Postby Mogas » Thu May 24, 2007 5:02 pm
Bennie, a friend of mine bought a 2nd hand BB with the older BMW R100 engine fitted. A long story but all I can say is we had many overheating problems with that installation.
I believe the Beamer would have been ok in free air, despite many attempts at various baffle modifications in the cowling we just could not get it to run cool enough.
Then he decided to fit a 50hp 2 stroke, performance was marginal at best with our density altitude. The engine operated at the top end of the available power just to maintain a 50mph cruise. 3 engine outs later and the current situation is the BB is undergoing some serious airframe repairs.
I believe the newer generation BM engines have a lot of potential but cooling inside a cowling will always be a challenge.
The cheapest proven option is the 582 Rotax.
Nottaquitta