bam engine conversion vs other engine conversions

[stuosb 0]

i am thinking about putting a bam engine in my rado but someone at a meet advised me otherwise saying the bottom end always goes and that i was much better off putting a Seat Coupra R engine in.

 

what is the best engine for the swap, what are the advantages of the Coupra or the disadvantages?

 

would anyone recomend a different engine. ultimately i want to push 260ps

 

thanks

[Kevin Bacon 5]

BAM and Cupra R are the same engine mechanically.

 

AGU is the early 1.8T engine and the weakest, but has the best head.

 

It's not just the bottom end that is weak (standard 16v rods) but also the head as the valves have a nasty habit of dropping.

 

Con rods bend easily if you put a big turbo on without uprating the manifold.

 

Personally I would run it standard, or if you want more power, uprate it mechanically. Stronger rods, forged pistons and 1 piece valves.

[Crasher 3]

The Cupra R used the BAM engine from 2004 to 2005. I have never had any more problems with them than other 1.8T's unless thay are taken over 300PS.

[dr_mat 0]

Wossup with an R32 conversion.. ? :)

[cardboard 0]

so really as long as ur staying around the 260ps u wont have issues with either engine?

 

is r32 an easy enuf conversion?

 

pros, cons please

[Crasher 3]

Up to 280ish PS is fine. the 3.2 24v V^ is a lovely engine but rarer than a 225 1.8T, much more difficult to install, bl00dy heavy and they drink like a fish. PS per Kg is less than the 1.8T but they have a much more pleasing sound. It is entirely your choice but I would go for a 1.8T rebuilt to 2.0 using an AGU head fitted with the VVT unit and running a Motec M400 ECU with drive by wire throttle. That would give a solid 280PS and lots of torque for lower weight and good fuel consumption.

[antonio_b12 0]

The Bam has a lower compression ratio, which is useful if you wana up the boost, with out stressing the engine too much... But 1.8T's seems to be reliable...

 

http://www.qpeng.com/faqs/engine_faqs/all_these_engine_codes_can_you_explain_what_they_mean.html

 

But depends on what you wana do in the future, and if your on a budget... hence i personally would go for 150bhp model, and rebuild the bottom from scratch and wack a t3/t4 turbo on it, but thats just me and pie in the sky money :lol:

[yorkshireone 0]

theres a company i contacted on Ebay who are selling 2007 R32 engines for £2000

[ben16v 0]

samg60 is running a BAM with 300bhp and 300lb ft

[KADVR6 0]

a mate did a bam conversion on he's corrado about 2 months ago, it had a "safe re-map" it was running 240bhp but 310lb. it was bloody fast :) i allways thought of the 1.8T's as having no character/soul, but after going out for a very very spirited ride, i take it all back, i was very impressed, and that does not happen every day :)

 

karl

[Kevin Bacon 5]

240hp with 310lb/ft? Sounds like a massive boost spike to me. Shoddy mapping.

[neil20vtc 0]

i have a bam engine in my corrado running about 290 bhp had it done for a year now and not really had any problems(coilpacks) as kadvr6 said a lot of people say they are soul less but i find mine anything but that and think its great

[Stan 24v 0]

Ive got a 4motion 2.8 24v (same as R32 but smaller) and its not a hugely difficult job providing youre starting with a VR. If youre starting with a valver or G60 then the 1.8T is the easiest option.

[samg60 0]

despite everyone saying that all 20v engines are the same, the BAM engines apparently have a stronger water jacket and better webbing, I cannot confirm this but it all makes sense if you were VW.

havent had any problems with mine at 300lbft (rememeber its the torque that kills the rods)

Bang for buck these are great engines but if you want to get big power 350hp and above then rods, etc need changing and also getting some better valves that can take higher Rpm is a good idea.

[Crasher 3]

The Bam has a lower compression ratio, which is useful if you wana up the boost, with out stressing the engine too much... But 1.8T's seems to be reliable...

 

That data is wrong, acording to ELSA the BAM has a 9.5:1 compression like all the others.

[samg60 0]

hmm not sure whats going on here but all the rest of the interweb seems to indicate taht the BAM engines are definatley lower compression, so somthing is wrong somewhere. however just looked at a printout of Elsa and only the apx and amu seem to have a lower compression ratio also just read that the BAM negines and AMK have extra water pump to cool the turbo .. mine defo has this electric pump but dont know whether its on all 20v engines.

 

also 20mm wristpins rather than 19mm which helps with the strength

 

see here for some more info

 

http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread ... 368&page=3

[Crasher 3]

APX is also 9.5:1

[Dr_Redz 0]

Very strange..

 

All these scare stories about 20v's and I have never had one problem apart from the odd coil pack going.. my AGU has been running a Jabba IHI kit for the last 3 years on a stock engine. Allot of my friends have the same setup, I agree the r32 conversion is beauty sounds sexy, goes well as standard lump with near on 300 N/A bhp with a decent ecu zorts /induction sorted and with rotrex bolted from Storm developments its a animal, but for cost affected light weight well balance setup the 20vt ticks all the boxes for a fwd car its more than fast enough, I don't think a cars character should just be based on the what engine it has. ..IMHO

[stuosb 0]

cheers guys. realistically what kind of costs are incurred if i stick a bam in a decent valver then and keep it below 300ps

[Crasher 3]

There are too many variables to give an idea of cost such as how much the donor engine costs, which ECU you use, if you want to get the DBW throttle and VVT system, who does the work, how well you want it done etc etc.

[MK1Campaign 0]

Id say your looking at £4-5k all day long for a decent job/spec

[Crasher 3]

When a Motec ECU (if you want DBW) costs over £3K!

[_leon_ 0]

what do the DBW and Motec add exactly?

[Crasher 3]

Drive By Wire throttle gives many advantages (and also more work) and Motec (the M400 in this case) make the best ECU's money can buy at our level.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

DBW - It's good if it's mapped properly, i.e. not how VW map it to open 60% with 3mm of pedal deflection at low rpms.

 

MoTeC - It's a classic case of the Emperors new clothes. They make some good kit but not necessarily the 'best'. There are only so many ways you can map sparks and fuel, the rest is just window dressing.

The £150 Innovate LC-1 gives the same Wideband readings from the same exhaust fumes as the £900 MoTeC PLM, so why would you want to spend £750 extra?

Same with the ECUs. DTA S60 and S80 can do DBW, VVT and all the other features you could want for less than £900 in the case of the S80, so why spend £2,500 on an M400?

It's not like the M400 will give you £1600 worth of extra hp over the S80 is it? You still need the experience and skill to map it, which is priceless, but not rocket science.