BRM replacement

I've got a 2006 Jetta TDI 5spd sedan with a BEW in it. I'm looking to swap it out for a BRM. I may have an engine available from the same car with a DSG. Does this present any issues?


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Are you sure it's a BEW that's in there now?

It's a BRM in there now, BEWs were only used in the MK4 cars.

Yes it's a BEW. The castings indicate so plus I went back to the previous owner an got a confession it came from a 04.


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I'd sure like to see some pictures of this.

diesen said:

Yes it's a BEW. The castings indicate so plus I went back to the previous owner an got a confession it came from a 04.


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Did the previous owner put a BEW into this car?

whitedog said:

Did the previous owner put a BEW into this car?

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Yes it was a write off with engine damage. A BEW was dropped in using the BRM intake, exhaust manifolds and crank sensor.


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Yeah, I need some pics, because a lot of this does not add up.

oilhammer said:

Yeah, I need some pics, because a lot of this does not add up.

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Sure, anything specific?

The engine in the car. Really wondering how they made the BRM's crank sensor work, as they would have had to cut a hole in the back end of the block for the connector to pass through.

oilhammer said:

The engine in the car. Really wondering how they made the BRM's crank sensor work, as they would have had to cut a hole in the back end of the block for the connector to pass through.

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Here's some pic's. Pic's 4 & 5 show the location of the crank sensors. Let me know if I'm wrong. The BEW sensor wire appears to be cut with the BRM sensor going through the block above it.





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That engine is a BRM.

No, it is a BEW that someone chopped a hole out of the back of the block to make clearance for the BRM's crank sensor/rear flange assembly, and it still clearly has the BEW's oil filter housing. They swapped the valve cover and intake (and I'm sure the turbocharger) over from the BRM though. Why someone would do that is puzzling. I wonder if they did not know the difference until AFTER it was already installed.

But the OP's right, you can see the BEW's crank sensor sitting in the block where it belongs, right next to the jagged hole in the cast iron they made.

That's impressive. Some guy who does a oil change on it is going to get seriously screwed up with the oil filter if he actually orders one for a BRM.

turbocharged798 said:

That's impressive. Some guy who does a oil change on it is going to get seriously screwed up with the oil filter if he actually orders one for a BRM.

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Lol that some guy was me the first time a did the service myself.


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Well, going back to your original question, I would think it would be easier to swap a BRM back in there rather than modifying another BEW block to fit...lol.

What is wrong with the BEW anyway?

oilhammer said:

No, it is a BEW that someone chopped a hole out of the back of the block to make clearance for the BRM's crank sensor/rear flange assembly, and it still clearly has the BEW's oil filter housing. They swapped the valve cover and intake (and I'm sure the turbocharger) over from the BRM though. Why someone would do that is puzzling. I wonder if they did not know the difference until AFTER it was already installed.



But the OP's right, you can see the BEW's crank sensor sitting in the block where it belongs, right next to the jagged hole in the cast iron they made.

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Yes it has a BRM turbo. I've R&R'd that myself. Interestingly I've owned this car for almost four years now. Part of the time it was not driven. Winters it was parked mostly because it had the wrong glow plugs in it. The part number specd for an ALH. I found this out just a few weeks ago. Now with the correct plugs it starts easy! Go figure. This process lead to more discovery about what's all under the hood and here we are with a somewhat working BEW in a BRM car. So back to my original question. Can I drop any BRM engine into this car? Does it matter if it comes out of a DSG or 5spd?


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Rembrant said:

Well, going back to your original question, I would think it would be easier to swap a BRM back in there rather than modifying another BEW block to fit...lol.



What is wrong with the BEW anyway?

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It's really hard to say. Excessive smoke on cold starts, excessive oil consumption, engine shake, over boosting resulting in limp mode. That's the short list. Needless to say I'm having a hard time getting any trouble shooting done around here likely due to the mismatch of parts.


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oilhammer said:

No, it is a BEW that someone chopped a hole out of the back of the block to make clearance for the BRM's crank sensor/rear flange assembly, and it still clearly has the BEW's oil filter housing. They swapped the valve cover and intake (and I'm sure the turbocharger) over from the BRM though. Why someone would do that is puzzling. I wonder if they did not know the difference until AFTER it was already installed.

But the OP's right, you can see the BEW's crank sensor sitting in the block where it belongs, right next to the jagged hole in the cast iron they made.

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Sorry, I do stand corrected. The block with the glowplug harness, position of the alternator, tandem pump, and the valve cover, all look the same as the BRM.

Valve cover for sure is not the same. Can't be, because the oil cap is on a different end, and the BRM's vacuum reservoir is inside the top of the valve cover. Hence that big raised squarish section.

It looks like the swapped over just the stuff they absolutely needed to. The cam sprocket would be from the BRM as well, as that is also different.

The BEW and BRM share virtually nothing aside from the timing belt, timing belt tensioner, and idler pulley. Crank sprocket, cam sprocket, water pump, block, crank, head, cam, injectors, intake, turbo, valve cover, oil pump, oil filter housing... the list goes on and on, are all different.

diesen said:

Yes it has a BRM turbo. I've R&R'd that myself. Interestingly I've owned this car for almost four years now. Part of the time it was not driven. Winters it was parked mostly because it had the wrong glow plugs in it. The part number specd for an ALH. I found this out just a few weeks ago. Now with the correct plugs it starts easy! Go figure. This process lead to more discovery about what's all under the hood and here we are with a somewhat working BEW in a BRM car. So back to my original question. Can I drop any BRM engine into this car? Does it matter if it comes out of a DSG or 5spd?


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It doesnt matter if it comes out of a stick or auto. The exception to this is the transmission harness, I dont remember if this is separate from the engine harness, so that piece would need to match.

You mentioned that you had a friend with a motor? The BRMs still command a decent amount of money (1K USD and up). If I was in your situation, I would look around for a whole car that is wrecked, that you can swap what you need and sell the balance to recoup some of your cost. (Thinking the trans - etc) A wrecked car wont be much more than the retail cost of an engine. Only difference is that you would inherit the risk on the motor versus having a minimal warranty from a bone yard.