FEELER: SOCAL: 1988 M-Tech II Sedan With everything included for an M50 Swap

[ramirez54]

Hey guys I don't know if I want to sell this or complete the project. I have a 1988 M-Tech II sedan. This is a side project I've been working on for a couple of years. You can see my build thread here http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=319105

As you can see in the latest pictures the car has come a long way from new paint, suspension and now Im up to the swap part of the project. I have a complete M50 engine with everything needed to complete the swap. It also has a complete design interior from an e30 wagon.

Like I mentioned my next step is to drop the M50 in there and keep going with the project. But honestly the last few days I've been thinking I may want to go in a different direction and buy another car. The thing is I don't know what I want yet... been thinking from e36 M3 to even a Lancia Delta Integrale.

The car is now in Socal but still has NJ plates. Im going to smog the car in the next couple of weeks with the stock M20 in there.

What would you guys offer for this car with the M50 swap with a 5speed? please note all M-Tech parts are original from BMW.

[agent]

M50 swaps are all but pointless these days. If you're going to 24v swap it, do something OBDII.

To your question, I'd pay less for it with an M50 in it than I would with the M20 in it.

[noid]

M50 swaps are all but pointless these days. If you're going to 24v swap it, do something OBDII.

To your question, I'd pay less for it with an M50 in it than I would with the M20 in it.

[ramirez54]

M50 swaps are all but pointless these days. If you're going to 24v swap it, do something OBDII.

To your question, I'd pay less for it with an M50 in it than I would with the M20 in it.

I hear ya, thanks for the input. The thing is I already have the M50 but totally understand what you mean. For me this is a project I took on but now I have doubts I want to complete it. If there is an enthusiast that makes me a good offer I'll more than likely let it go. If not I'll just complete it and down the road drop an s52 in there instead.

[2mAn]

what are you thinking pricewise? a nice mtech2 can fetch pretty good money, but a four door is a polarizing car. some love it and some hate it. might be best to put it on Bring a Trailer once its CA legal and Im sure you could get realld good money for it

[ramirez54]

what are you thinking pricewise? a nice mtech2 can fetch pretty good money, but a four door is a polarizing car. some love it and some hate it. might be best to put it on Bring a Trailer once its CA legal and Im sure you could get realld good money for it

Honestly I don't know in terms of price. I was actually even looking to make a trade for an e36 M3 sedan in decent shape. As it sits the car is an automatic (tragic) with an M20 with about 200k on the clock. The M50 I have for it has just over 100k and with a 5-speed which I picked up for a decent price. I mean overall I've put some nice parts into it; full OEM M-Tech 2 kit, design interior, Bilstein sports, HR springs, Z3 antenna, new stock exhaust and not to mention new PPG paint... etc etc. Plus add all the swap parts I collected.

So my plan was to smog the car with the M20 in there and then swap in the M50 but I was not going to make it Bar legal. I was then going to keep the car for a couple of years and when it was time to smog it again I was either going to sell it out of state or make the modifications needed to pass CA specs.

But right now I feel like if the right trade or the right $ offer for the whole package will more than likely entice me to move on. Any input on price would be greatly appreciated.

[2mAn]

Its not an original Mtech 2 car, not a CA car originally, auto.... You could still get over 5 I think because its a clean car. If I were you, keep working on it. Its better than a E36 M3. Throw the M50 in it and add S50 cams. If will be a blast that way and you could daily that and leave the ///M cars in the garage

[ramirez54]

Its not an original Mtech 2 car, not a CA car originally, auto.... You could still get over 5 I think because its a clean car. If I were you, keep working on it. Its better than a E36 M3. Throw the M50 in it and add S50 cams. If will be a blast that way and you could daily that and leave the ///M cars in the garage

Thanks for the input, I agree I do need to finish it before I move on from it. You're right on the price, If I were to trade it I would want a car that has a value of 8k or so even if there has to be a little bit of money coming from my end in the deal. I'll get some s50 cams and do that with the swap. I won't put the car for sale but if somebody makes me the right offer I'll think really hard about it. Thanks again.

[reelizmpro]

I don't like 4dr sedans but the m tech kit is one of the few that looks great on them. Did you install the purple m tech interior?

[flyboyx]

if you are going to sell, you crazy to do an engine swap with an m50 before hand. that will be a money loser. maybe it would be worthwhile to swap in a manual trans though.

new jersey history could scare the hell out of the next owner. especially if it ends up in your locale or some area of the country where cars don't rust.

i would say that if the car is indeed rust free(as in from a southern state), it is perhaps worth 5k as it sits. if it was rusty and repaired or still has some rust, well.....that will make it pretty tough to sell at any reasonable price.

i haven't gone through your build thread, so i don't really know what you have there, but at least it looks nice in the pics you have posted. good luck with whatever you do....

[Javier h]

Nice

It would sell it as is. You dont see that much 4 door Mtech cars done nicely.

I am thinking $9-$15k if the right buyers are bidding. Two of things that I like immediately is the new paint, new interior, and the oem kit.

I would list it on BAT and then decide whether its enough to keep it or swap it.

I could see the attention to detail :

[jhaurimn]

M50 swaps are all but pointless these days. If you're going to 24v swap it, do something OBDII.

LOL. I went from m20 to m52 obd1 and I couldn't disagree with this post any more.

Although to be fair, late model m20's are going way up price these days.

[ramirez54]

I don't like 4dr sedans but the m tech kit is one of the few that looks great on them. Did you install the purple m tech interior?

Thanks, yeah it has the purple m-tech interior. Its in good shape, the rear seat panel is stitched together but it's not what I would call complete. After the engine swap the next phase is to redo it and have the rear covered properly. My plan is to mix the purple m-tech with black leather bolsters front and rear.

if you are going to sell, you crazy to do an engine swap with an m50 before hand. that will be a money loser. maybe it would be worthwhile to swap in a manual trans though.

new jersey history could scare the hell out of the next owner. especially if it ends up in your locale or some area of the country where cars don't rust.

i would say that if the car is indeed rust free(as in from a southern state), it is perhaps worth 5k as it sits. if it was rusty and repaired or still has some rust, well.....that will make it pretty tough to sell at any reasonable price.

i haven't gone through your build thread, so i don't really know what you have there, but at least it looks nice in the pics you have posted. good luck with whatever you do....

Thanks for the input. The thing is I already have the M50 and everything needed to complete the swap. The M20 that is in there now is tired and leaking oil like crazy. Long story short I moved to CA late last year but my e30 M3 did not come with me, I left it behind at Don Field’s shop having the engine rebuilt. I have not switched over to CA drivers license because I wanted to wait to have the M3 back and smog all the cars together. That is why I haven’t done this swap. My M3 is still not back but I went to the DMV and they said even if my M3 is not here I can still switch over to CA driver’s license and I shouldn’t have a problem registering the M3 when it gets here from NJ. So now Im going to switch over next week and smog the M-Tech, once I do that I’ll swap it.

The car is rust free, when it was given to me I only really look it because I didn’t find any rust. I was not going to deal with that nor repaint a car that was rusty. I was really surprised by how clean the car was so thats why I decided to take it on as a long term side project.

So basically the swap is more for making it a 5-speed and the fact I found that M50 with a 5-speed for a great deal.

It would sell it as is. You dont see that much 4 door Mtech cars done nicely.

I am thinking $9-$15k if the right buyers are bidding. Two of things that I like immediately is the new paint, new interior, and the oem kit.

I would list it on BAT and then decide whether its enough to keep it or swap it.

I could see the attention to detail :

Do you think it can go for that? Im thinking it can go around 6k as it sits. I mean with the M-tech kit, euroweaves, suspension and interior I can get like 4k if I part that stuff out but I don’t want to do that.

I honestly think Im going to continue on and just finish the swap and regroup and see what I can get for it after. The M20 in there is tired and as an automatic makes it even worse.

[SGT StudMuffiin]

Still for sale?


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[ramirez54]

Still for sale?


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Yes it is now, let me know if you want to discuss.