Suggestions on engine swap..M40 to what?

[jasonbk]

Hi, it's been about 6 months since I got my euro 316i..and I want the new engine sooner or later because:

1. my timing belt is couple years old although PO and I only put 13000km on it (it might snap in the future)

2. I've been hearing ticking noise from the engine (especially when I drive it through the tunnel or some sort of wall), and I think the sound is getting slightly louder. (I've searched forum and I think it's the hydraulic tappet $$$)

3. my clutch is worn out. Last time I went to the mechanic they said I should replace my clutch soon (I'm not gonna change the original clutch until it dies)

4.It's factory non a/c car and I usually drive mine around downtown Toronto.

5. I don't like speeding at all but I have to say this thing is really slow, especially on highway.

What I'm thinking of doing is that I'm not gonna fix/replace any of those and when things break, and I'll take my car to the shop to swap the engine.

The problem is that, I can't do it on my own because I have no space or tool to do it (as well as all of my friends, who are living in Toronto and going to Art school too = almost no interest in cars, especially fixing them by themselves).

So my options are:
1. m42 (probably cheapest, easiest, but I don't like high-revving 4 cylinder)
2. m20b25 (easy to get, probably more expensive than m42 swap since I need tranny, driveshaft, and more which I don't know yet)
3. m50 (too expensive unless I do it myself which I can't)

My question is, how much would it cost to do the following swaps if I take it to the shop? (shops around in here costs about $100~$110/hour) My priority is budget and reliability (i.e if swapping m20 costs $500 more than swapping m42 then I'll choose m42)

[89 e30]

M42's are slow, m20b25 is better but not good enough if you want power
Save some money and throw in an s52

[jasonbk]

M42's are slow, m20b25 is better but not good enough if you want power
Save some money and throw in an s52

I don't need that kind of power. for me anything between 140~180hp is more than enough. I usually cruse around the town and have occasional highway run. So right now M42 is cheapest option but I want decent punch in lower rpm.. but I'm not sure how much harder to swap m20b25 to 4cyl e30 compared to m42.

[F34R]

You clearly don't have enough to swap yet, that is in NO WAY offensive. So here is what you can do for cheap easy power. Buy the parts over time for a b35 swap. And in that time READ the swap threads and DO IT YOURSELF. My friend went from owning his first e30 and in two years of working on them did a B35 swap. So over that time you can buy a craftsman tool box(250pc will do). Engine picker and all needed parts for the swap. Make some local friend and buy some beers and pizzas for the weekend swap and DO IT!

I believe you can do it for under 1,500 total swap. Including tools and shit, so stop THINKING you cannot do it. And take it on as a life mile stone to be a man ;)

The B35 motor is cheap and easy to come by, and it has PLENTY of power/trq.

[89 e30]

You clearly don't have enough to swap yet, that is in NO WAY offensive. So here is what you can do for cheap easy power. Buy the parts over time for a b35 swap. And in that time READ the swap threads and DO IT YOURSELF. My friend went from owning his first e30 and in two years of working on them did a B35 swap. So over that time you can buy a craftsman tool box(250pc will do). Engine picker and all needed parts for the swap. Make some local friend and buy some beers and pizzas for the weekend swap and DO IT!

I believe you can do it for under 1,500 total swap. Including tools and shit, so stop THINKING you cannot do it. And take it on as a life mile stone to be a man ;)

The B35 motor is cheap and easy to come by, and it has PLENTY of power/trq.

I did the m30b35 swap on my buddies car, paid a little over a 1000 and its great power for the price and not really that hard

[Roysneon]

I can't imagine shelling out to have someone else do a relatively simple swap on my car. My finances aside, if I was sitting on a wad of cash, I still couldn't just pay someone to do it at $100/hr.

[csermonet47]

+1 for M30b35. You can do it for cheap if you need to. Wiring is super simple. So is cooling and stuff. Only thing that gave me an issue was the driveshaft. The torque is awesome too.

[jasonbk]

If I live in the house and have a garage or even a driveway I'd do what F34R said but Things aren't so bright when the only place that I have is 440 sq ft bachelor apartment and a paid parking space with people sending complaints to management for me disassembling bumpers.

Now i'm 4th year in college and I haven't met anyone working on their own cars! I guess I should find and hang out with local e30 guys from now on. Thanks for inspiring me guys. As soon as I finish my thesis and get a real job, I'll find way to do it myself.