What stops other engines from being swapped into an MX3?

[ettie]

Hi mx3'ers. I was wondering why the modern mazda3 2.5 liter 4cyl, or the miata 1.8 from the NB model line won't swap into the mx3? Is it something that a fab shop could shoehorn in? My wife's first car was an mx3 and she misses it, but I'd like to drop in a more powerful engine that's still in production or very easy to find parts (new and used) for, if I end up buying her another one.

Something like the mazdaspeed3 turbo 4 would be fantastic....


*mops up drool*

Anyway. Is there a reason that other swaps won't work? Clearance maybe? I know nothing, but learn quick. If someone could drop some knowledge on me I'd appreciate it.

[Savin]

Most 4-cyl or V6 would fit in the bay. It is a rather decent size. The things that stop people from doing different swaps are: time, money, and skill (fabrication).

The 1.8L from the NB will fit since its still a BP. I think the head design is different for the intake ports and the FWD intakes won't bolt up or something like that. Someone with more knowledge will probably chime in with more info. It would still need converted to FWD setup vs RWD (different brackets and such I believe).

[Nd4SpdSe]

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=53290&hilit=non+conventional

Short answer, most people can barely afford to do an affordable KL/BP swap, last I checked, which was a few years ago, the DISI MZR Turbo was about $2500 for the motor, trans, harness and ECU alone. Most people don't even pay that for their Mx-3, and that's what they can afford, with the exception of some Mx-3 enthousiasts of course. Than add the fabrication and the custom parts to make it work. Oh it's a long, long list.

Oh, and if you think it'll be easier to service because it's a newer motor, you forget how hard it'll be to service the custom parts that you just can't get off the shelf. The K and B series may not be new, but at least in the Mx-3, you can get what you need off the shelf or at the wreckers.

[RS_OBD'oh_2]

keep in mind that you will need to rewire everything. The ECU's won't match, guages will have to changed. You'll be moving from a cable driven throttle to a drive by wire. Custom drive train, suspension maybe... There are thousands of reasons to not do a modern swap. And thousands of dollars.

I would love to flame you for even asking, as this is the most basic of understanding. Not this time tho.

[Mooneggs]

Have you driven an mx-3 with a klze?? In the world of swaps this is one of the easiest and parts are easy to find as the kl platform was available in quite a few cars... If you have a 4 cyl, why not drop in a bp turbo? This would give you more than enough power...

[wytbishop]

Anything can be done with money and skill. The key to remember is that everything that connects the engine to the car would have to be custom made. The second issue would be locating a donor MZR turbo. A 2.5L is going for $1800 on EBAY. A clean wrecked mazdaspeed 3 is a rare item. The engine and tranny would go for something like $4k I'm guessing.

You're talking about a $8-10k proposition.

Whereas a BP-T will plug right in for $2000.

[Josh]

It would be fun, the only issue I would see with this swap would be the engine height. we dont have a lot of clearance there, so i would take measurements first to make sure. But other wise it would be fairly easy.

The biggest obstacle besides custom motor mounts would be the axles. would have to be custom length.

The simplicity of the MX wiring would make the wiring fairly easy with a 3 gauge cluster.