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From Dad's DD to my new toy... M62B44 swap time!!!

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    From Dad's DD to my new toy... M62B44 swap time!!!

    Hey everybody!!!

    I'm new here, but thought I should go ahead and start documenting what I'm just starting on myself.

    A little backstory... I've always loved Bimmers. My first car was an '84 635csi with a 5spd trans and seemingly endless bad thermostats. I loved that car, but I will admit that I treated that car like shit. It didn't even make it 3 years under my supervision. Fast forward a few decades and you'd see me in an '06 E90 325i with a 6spd. Was a good car, but I wanted more so I moved on to an '08 135i AT(sciatica in 3rd pedal leg at time of purchase) that showed me how fun boost could be and how bad run flat tires are for a bad back.

    About 8 months after buying the 135i, my leg stopped hurting so fucking bad thanks to a good chiropractor and I missed the third pedal. So on it was to a low mileage Sparkling Graphite '08 E90 M3 6MT. It took me about 1/8mi to decide I was going to buy it after my test drive. I was in LOVE. That M3 and I had some great times at Texas World Speedway and Driveway Austin.

    Late last year I was having a 'spirited' drive with my best friend and fellow track fiend. He was in front of me in his '10 Camaro SS and his rear tires threw up some pretty heavy debris. One of the rocks was big enough to chip the paint down to the metal, so I got the insurance co to pay for a front end respray. They did a such a good job on the paint that I started to not drive the car for fear of messing up the paint. I went to one HPDE at TWS after the respray and ended up leaving early because I just didn't want to damage the car out there. I put less than 1000miles on the car in a 6 month period and I was paying over $160/month on insurance for it.

    Then, about a year ago, my dad got his own 135i to replace his 88 325is with 255,557miles (at least that's where the odometer stopped back in 2010). That little M20 is still chugging along after at least 300k on it.

    Anyway, I bought my dad's E30 with the intention of doing an LS swap until I started having trouble finding an engine/trans locally. So I started looking into M6x swaps. Within 2 days I found a '97 540i 6MT on craigslist for $4500.

    I contact the guy who immediately responds saying the car was totaled two days prior due to a blowout on I-37. He said after he was done with GEICO, he'd sell it for $1000!!! DEAL!!!:shock: And since the car was less than 15miles from home, I got it towed home for $100.

    Here's the donor and the recipient immediately after the tow truck drove away...



    Hopefully those wheels can be refinished properly. All four tires are pretty much brand new (less than 2k mi), and I figure if the wheels get back to their previous glory I can get my initial investment plus extra by selling them. Too bad 19's don't really work in E30s.

    Anyway, as of now I have the 540 in the garage up on stands with the wheels and tires in the back of my truck ready to go get fixed up.

    I've also been inundating the engine bay of the E30 with Simple Green Heavy Duty every few hours in advance of cleaning the bay up a little before pulling the M20 and Getrag out. Still need to go get the engine lift from my dad's house though.

    More updates to come, stay tuned!
    My current E30 M62B44 swap

    #2
    praise to you for not installing a stupid cop out GM in your bimmer. where in texas? i assume near austin?

    that 540i looks like it was a steal. just the trans should be worth almost what you paid for the car.

    those wheels are pretty desirable, but they don't look good on that e39 anyway.
    sigpic
    Gigitty Gigitty!!!!

    88 cabrio becoming alpina b6 3.5s transplanted s62
    92 Mtech 2 cabrio alpinweiss 770 code
    88 325ix coupe manual lachsilber/cardinal
    88 325ix coupe manual diamondschwartz/natur
    87 e30 m3 for parts lachsilber/cardinal(serial number 7)
    12 135i M sport cabrio grey/black

    Comment


      #3
      I started with the exact same donor car, good luck with your swap!

      OBDI M62B44/6 swap
      Transaction feedback
      - jpod999

      Comment


        #4
        Forgot to share the steering rack that I picked up at A&J's Auto Parts in Von Ormy, TX. If you are looking for specific parts, ask for Amanda, that woman knows her shit about Bimmers.

        Anyway... it's supposedly a Z3 1.9L rack that I paid $150:shock: for.

        Can anyone tell by the tag if I actually got the 2.7 L/L rack?



        My current E30 M62B44 swap

        Comment


          #5
          Sub'ed!
          Originally posted by Matt-B
          hey does anyone know anyone who gets upset and makes electronics?

          Comment


            #6
            Off to a great start! You will easily get you money back out of that car.
            1987 325i-M60b44 swap

            Comment


              #7
              Wheels were dropped off Friday morning at Alloy Wheel Repair in San Antonio. Tom told me they'll be sent to Dallas at a cost of $125/wheel which brings the total to ~$550 to repair them. That makes $1650 I've spent so far (car and towing). Do you guys think they can fetch that much if they come out well? The front tires were less than 6 months old and the rears were less than 2 months old. Driver side rear has zero miles on it since that was where the blowout happened. Shoot, I paid $25 to replace it with the discount tire certificate. That makes $1675.
              My current E30 M62B44 swap

              Comment


                #8
                no, i think 1600 for those wheels would be a stretch. it is possible though. i think 1100 tops or maybe 1200 if you find the right guy. people are always going to want to negotiate the price down.

                i think you are better off trying to sell them for about 800 or 900 the way they are.
                sigpic
                Gigitty Gigitty!!!!

                88 cabrio becoming alpina b6 3.5s transplanted s62
                92 Mtech 2 cabrio alpinweiss 770 code
                88 325ix coupe manual lachsilber/cardinal
                88 325ix coupe manual diamondschwartz/natur
                87 e30 m3 for parts lachsilber/cardinal(serial number 7)
                12 135i M sport cabrio grey/black

                Comment


                  #9
                  I think most you'll see for those wheels and tires is ~$800. But you won't have a problem getting your money back and then some from selling what you don't use.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Wheels are back from being refinished. Cost was $500 flat. I assumed tax, so that's about $45 less than expected.

                    I have them posted for $1200 on multiple BMW forums and Craigslist in 6 cities that I'd deliver them to for gas money.

                    I would like to sell them for more, but I'd like to see them gone sooner rather than later.

                    Now to find a cheap set of wheels/tires to put on the E39 so I can move it when the time comes.

                    My current E30 M62B44 swap

                    Comment


                      #11
                      they look fantastic. glws.
                      sigpic
                      Gigitty Gigitty!!!!

                      88 cabrio becoming alpina b6 3.5s transplanted s62
                      92 Mtech 2 cabrio alpinweiss 770 code
                      88 325ix coupe manual lachsilber/cardinal
                      88 325ix coupe manual diamondschwartz/natur
                      87 e30 m3 for parts lachsilber/cardinal(serial number 7)
                      12 135i M sport cabrio grey/black

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I spent a few days lazily disconnecting everything in preparation to remove the M20 and trans. Bently manual had removing the starter as a step for removing the motor and I tried and tried for hours to get the damn thing off before I realized that I didn't need to do that since I was pulling motor and trans together. I also found out that changing a starter on E30 6 cylinder cars is one of the hardest/most hated jobs you can do on these things. Lesson learned.







                        Friday I got the balls to remove the motor and trans. This went much more easily than I anticipated short of a pretty nasty failure of the front lifting bracket. Well, the bracket didn't fail, the bolts the held it to the head did. I figure they weren't torqued properly because they didn't break, nor did they strip out of the head.



                        Thankfully I didn't listen to Bentley on removing the A/C compressor, because looping a chain around it allowed me to finish the job!










                        My current E30 M62B44 swap

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I'm hoping that A&J Salvage will take that M20 and trans in trade for a set of shitty wheels/tires to put on the E39, an E34 brake booster and DME.

                          God damn, craigslist is a pain...

                          them: What's your lowest price?
                          me: what I have it listed for
                          them: would you take a pair of 335i turbos in trade?

                          them: will they fit a 6 series
                          me: yes
                          them: ........................

                          them: they're 19" right?
                          me: did the ad say otherwise?

                          Ugh... at least I don't need to sell them right away
                          Last edited by wspellmann; 10-16-2016, 02:39 PM.
                          My current E30 M62B44 swap

                          Comment


                            #14
                            changing the starter on an e30 does suck but if you really want a challenge, change one on an e36. that REALLY sucks dirty horse cock!

                            craigslist dingleberries suck but your best hope is to sell that engine and trans on craigslist too. assuming it runs well, you should be able to get about 500+ for the engine and 350 for the trans.
                            sigpic
                            Gigitty Gigitty!!!!

                            88 cabrio becoming alpina b6 3.5s transplanted s62
                            92 Mtech 2 cabrio alpinweiss 770 code
                            88 325ix coupe manual lachsilber/cardinal
                            88 325ix coupe manual diamondschwartz/natur
                            87 e30 m3 for parts lachsilber/cardinal(serial number 7)
                            12 135i M sport cabrio grey/black

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by flyboyx View Post
                              changing the starter on an e30 does suck but if you really want a challenge, change one on an e36. that REALLY sucks dirty horse cock!

                              craigslist dingleberries suck but your best hope is to sell that engine and trans on craigslist too. assuming it runs well, you should be able to get about 500+ for the engine and 350 for the trans.
                              They were in good condition, but I would rather just get rid of them both in trade. I don't want them sitting around for a year.

                              Sent from the depths of hell with my Nexus 6p.
                              My current E30 M62B44 swap

                              Comment

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