Seeking - advice from the experts

[daves-ti]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

3500 is really steep for just the motor and harness. The only reason it might be worth that much is if the mileage is legitimately 35k. Make sure you get the DME, key chip, and EWS module from that car. Tranny should hold fine, but you'll definitely want to upgrade to a medium case differential. See if you could get him to throw in the diff, it'll bolt up to the ti. Regular e36 diffs won't.

I'm back, did a quick newborn session..
Anyway - I'm calling them again now to see what's up / what's included. I know the mileage is right based on carfax and the insurance info. I'll let you guys know what they say about the differential and all that is included.. Is a new differential expensive to find / replace..?

[daves-ti]

Got the full story now.. Seems it's not as straight forward priced as I thought..
•*$3499 for the engine.. confirmed at 35k miles / s52 out of a '98 Z3
But then it seems I'll need:
•*$100 for the correct alternator
•*I can use my original 1.9 motor's starter
•*$95 for the proper AC compressor
•*$75 for the proper power steering pump
•*$695 for the proper differential
•*$150 per side for the proper axle shafts (1 each side)
•*$295 for the EMS control unit

He didn't know what a DME was, doesn't have that. He's going to call tomorrow to see if they can put together a package deal for all that, but it's starting to sound costly. Yes..? Does that all still sound legit..?

[Uber E30]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

The only reason it might be worth that much is if the mileage is legitimately 35k

If the VIN is correct then it is 35k... def not the lowest i have ever seen an s52 but not too much more than the average price i see on BFC.

http://www.lincolndealer.com/CPO/Aut...7#full-history

[Uber E30]

Originally Posted by daves-ti

it's starting to sound costly. Yes..? Does that all still sound legit..?

Oh yikes 3500 for just a longblock is not worth it.

[daves-ti]

Originally Posted by Uber E30

Oh yikes 3500 for just a longblock is not worth it.

I agree.. I will again look to other options. I have a guy locally who wants to rebuilt the top end for about $2k. I think I just got a little drooly with the idea of putting that 3.2 in there.. ha..!

[cooljess76]

I think they're asking way too much for the S52. For comparison, I bought my '98 M3 donor with front end damage for 3 grand. Granted it had 120k miles on it, but it was a complete and running car. If I were you, I'd keep searching. Might be a little more difficult finding a donor in the North East, but here in Cali they pop up all the time. If you're dead set on doing a swap, I highly recommend buying a complete car. This way you'll have everything you need, minus the diff which will have to come out of a 6cyl Z3, an e30, e28 or an e24. But say you wanted to do a manual tranny swap, you'd have everything needed on hand if you bought a complete/wrecked donor vehicle. The midsection(catalytic converter will bolt right up with no modification. The rear section(catback) will need to be custom fabricated. But other than the diff and catback, you'll have everything you need for the swap. Then, whatever you don't use off of the donor vehicle, you could part out and recoupe most if not all of the money you spent. When I parted out my M3, I more than doubled my money and got a free S52, ZF tranny, driveshaft, Dinan tuned ECU, M3 brakes, sideskirts, B&M short shift kit and an $800 Rogue Engineering exhaust. Those were just some of the goodies that were on the car when I bought it. I used a lot of the money I made from the part out on other performance goodies, so yeah in the end it's well worth the work.

Edit; plus I got to hear the motor run before I bought the car. That's something really important you should consider.

[daves-ti]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

I think they're asking way too much for the S52. For comparison, I bought my '98 M3 donor with front end damage for 3 grand. Granted it had 120k miles on it, but it was a complete and running car. If I were you, I'd keep searching. Might be a little more difficult finding a donor in the North East, but here in Cali they pop up all the time. If you're dead set on doing a swap, I highly recommend buying a complete car. This way you'll have everything you need, minus the diff which will have to come out of a 6cyl Z3, an e30, e28 or an e24. But say you wanted to do a manual tranny swap, you'd have everything needed on hand if you bought a complete/wrecked donor vehicle. The midsection(catalytic converter will bolt right up with no modification. The rear section(catback) will need to be custom fabricated. But other than the diff and catback, you'll have everything you need for the swap. Then, whatever you don't use off of the donor vehicle, you could part out and recoupe most if not all of the money you spent. When I parted out my M3, I more than doubled my money and got a free S52, ZF tranny, driveshaft, Dinan tuned ECU, M3 brakes, sideskirts, B&M short shift kit and an $800 Rogue Engineering exhaust. Those were just some of the goodies that were on the car when I bought it. I used a lot of the money I made from the part out on other performance goodies, so yeah in the end it's well worth the work.

Edit; plus I got to hear the motor run before I bought the car. That's something really important you should consider.

Thanks cooljess, great info. I'm definitely in agreement that this motor from this place is way too high. The only problem with your example relative to my own situation is that I don't know how to disassemble a car / assemble another car, so I'd be paying a mechanic to remove whatever and sell it. Plus to install on the 318. Maybe it's a good time to learn..? ha..! Honestly I'm too busy to learn at this point in my life. But I'll give this some thought, you think my finding a wrecked M3 with a good motor is the best parts car..? Better than spending $2k and getting my heads / top end rebuilt..? My motor now has 170k on it, that's why I was looking elsewhere - I figured I could put that 2k toward a newer motor.

[Uber E30]

m42/m44's are pretty stout engines. I dont think I would spend the money on a head rebuild unless something was broke in there or I was going with FI. If you're looking to make the car reliable I would say a upper and lower gasket set, full cooling system replacement, fuel filter, timing set, and spark plugs/wires should do it for you.

When the gaskets are being put in the head has to be removed, it can be inspected and hot tanked at that time. But my guess on an NA engine is that you will pop the head gasket long before you will damage the head assuming you do regular oil changes.

For parts, that should run you about 1k, install another 10-15 hours labor. Roughly what you would spend on the head rebuild but (IMO) would give you a much more reliable engine.

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by Uber E30

m42/m44's are pretty stout engines. I dont think I would spend the money on a head rebuild unless something was broke in there or I was going with FI. If you're looking to make the car reliable I would say a upper and lower gasket set, full cooling system replacement, fuel filter, timing set, and spark plugs/wires should do it for you.

When the gaskets are being put in the head has to be removed, it can be inspected and hot tanked at that time. But my guess on an NA engine is that you will pop the head gasket long before you will damage the head assuming you do regular oil changes.

For parts, that should run you about 1k, install another 10-15 hours labor. Roughly what you would spend on the head rebuild but (IMO) would give you a much more reliable engine.

+1

So many people are swapping in I6 engines these days and parting out ti's, you can find good running M44's for 500 bucks, sometimes less. If your motor is shot, I'd pick up a used(but running) M44 and toss it in there. Then drive it until that motor blows up. You could do this again and again for a hundred thousand miles and still not spend as much as a rebuild. You'll save a ton of money if you learn to work on it yourself vs. taking it to a mechanic every time. The average person can remove and replace parts. The ability to troubleshoot and repair parts will come with experience. A Bentley manual and a basic tool kit will pay for itself the very first time you work on your car.

[J!m]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

Ok, that VIN is definitely an M coupe or roadster so yes, we're correct in it being an S52. However, the guy is still full of crap because ANY E36 ENGINE WILL BOLT UP TO ANY E36 TRANSMISSION. Furthermore, that's BS because plenty of M3's came with automatic transmissions. Not sure about Z3 M coupes and M roadsters, but it's the same engine that the M3's came with. If you want to keep your car automatic, you can use your old tranny, torque converter and flywheel. That's what I meant about non-BMW enthusiasts not knowing what they're talking about and making stuff up. You see it a lot on ebay, sellers telling people that certain parts are compatible and such.

Actually, you can't use the old tranny with this engine.

Yes it bolts up.
Yes it will probably hold the power.

But, you need the DME and EGS together as they communicate with each other as well as the car.

So, in this case, I suggest an M3 auto, DME, EGS and wiring harness if you go automatic. I more strongly suggest you swap the car to manual. It's cheaper and easier since your donor engine is from a manual, but being a Z3 donor rather than an M3 donor, you will have other compatibility issues because of how the hardware architecture is laid out in the two cars a bit differently. I am using an M roadster engine/DME/harness and had to make some changes...

[daves-ti]

You guys are all awesome. I appreciate all the input and advice… But I think I might be selling the car as it is rather than delving into it all. I'm just too busy, and I think when all is said and done it would be too expensive as a daily driver. But thanks again to all of you guys…. Your input was extremely helpful throughout my contemplative process! Have a great summer!

[3.2TI]

Originally Posted by daves-ti

Got the full story now.. Seems it's not as straight forward priced as I thought..
•*$3499 for the engine.. confirmed at 35k miles / s52 out of a '98 Z3
But then it seems I'll need:
•*$100 for the correct alternator
•*I can use my original 1.9 motor's starter
•*$95 for the proper AC compressor
•*$75 for the proper power steering pump
•*$695 for the proper differential
•*$150 per side for the proper axle shafts (1 each side)
•*$295 for the EMS control unit

He didn't know what a DME was, doesn't have that. He's going to call tomorrow to see if they can put together a package deal for all that, but it's starting to sound costly. Yes..? Does that all still sound legit..?

This would be the bare minimum of the parts you will need. There are so many little things that you will need along the way that the cost will eat you up unless you have the whole car to swap from, not to mention all the labor and then you will need a suspension refresh to assure the power is handled and not handling you instead.

[daves-ti]

What is it about this car that I can't get rid of my TI! I had a guy offer me $1500 and I laugh at him. now I decided to keep the car once again and figure out how to repair this head gasket issue.

Just trying to figure out the best way to keep this repair at a minimum cost to make this car a daily driver. If I can get more power out of it great, if not I just want to get it driving.

1 Repair head gasket at dealer for $2200
2. Get the repair done by a separate mechanic for $2400 - $2500
3. Replace the motor with a stock 318 motor, and take my chances on this happening again at a random time in the future.
4. Put another engine in the car such as an M3, or Z3, or something similar.

By cheapest I mean least expensive in the long run. PS keep in mind I like to go fast! Ha!

Recommendations welcome. :-)

[Uber E30]

Wow 2.4k for a HG? Im in the wrong business. Keep looking around it should be about half that.

[daves-ti]

Originally Posted by Uber E30

Wow 2.4k for a HG? Im in the wrong business. Keep looking around it should be about half that.

Tell me about it.. I've spoken with the dealer, my main mechanic that I've used for other things on our other cars, and one performance shop who specializes in BMWs.. Seems $2400 is about the average for a "top end" rebuild. I'm kind of leaning in that direction only because I know the engine is otherwise sound. Like you said though Uber, I've been considering this option for about a month now and still think that's a bit high for a 16 year old motor. Especially when the dealer is actually LESS money, they're usually the high estimate. I'll keep looking around..