How Satisfied are you with your S/M5x Swap?

[MIKe30]

I hope you didn't waste any money on new headbolts. Biggest waste of $20 ever.

If its a question or controversial, for $20 why not? Sounds dumb not to... And they're only $14 IIRC for you penny pinchers..

[FredK]

Um... I was just kidding. The headbolts are one-time use fasteners.

[1990m3]

I don't know, I consider it quick. I've put about 16k on mine since the swap. 14k as a street car and the last 2k are track only miles. I love it. It's been 100% reliable since day 1 of daily driving. It's quick, gets good mpg, and I feel comfortable driving it, like any of the e30's I've had.

My car could drive cross country in a seconds notice and be fine. It's exactly what I built it for -- reliability. I literally change the oil, bleed the brakes, otherwise I don't do shit between track days except make sure nothing has loosened up. It's done 30 track days no major breaks

[StereoInstaller1]

Um... I was just kidding. The headbolts are one-time use fasteners.

I was thinking he missed the sarcasm there.

Guys, thanks so much for posting your opinions, and thanks to the OP for posting this thread.

Seems that you guys are about 60% "just get that bitch in there, fuck it!" and the other 40% are "OMG, lets see how much shit we can replace on a a used motor, maybe we can hit $12,000!

I am gonna say that it seems the guys who didn't spend money are happiest.

I have an '92 M50NV longblock available, basically free. By the time I scrounge ECU (might do MS to start with, dunno) harness, intake manifold, booster and all the other blah blah blah stuff I should be able to do the actual swap for a couple hundred bucks, including working A/C.

Yes, I am an absolute world-class scrounger.

In the meantime, I need a fresh clutch no matter what, I have to replace my drive axels, and I suspect the driveshaft is fuxord, plus the damn A/C has not worked since I got the damn thing (damn damn damn) and I want my underhood to be pretty, as in mighty damn clean, blah blah blah...

So thanks to all of you guys who posted here. You are a great motivation towards getting something else to drive on the road, so I can tear into the little black bitch.

Keep it coming!

Luke

[FredK]

The determinant of satisfaction is how well it works. People who have a swap that works well, doesn't overheat, and is reliable, are satisfied. There are many ways to get to this point.

There's no reason to go overboard spending money, but then again, you need to spend it in the right places. I'm not going to skimp $30 on a new throwout bearing, for example. That's not something I want to replace because it explodes or starts whining.

[funcrew]

I loved it until the headgasket popped with about 200 miles on the swap.

Bingo. I have an M20 4-door and an S52 vert (S52 replaced the blown-headgasket S50 that came from the PO). The S52 has more power, but does not have as much torque as the old American iron I grew up with. Still a nice match for the E30 chassis though.

I'd like to drive an M30 swap and see how that feels vs the S52. Being old and not much of a mechanic, I might like the M30 for its simplicity.

Summary: Stock+OBD1 S52 is nice but not as spectacular as some here make it out to be.

[FredK]

With the numerous threads that detail 1/4 mile times and dyno graphs, you can see if this swap is for you. You can look at the power curve to get an idea of power delivery.

An S5x car will cover a quarter mile in 13.3 to 13.6. An M50 car will cover it in 13.9-14.5. These are not astounding numbers, but for comparison's sake, an E46 M3 covers the quarter in around the same time as an S5x swapped E30. Is the E46 M3 a quick car? Yes. Will it cause you to black out from the acceleration? No.

[e30polak]

Well first off, my car is a rebuilt s50 that has been bored to 3.2L (so its an OBD1) with TMS chip. Euro HFM and 21.5 injectors. My tranny is e30 getrag 260 with 3.25lsd (from 325e i guess). Thats my setup. OH YA! and a broken water pump.

Sorry I misread your info. Your car should be pretty stout, but your gearing is a little long IMO. If you atleast put a 3.73 in there, it'll bring it to life!

[Stephen]

3.25s didnt come from an e, they come from some m30 equiped cars. just sayin.


And this thread is motivation for me :) im going to redo some seals and maintanence stuff but im probably not going all out. maybe cams and a tune

[Van Westervelt]

I built mine to be a commuter car as I was driving a few hours daily. Wanted something with more top end on the freeway, and funner when I took the long windy ways home. I went a little overboard with it being my first complete car that I have put together. But I wouldnt change anything now. I havent skimped or bought inferior parts for anything. I replaced everything less taking the head off. Now thats done, and new gaskets and o-rings etc are throughout the bay again. I have never had a drop of fluid leak from this thing, and I never want it to! :)

The only issue I have had was a HG, and that was after over 65k miles of being in my car, and 75k previously. Wasnt even a bad failure, just a weak spot on a high compression motor.

I have had this s50 in the e30 for over 3 years and almost 70k miles. Its not the fastest car on the road, but its fun when I want it to be. And it is reliable as a paper weight. lol

[JGood]

Sorry I misread your info. Your car should be pretty stout, but your gearing is a little long IMO. If you atleast put a 3.73 in there, it'll bring it to life!

I had a 3.25LSD in my m50 car when I first did the swap. Switching to the 3.73 really brought it to life, just as you said. It was a night/day difference.

[Charlie]

I had a 3.25LSD in my m50 car when I first did the swap. Switching to the 3.73 really brought it to life, just as you said. It was a night/day difference.

Bingo. I'm not sure why anyone would go with anything less than a 3.73 rear end. With that and an 8lb flywheel, my litle 2.5 Vanos m50 is a blast. Gonna be even more nuts once I toss the 4.10 in.

-Charlie

[e30pq]

I think your satisfaction with this swap is determined on a few things.

The quality of the new engine. The quality of the install & attention to detail. Personally I installed an S50 and I'm happy. I'm not sure all the work would be worth it if I installed an M50 (just my opinion).

I think this swap makes the car much more fun to drive.

[MR 325]

There's no reason to go overboard spending money, but then again, you need to spend it in the right places.

Bingo!!

[Wh33lhop]

I think your satisfaction with this swap is determined on a few things.

The quality of the new engine. The quality of the install & attention to detail. Personally I installed an S50 and I'm happy. I'm not sure all the work would be worth it if I installed an M50 (just my opinion).

I think this swap makes the car much more fun to drive.

I think people are also swapping from B25s and expecting a big difference because others are happy with their swaps.

Do not be under the impression that an M50 is going to make your car balls-out quick. It'll make it respectable, but it's only a modest increase from an M20. It will have a better powerband (depending on if you went with the NV or TU) and a bit more power (25hp, maybe 30 if your M20 is tired out and M50 is new, that's about a 15-20% peak power increase), as well as get better mileage and get rid of the sewing-machine mechanical lifters of the M20. It'll be on the quick side for an E30, probably a tiny bit quicker than an E30 M3, but in today's world E30 M3s are not fast in any sense of the word.

The best way to do an M50 swap is scavenging for good deals for a few months. Spend wisely, check/loctite the oil pump nut, maybe replace a gasket or two, maybe the water pump and a few other minor things "while it's out." Don't go balls-out spending money left and right because the M50 will make it scoot in relative terms but it is not going to make the car FAST.

My 2 cents. Never forget the law of diminishing returns.