Average price M3 swap???????

[Dredder]

anyone with a m3 engine swap. what is the average prices you have forked out for the motor and labor. I've been quoted $5500+/- with a 48k 95 m3 motor including labor. Is that a good price? swap or custom turbo around $4k.

[97Hellrot318ti]

anyone with a m3 engine swap. what is the average prices you have forked out for the motor and labor. I've been quoted $5500+/- with a 48k 95 m3 motor including labor. Is that a good price? swap or custom turbo around $4k.


I was under the impression that a swap with all the necessary parts and labor, done correctly, was above $10k.

[Dredder]

This is the shop i usaully goto for scheduled maintenance. I believe he gaurantees his work. I found out they do swap through dtm forum. What a surprise..

[marcus2116]

i once got a quote for 7000 complete

[Dredder]

5500+/- including install. He said he can put in the m5 clutch kit with uuc flywheel for about 1k. It this a great bargain.

[cali-ti]

what year is your ti? 95 is OBD I so you may or may not have issues if your state does smog testing if your car is 96 or newer. if that isn't an issue, why don't you have it installed already? :icon_poke

[Dredder]

i have a 95ti. well i was just pricing the install(95m3)out vs the custom turbo. what do you guys think is a better buy

[BMWDRIFTER]

use the turbo and keep the added weight off the front.

[sKunkman]

Yeah, turbo install is probably cheaper and quicker anyway.

[mickd]

You should talk with maurolin, he is one of the experts here on this board. Did a 3.2 OBDII into a 95ti (OBDI) which is especially difficult. I don't think you could do It right for $5500, you have to take into consideration new clutch, flywheel, transmission, rear end, suspension and brakes. Along with any reinforcements on the suspension mounting.

[m-technik_ti]

anyone with a m3 engine swap. what is the average prices you have forked out for the motor and labor. I've been quoted $5500+/- with a 48k 95 m3 motor including labor. Is that a good price? swap or custom turbo around $4k.

If i could get a full s50 swap for around $5500, id jump on it....That’s by far the cheapest swap with install ive ever heard of. If the s50 is in good running condition, you'll run into far less potential problems/maintenance than with a custom turbo on your m42. The extra weight of the s50 does not hinder performance/handling aspects to a great extent either, at least not on the m3 swapped tis that I’ve driven. Furthermore, the potential for tuning an OBD1 s50 is far greater than that of the m42.

[Dredder]

Well guys I did it. My Ti is in the process of an 95 M3 Swap. I dropped off my car earlier this afternoon. I got to see the engine. Its in beatiful condition. 48k miles on it. The shop says it should be ready for pickup this coming monday. I will post some pics of the before and after shots. I'll probably end up creating a website for this project anyways. I cant believe the whole process is only costing me aroung 5500 +/- with motor/install included.

[SlickmisterN]

Keep us posted on how things go and of course how it turnes out.

[maurolin]

Congrats! now start looking for an LSD and bigger axels off E30... you'll need them.. ans you WILL brake the rear end.
Make sure you do everything well and ONCE. New clutch, and flywheel will be your best mod.
any questions hit me up!.

[Dredder]

I was thinking the whole rear subframe from either mcoupe or zroadster. The shop is trying to locate one for me. You cant find a better shop. They will even install it for free.

[cali-ti]

don't lose the relationship with that shop! that's awesome. you'll be J!m's favorite new buddy if you hook up a m-coupe or m roadster rear subframe/trailing arms/etc ... he's just looking for someone to do that at his suggestion ;) seriously, it does sound like the easiest way (assuming you can transport the whole thing and get it installed). keep us updated man, we want to live vicariously through you!

once you get that installed and the m-coupe rear subframe hooked up, then you can turbo or supercharge the 6!

[Dredder]

You read my thoughts exactly. I was planning to turboing the m42 at first, until i read one of the thread from dtm raving about this shop that i usaully go to. Never thought they were into swapping engines. As i walked in, the shop was full of older bmw getting engine swap. At the moments they were in the process of swapping atleast 4 older model bmw with m5 motors.
Once I get all the suspension/drivetrain modification, its time to boost. Im not full of money but time will come, everything will fall into place.

[cali-ti]

sweet. i'm toying with the idea for in the future. even a 330 swap (do they have 6 speeds?) would be nice. time will tell. be cool to see the swap sometime :)

[Dredder]

The simpliest swap will be an obd1 engine to obd1 car, obd2 to obd2. To make things more simplier.

[cali-ti]

agreed. i have a 96 (OBDII). mods are easier/cheaper on OBDIs from what i've observed.

[96cali]

What's the name of this shop?? Hell I'll drive to Oregon to save 4 grand! Then I get to drive back...:caffine:

[Dredder]

What's the name of this shop?? Hell I'll drive to Oregon to save 4 grand! Then I get to drive back...:caffine:
pacificmotorsport is the name. Very knowledgable people. i just went in to see the car to see thier progress. The four banger is almost out. Tomorrow they will start prepping the engine bay for the swap. I believe throughout my 33yrs of life i have never been so excited to see a monday. I cant wait.

[rendoll911]

any updates??? im dieing here

[Dredder]

Aight! i need to scan the pics. How do i attach pictures in this forum anyways?

[pdxmotorhead]

Your in PDX ,,, I know the pacific guys. I wasn't aware they did that
hard core of work. (only owned my 318 for a month...)
Cool I will bugging them this week for some other stuff.

Aw this is gonna get expensive...... :)

Dave

[Dredder]

Dave -

I didnt either until I ran across a thread on DTM that they did motor swap. Theres's atleat 3 swap currently in the process not inculding myself. If you want just contact Mike and tell him i sent you.
What have you done to your car so far mod wise. I've seen atleast 2 TI in portland area that are souped up. I really dont know what they have under the hood. It would be nice to get a meet going any time soon. Do you know any Bimmer owner in the neighborhood?

T.bone

[pdxmotorhead]

Mine is cold stock, just got the plates yesterday. :)

I'm going to try and get the suspention stuff done first,
going to build most of it, I work with Competition Motorsports
in Portland on race weekends.

Just need to work dsome ot to pay for it.... :)

Dave

[Dredder]

Got my car back from the shop finally. The shop spent 2 days trying to figure the instrument cluster problem. Everything was way off. I was trying to retain the original 318ti cluster with no luck.
Jim this is where you come in handy. I believe i purchase a manual from you. Do i need to buy a 6 instrument cluster? Is this a bolt on process? What process do i need to get every gauges working (evrything).?

[Panzer_M]

just swap gauges. everything but the fuel gauge will be plug and play and the fuel gauge can be wired in.

[Dredder]

Can I purchase a used 6 cylinder cluster and retain the mileage reading as the original car? What reading will the 6 cylinder cluster show?
What do you mean by the fuel gauge can be wired in? How do i do that? Is it necessary?
I know this is a lot of questions but i so excited with the new profound power!!!!

[cali-ti]

maybe i'll have to make a run to portland once i move to denver :p dredder, to post pics (max 500 x 500 pixels), "go advanced" and then use the manage attachments button. post away, we want to see the goodies :)

[Dredder]

My avatar is exactly how my RPM gauge is doing. As soon as i revv it to around 5k it shoots past the redline. I dont even know if my MPH is reading properly. Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

[Dredder]

Ill be posting picture on this thread in a few. Just gotta get that digicam out to take it? What is the maximum resolution for an attachment?

[cali-ti]

attachments are 500x500 max (not very big). i think steven can change that temporarily if you message him.

i believe the speedo is driven off the speed sensor in the diff. did you change the diff?

[Dredder]

No I left the differential stock. It will do for now. I dont drop the clutch anyways. I Need to save money for mcoupe complete subframe. My only problem is the rpm is just way off. Other than that it hauls ass. I dont even need to drop the clutch for my tires to start spinning. Its crazy. I love the power. Cant wait for other upgrades in the future. So I guess i just need to purchase a 6 cluster and its just a direct bolt on other than the mpg gauge that needs to be wired through.

[SlickmisterN]

Do you mind me asking what the final tally was for everything to do the swap? And do you know if pacificmotorsport have a site. I searched, but did not come up with anything. I too am thinking about doing a M3 swap and will drive to get it done.

[1996 328ti]

Once you swap the cluster your mileage will not be accurate.

[Dredder]

I picked up a cluster that was about 1k more than my original. Still havent had the time to install the mpg fix yet. In time it will all be complete. Admin, what fo you have in your TI.

[cali-ti]

what mileage is going to be "accurate" for an engine swap anyway? do you go with the mileage on the car, mileage on the engine/trans (if they were swapped together), or what? i think the best you can do is keep records of what mileage each had when the swap was done (including the cluster you put in so you can then do some simple math to determine what mileage the car has and the engine/trans).

[Virgil]

I was looking at prices for a Euro-spec E36 M3 engine with a six speed tranny. It was close to 7k for the engine and about a grand more for a used transmission. This is on BimmerWorld.com and its the only place I have seen the engine for sale, anyone know a better spot?

Want to make my own E36 "M Coupe" if you catch my drift. 318 looks like a corrado, another car I love.

[96cali]

search on this site, there was a guy in chicago importing the euro engines you want.

[DaNO]

What is the horsepower you get out of a engine swap?

[Dredder]

euro = 286
us=240

[Chrisbailiff]

this definately sounds like something i'm interested man. i'm from west linn and i wanna see how it turned out man. i got a 97ti and i'm thinkin about doing the obdII m3 swap so hit me up with your wherabouts and some info on this shop man, thanks

[Dredder]

Ill be down @ PIR this weekend. Come find me!!!!

[Donuts4unotme]

i dont know too much about this, but I bet you couldt get just the engine swap done for about 5500$ but dont you also need (I heard) like a different axle (or something) because the car wasnt built for that motor, and the new one would be too much, not like it wouldnt run, it would just be bad for it or something.
I would appreciate it if someone proved me wrong or clarified what im trying to say thanks.

[Dredder]

Well im running stock axles and differential and i believe so is the admin of this site before. You can run it stock but dont assume they will last if you abuse them. Normal driving you should be ok. The setup will probably keep you running until you decide to upgrade to an E30( the cheapest alternative).

[mickd]

Dredder, I usually head west in December to visit a friend and was wondering how long your car was in the shop for the swap. I'm seriously considering a 2 week vacation and maybe they could work on the car for 10 days. I think that's great the original drivetrain is OK if you don't abuse it, would give you time to sort out what setup you could install later yourself. You really got a great deal. Wish I had a shop like that in my neck of the woods.

[Dredder]

Well during the whole process it would have taken about 4 days but my general mechanic just had a baby in the middle of things. I didnt really want to pressure him. So I was able to drive the car out after about 1 week since drop off. It didnt have the A/C hoses installed and the CAI. I was able to finished off probably 2 weeks span.

Thats is exactly why i jumped on the deal. Everything works perfectly. Once you get the feel of things them you can decide whats the best future upgrade. You'll hear a lot of negative feedback concerning why not do it all in the first place, do it right. The reason "money". I'm not full of cash. Plus im tired of hearing honda hatch swap this swap that, eat my smoke with acura engines. This way I can cater to the exact need of my car. Plus since the hardest part is done i can pretty much do the rest on my own. :) This is where a want our cars to shine. This is not an expensive swap at all. Now we have a fighting chance against other Hybrids (honda/acura) out thier on the streets.

[cali-ti]

rauch performance wants to do a swap or a DASC for me :p it's on my mind, but not in the near future. they said plan on 30 hours (@ $80/hr) for an engine swap. ti will still be my daily driver. at least i'll have the rear end to handle it :p but then it'd be nice to have the mz3/mcoupe rear subframe/trailing arms/brakes and m3 front suspension ... ****, i might as well just go get a used ferrari :biggrin: (i already dropped that word on the gf and her response was, "how much does one of those cost?" lol). you can get quite a lot of ferrari for what you'd get a new lotus elise for ... makes a guy think ;)

[mickd]

rauch performance wants to do a swap or a DASC for me :p it's on my mind, but not in the near future. they said plan on 30 hours (@ $80/hr) for an engine swap. ti will still be my daily driver. at least i'll have the rear end to handle it :p but then it'd be nice to have the mz3/mcoupe rear subframe/trailing arms/brakes and m3 front suspension ... ****, i might as well just go get a used ferrari :biggrin: (i already dropped that word on the gf and her response was, "how much does one of those cost?" lol). you can get quite a lot of ferrari for what you'd get a new lotus elise for ... makes a guy think ;)
cali-ti, you could get a really nice 328(Ferrari) for 30K, they are nice cars. I'm partial to yellow. I know you were talking about Rauch Performance installing the camber plates, do ya think they would be good for an M3 swap, a '95 OBDI 3.0L into my '95 OBDI ti? Since I put the wide 40 series on it just feels like it needs more power, can't drift it like I used to.

[cali-ti]

it wouldn't be as cheap as what dredder's conversion was, but they would certainly make sure it was done right. if you want to go down there sometime (just off HWY 41 and 176 in lake bluff, IL), just let me know. be happy to introduce you/them.

howard (the father) was showing me their 2002 race car today and all the mods they've done to it (that they're allowed to do in stock class) ... it was pretty cool. they certainly know what they're doing and it's cool to just sit there and talk with them.

[mickd]

Cool, that would be great, they sound like they're really into the cars if they race a 2002. That would be great to see the shop. There's this garage here in Delafield, Gary's Auto, that I might ask about a swap. The guy is into 2002's too and wanted to do an M42 swap in his 2002. It's funny, 6 cyl. swaps are popular on 3 series but alot of the 2002 guys love our motors. Don't know if he's done the swap yet, I could throw in my motor, etc. for some $ off my swap. I'm probably dreaming but who knows?

[cali-ti]

also race preps an e30 m3 and e36 318 (i think) for a father/son team (probably others as well that i just don't know about).

let me know when you might want to go down. probably want to go there when both father (howard) and son (bob i think) are both there. pretty sure they're not there weekends, howard usually leaves around 5pm weekdays.

EDIT: now that i think about it, i believe it's an e21 and not a 2002 that they race. probably be there when we go, i'm not so familiar with the older series.

[tonymasone]

Hey d, what kind of suspension upgrades did you need to make to support the added weight of the engine?

[tonymasone]

I'm definately going to do the m3/318ti swapp, how do i determine if my car is a obdI or an obdII???

[cali-ti]

what year is it? 95 = OBDI, 96+ = OBDII (for the most part - i think H3_2.1-ti has an early 96 that's OBDI). you need to determine when your car was built - use www.realoem.com/bmw. put in the last 7 digits of your VIN and it should give you the production month/year.

[tonymasone]

P E36 com 318ti M44 USA 19960300 L A

That is what that site came up with when I entered in my 7 digit vin number. What does this tell me, OBDI or OBDII

[tonymasone]

sorry about the above quote, it is a 1996

P E36 com 318ti M44 USA 19960300 L A

That is what that site came up with when I entered in my 7 digit vin number. What does this tell me, OBDI or OBDII

[tonymasone]

thank you

[Dredder]

Yo Tonymasone,
To save you alot of money, I think your better off with DASC with NickG(techniquetuning.com) upcoming stage 2 tuning. If your goal is to have M3 power then it can be attained. My ultimate goal is probably around 350-400 rwhp therefore I choose to get the M3 swap. The cost is well worth it for me. Just last night, I ran across this guy driving white pickup with R/T stickers. I really dont know what brand they are but man he fast. We started up at 60sh. I thought i was going to pull on this guy fast, but he manage to stay with me. I eventually won with about 1.5 CL and still pullling until i shut down at arounf 120mph.

[tonymasone]

So wait, your saying to not go with the m3 engine drop, what is a DASC???

[Dredder]

DOWNING ATLANTA SUPER CHARGER. http://www.downingatlanta.com/ Don’t think I’m persuading you from getting the swap. Look at your ultimate goal and see what will get you there.

[1996 328ti]

sorry about the above quote, it is a 1996

P E36 com 318ti M44 USA 19960300 L A

That is what that site came up with when I entered in my 7 digit vin number. What does this tell me, OBDI or OBDIIAll M44 engines are OBD-II.