? Cause when I was younger I had the same issue with a 4.0 swap into a 94 I used to have. Couldn't get injectors to fire. Learned what was wrong after I got rid of it. But quick search on Google says BMWs use the same type of system with a chip in the key so I imagine it wouldn't be that difficult if I keep the sensor and key

Yeah with EFI.

Like i said im sure its workable. I know nothing about BMWs, besides some of their stuff looks pretty damn cool.

But it would be a neat swap, i dont think its been done before.

 

[Northidahotrailblazer]

How long is the BMW diesel? I have a mercedes om617 in my 89 B2. still not done but engine is sitting in it. It was a tight fit. I really should of went with the TDI after my issues with the Mercedes. Id love to go with a OM606 but its even longer than the 617 is. The only issue I see with the BMW diesel is there not supported very well here in the states, over seas there every where. What transmission you want to use? your ranger 4x4? They make an adapter to bolt a TDI right tho a 4.0 or 3.0 transmission. so its pretty easy really.

 

[BiggSherm1988]

I suggest going to a stand-alone ecu. just get rid of the BMW engine management and have something put together from one of the many many stand-alone ecu companies.

 

[19Walt93]

Do some research before spending a bunch of money.
If your state does OBD II testing with the Gordon Darby system that NH and many other states use, an engine swap will never pass inspection. Or if it does pass the tech will be in trouble. The tech enters or scans the VIN at the start of the inspection and the system reads the VIN in the PCM, they have to match. If you swap a later engine and all the emissions equipment into a vehicle it will most likely run cleaner but the VIN mismatch will prevent it from passing inspection. That's because the people making the laws and regs don't understand how things work, if they had enough knowledge to really understand, they could get jobs instead of running for office.
Also, I hate the way diesels sound, smell, and run.

 

[ericbphoto]

What year of BMW Diesel? That thing is going to be heavily dependent on electronics. Not sure if it's feasible to try to run it mechanically like an old OM 617. I would expect that best results would be to use complete system from the donor - engine, transmission, ecu, wiring harness, maybe even the instrument cluster, which, even 9 years ago was heavily digital.

I work at the BMW manufacturing plant in SC. My first car in the employee lease program, about 9 years ago was a 335 diesel. That thing was sweet. Very peppy good performance. Excellent fuel mileage. I remember getting around 43mpg in that car with very little effort at driving conservatively.

 

[superj]

If it's an in line 6, it probably a monster in length. I used to autocross older bmws, e30s and e21s, and the BMW in line 6 motors require lots of engine bay so it would have to tuck under the windshield some and have the radiator forward a bit.

If jeep 4.0s have been put in, or the Ford 300 inline, you can get a BMW inline in. Those would be similar length swaps.

That idea to run a stand alone is a great idea*** nevermind, see above for electronic stuff

 

[ericbphoto]

If it's an in line 6, it probably a monster in length. I used to autocross older bmws, e30s and e21s, and the BMW in line 6 motors require lots of engine bay so it would have to tuck under the windshield some and have the radiator forward a bit.

If jeep 4.0s have been put in, or the Ford 300 inline, you can get a BMW inline in. Those would be similar length swaps.

That idea to run a stand alone is a great idea*** nevermind, see above for electronic stuff

I'm pretty sure it's a V configuration. Probably kind of wide. Might interfere with the steering shaft.

I would love to see this project happen.

 

[ericbphoto]

Ok. I was wrong about the V configuration. I just found this info, if Google can be trusted. I like those hp and torque numbers.