bmwe21.net forums

I have a question, as subject says:

When an engine swap is completed, should this be declared somewhere in order for the car to use the roads legally?
And what engines are allowed for the project to be acceptable from the laws, or ministry of transport etc.?
In Greece, for example, if one wants to be legal, engine swaps are allowed,afaik, only with engines that were being fitted at the specific model, or, if the engine comes from another model or car, then it has to be no more than +25% in horsepower and no more than +25% in size !!
Otherwise it has to pass from a comitee in order to be decided if the transplant was done ok and it is safe to be driven on greek roads and this means that you 'll never pass if you don't give these guys a gooood tip.....apart from some fines you have got to pay anyway to the state...
Not sure of the above, if some greeks in here know something else let us know, but I think the story is almost like this...

Which weirdly means that It is not legal to fit an M52 2.8 Engine, which woul keep my car a bmw, but I could legally fit a Mazda Rx8 engine.....

Very good question!
Over here in good old Blighty the matter has at last gathered some headlines!
The rules for engine modifications are looser in UK than in many other Eorpean countries- but alas the Euro Bureaucrats want to change this it seems

Mind you you have probabaly had enough of those faceless Euro Beauro -crats over there in Greece??

See below:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... rules.html
If you live in UK - please make representations to your MPs (if you are worried about the dead hand of EU bureaucracy outlawing our hobby!)?

We have real funny legislation. For the Dutch APK or MOT there aren't many requirements, but the same authorities do state the engine type cannot be changed from what it was originally and output through tuning of the existing engine should not increase output by more than 40%. Otherwise the car needs to be checked by the authorities again.

There you have several possibilities:
- the same setup is a relatively simple mod and it has been done before... then they have this documented and based on previous issues you can have the modalities of your car altered pretty easily and cheap
- the chosen setup is combined with other changes (putting 325i engine in E30 316i also means the rear brakes need to be converted to discs), in most cases they do not have all the required info and things are overlooked so this may be another lucky escape
- the chosen setup was never tested before meaning it has to be tested extensively for effects on safety, handling, brakes, environment, etc before a new approval can be given, this is more costly (EUR 1250 I believe) and takes more time

Not complying then doesn't necessarily mean you won't get a MOT on your car, but...

- deviations can be reason to declare your insurance invalid as you're driving a different/modified vehicle compared to what you've insured, or a vehicle that does not meet all regulations to be road legal (APK/MOT only checks on a few points)
- national authorities may hold you responsible for anything that happens in traffic that may or may not be related to your modifications to the car

So you can pretty much drive with many modifications, but you run a relatively high risk if you're ever being stopped or involved in an accident, even if you're not the one who caused it