Should I buy my friends beat S52?

[The_Lope7]

Hey guys, a friend of mine has a 98 e36 m3. He hasn't treated the engine too well and as a result, the engine has completely lost compression in 2 cylinders. He took it to an import shop and was not able to get a definitive answer as to why this has happened. Looks like he's gonna part out the car (even though I wish he would fix it, he has just lost interest), and he would most likely sell the engine for cheap. It has about 136k miles but like I said, he drove it pretty rough.

So, What is a reasonable price? Is this something that would be worth my time to fix, or should I look for one that's running instead? If I'm able to get the engine from him, what kind of cost would be left for doing a full s52 swap? Any input is appreciated!

[bumada]

Just for reference, I'm around the $5k mark on my S50 swap. This includes an already well running motor. Prices build up quickly especially when you go ahead and replace everything while the motor is already out.

If he's selling really cheap, like a few hundred, it may be worth it. It'll be a few grand to rebuild it at the machine shop and buying internals and gaskets. Or pay a few grand for one that already runs, and put a few hundred into it by replacing gaskets, sparkplugs, etc.

[The_Lope7]

Just for reference, I'm around the $5k mark on my S50 swap. This includes an already well running motor. Prices build up quickly especially when you go ahead and replace everything while the motor is already out.

If he's selling really cheap, like a few hundred, it may be worth it. It'll be a few grand to rebuild it at the machine shop and buying internals and gaskets. Or pay a few grand for one that already runs, and put a few hundred into it by replacing gaskets, sparkplugs, etc.

Yeah I figure if I can get it for cheap there's no reason not to give it a shot and just hope for the best

[AndrewBird]

No compression in two adjacent cylinders likely means a head gasket leak between cylinders. Since the valves open at different times, at least one in each cylinder is open at any time.