How much would be a fair price for a good condition complete LCR BAM engine, injectors, fuel pump (basically everything needed to go straight in to the octy engine bay to make it run) i have seen similar for sale on ebay for £1500 but that seems a bit steep given that you can often buy the full car for that.

Also what would be a rough estimate for fitting such an engine to a octy vrs?

is it a day of a job for a competent mechanic or would it be much more?

i know these are only going to be ball park figs but if i have an idea i can then decide whether i am better spending money cheering up the AUQ motor with chips, air filters to take it up to stage 2 and the like or whether it is cheaper just to put in the BAM engine and run it largely standard?

your advice please

many thanks

Lee

Ben and the guys at Shark probably have a few opinions, he/they (not sure who's actually been involved other than Ben) have done this very conversion on Ben's race Octavia. You might get an answer from them in their sponsors section on here

i have seen similar for sale on ebay for £1500 but that seems a bit steep given that you can often buy the full car for that.

Unless it's a write off or something I can't see you getting a (working) LCR for less than 3 grand.

Unless it's a write off or something I can't see you getting a (working) LCR for less than 3 grand.

no you are right, the car is a write off but it seems strange that the engine alone is about £1,500 but also the full car is about the same, so it looks like you buy the engine and get the rest almost free

Ben brought his track car off trevorB33 who did the bam conversion. I agree with the above, unless it's fooked you'll be paying £3k

bans car was already converted by trevor b there is a link somewhere

Have you tried looking for old Audi S3's and TTs as well (although they will probably be around the same price or more)

You might be better off trying to get the individual bits here and there e.g. buy the engine on it's own then buy a K04 turbo and downpipe from a Cupra owner who's doing a big turbo conversion etc.

Ben brought his track car off trevorB33 who did the bam conversion. I agree with the above, unless it's fooked you'll be paying £3k

bans car was already converted by trevor b there is a link somewhere

Ah, I stand corrected, could have sworn I'd read that he did the conversion after buying the Octy.

S3s still go for a mad price premium (at least working ones do, I looked about 9 months back and people were still looking for £5-6k for early ones!) and would probably be older engines, the S3 started from 2000, the LCR didn't come out until 52 plates (so late 02). And the Mk1 LCR was available up to an 06 plate whereas the Mk1 S3 was out of production by 03? Granted, buying an 06 plate LCR in working state will be expensive, but if you can find a written off one then there's much less of a premium IMO.

Don't forget early ones are 210bhp not 225bhp like later ones.

They map to virtually the same though, there's no major differences in the crossover between the engines (not like the Leon where the facelift Cupra had a different turbo, different/no VVT, etc). I think it's actually 210bhp vs 222bhp anyway, the 225 was reportedly a PS figure so very slightly higher. 12bhp is not far off "margin of error" territory for most dynos, I certainly had a 10bhp variance in readings on my old TDI.

You will pay a fair bit to have a mechanic swap an engine and get it running especially as its not direct like for like, and if you are doing yourself it is a fair job. Taking out is easy, I took a 20vt engine out recently in an hour or so, with the right kit (hoist etc), and the front end was mostly stripped off already, its getting the bam engine in and working properly that will take a bit longer, of course you will need to sort, downpipe and exhaust accordingly on top, so your 1.5k is going to be more like 3k by the time you have paid someone to fit it, buy/make/modify wiring and exhaust to fit.

If you can do it yourself in your own time then sure, its a good idea, its what i would do however....3k buys a hybrid turbo or ko4 setup and a custom map and gives a lot of change, depends what you want i guess at the end.

Not many octavias run 300bhp plus on here, and those that do are not generally reliable, ask the members who have big turbo setups how much they have spent, my feelings would be the easy route, fit a hybrid, map it accordingly and uprate the other parts to go with (hybrid realistically will be about 280ish which is within the auq threshold and is not asking too much of the engine if you look after it), then if the engine blows just buy another auq block and swap your bits over, that will cost a lot less than a bam engine, as have seen a shortblock with head go for as little as 150 on the forums.

Don't forget early ones are 210bhp not 225bhp like later ones.

As gac states, the early Leon Cupra (none badged R)is same spec as VRS 180 BHP with K03s turbo. A lot of folks get mixed up when talking about those and yes can get those from £1500 working. Big difference when you start looking at the K04 turbo'd LCR's.

The 210 and 225 LCR are basically mapped differently, as is the 210 and 225 Audi S3's.

I would go Hybrid K03s as BAM engine's are expensive because they are rare and are snapped up quick to do the conversions in Golfs, Skoda's etc

Why not just put a set of decent pistons in your engine and drop compression to as isnt that only difference in engines themselves

Why not just put a set of decent pistons in your engine and drop compression to as isnt that only difference in engines themselves

indeed...another much cheaper way!

Still i think factoring in the costs of doing that engine work then compare it to not uprating at all, but that your engine wont last as long, then when it does go (if it ever does, which under 300bhp means if driven carefully it will probably be ok for a long while anyway) go buy a new engine and swap it out as 20vt engines are cheap nowdays, it will cost you a lot less!

I've heard standard bam engines need up rated piston etc after 300bhp if there to stay reliable so why bother? :wonder:

I've heard standard bam engines need up rated piston etc after 300bhp if there to stay reliable so why bother? :wonder:

no the standard bam and associated k04 turboed engines, have uprated rods so can handle over 300 and are a good base for tuning

Maybe the OP just wants to run it at a reliable 260bhp with a FMIC, exhaust and map.

to be fair on any 1.8t over 300bhp you into the unknown with the rods !!!!

Maybe the OP just wants to run it at a reliable 260bhp with a FMIC, exhaust and map.

indeed, so no point uprating engine for 260, its overkill

for a reliable 260bhp just do the following

put a k04-001 + front mount+ decat pipe +map = job done

The only things to survive a nuclear holocaust.... cockroaches and.... Pauter con rods (quote campervan crisis, discovery channel)

to be fair on any 1.8t over 300bhp you into the unknown with the rods !!!!

Seem to remember your current one bent a rod at some stage, those were some nasty pictures!

as far as i can remember we only extended one lambda probe and the inlet temp sensor wiring, as long as its a drive by wire 1.8t already in there the looms basically the same, there are temp sensors on the turbo on the k04's bam, but that can be ignored when mapped as the loom wont be there anyway, only run into problems using the lcr ecu as it was looking for the temp sensor causing it to run rich high up the rev range. but if you get the octy ecu mapped to suit it shouldnt be a prob

for a reliable 260bhp just do the following

put a k04-001 + front mount+ decat pipe +map = job done

so a backdraft turbo for £699 - what about an uprated side mount? (there is one for sale on here for what looks like cheap money) and a 3" exhaust and a map is all that is required?

would i not need a better fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator and injectors or is the original octy stuff up to the job?

Injectors: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SEAT-GOLF-MK4-AUM-AUQ-BAM-1-8T-20V-TURBO-K04-INJECTORS-/120840425866?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item1c22a6918a#ht_1299wt_1344

FPR: http://www.awesome-gti.co.uk/product.php?xProd=27525

Fuel pump: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/audi-s3-2002-fuel-pump-/250969330658?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3a6ef013e2#ht_500wt_1127