Earwig 89 Posted May 20, 2012 Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 Been talking to Tony about doing an R32 conversion for me but I need to start looking at what bits I will need to make this happen.Hopefully there will be some people here that would be able to steer me in the right direction.I have been told that a MK4 engine is far easier to work with and you can also get more power from it by simply remapping whereas the MK5 engine is far more difficult to tune this way ?I have also been offered a MK4 R32 engine for £800 but it's just the bare block and head. It's a test engine from VW and has never been in a car and hence has no miles on it.Would it be worth getting something like this ? And then trying to put all the other bits together for it ? or would that work out pretty pricey ?In which case it would be a better option to get a complete engine with all ancilleries... ?Also what ECU should I use or look at getting. Heard many good things about Emerald ? And by using this and a MK4 engine I have been told that around 300bhp is achievable ?I have next to no technical knowledge about this sort of thing so please keep answers simple so that even an idiot like me can try and understand Thanks for any help...Mark. Link to post Share on other sites
bungy 2 Posted May 20, 2012 Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 Definitely worth getting a mk4 over a mk5 and I was be cautious about getting a test engine and probably not worth getting without ancillaries. Probably worth getting the whole thing and going from there. Why do you need Emerald and not standard ecu? Link to post Share on other sites
Earwig 89 Posted May 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 Apparently Emaerald is the best ecu to go for ? Easy to map etc...I take it you think the standard one would be as good ? Or not much in it ?Just going from what I have heard so don't really have anything to back it up with...I was also thinking the same about the test engine... I have seen a few engines, complete with around 40k on them for £1200 which doesn't seem to bad. BUB code I think. Does it make much difference which engine code I look for ?Also what about a Loom ? I believe you can get custom plug and play looms now ? Link to post Share on other sites
michael5556 247 Posted May 20, 2012 Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 I would agree with what has been said above. Get one from a car with standard loom and ecu, keys, makes it all easier. And as for the emerald, the standard ecu is fine unless you want too mega tune it. If you insist on going stand alone then emerald is the way to go. Link to post Share on other sites
craggsy 91 Posted May 20, 2012 Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 BUB is a mk5 engine and you will need to swap fuel rails around. As has been said get a mk4 engine BFH with all the loom etc as its 100 times easier.The standard ECU is ery tunable indeed so standalone is money wasted in my eyes. Any decnt tuner can map a ME7.1 ECU.You will need to get the mk3 and mk4 looms spliced together I do beleive Link to post Share on other sites
cabrioman 6 Posted May 20, 2012 Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 just check out Absy http://www.vr6oc.com/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?386380 thread as he done and it very good read it all and give you a list of parts and jobs that need to be done ...... Link to post Share on other sites
VIW28 29 Posted May 20, 2012 Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 Why des everyone overlook the 2.8 24v BDE 4 motion which is essentially the same bar slight difference in head and cylinder bore? You can buy a whole car for what it takes to buy what you need for an R32 setup plus have all the parts to sell that you don't use to leave you a potential free conversion! I know as I have done this twice this year already Link to post Share on other sites
cabrioman 6 Posted May 20, 2012 Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 there is that i got a 2000 reg 4 mo for £1300 to do my 4 mo convert ..... not a bad way to go as you say got everything there almost ready to go !!! only down side is it not a 3.2 but can have it mappped ??!! Link to post Share on other sites
Earwig 89 Posted May 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 I here what your saying guys, but for me it has to be the 32... Once it's in the bay will be fully smoothed and I will hopefully be happy again.... :-)Been looking though Absy's thread and I am wondering how much will be relevant ? Since he is using the MK5 engine. Would I still need to collect all the things that he has ? I doubt I would need much of what he bought if using the MK4 engine... Link to post Share on other sites
VIW28 29 Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 If you're that struck on a 3.2 then still buy a 4 motion and swap the head for a R32 one, that way the inlet manifold etc will be R32 and no one will ever know the difference! Just makes more else financially but if that's not your concern then stick to your plan! Also, just to reiTerate what's already been said, don't waste money on standalone, factory management is far better suited to these setups. Get your looms hybrided up and immo defeat etc done. Link to post Share on other sites
Earwig 89 Posted May 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Had a think about your idea, but have decided if I am going to do it I am going to go the whole hog with it. So i will go with a proper full R32 engine.Factory management seems to be getting a lot of praise here and that looks like an area I cold save a few £££ by using ! Why do people use the standalone if the factory is good enough ? What are the benefits of each way of doing things ?Also with regards to using a MK4 or MK5 engine, is it literally just the hassle of changing over the fuel rails and a couple of other small bits to get it to work ? Or is the ecu etc more difficult to work with ? My reason is that MK5 engines are easier to source it seems than the MK4 and will certainly have less miles on them.Mark. Link to post Share on other sites
craggsy 91 Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Use either engine it makes no difference really. Just need to source a few extra parts like fuel rail etc. Im sure Absys thread lists it all.Hardest bit will be getting the loom made up. I know United Motorsports can do it.Standalone just gives you a lot more scope for tuning things. But to me it sounds like you just want the standard engine plonking in, but even if you want cams, chargers, turbos etc the standard ECU will do the job for ya and keep it more OEM Link to post Share on other sites
UnitedMotorsport 55 Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Factory management seems to be getting a lot of praise here and that looks like an area I cold save a few £££ by using ! Why do people use the standalone if the factory is good enough ? What are the benefits of each way of doing things ?The factory ECU has much more functionality than any stand alone on the market. People use standalone because some of them aren't good with working out the factory wiring' date=' others like to be able to "tune" the ECU them selves.Also with regards to using a MK4 or MK5 engine, is it literally just the hassle of changing over the fuel rails and a couple of other small bits to get it to work ? Or is the ecu etc more difficult to work with ? My reason is that MK5 engines are easier to source it seems than the MK4 and will certainly have less miles on them.I think you are getting confused here, If you are going to fit a MK5 engine complete with MK5 ECU then there is no need to change anything on the engine.The MK5 ECU is an update of that of the MK4 with the implentation of CAN-bus. This is something that the older era of cars do not have and it makes it a great deal harder to integrate the ECU into the car. To the point that using the MK5 ECU is a waste of time and effort.The MK4 ECU is by far the easiest ECU to integrate into the older era of cars.The MK4 and MK5 engines use a different fuel rail (MK4 having a return type system and the MK5 being returnless)So when people fit the MK5 engine they generally use the MK4 ECU, therefore they need to change the fuel rail. Incidentaly every car before the MK5 runs a return type fuel system, another good reason to do things this way...The easiest way for you to do this conversion is use everything MK4 including the ECU. Link to post Share on other sites
Earwig 89 Posted May 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2012 Some awesome advice here guys, really appreciate it !So from what I can gather from this info is that all MK4 stuff is the easiest option, but.... If I cannot find a suitable MK4 engine then I can use the MK5 engine, change the fuel rail and find a MK4 ECU and that can be made to work ? I think that would be the most likely route as most of the engines I have seen lately have all been the BUB code. I have only seen 2 MK4 engines, one with a knocking bottom end and the other with 120k on it...Which leads me back to my original idea of that VW Test engine.... That is a MK4 engine and has never been fitted to a car. From what I understand it doesn't come with anything that would normally be associated with an engine out of a car so is likely just the block and the head.What would a test engine likely have gone through ? Stress tests etc... ?I will try and find a little more info about it and exactly what is available. This would likely be my only route to a full MK4 system.Also with the LOOM I take it you would need the LOOM from the VR and also the R32 and you combine them both ? What would the turn around time be on that ? Link to post Share on other sites
Earwig 89 Posted May 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 Engine is as I thought, just a bare block and head so I will be on the lookout over the coming months for an engine complete with ancilleries and loom... Link to post Share on other sites
cabrioman 6 Posted May 25, 2012 Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 could you not buy a written off R32 and use that then sell on the bit not need ??? Link to post Share on other sites
Earwig 89 Posted May 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 Yeah I cpould certainly look at doing something like that. Depends how much money I have over the next few months I guess. . . .If you are still up for this tony, how would you want to do it ? me to drop the car off to you ? You come up here and do it ? Just thinking with regards to getting all the bits, like what do I do with the engine or smashed R32 etc.... ? Deliver them to somewhere around you ? Get them to my house in the garage, then get them to you ? It would be a lot of stuff to be moving around... hehe. Link to post Share on other sites
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