Fitting a BMW V8 in a Defender 90

I recently bought a 300tdi landy and find it's too slow (and sounds like a van).

I'm considering engine swaps and have been looking at a few sub-£4k bmw 740s.

Modern bmw 4.0 v8, auto gearbox - anyone already done it?

Anyone want to tell me why i shouldn't do it?

because i want a v8 diesel first! Jai

RJS said:

I recently bought a 300tdi landy and find it's too slow (and sounds like a van).

I'm considering engine swaps and have been looking at a few sub-£4k bmw 740s.

Modern bmw 4.0 v8, auto gearbox - anyone already done it?

Anyone want to tell me why i shouldn't do it?

Click to expand...

WASH YER MOUTH/KEYBOARD OUT WIV SOAP

BMW! :emps1: uke:
(as you can probably gather i hate beemers )

RJS said:

I recently bought a 300tdi landy and find it's too slow (and sounds like a van).

I'm considering engine swaps and have been looking at a few sub-£4k bmw 740s.

Modern bmw 4.0 v8, auto gearbox - anyone already done it?

Anyone want to tell me why i shouldn't do it?

Click to expand...

Sorry to break this to you but you have bought the wrong vehicle - you should just buy the BMW.

It doesn't sound like a van its too meaty.

But, yes it can be done.

because i want a v8 diesel first! Jai

jai_landrover said:

because i want a v8 diesel first! Jai

Click to expand...

is there a fookin echo in ere?!!

lol its me feckin phone again Jai

I hate Beamers too but got shouted at last time i said that.

I've heard of this conversion before on other LR forums. Apparently its not as daft as it sounds. The 4.0 BMW V8 gives nearly 300bhp, is meant to be very reliable and is cheap to buy secondhand via fleabay or breakers. Not sure what mods are needed to fit engine & autobox, but it's been done before so someone on the forum will know.

why not go the whole hog and fit the BMW V12?

Apparently the rangie which took the BMW V8 was desgned (electronics and such) to take either the V8 or the V12.


sound nice too

If I can fit a BMW M5 straight 6 in my 90 then i'm sure the v8 could be shoved in too!

Tig9619 said:

If I can fit a BMW M5 straight 6 in my 90 then i'm sure the v8 could be shoved in too!

Click to expand...

Did you buy a complete bmw and strip it for parts? How old is the engine, mileage? Did you have any problems with electrics?


Been looking on ebay at engines and there's some very interesting stuff out there. V12 from a DB9, £2000 for the daring?

In the dim and very distant past when I was young and too stupid to realise what I was doing I fitted a Jaguar V12 engine into a MK1 Ford escort. Apart from some reworking of the firewall it was relatively straight forward.
If you have the time and inclination you can do almost anything so long as it will physically fit.
I've seen a small block Chevy engine fitted into a mini. Rear wheel drive and the driver sat where the back seats would normally have been.
As a kid its what we used to do rather than play computer games.
But then again car insurance was much cheaper as was fuel and we did practical stuff at school such as metalwork and carpentry instead of "home economics" and fluffy stuff like my kids do these days.
My daughter cant even change a blown fuse let alone a flat tyre.
I'll get off my soap box now.

its a 1990 engine no idea of mileage. bought it on its own with loom and ecu.
was pretty easy to wire up to be honest, just a switched live to the ecu and coil, and one to the fuel pump and that was it running.
Later engines are a bit more complicated with the chios in the keys and imobilisers and stuff, but its easy enough to get your head around.