Land Rover Discovery II engine swap

[jallen9]

I'm a new member to this forum, and i'm fairly new to the world of off roading, so be kind! This is my first thread on this forum, other than an intro thread.

I'm trying to get my wife into off roading and stuff like that, and she really likes Land Rover Discoveries. She also really likes diesel engines. Foreign Range Rovers used a BMW diesel I6 - the M51 series engine, and BMW just started putting M57 series diesel engines into the X5 and 3 series cars. These are good engines. They make 265 hp and 425 (!) ft/lbs, and get 26 highway MPG in the almost 5200 lb X5 (yes, 5200 lb!!!). I imagine a discovery could do a bit better than that with a manual transmission and weighing just under 4700 lb, but maybe the aerodynamics would counteract the lighter weight.

So, I hatched an idea, and I'm trying to work out the details:

Get an 03-04 (04 preferably, for the center diff lock)
-2011 BMW X5 diesel engine
-2006 BMW X5 6 speed manual transmission - the ZF S6-53

Wiring - BMW used to own Land Rover, they both use bosch ECUs, and BMW used some land rover parts in the early X5s. I'm pretty sure the wiring will work between the engine and the disco. I'm not sure, so that's going to be the hardest part.

Engine Mounts - I think I can use the diesel engine mounts from the foreign range rovers, but i'm not sure. I don't know if the frame is the same between discoveries and range rovers. Either way, motor mounts aren't that hard to fabricate.

transfer case - The X5 6 speed manual was also used in foreign (grrr) LR3s, but i don't know if the transfer case is the same, or if the bolt pattern is even the same. If not, I suppose I can have an adapter fabricated or use the LR3 transfer case.

There are a bunch of other details to work out, like the fuel lines and radiator, but these are the major things that I've though of so far. Any opinions on this idea? I'm not set on doing this, I'm just trying to think of what it would require to swap in this drive train.

Any ideas? Suggestions? My goal is to use a 6 speed manual and a reasonable diesel engine- something in between a VW TDI and a 6.7L cummins, and this combination seemed like the best to me. I know anything can be done with enough time and money. I'm not worried about the money right now, i'm just trying to figure out how this could be done.

 

[Spork]

Still trying to wrap my head around it... It sounds expensive (Really Expensive, like go out and buy a 4runner and drive it until you saved enough expensive). Have you had any experience swapping engines because this swap sounds like it's on the high end of the difficulty scale?

 

[Rot Box]

Welcome to the forum!

I agree with Spork think you'd really have to love Discovery's and really love that particular engine to make it worth it. Better fuel milage and reliability is not going to justify this in any way shape or form lol. That said it would be awesome if you shared a buildup here

The 300SD TDI swap is gaining popularity these days have you considered going that route? A guy just wrapped up a GM 6.2 diesel swap in a P38 on Expo recently that was pretty neat. Not an exotic engine by any means, but pretty cool anyway.

I think you guy's should pick up a nice Discovery and hit the trail. If you fall in love with it and find you can't live with the V8 then start looking into the swap a bit more. There's a good chance the wife will really enjoy offroading but I can guarantee you she won't enjoy a money pit sitting in the garage--I know from experience LOL

 

[sixstringsteve]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your project ideas with us. Sounds like a super expensive and difficult swap, but a very cool and unique swap at that. If you prepared for the level of difficulty it would take and you want to tackle it, go for it!

I'm trying to get my wife into off roading and stuff like that, and she really likes Land Rover Discoveries. She also really likes diesel engines.

Good for you, there's nothing better than sharing your love of wheeling and the outdoors with someone you love. First I'd try to find out if she enjoys wheeling or not, then I'd decide about the best way to do it. It may just be that she loves wheeling, but she doesn't care which vehicle you're driving. Then you can get her a discovery for daily driving, and get a cheap jeep to thrash on the trails. I'm just trying to throw out the possibility that you don't need to satisfy all three needs (wheeling, disco, diesel) in one vehicle (although that would be an awesome rig).

I love my spending time with my wife and I love wheeling, so I try to enjoy both together. Sometimes that works out and sometimes it doesn't. A lot of the time, people want to convince their wives to like something they don't. If your wife doesn't enjoy wheeling, no vehicle or engine or swap or whatever will convince them that wheeling is more fun. in fact, as rotbox pointed out, if it's a money pit it could easily make them hate wheeling even more.

There's a good chance the wife will really enjoy offroading but I can guarantee you she won't enjoy a money pit sitting in the garage--I know from experience LOL

If it were me, I'd try to find out what type of wheeling your wife enjoys. Does she prefer car camping on paved roads, hardcore buggy trails, seeing scenic backcountry roads, and little of everything? I used to only rockcrawl. My wife would be a good sport and tag along about twice a year, but she did it more to support me than out of a love for wheeling. I even let her drive, and she still wasn't hooked. I decided to branch out and try a bit more of the backcountry driving with hikes, camping, history, and exploring built in and she (and I) REALLY enjoy it. I even enjoy it more than rock crawling now (even though I still love crawling). She looks forward to our trips now. I've sold my hardcore rockcrawlers that I tried to get her hooked in, and now we have a simple 4x4 that gets us where we want to go, and helps us spend more time together outdoors. I'm not saying this is the route you need to take, you may hate i. The key is to find out what you and your wife like before building an entire rig around hopes and dreams of your wife enjoying it. We only give this advice because we've been there and tried it and learned the hard way.

So, with that in mind, I recommend trying to find out what your wife likes. Rent a jeep and take it to Moab. Let her ride as passenger, and let her drive. Do some hardcore trails and do some mellow trails. Ride as a passenger with some local wheelers on a local trail to gauge her level of interest. Try a little bit of every different type of wheeling to see which she gravitates towards more. If she doesn't like it, she doesn't like it. I have a buddy who loves his wife, but she hates wheeling. So he doesn't take her. They have a great relationship, and she supports his Jeeping hobby, but she doestn' like to go. Nothing wrong with that. It takes a real man to stop trying to convince his wife to like something she doesn't.


If your wife does get hooked and she loves it, I doubt she will care if the rig is gas or diesel powered, or if it gets 3 mpg better than stock, etc. I've played the chase the MPG game, and I've spent $5k to save 2 MPG. Kind of silly when I look back at it. I still learned a lot, and there's a lot of non-monetary value in building a project. But when it comes time to sell it, and you realize you only get about $0.50 to the dollar out of what you put into it, it makes you weigh your decisions differently. Best of luck with whatever you decide.

I would love to see a rig with those parts, that'd be amazing. A lot of people try to build the "ideal rig" (me included) but sometimes it's good to remember that you can have fun wheeling any type of rig. I'm excited to see what you end up doing.

 

[jallen9]

Thanks for the input, it's helpful. I drive a jeep cherokee now - and it was cheap. I'm not necessarily interested in doing this project just to get my wife into off roading or just for the fuel economy. she really likes discos and diesels, and i do too. i also think it would be cool to have 2 4x4s. We'll probably get her a disco, and lift it, and i'll keep doing research for this swap and saving money. Either way, we'll see about the swap. It would be super cool. It will be expensive for sure, but i think it will be feasible for a long term project. For now, we're looking for a good DII for her maybe at the end of the year. we walk or ride bikes just about everywhere so the completely terrible gas mileage won't be a huge concern. I think that if she were to get into off roading of any kind, the DII would be a good car for her because she's more into camping and things like that than rock crawling. There's plenty of roof top tents, which she really likes.

Hey, maybe if i like the DII enough i'll get rid of the cherokee...

 

[GAR]

Hey man! welcome! I'm new here too but I've been off-roading for a while and have been into cars/motorcycles my whole life. I totally understand where you're coming from. Some of the stuff I've done doesn't really make sense to some people, but I don't care. As long as you're passionate about it and have the resources, go for it. You'll end up with something unique, probably something that works well, and you'll have learned a lot and maybe made friends/connections along the way. I could have bought a newer Tacoma or 4runner for the amount I spent on my '82 Toyota. But I love it and will keep it for a long time.
It all depends on what you want to spend your time doing and what your goals are.
Here's some info my TDI swap:
http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?89089-Heya!-new-here

oh, and it IS a ton of work. What ever you think it will take (time/money) atleast double it. There are so many little things...

 

[cackalak]

I can't imagine how much an X5 engine would cost. Many years ago, I had an E30 and the dealer wanted $35 for a tiny gauge cluster light bulb.

 

[jallen9]

I'd rather buy an older car and fix it up how I like than a brand new car anyways, so I guess it all works out! A

lso, I found 1 just BMW engine so far (they just came out, so it will be awhile before they build up in junk yards) and it was $5000. Yessir, it will be a while before i do this swap for sure.

 

[sixstringsteve]

wow, $5000 is a lot cheaper than I expected it'd be!

 

[madcrawler girl]

Sounds fun!! I am Building a rover right now! There is a lot of wiring involved. are you going to tube it out or just keep the body? I cut mine up and am still worried about it being to heavy. how much more is it going to weight with the other motor?

 

[jallen9]

i'll keep the body because it'll be a DD too. The BMW diesel is fairly lightweight, but not exceptionally so. Just under 500 lbs, maybe? I'm not sure. the rover v8 is around 350, i think. I don't know if that's just the long block or with accessories, though.

 

[zukijames]

500 seems really light the reason the rover motor is only 350 ish is because its all aluminum and its a small v8.. my lexus 4.0 weighs like 460 and has aluminum heads..

 

[zukijames]

i think the rover 4.0(buick ) is a great power to weight ratio motor

 

[jallen9]

man i'm just not impressed with the rover v8. maybe if the gas mileage was better and I could get more power out of it. I think it's pretty much tapped out for increasing displacement, from what i read. I do like that it's a lightweight engine, though.

 

[sixstringsteve]

keep in mind that zukijames is used to driving a 1.6 4L

 

[jallen9]

hey, i feel his pain. i drove an '87 with the 1.3 for a few years. driving up slight inclines on the highway becomes an exercise in patience, and getting used to all the people flipping you off

 

[zukijames]

steve 1.6 my rear end.. it was a 1.3 with carb.. and over 200000 miles haha sold it to brandon williams for parts.. he called me and said are you sure this is the motor you were using? and it ran? are you sure lol

 

[jallen9]

o man that little 60 HP engine! brings back good memories. I liked my samurai.

 

[zukijames]

I love them but I really like the rover ha I think there a great platform.. Have you thought about a turbo

 

[zukijames]

I mean swap the motor and I'll take the old piece of junk off your hands