What would be a good swap to consider?

[SpecRaceM5]

M10. End thread.

[qbuilt]

Turbo M10?

[SpecRaceM5]

Turbo M10?

No. Stock.

[ck_taft325is]

Depends what you want to do man. I'd go S50 or S52 if I had the $10,000 budget. No doubt about it. 240-260 whp, 6 speed tranny... I rest my case. Less maintenance, serious drivability, plenty of power, more gears. More weight, but again, unless you're going to be making a Auto-X car or dedicated track rat, there's no reason to be concerned about it.

Not sure how much it'll cost if you go through a mechanic for the majority of the install. Also, is the $10,000 for just the Engine swap, tranny, suspension or Engine, tranny, suspension, body, paint? If it's mostly for the engine swap and trans, I'd do it!

I plan on doing the turbo M42 with a spare block I aquired recently, but all things in good time. Boils down too, if I had $10,000, I'd swap S50-52. Let us know what you decide and take A LOT of pictures of the process! ;)

[gearheadE30]

I have an M42 currently and I'm in a similar situation to you. My suspension is essentially sorted, though, and my limiting factor on the track has become power. Due to the cost of the engines, I think I may actually be doing an M50B25 swap unless I can find a really good price on an M52. Even with less displacement and such, there is still a great deal of room for modification. The M42 just doesn't have the same capacity for easy modification.

[herbivor]

dude..
with a 10K budget..
SUPERCHARGE THE M42 !!

flat torque curve
minimal weight disturbance
no motor-pulling/transporting/installation hassles
simple
bolt-on fun
car retains original hardware / ‘ease-of -returnability’ to stock.

from research i've done, performing level one suspension upgrades + supercharging = an economic [factory] M3 equivalent. (~195HP e30 with 4 cylinder motor - s14 headaches)

I think that's the way I'm leaning for the reasons you listed. Considering the age of the engine, I'm a little concerned with blowing the head gasket or breaking a rocker arm with forced induction but hopefully keeping the boost within reason will prevent that. I've been checking out the DASC set up and the 91 318is grassroots motorsports supercharged project. I think they had to run high flow fuel injectors and add a fuel pump but other than that it looked like a pretty easy set up compared to building a turbo. I also like the idea of not having to change the dynamics of the car as I love how it handles now.

So the plan is to do the timing chain job, install a JBL lightened flywheel, stronger clutch, manual rack, and research the DASC option. I think they are like $3500 new but I saw a used one on CL for $2200. Should be a unique and fun little car when it's all done. We'll see. Thanks for the opinions and help. I'll post up the end result in a few months.

BTW, my car is near perfect inside and out so no need to spend money on paint or interior.

[jeff_b]

metricmechanic.com has all sorts of hot M42s.

[Jean]

I think that's the way I'm leaning for the reasons you listed. Considering the age of the engine, I'm a little concerned with blowing the head gasket or breaking a rocker arm with forced induction but hopefully keeping the boost within reason will prevent that. I've been checking out the DASC set up and the 91 318is grassroots motorsports supercharged project. I think they had to run high flow fuel injectors and add a fuel pump but other than that it looked like a pretty easy set up compared to building a turbo. I also like the idea of not having to change the dynamics of the car as I love how it handles now.

So the plan is to do the timing chain job, install a JBL lightened flywheel, stronger clutch, manual rack, and research the DASC option. I think they are like $3500 new but I saw a used one on CL for $2200. Should be a unique and fun little car when it's all done. We'll see. Thanks for the opinions and help. I'll post up the end result in a few months.

BTW, my car is near perfect inside and out so no need to spend money on paint or interior.

Your car has rocker arms? Boost has nothing to do with rocker arms failing btw.

[SpecM]

Your car has rocker arms? .

many lols

[bimmer_E30]

:hitler:

many lols

lol i thought you only have to worry about breaking rocker arms when you go M20?

[pbr87]

Boils down too, if I had $10,000, I'd swap S50-52. Let us know what you decide and take A LOT of pictures of the process! ;)

It doesn't take nearly this much. I think it only costs around $5k-$6k for an S50 swap.

[CO318is]

I am in a similar position as you are, I have been considering doing an aluminum block m52 stroker with s52 cams. The engine weighs just 20 pounds more than the M42, knock the AC off and you are at the same weight as the M42 but with close to twice the power...

[herbivor]

Your car has rocker arms? Boost has nothing to do with rocker arms failing btw.

Haha yeah I'm an idiot. I've had plenty of M20's but haven't touched my M42 yet. My obvious lack of experience is another reason why I probably should not do a swap.
It's also probably why it would cost me more than those that have the time and space to do it on their own.

[daniel]

for $10k you could pay a reputable shop to do the swap, and still have money left over.

[bimmer_E30]

i wounder who would be the first to swap a S54 with HPF stage III kit in an e30. that would be insane!