I want more power. Engine swap? m20 2.8? What do you suggest?

[clydesdale]

I would like more power. I have an 87 325is with a stock motor that has 260k miles. I am thinking ahead to when it quits. What would my best play be for a trouble free daily driver with a little more power.

[aaron325ix]

find an M20 block and start rebuilding it piece by piece the way you want it. Hopefully you will have it done by the time your motor shits out on you, and you can just do the swap. Thats my plan anyway.

[jlevie]

More power than what an M20B25 produces and dependability in a daily driver would come from an M50/52 swap.

[Philo]

I'm with jlevie. The power band on an 24v engine will be much more fun and much wider. They will cost close to the same, and the 24v is all around a better decision.

[Danny]

You wanna learn to build a motor and have the facilities to do so?

[lennon]

if you want more power and arent a motor builder, really the only option is 24v.

[clydesdale]

My brother is very capable of building the motor. He told me to start doing my homework. What do you make of the 2.8 that I had seen on the UK site e30zone.net

[lennon]

unless you want 200hp to be the end of your journey, go 24v. 200hp m20 is very respectable and goes right in where the old one went though. ive been down the m20 road and ended up building an s50. now thats not even done yet and i want to build another m20 because theyre just great. just decide first which motor you like best and then weigh the options.

[yberther]

turbo.

[clydesdale]

I don't want to loose reliability. I like the m20 because it seems to simply work, ALL the time. Plus when something breaks it seems easily accessible. How much better to drive is a 200 hp m20 over the 168hp that I have now? What does it take to get to 200 hp in an m20?
I want to make sure the car remains reliable. For example, I lust for an e30 m3, but they are not cheap and I hear the s14 can cost you a lot of money. Thanks.

[Jesse30]

good luck getting 200hp from an m20 NA without doing a stroker kit and headwork.

do the m50 or m52 swap, its reliable and will provide that 200hp kick in the pants

[Philo]

I have a M20 that comes close to 205hp on NA. For a mere $4200+SH it can be yours. If I was doing the engine swap I would go 24v no questions asked.

[downernsp]

Turbo!!

[clydesdale]

The turbo route sounds like a lot of custom work and pricey. How much $$$ and how much HP?
Also which motor is prefered for the swap? What is the difference between m50 and s50 and m52 and s52? What does the "m" and "s" mean? Thanks.

[Philo]

Looks like you need to do a lot of research before you start doing any kind of work. Be a big boy search some 24v swaps, there are a lot on here.