How do I find out what my options are and the cost of those options to replace an engine in this car? Can I repower it with an M engine? should I go with a new engine or a refurbished?
A new engine will be worth more than the car. You can, however, try bmwengine.com for a rebuilt/used engine with a warranty. You can throw a S54 in your E46, however, the cost will be . You will also need another transmission and various other parts to complete the conversion.
The cost to swap to S54 would be astronomical, if you're not doing it yourself. Think new engine, new tranny, new wiring harness, ECU, probably new radiator, and a bunch of other stuff. For the price of swapping that in, you could be on your way to half down on a used E46 M3 (with a little higher mileage).
all in cost So if my all in cost runs $15,000 covering, engine, suspension, wheels, brakes, tranny and exhaust (am I missing anything?), don't I pretty much have a new car for $15,000? Engine with wiring $5000 Brakes $1000 Wheels $1500 Suspension $1000 Exhaust $1000 Tranny ????
Nope. You forgot about rust, wear on the chassis, and things like the electronics and interior. Plus, the estimates you give for brakes, suspension, etc. are way too low if you really want to make it a "new" car. Honestly, if you were to make it a "new" car, you would end up spending more on each of the individual parts than if you literally bought a brand new 328i. BMW gets its parts for a lot less than you would, so when it comes down to making a "new" car, it's not just the major parts of system of the car you have to replace. For example, for brakes, it's not just the rotors and pads you have to replace, but the rotors, pads, calipers, brake lines, sensors, any electronics related to the brakes such as traction control and ABS (these modules are not cheap, especially new), etc., etc. Besides, even if you did the swap, with the engine and everything, it will still never be an M3, especially not with the pre-facelift E46 4-door chassis. That's because the car you have wasn't engineered to be at the M3's level. If it's not engineered to be something, it won't ever be as good as something that was. Don't get me wrong; if you want to do the swap, think of how awesome it'll be to have a S54-powered E46 sedan! It's kind of like why I'm doing an S50 swap; I know it'll never be an M3, but it's definitely the next best thing... If you do it, be sure to post lots of pics!!
just figure for a couple more $1000's you could have an ACTUAL ///M. So sell your car to cover the difference and have fun with the ///M
S50 swap Don't get me wrong; if you want to do the swap, think of how awesome it'll be to have a S54-powered E46 sedan! It's kind of like why I'm doing an S50 swap; I know it'll never be an M3, but it's definitely the next best thing... Tell me more about your upgrade please!!
