M30 or S52?

[MannyTranny]

What? S52 can easily be done with 3 grand. You can pick them up for less than $1800!!

Yeah but there's the tranny and all the other shit you need to make it work properly. I believe it could be done for 5ish grand but it wouldn't be the best condition parts. I've never done a swap though so i'm pretty much talking out of my ass.

[pandaboo911]

What? S52 can easily be done with 3 grand. You can pick them up for less than $1800!!

[MannyTranny]

Then you probably just crossed the S52 off your list.

Lol damn it, well my dad has my old E36 M3 that I'm tempted to try to buy all the parts off him for a decent deal since I gave him a good deal.

[agent]

Then you probably just crossed the S52 off your list.

[MannyTranny]

Hey Manny, It sounds to me like you have swap fever. You just need to spend like 8 hours reading about/watching youtubes of your swap options. Also, spend some time getting to know your car. Roll around under it for a while. While you're down there, look for a metal tag on your diff. It'll have some numbers on it. They will be something like 3.73xxxxx or 4.10xxxxx (or maybe it's xxxxx4.10). That tells you which diff you have. If the tag is gone, just rotate the driveshaft and count how many rotations it takes to make the wheels make 1 full revolution. Good luck with your decision.

Haha yes sir I do, I'm itching to swap but it's not going to be for a while. I'm just looking into it so I can start planning everything out.

What's your budget?

Not 100% sure on that one but It'd probably be around 3-5 grand tops.

[Ether-D]

What's your budget?

and this.

[agent]

What's your budget?

[Ether-D]

Hey Manny, It sounds to me like you have swap fever. You just need to spend like 8 hours reading about/watching youtubes of your swap options. Also, spend some time getting to know your car. Roll around under it for a while. While you're down there, look for a metal tag on your diff. It'll have some numbers on it. They will be something like 3.73xxxxx or 4.10xxxxx (or maybe it's xxxxx4.10). That tells you which diff you have. If the tag is gone, just rotate the driveshaft and count how many rotations it takes to make the wheels make 1 full revolution. Good luck with your decision.

[MannyTranny]

A 5 lug swap is certainly unnecessary but the 4.10 or 3.73 diff would be too steep for many with stock diameter tires.

Gotcha, this may be a stupid question but how do I tell what ratio my diff is?

[Bearmw]

A 5 lug swap is certainly unnecessary but the 4.10 or 3.73 diff would be too steep for many with stock diameter tires.

[MannyTranny]

First you need an engine. Theres lots of flavors of m30s to go with. If you were going to go with a stock M30 I would go with the M30B35. The US spec M30B34 is a low compression engine and they're really only good for turbocharging. Guys have made 800hp on the stock US b34 bottom end, so that's always an option. Or you could do something crazy and use a 2.5 litre m30 crank with 93mm aircooled VW pistons and long s38 connecting rods for a nice, very oversquare, revhappy 3.2 litre m30. Theres a lot of different combos. Definently go check out mye28. E28 guys love they're m30s.

I really don't think the m30, or the S5x motors make enough power to need bigger brakes on the street. Most people don't even mess with the brakes when theydo their swap.. However, It wouldn't hurt to pick up some stainless steel brake lines, good pads and rotors and maybe even some remanned calipers. You could go with RX7 front brakes but that is a little overkill unless you plan on tracking the car. You will need a different booster for the 24v swap.

Depending on your stock rear end ratio you probably won't have to change the diff with an m30 swap. Anything 3.73 and lower will be fine. No need to rienforce the rear end unless going turbo. An s5x with a Zf trans will need a numerically lower rear end ratio because it doesn't have an overdriven 5th gear. So 3.25 and lower.
You really need a new trans with either swap. G260 will bolt up to an s52 but it won't last long there. I would also invest in a new clutch.

M30 will also need a rock solid cooling system, and custom mounts. But that's not that expensive. Mishimoto z3 radiator and garagastic mounts. I got my mounts used for $25 on eBay.

Nice little write up man I appreciate it! So pretty much just engine, tranny, steel brake lines, pads, rotors, calipers if the budget calls for it, and that's pretty much it? I wouldn't need to 5 lug swap it or get a new diff or anything?

[totheredline]

You're really making me want an M30 now. Would I need to 5 lug swap it? Would I need a new diff/bigger brakes? What all would I need to reliably complete this job? Sorry if there are tons of threads about this, i'll do some research when I have more time.

First you need an engine. Theres lots of flavors of m30s to go with. If you were going to go with a stock M30 I would go with the M30B35. The US spec M30B34 is a low compression engine and they're really only good for turbocharging. Guys have made 800hp on the stock US b34 bottom end, so that's always an option. Or you could do something crazy and use a 2.5 litre m30 crank with 93mm aircooled VW pistons and long s38 connecting rods for a nice, very oversquare, revhappy 3.2 litre m30. Theres a lot of different combos. Definently go check out mye28. E28 guys love they're m30s.

I really don't think the m30, or the S5x motors make enough power to need bigger brakes on the street. Most people don't even mess with the brakes when theydo their swap.. However, It wouldn't hurt to pick up some stainless steel brake lines, good pads and rotors and maybe even some remanned calipers. You could go with RX7 front brakes but that is a little overkill unless you plan on tracking the car. You will need a different booster for the 24v swap.

Depending on your stock rear end ratio you probably won't have to change the diff with an m30 swap. Anything 3.73 and lower will be fine. No need to rienforce the rear end unless going turbo. An s5x with a Zf trans will need a numerically lower rear end ratio because it doesn't have an overdriven 5th gear. So 3.25 and lower.
You really need a new trans with either swap. G260 will bolt up to an s52 but it won't last long there. I would also invest in a new clutch.

M30 will also need a rock solid cooling system, and custom mounts. But that's not that expensive. Mishimoto z3 radiator and garagastic mounts. I got my mounts used for $25 on eBay.

[MannyTranny]

Ive gotten rides in an m30 swap car and an s50 car and I fell in love with the m30. sOOOO much torque. It felt like I was in a muscle car. The s50 car remided me too much of my E46.
While the S50/S52 is a good engine and they move an e30 very very well I really don't see why theyre worth what people want for them. I very rarely see good ones for less than 2k. for just a little bit more you could get an S54, delete VANOS and run it on megasquirt. ORRR you could buy like 3 m60's... or like 10 m30s.... or 5.0 swap it, or Ls swap it.... (now Im just fantasizing) cant count out the regular 24v's either. An m52 can be had for next to nothing, and while you wont be making quite as much power as an S5x youll have a pretty chunk of change in your pocket that you wouldn't have had if you went S5x. Also, no harmonic issues with M52s and m50s, unlike M54b30s and S5x engines.

I went with a fully built, carbed m30 because I love old school BMWs and the M30 is pretty much the embodiment of old school Bavarian muscle. No other reason than that.

You're really making me want an M30 now. Would I need to 5 lug swap it? Would I need a new diff/bigger brakes? What all would I need to reliably complete this job? Sorry if there are tons of threads about this, i'll do some research when I have more time.

[totheredline]

Ive gotten rides in an m30 swap car and an s50 car and I fell in love with the m30. sOOOO much torque. It felt like I was in a muscle car. The s50 car remided me too much of my E46.
While the S50/S52 is a good engine and they move an e30 very very well I really don't see why theyre worth what people want for them. I very rarely see good ones for less than 2k. for just a little bit more you could get an S54, delete VANOS and run it on megasquirt. ORRR you could buy like 3 m60's... or like 10 m30s.... or 5.0 swap it, or Ls swap it.... (now Im just fantasizing) cant count out the regular 24v's either. An m52 can be had for next to nothing, and while you wont be making quite as much power as an S5x youll have a pretty chunk of change in your pocket that you wouldn't have had if you went S5x. Also, no harmonic issues with M52s and m50s, unlike M54b30s and S5x engines.

I went with a fully built, carbed m30 because I love old school BMWs and the M30 is pretty much the embodiment of old school Bavarian muscle. No other reason than that.

[pandaboo911]

Does your E30 have a boosted S52 in it?

Indeed.

S52s are reliable even boosted, and the stuff that does break (vanos) is cheap to repair.