e30 and M3 engine swap costs?

[Bizzle]

Hi all first post!
I am what you guys may call a car enthusiast whore. I love fords and go to many ford shows. I love kit cars with bike engines and E30 are so iconic to my childhood they cant be forgotten.
So now I have a choice. I will be going down one of the three roots. I have put a post up on various sites asking questions to help me make my mind up. My question to you peps is what is the TOTAL estiamated cost for parts only ( I can do all labour and basic fabriacation) to buy a e30 and M3 engine (m50 i think) and get it running. Dont worry about brakes, suspension and all, I can work that out my self. Also if this is my plan all along can I save money and go for a 318 or is there benifits of using a 325 chassis?

A complement to you guys. It seems that on this forum you agree more than disagree with the advice which is better than that can be said for other sites. Normally one person posts thier answer and then an arugument starts about each others opinions. I like FACTS!!

Thanks in advance,

Bizzle

[Jhonno]

S50B30 or B32

Easy 6k DIY.. To get the manifold mod'd properly there is only BTB as a choice that is 1k..

Engine is 1.4-2k

There will be an alternative to the overpriced (albeit very well made) BTB exhaust system available very soon

[Rav335uk]

I thinking of doing this route as the m30 is nice but now I want something faster.I am thinking this route or the M30 turbo route as that will be cheaper.
Jhonno, what other parts will this need, mounts, e30.de, manifold, engine,ecu, Ews??? ithink, iknow of but what elese to justify the £6k diy???

[fuzzy]

its generally accepted that an e36 m3 engine conversion will cost anything from £5k and up with most agreeing on a figure of around £7G to complete. i cant remember the engine code but its not an m50, possibly an s50b30 or s50b32 iirc?
since you come from a ford background how about considering an option 4? a sierra cosworth conversion? thats cost me around £2.6K for the conversion in total but that was labour only as i supplied alll the parts .i didnt do any work myself and paid a garage to fit it. obviously its cost a few grand more on top to upgrade turbos,brakes,suspension etc as nessesary but its a great conversion to do.
a 325 will come with the uprated heavier suspension and disc brakes all around as standard so will be a better starting point than a 318. if your lucky you could buy a car that will also already have an lsd fitted as an option.
all tourings already have heavier suspension and discs all around as standard and fast estates are the in thing to have.

[Jhonno]

I thinking of doing this route as the m30 is nice but now I want something faster.I am thinking this route or the M30 turbo route as that will be cheaper.
Jhonno, what other parts will this need, mounts, e30.de, manifold, engine,ecu, Ews??? ithink, iknow of but what elese to justify the £6k diy???

Justify the 6k DIY? There is no justification.. That is what it comes out costing to do..!

Ive spent that (more actually), Jai blew 3.5k in 2 weeks on bits, and that was ontop of the manifold/engine and general odds and sods he already had..

Dameon's cost him 6k before he sold it to Barry..

Etc

[Rav335uk]

too much money for me atm as works tight, should have done this in the first place last year
I suppose a turbo option is next still the bhp will be close if not more than the m3 3.0ltr engine

[Bob_S]

Jhonno when you say 6k is that for the whole car or just for the engine conversion? I'm doing it cost regardless but just wondering.

[Rav335uk]

I think thats just for the engine conversion including engine bits.

[Bob_S]

I know there are a few things for the b32 but can't fathom 6k?

[Rav335uk]

Thats why i asked the question too

[Bizzle]

Thanks for the replies! What is a ews? 6k aint too bad as i was looking at spending 10k max on a kit car. I dont want an estate as it will be my track slag. I like the idea of a YB cosworth but a engine with m3 power alone would cost about 5k! Plus mixing makes is a bit of a no no. A e30 with m3 striped out should weigh about 1150 kg, correct? And expected power is 300bhp stock yeah? So 0-60 should be high 5 sec with 13 quarters im thinking. Does this sound right? I take it not many of there cars are for sale? The for sale part of the site is down. Thanks again.

[fuzzy]

a cosworth stage 3 engine is only about £600 more to tune over a standard lump and you could buy one for £1500 .

[Jhonno]

Jhonno when you say 6k is that for the whole car or just for the engine conversion? I'm doing it cost regardless but just wondering.

For the engine conversion..

[glenn]

this topic comes up from time to time, and £6 grand is the figure thats often associated with this conversion.
but,
after doing this conversion (twice nearly), my figure has been a lot less than that.

i think it's highly dependant on how much you can do yourself.

[bss325i]

Thanks for the replies! What is a ews? 6k aint too bad as i was looking at spending 10k max on a kit car. I dont want an estate as it will be my track slag. I like the idea of a YB cosworth but a engine with m3 power alone would cost about 5k! Plus mixing makes is a bit of a no no. A e30 with m3 striped out should weigh about 1150 kg, correct? And expected power is 300bhp stock yeah? So 0-60 should be high 5 sec with 13 quarters im thinking. Does this sound right? I take it not many of there cars are for sale? The for sale part of the site is down. Thanks again.

The touring that i bought from Dameon (old_skool uesr name) had the S50B30 (3 litre M3 engine) and that did a 13.9 quarter but that was with LOADS of wheel spin as it was my fist time up the quarter.

With practice i would say mid to low 13's is possible and mine "only" had 286bhp!

I ended up re-shelling the car into a 2dr 318i but the ONLY thing 318 about it was the shell. Even the main body wiring loom came from a 325i so i could use the ABS and check control.

Damm i miss that car!

[Jhonno]

this topic comes up from time to time, and £6 grand is the figure thats often associated with this conversion.
but,
after doing this conversion (twice nearly), my figure has been a lot less than that.

i think it's highly dependant on how much you can do yourself.

Well other than the exhaust manifold I've done it all myself..

[Jhonno]

Just an engine and the modded manifold is £2.7k odd..

So that is 1/2 your budget done

If you have the room to break an E36 M3 you can get an engine for practically nothing though

[Bizzle]

I have been thinking of when and where I would use it and Sunday runs would be a bit player. I think that driving a e30 would not be as fun as driving a faster, lighter kit car. Also if it does cost £6K for the basic set up I would like to change a lot on the car before I would it. I suppose it could be 'work in progress!' for a while. The original reason I wanted one was because my mates are doing a run to the ring and I have nothing to take! And so the search begun. If I get a hard top for it I could still use it at night for late cruises


Whats an EWS?

cheers

[glenn]

i'm not disputing for one second that most people will end up with a build cost of around the
£6k mark, that's the figure that most people answer this topic with.
i can only speak from my own experience of this conversion, and for me, £6k would almost
cover both my conversions.

i agree with you dan though, if you have the funds / room to get a whole car at the start, and sell off the bits you dont need, you can end up with a much cheaper conversion.

[ShakeyC]

For the money and gains i rather stick an m50/m52 2.5 or 2.8 and strap a rotrex on than pay the dreded M tax.

EWS is bmw's immobiliser system the keys, ignition barrel, ews modules and later ones need the dash/clocks for transplants otherwise the engine won't start or run correctly.

[bss325i]

For the money and gains i rather stick an m50/m52 2.5 or 2.8 and strap a rotrex on than pay the dreded M tax.

EWS is bmw's immobiliser system the keys, ignition barrel, ews modules and later ones need the dash/clocks for transplants otherwise the engine won't start or run correctly.

My conversion had EWS 2 and there was no need for the E36 instument cluster.

[Rav335uk]

If ots about £3k then it will be worth doing in the future, and the m30 can go into my e21.
I think sums are to be sorted now to see if it is viable for me.

[Jhonno]

Well 3k is the budget for a lump on its own and the exhaust manifold..

Then you need the box/prop/diff/exhaust/ecu/wiring and the rest of the bits to fit it..

[Rav335uk]

Off topic, but how much is a ls1 engine, as i've heard you can buy these to go straight into the e30, or is it bul15hit

[Jhonno]

Bullshit..

But they will go

[Rav335uk]

Sorry for the delay, just been reading on the ls1 for the e30.Apparently and easier fix and easier installation then the bmw v8's.Quite surprising how many people in the us have done this conversion, and with 400+bhp sounds like a good idea.
But i would really like to have what u have Jhonno, a S50 e30.
I don't suppose, maybe at a meet, have a quick blast in the car, u driving off course.

[Jhonno]

Yeah if you are at a meet I am, I'll take you out in it..

[Jhonno]

The LS lumps are narrower V i think.. Makes it easier..

I want a V8 in my life

[Rav335uk]

Yes mate, the "V" is narrower.

[baptie0]

half as many valves and only 1 camshaft make it a lot narrower than bmw v8.

[UweM3]

Yes mate, the "V" is narrower.

since when? Have I missed something, LS1 is a 90deg V IIRC.
The engine itself is physically smaller because of the construction
than the BMW with overhead cams

[Rav335uk]

Yes mate, the "V" is narrower.

since when? Have I missed something, LS1 is a 90deg V IIRC.
The engine itself is physically smaller because of the construction
than the BMW with overhead cams

That was the impression i was under, but if that's what you know, then i'll take it on board.