Engine Swap Candiate- Is is worth the price?

[dooce]

I have been offered a 1996 E39 528 for £400. It has a manual gearbox and 198,000 miles on everything. The engine runs fine, car drives as it should. Is it worth grabbing or should I be looking for something with less miles on it?

[kevo]

my conversion has 230k miles on it. i wouldn't worry about the miles but if you got an e36 you'd get better value i think as you'd have the alloy arms and easier wiring conversion i believe. i just weighed my shell in today on an e36 four door and got £122 plus i sold £250 worth of parts off it and have 5 alloys (£10 each as weight), and a cat £30 left. so i would suggest that an e36 is a cheaper bet if you sell the parts etc.
hth
kev

[bimanut]

Disagree,E36 arms are easier to find and cheaper than a sump and oil pump you would need if you had an E36.
E39 would be heavier and loger body loom=more scrap money.

Doesnt take much to extend a loom and lot easier than swapping the plugs or buy a loom from danthe

[E30BeemerLad]

will still need the E34 M50 sump. The mileage is a bit leggy but if it's running well and better still has evidence of service history then well worth the punt