S54 to E30 - Build Thread

[TenaciousDuck]

Hey everyone.

New to this Forum, but glad to be a part.

I recently had an incident with my E46 M3 (never let a friend drive your car), and unfortunately insurance won't do really anything much for me :rippedoff: I've owned various E36/46's, but what comes next will be my first E30.
Below is a picture of the exterior damage currently on my M3:



As I will have to be covering all repair costs, I have decided to take another route and use the perfectly fine drivetrain in a swap. The costs to repair the body alone don't justify going through with it, so a swap seemed like the next best idea - possibly. I am currently on the hunt for an E30, and if I decide this route, will begin the swap at that point. Although money will be a bit tight for the first bit, I benefit from having a fully drivable M3 that has most of the components I would need.

Any initial thoughts or suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated - all criticism accepted :up:

Thanks all, and I look forward to joining the E40 community.

[gobuffs]

Seems like a waste to part a car with that damage...but to each their own.

[TenaciousDuck]

Initially, I had the same thought. But I have been quoted well over $10k to fix the body damage alone by various reputable shops in the area. That doesn't cover the suspension components that need replacement, either (RTABS, Control & Trailing arms, bushings, etc)

Once I know for certain if the subframe has any damage to it (preliminary = none), that will also be a determining factor in which route I go. But trust me, I feel the same. I would much rather fix this up than do a swap, but to be honest the swap is the lesser cost route to go and I've been wanting to do an E30 swap for a while now (w/ a S52, mind you). This might just be that time

[MaxBell]

An S54 into an E30, when you don't have the E30, will EASILY cost you 15k.

[Ray Smoodiver]

I've seen way worse damage get repaired in no time.

C-pillar sections for E46's aren't overly expensive from BMW either.

[stonea]

Yeah, thats just a love tap. My dads M3 had damage similar to that (Wasn't missing the bumper) and didn't cost him much. Fix it or sell it to someone who will. No reason to kill the car because of a blemish.

[James]

I don't see any way e30 s54 is the "low cost option" rather than fixing that.

Where in Canada are you located? Salvaged e46 m3s pull pretty reasonable money you'd likely be not out a great deal by parting that car out or selling as a wreck and getting another.

[TenaciousDuck]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

I can't disagree with anyone here to be honest. To me, the damage appears to significantly less than what I have been quoted by the shops here. I can do the suspension work myself, but the (4) shops I got quotes at - the lowest was $13,650 (taxes and what not in) - and I was told to have some wiggle room on that even.

Didn't make sense to me either, but if I'm not the only one figuring that's quite preposterous (which I'm obviously not), I'm going to have to shop around at some other places to get a reasonable quote. The bumper and some small body work isn't as much of a big deal to me; those quotes were just to cut out & replace / paint that rear quarter panel. Maybe just how they price it here, but I could rip over to the next province and probably get a much better deal.


I appreciate everyones brutal honesty - I would prefer not to get rid of the car if I don't have to. Hopefully one of these places will smarten up with their pricing.

[Andrew325is]

If you want to do an E30 S54 swap do it! :) But like others have said, it's not the cheaper option. The E46 is actually a pretty great car. My DD is an E46. If you don't want to spend too much fixing it then forget the big fancy shops. Look for a little shop or find an auto body dude that works out of his garage. Some of those guys do the best work because they're doing it for themselves and not just working for the man.

[Wanganstyle]

Buy e36m3 and shift over the s54/6mt.

Then buy an e30 and shift the s52 from e36 into that one. Solves both your problems

[TenaciousDuck]

Update:

Got pricing on parts. Because i need a new rear bumper, side panel, trailing arm and all the pieces between, I'm over $4000 on parts alone. Most likely closer to 4500 said and done in parts.

A quote for replacing that part came in at $3000 plus paint on that panel and the rear bumper. So I am now quickly approaching $10k for a proper, full repair. Unfortunately my picture doesn't accurately depict the extent of the body damage.

Not sure route I will go yet, but I will be sure to check in if I go ahead with a swap of some sort. Thanks again for the feedback everyone!

[DesertBMW]

People in USA don't understand that in Canada everything is more expensive and less abundant.
Cheapest solution for you would be to sell the car as is then buy another M3. How will you find nice non rust bucket E30 coupe in Canada?

[dillonsb]

Do it man. Your car, your choice.

[e30s50dan]

IMO I would fix it..looks like light damage in the picture!

Or you can sell it to me!