Are you referring to your car? Post some pics!!! I almost bought one of these cars this past summer. I ended up getting an E36 instead. this is the car I was looking at. GR
I know. That's why it's a "want" but not a "will do" kind of thing. S38 is a dream... but not for the poor man. Nah. Ditching the M30 idea. Agreed. Quite a bit of custom work though, and would only add to my labor costs and part costs. I have no idea what Sunbelt cams are. lol Uh, is everyone blind? Am I the only one who thinks that huge front spoiler doesn't look right on an E30 without at least side skirts and a proper rear bumper? Chris thinks I should get it, but I want something for the sides and the rear if I'm going to get the front. I think the front would look too huge and too busy compared to the rest of the body... Euro bumpers? Join the friggin' club... I don't want to go through the Germany import thing again... a set of wheels was enough to go through it for... But my God would I love to have a set of Euro bumpers, even if they are chrome. Or, at the very least, be able to fit the plastic bumpers and have it look right (I heard some of these have gaps if you try to install them on early cars?)...
Not really. The Sunbelt cams require a scary high rev limit to make power, and without cutting pockets in the pistons (and you don't want to do that) you will be only a couple hundred revs from hitting the valves. From what I have been told, they are not exactly worth it, even for the track.
If you're going to track the car or auto-x, the tabs will eventually stress-crack, may take a little while though. I had someone weld a reinforcement to the tab and the control arm. Botond - I imagine these guys could set you up w/ a stock M20, but yes, I'd think whatever they have to charge would be a sizeable chunk of the cost of an M50 conversion. They advertise in the Roundel. http://www.bavengine.com/
Unless that M20 is brand spankin' new, I'm not putting one in here. It would be a huge waste of money for me to go from an M20 to... well, an M20. As though a brand new M20 still exists...
Botond, this is what you should do. Get a M50. S50 is as overrated as Tony Romo. Ok, I went too far but since you are concerned about the price of an S50, just get its little sibling-the M50. True, a M20 would be pointless unless you are strapped with cash with the sport seats purchase in which case you would get the non eta M20 (167 hp stock I believe) with ultra low miles. However, finding a very low mileage non eta M20 could be very hard and could be almost as much as a used M50. Moosehead would know if your current 5-speed could mate to a M50. And yes, please get the front bumper. I told you over the phone some great deals on Ebay. My E28 doesn't have side skirts nor a rear apron but the front bumper on it fits right at home since the car is lowered. Your E30 is lowered too so the front bumper will give it a nice facelift
Grant, no I'd love to have a '92 cabbie, just an '88 Bronzit here. I'd love to eventually add another E30 to the stable to build a nice, quiet torquey street car out of, and turn the Bronzit a little more hardcore than it already is. Same here. I figured even if I just went M50 that's still going to be a nice increase over a sick M20. ~30 more peak, better torque and freer revving engine. Although I really want an OBD-I S52. Moose, even the Sunbelt sport cams? I thought there were race and sport cams? What about Schricks then?
Schricks are great, but pricey. I'll ask my brother what he would use. Or, hell, ask him yourself. Just punch up roadracetech.com and email them. Oh, and will the M50 bolt to the M20 trans? The answer is kinda, but not without mods, and it would be at a different angle than stock, so you would have to mod the mounts, shift support, and shifter arm components. It will bolt to an M42 trans, though, for all you 318 owners. Not sure I can stress this enough: Don't do a swap unless you have the money (and time) to throw at it. You will need more parts than you think, and unless you can do the work yourself, the labor will cost more than the estimate. If you can do it yourself, it will take longer than you think. Just a heads up.
Just send Botond step-by-step instructions so he and I can tackle it. But seriously he will be at your house for a weekend come spring/summer time. We did happen to meet a guy with a E30 M3 with a S50 and he mentioned to Botond that he would do a M50/S50 swap for $1500 but he would rather have you do it since you have the experience/knowledge and know what to do if things get a bit whacky.
Not a bad deal, but you still need to provide all the parts. Better start collecting now (or buy a whole wrecked 325/328/M3.) P.S. Did you say "wacky?"
Yup, there is a guy on R3V who is making the a modified trans crossmember so you can use your stock E30 mounts, and the shifter components for a reasonable price. I figure then once I get a motor I'd reseal it (front and rear main seals, oil pump gasket??, oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, intake mani gasket etc) replace the vacuum lines, thermostat and WB, new belt and underdrive pulleys. And whether I get an M50 or M52, I'd like to be able to go ahead and throw in the appropriate S5x cams (depending on motor of course) and a stage 1 dr Vanos unit. But the cams, injectors and software, etc, may have to wait!
If you have an engine stand, might as well check the bearings while you have the pan off. It is a trivial thing to do and they can be replaced without pulling the motor apart. Chances are you'd have to remove the pan anyway to swap to an E34 pan and pickup tube. There is no pump gasket, as far as I can tell, only the suction tube gasket, which you would replace when you swapped over. Everything you listed I would do. If I had the money, though, I'd just buy the upper and lower gasket sets and go ahead and reseal absolutely everything including head gasket. I just remembered, BTW, that there is something with the coolant pipe that comes out of the back of the timing cover. Some of them have a little pipe nipple and some have a hole to put a pipe in that seals with an O ring (or something like that.) Make sure you get what you need there, because trying to rig something up at the last minute when you have to drive your car 120 miles as soon as you are finished is not fun (a friend's car that we did an S50 into 525i swap.)
Correction, he has an S52 and converted to OBD-I. I completely forgot about all the parts that I should probably rebuild while the engine isn't in the car yet. Damn. Do you think a budget of 4k is enough? My original plan was 3k, but I don't think that's going to happen. Between the engine, new seals, gaskets, labor, mounts, brackets, new items like alternators (if engine doesn't come with it), gas to and from your house, lodging when I'm there, and all the little things that have to be bought last second because I forgot to buy them, I seriously doubt this is going to be an under-4k swap. That really is bringing tears to my eyes... That's why it would be very, very much appreciated if someone could point me to a list of EVERY SINGLE THING that should be bought to complete a swap like this, and then add a list of things that should be replaced/rebuilt while "in there". This way, I could see the "minimum" figure it would cost for this, and then I want to add about a grand as a backup. When/if this swap gets started, I will have money to throw at it, but not infinite money...
Unless you are going to continually have lots of money to throw at it, I would do the swap myself or with the help of friends. Thankfully we have got a good group of guys in our local BMW club who have done the 24v into E30 swap and those who are just always wanting to help out another enthusiast. Do it yourself and you will know everything in and out. Not to mention $1500 will cover ALOT of stuff. If you are handy with wiring and have a late model car, you should be able to get the swap done for ~$2k. I just found a local yard that will sell me an M50 out of an E34 for $700 with a 180 day unlimited mileage warranty, complete with accessories. Only thing I'll need is the E36 harness, cross brace and tranny stuff, E28 M5 mounts, brake booster and THR harness adapter (just to keep things clean).
