M62 in an e30 for sale? Give me your thoughts please!?

[kevmac858]

Hey guys I have been really active in trying to buy my first e30 but have been flaked on by 2 people so far and its becoming really frustrating. I stumbled upon this posting today for an e30 with a m62 from a 7 series and 5 series transmission swap as well. seems like there is potential with it but don't really know the risks and cons + pricing to fix them. Let me know any and all thoughts. thanks! http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/3155174454.html

[Pl3wA]

seems legit

[Rsully70sev]

Eh, oil leaking and cooling issues. That sounds like it's going to blow the headgasket REAL fast. FYI I got two quotes for HG's on my 2001 740il and they were upwards of $4,000 (with other damage due to the whole HG and cooling mess) M62's are high maintenance. We have a 1997 740i (M62B44) and a 2001 740il (M62TUB44) both very high maintenance even though they are properly cared for.

The way I see it, this guys trying to get rid of it for a reason. Especially at 5K. If he were to get this to 100% it would go for double-triple-quadruple that asking price. There's something wrong he wants to walk away from.

[camip]

He listed 2.93lsd twice only fishy thing I saw. But idk the question is, is it really a vacuum leak causing the missfire.

[Rsully70sev]

Although it's not proof read, I don't see that as being fishy. He probably just thought he forgot to add that, and added it again at the end. I really see it as him trying to sell off a headache IMO. But I could be completely wrong and this could be a gem.

If you were to even consider this car, compression test and leak down would be a must.

[Vivek]

Didn't read the full ad, but if these are all the main issues:

There is an oil leak from the front of the valve covers.
VC Gasket? Maybe HG, even if so, it shouldn't be too terrible
- Power steering leak (You could just delete?)
Yep, delete it. Super easy, and basically all PS leaks
- Vaccum leak somewhere? Takes gas to start and misfires
Main issue. Smoke test
- Driver seat is kind of beat up
Who cares
- Coolant reservoir housing has crack in it.
should be easy

It's a running m62 swap. That's pretty awesome in itself. I'd offer 5k and go from there.

EDIT: read the rest of the ad. I would definitely at least check it out if I was in the market for an e30. Seems like a nice car.

[Pl3wA]

do it, if you wont buy it... i wont either, but yeah, at least check it out

[Rsully70sev]

A valve cover gasket and a head gasket are two entirely different things. And ranges of skill, time and money. I wouldn't brush it off as "no big deal"...I just don't want to see you to buy a $5k boat anchor when it blows up.

Edit: I wonder how many miles are on the drive train, how they've been maintained, and what their current condition is. There's a reason there's a 7 series isle at every pick and pull........

[Vivek]

A leak from the front of the valve cover is most likely the valve cover gasket. I don't know what that's like on an m62, but it's generally a very easy job. But of course you should assume it's the head gasket because you always wanna assume the worst case scenario.

[Rsully70sev]

because you always wanna assume the worst case scenario.

This.

[dirty30]

Thats Garagistic's "test mule" for their M60 swap stuff. I'm guessing they are throwing in the towel on that market.

http://garagistic.com/index.php?page=the-cars

[325ix]

It could also be a valley pan gasket which, is a pretty lengthy process.

[nrubenstein]

If you can do your own mechanical work, that looks like a screaming deal. If you need to pay a mechanic to do your work for you, run screaming.

It's really that simple.

[scottinAZ]

If you can do your own mechanical work, that looks like a screaming deal. If you need to pay a mechanic to do your work for you, run screaming.

It's really that simple.

Im going to piggyback this. mechanical aptitude needed for sure. However, this can truly be said about most E30's regardless of the drivetrain.

Swaps can be damn nice, and I would LOVE to have/do a v8 swap (need$$$), but they take a whole different set of skills than just maintenance items. you need to be able to work around the fact that the engine did NOT come in this chassis, and that presents some issues with how the items work (obd1 swap, wiring differences, deleted EWS, flashed DME, etc...) if you are able and have the desire and capabilities I say GO FOR IT

[dirty30]

If you can do your own mechanical work, that looks like a screaming deal. If you need to pay a mechanic to do your work for you, run screaming.

It's really that simple.

Well said!