How Satisfied are you with your S/M5x Swap?

[JGood]

Unless you're going junkyard everything, how you keeping it much under 2k? There's a lot of "little" parts you need for the swap, and I went ahead and went new, just for piece of mind. That stuff adds up quick.

-Charlie

Maybe I got lucky on finding good deals on both parts I bought and parts I sold. I didn't buy anything at forum prices. A complete m50 shouldn't be worth $600, IMO. And a 30+ year old e21 booster shouldn't be more then $30. The new e28 motor mounts are only $50. Make your own trans brace and do your own wiring, and that's it. Sold my eta engine for $200, ECU for $40, etc...

I kept my 220k mile e34 engine as I got it. Didn't do the water pump, plugs, seals, gaskets, etc... It doesn't leak and runs perfect. Again, maybe I got lucky. I traded the guy maybe $200-$300 worth of e30 parts for the engine. Complete with ECU, harness, accessories.

I did the whole "all-out" thing when I did my five speed swap a few years ago. I spent $1500 to replace my auto trans with a manual. 3 pages of parts from the dealer. After realizing it didn't make a difference, I decided to never do that again.

[Ray Smoodiver]

Euro S50 motors, sure... I love it.

[BeirBrennerE30]

I have been s52 swapped since 2001 and I would never go back. It completely changes the e30. When I bought my stock 325is earlier this year I was shocked at how different it felt then the s52 swapped car. The engine just feels much more modern. I will never own a stock engined e30 again(s14 excluded)

[markseven]

I literally scratched my head when I saw that three (so far) want the M20 back. Granted the M20 made excellent power when compared with other mid-eighties engines, but when compared with the steady idle, lack of valvetrain clackity clack, and smooth delivery of reliable power that the 24Vs offers...

I don't think the extra weight has negatively or even noticeably effected my car's balance. Everything I love about my E30 remains, everything that I wasn't so crazy about is gone.

[justin_l_]

I went from and eta to a nv m50, replaced all the maintance parts and cleaned up everything during the swap. I was more than happy with the power increase and would def do it again....wait, I am currently!

[hoveringuy]

M54... S50 power with M20 weight. I love it!

I would also love a nice FI M50.

[Uber E30]

3 pages of parts from the dealer. After realizing it didn't make a difference, I decided to never do that again.

Im not sure how you can justify this. What you skipped over will need replacing eventually and could break other things that didnt need replacing because you cheaped out.

Personally, EVERYTHING thats going under my hood is either rebuilt or new besides the booster. My block comes back from the machine shop this weekend so obviously the engine isnt in yet but im already happy with it. Just the peace of mind that i wont have to do anything but change the fluids for a few years to come. <3 having future weekends free

[Wh33lhop]

Maybe I got lucky on finding good deals on both parts I bought and parts I sold. I didn't buy anything at forum prices. A complete m50 shouldn't be worth $600, IMO. And a 30+ year old e21 booster shouldn't be more then $30. The new e28 motor mounts are only $50. Make your own trans brace and do your own wiring, and that's it. Sold my eta engine for $200, ECU for $40, etc...

I kept my 220k mile e34 engine as I got it. Didn't do the water pump, plugs, seals, gaskets, etc... It doesn't leak and runs perfect. Again, maybe I got lucky. I traded the guy maybe $200-$300 worth of e30 parts for the engine. Complete with ECU, harness, accessories.

I did the whole "all-out" thing when I did my five speed swap a few years ago. I spent $1500 to replace my auto trans with a manual. 3 pages of parts from the dealer. After realizing it didn't make a difference, I decided to never do that again.

I picked up a 180k E34 NV with ECU, harness, M42/S14 harness cover, E28 mounts, brand new GRAF water pump and S52 exhaust manifolds for $670... I think that was a pretty good deal. I can sell the M20, harness and 153 for maybe $200 (blown head gasket), the 173 w/mark d clone and 19#ers for around $150. Main problem around here is there are no you-pull-it style junk yards.

[zav3n]

my 24v has been my Daily Driver for 2 years and now its got AC too... i mean what more could you ask for?

[JGood]

Im not sure how you can justify this. What you skipped over will need replacing eventually and could break other things that didnt need replacing because you cheaped out.

Personally, EVERYTHING thats going under my hood is either rebuilt or new besides the booster. My block comes back from the machine shop this weekend so obviously the engine isnt in yet but im already happy with it. Just the peace of mind that i wont have to do anything but change the fluids for a few years to come. <3 having future weekends free

I have 1 year and 20k miles on my swap without a single failed part, car has never left me sit or acted up in anyway. Chassis has 260k, motor has 230k. No smoke, no leaks, nothing.

If something was blatantly crappy looking, I replaced it. A few vacuum hoses, etc...

You want your future weekends free, I wanted to do my swap in one weekend vs a few weeks. No big deal, difference in preference. Also, what your swap cost is a great deal more then what my swap cost, if you are rebuilding or buying new everything. I didn't do this swap for a performance monster or to last 10 years. The car is a cheap DD, the motor fell onto my lap.

[rThor432]

I love mine. It's a great setup, the motor is really excellent in the E30 chassis. My swap cost me around $5k, probably just a bit less. Everything is new but the head gasket. In my opinion it has been money well spent. The car is faster than most cars on the road in Charlotte and it still gets the 30+ mpg that the original eta motor got.

That said, I would really like to sell the swap so I can install an M10. But there isnt an option for that, so I said "I love it". But at the same time I do miss the character (noise) of the old M20.

[graphikg]

Despite the numerous headaches that my swap has caused me over the 3 years I've had it, I LOVE IT!

OP what trans and gearing are you running?

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.

[Charlie]

Maybe I got lucky on finding good deals on both parts I bought and parts I sold. I didn't buy anything at forum prices. A complete m50 shouldn't be worth $600, IMO. And a 30+ year old e21 booster shouldn't be more then $30. The new e28 motor mounts are only $50. Make your own trans brace and do your own wiring, and that's it. Sold my eta engine for $200, ECU for $40, etc...

I kept my 220k mile e34 engine as I got it. Didn't do the water pump, plugs, seals, gaskets, etc... It doesn't leak and runs perfect. Again, maybe I got lucky. I traded the guy maybe $200-$300 worth of e30 parts for the engine. Complete with ECU, harness, accessories.

I did the whole "all-out" thing when I did my five speed swap a few years ago. I spent $1500 to replace my auto trans with a manual. 3 pages of parts from the dealer. After realizing it didn't make a difference, I decided to never do that again.

Ah, mine's a touch different. Pro-rebuilt 70k m50 with a freshened head, new booster, all new coolant components, lines, etc. A "no maintenence" track car has been pretty nice.

-Charlie

[FredK]

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

[z31maniac]

Ah, mine's a touch different. Pro-rebuilt 70k m50 with a freshened head, new booster, all new coolant components, lines, etc. A "no maintenence" track car has been pretty nice.

-Charlie

Same thing I did with mine, minus the freshened head, only to have it immediately pop the headgasket.

I suspect it was weak to begin with.