What would you do?

[10Toes]

S85 swap

[ACHTUNG]

M50 boost yo.

[Jafxod]

The SMARTEST would be put a nice reliable s52 and call it a day with the 240hp or whatever it is they make. Never have to worry about it.

Or you could do what im doing and going turbo m50, expecting over 300, but definetly not my car i will rely on to get to work

[Charlie]

I recently picked up a 91 318is for close to nothing. I want something that I can reliably drive daily and take to the track. I have a limited budget ($3000) and would like to make decent power. What would you do?

Rebuild M42+boost
or
M50 Vanos+boost

"Limited budget" and "boost" for a track car sounds kinda dumb. Finding a decent M50 (vanos, don't skimp) plus all the ancillery components, freshening the suspension, seals, brakes and all the other track shit is going to eat up 3k pretty quick. Swap it and keep it NA.

-Charlie

[F34R]

You will never swap m50 and boost on 3k

[ill4noreason]

N20

[BavarianSwap]

"Limited budget" and "boost" for a track car sounds kinda dumb. Finding a decent M50 (vanos, don't skimp) plus all the ancillery components, freshening the suspension, seals, brakes and all the other track shit is going to eat up 3k pretty quick. Swap it and keep it NA.

-Charlie

Thanks again. I'm not looking to boost it any time soon. Sounds dumb? Plenty of people here drive their cars daily and take it to the track. 3k is for the motor alone. I have the suspension and other bits sorted so, I'm good in that department. Why do you suggest keeping it NA? Thanks.

[bloodshot-e30]

what track are you wanting to run it on? 1/4 mile? or an acctual road course setup? if you plan on boosting it later to make big power its hard to get traction in E30s hell all i have is an M52 swap and i struggle with traction.

for DD/track S/M52 with good bolt ons run healthy

for drift.. boost it ;) lol

[slaterd]

Is it doable? Yes. Should you? mmaaaaaybe.

However, if you just bought the car, that $3k should really be spent catching up on maintenance. plugs, cooling, suspension bushings, driveline bushings, fluids, clutch, tires, alignment, shifter, brakes (!!)

I agree with this guy. Maintenance is key to everything. Get that caught up then worry about powah

[MR 325]

Skip the boost and put together something reliable. S50/S52 is ideal of course but you'd have to find some good prices to stay within budget. M52 would be my next choice, they make great power for the price along with some S52 cams.

All of these people suggesting these oddball engines obviously don't know what a budget is.

PS: Rebuilding the M42 will absolutely not be worth the costs involved.

[mr2peak]

What I would do, and in this order: Assuming the car has been mostly taken care of, which it probably hasn't.

Oil change with good synthetic and new oil filter $50
New coolant $10
New brake fluid $20
LSD Fluid $20
Detailing supplies $50
Air filter, plugs $30
Brake pads, steel lines, maybe rotors, maybe ebrake pads cause nobody checks them $300-600
Good tires $600
Good, not too thick sway bars $350
Bilsteins $450
H&R Sports $250
Adjustable subframe with new bushings $400
Alignment $100


That's almost $3000 right there...

Asschuggen has 300hp turboz M42. You can do this with stock internals and low comp pistons.

Low comp pistons does not a "stock internal engine" make

[BoxDriver86]

Chances are if you picked it up for cheap it will need a good bit of maintenance. I would get all of that done and see what you have left over. Get used to driving with the M42 before you start throwing parts at it. You don't have to have some crazy swap to compete in any racing event.

If you really want to race the car consider this:
Decent suspension is about $1K
Wheels/tires will be around $800
Standard tune up stuff is about $400-600 with brakes, cap & rotor, etc.

Best case scenario you have about $600 left which would be a great starting point to save up and do a swap down the road. If you're getting into auto-x a swap will put you directly into Street Mod. A poorly maintained e30 with a swap will stand no chance against some of the average competitors in that class.

The best mod for racing is to be a better driver and that is essentially free.

EDIT: I didn't see that someone had already done a cost breakdown above. My bad.

[e30trooper]

refresh the car. 318's are light and can move fast around turns. keep it that way. Save up after the car is back to 100% then do a swap.

[Balleristic31]

Keep the m42....

[bloodshot-e30]

refresh the car. 318's are light and can move fast around turns. keep it that way. Save up after the car is back to 100% then do a swap.

Weren't u the guy who did the sweet ass hid project thread?