Swedish Barra-swapped BMW 2002

Jonas Andersson’s little Bimmer packs a big Barra punch

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UPDATE:

Jonas Andersson’s Barra-swapped BMW 2002 is not only up and running, but is currently competing in Sweden’s Street Week!

Street Week runs over six days at five tracks, with over 1000km of drive time. And for added difficulty, all tracks are no-prep!

At Bråvalla Raceway, the 2002 ran a 5.53-second pass over the eighth. With minimal trim and bullhorn exhaust, the BMW looks like a hectic drive, but so far so good!

THE STORY TO HERE:

The current #Barrage swap craze has got some serious momentum behind it. We’re seeing Barra-swapped Holdens, the Barra-powered Mighty Car Mods Toyota Cresta taking on Drag Week in the US, and even Skylines running our locally developed Ford inline six.

 As a result, they’ve been getting recognised internationally, with some Barras making the journey across the ditch to the US to go into Mustangs. But we never thought they’d make it all the way over to Sweden.

 When Swedish car builder Jonas Andersson decided the M50 engine in his BMW 2002 wasn’t cutting the mustard anymore, he decided to go a very different route to those around him to find a replacement donk. A member of Jonas’s SkogenRacing drag racing crew told him about the Barra and how capable it is, and from then on Jonas had his heart set on one.

 He had an engine shipped from Australia to be shoehorned into the front of his little BMW, with plans of over 1000hp on the menu. The old M50 set-up was good for a 9.22 over the quarter-mile, so a Barra should see Jonas achieve his goal of low eights.

 The little Bimmer’s Barra is running a BorgWarner S475 with a pretty unique custom exhaust manifold, a TH400 three-speed automatic transmission, and the tyres on the back suggest there must be some serious tub action going on in the rear. The pictures point to the engine originally being a naturally aspirated block as opposed to a factory turbo unit, but that shouldn’t stop it making some serious power. Talking to the engine is an ECUMaster EMU ECU from GZ Racing.

 This wheelie-popping dragster shows just how diverse the use of a Barra can be, and how the engine’s mammoth power potential is increasingly being recognised worldwide. It’s just a shame we don’t make them anymore.

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