 Knowledgeable local people...
There are a lot of people around that know a lot more than we give them credit for, I think. My local BMW yard quoted me just over $600 for the parts to do the conversion, including a good trans with a warranty.
Even if the swap took two days by a professional and I paid an independent German repair shop $70/hr, I'd still be into the swap for under $2000. If I took the car off the road for the weekend (or week if I got in over my head) I'm looking at well under $1000. I think a lot of people get caught up in the idea of having a tuner who's built a racer or a magazine car working on their car or sending them parts.
The guys who repair these things every day for a living are a great resource for mods, even if they don't approve of them for their personal cars. Don't overlook your back yard... |