PNW Chit Chat thread

[e30austin]

If you want to spend money on an engine, the M42 is probably the worst platform to do that with. What a horrible little engine. Even my purist self would probably rather put a Honda motor in an E30 than spend money on an M42. The sound is really what kills it for me. Laaaaaaaaaame.

[bmwm42]

lol at all the hate on the m42. and an ever bigger lol at austin saying he is a purist. since when do purists do motor swaps

[Gregolas]

To add my one and a half cents into this....I have to say the E30 M3, be it an Evo or whatever, is ridiculously overpriced. Yes, we all would love one (and some of you have had one). I find it more prudent to spend $50k plus on other things or other builds. Those cars are commanding crazy money that, in my personal opinion, is outrageous. I get it, they are now in the collector car realm but no thanks. Driving it would make me nervous with all of the recently wrecked cars...which defeats the purpose of it for me.

Second, the M42 is a terribly designed motor that I don't care for. I rebuilt mine and what a cluster of a motor design. Bleh, waste of $1800.

[ncsubowen]

So your goal is to outperform an E30 m3 EVO III in what?

All out speed on a track?
Purely hypothetical numbers?
On a Dyno?

Think outside the box is something like jamming an S2000 motor in the car, what you are proposing is to throw bad money at a project that probably won't net you the gains you think it will.

Look, we aren't telling you to NOT mod your car, but we are trying to help you spend your money wisely. Sometimes, there are reasons certain things aren't done to certain motors/chassis..etc. Not just because nobody has ventured down that path, but more so because it's not worth it in the end.

If you want to go all Ricky Bobby "I wanna go FAST!" then there is lots of avenues to do that. But it's a balance game.

6k gets you an s54 + everything you need to put it in your car. Why you would even consider dropping that on an M42 is completely beyond me.

[BraveUlysses]

I own an m42, had it for 7 years now, and have tracked it a whole bunch and I still think it's a stupid, shitty motor. It's on a fluids only diet at this point until the stupid piece of shit blows up.

[5Toes]

I don't see the big problem with the m42 design, maybe I will when I rebuild one but I have found everything on it so far to be easier than a m20 and as equally as straight forward.

m42 because lightness, duh. s54 is a maintenance whore anyways right? it is already complicated to work on.

Im just gonna shut up about this and put my money where my mouth is and return with a dyno for y'all in a couple months

[Gregolas]

I don't see the big problem with the m42 design, maybe I will when I rebuild one but I have found everything on it so far to be easier than a m20 and as equally as straight forward.

m42 because lightness, duh. s54 is a maintenance whore anyways right? it is already complicated to work on.

Im just gonna shut up about this and put my money where my mouth is and return with a dyno for y'all in a couple months

Timing case/chain/head/water jacket. Wait until you rebuild it, the dumbest design.

Not really sure where you get maintenance whore for an S54...only thing that comes to mind is vanos and valve adjustments (which the M20 has the same requirement). Vanos can be remedied before it causes issue just like any other known issue. Rod bearings for pre 2003.5 but the dealer took care of that recall.

[DER E30]

m42 because lightness, duh. s54 is a maintenance whore anyways right? it is already complicated to work on.

Aluminum block Ls swap for almost the same lightness as m42 and you'd have some actual torque!
S54 not any worse than m20 or 42 I'd say, rod bearings every 100k miles of you drive it hard as preventative maintenance and bulletproof the vanos. Not that bad, all the usual bmw maintence like waterpumps and radiators etc.

[RainRider]

I own an m42, had it for 7 years now, and have tracked it a whole bunch and I still think it's a stupid, shitty motor. It's on a fluids only diet at this point until the stupid piece of shit blows up.

Ouch! I kinda hate these motors now. And I never had one.

[Matt-B]

To add my one and a half cents into this....I have to say the E30 M3, be it an Evo or whatever, is ridiculously overpriced. Yes, we all would love one (and some of you have had one). I find it more prudent to spend $50k plus on other things or other builds. Those cars are commanding crazy money that, in my personal opinion, is outrageous. I get it, they are now in the collector car realm but no thanks. Driving it would make me nervous with all of the recently wrecked cars...which defeats the purpose of it for me.

Second, the M42 is a terribly designed motor that I don't care for. I rebuilt mine and what a cluster of a motor design. Bleh, waste of $1800.

I feel the same way, if I had the 40,000 or 50,000 people are trying to charge, I'd maybe dabble in the m4 game, new skyline, I can't see myself spending that much. I'd be pissed if I spent 50 grand and it got wrecked or whatnot

[5Toes]

I still don't understand m42 hate. its easy to work on... possibly easier than the m20 overall, parts just as cheap as m20, they are known to last over 250k just like every other BMW engine. progressive throttle body plus a head that flows better than the m20 equals great gas mileage, factory longtube headers, etc. no valve adjustments, no timing belts... the timing teeth really only wear out and become pointy if the guides are never changed and ran broken for many miles.

does everyone just hate m42 cause it likes to leak oil, sounds like a 4banger and makes the power of one too lmao????

the e30 m3 has a 4 cylinder for good reason. BMW didn't make a racing m20 for a reason. they didn't make a racing version of the m50 either, the e36 touring cars got 4 cylinder engines too. the weight balance of the e30 is thrown off by heavy engines, its pretty obvious with the added weight in the trunk of 325s and rear mounted batteries compared to cabrios + m10 cars, etc.

the sporty nature of the powerband is what makes it more fun than the m20, which yes is pretty typical for all dohc I-4 engines. the m20b25 is fun too, and faster and more classic ... but that's why I enjoy owning and driving both of mine interchangeably

[bmwm42]

Hoes quit with the bs...i aswell as anyone who has fucked with the m42 knows it will never be fast torquey or any of that. plus i highly doubt you have 6plus thousands to get you there. sure the m42 is fun to drive and r3v happy etc but it will never be fast. the engine is pretty much maintaince free and isnt a pain to maintain. but i gave up trying to make mine fast after spending thousands trying to get it there.

[ncsubowen]

Timing case/chain/head/water jacket. Wait until you rebuild it, the dumbest design.

Not really sure where you get maintenance whore for an S54...only thing that comes to mind is vanos and valve adjustments (which the M20 has the same requirement). Vanos can be remedied before it causes issue just like any other known issue.

That's what I'm saying, anything with VANOS should be addressed before it's a problem and besides that people are running stock S54s for well over 200k miles.

I don't want to discourage people from things that they're clearly excited about, but spending north of a clean swapped car to build a M42 in a gutted beater screams 'regret' to me. I think that's mostly where we're coming from, Toes, not out of disrespect for your excitement but as people who have blown a lot of money doing something dumb and want to talk you out of doing the same.

An S54 is 326lbs, with est 321hp.

An M42 is 220lbs, with est 142hp.

So for the amount of a tiny female passenger on are more than doubling your HP, with much more power availability and in a much more driveable car.

Even an M50/52 isn't going to increase your weight by much (~50lb) and it'll be 60+ HP gained, while also being actually usable power.

[spiDmang]

I still don't understand m42 hate. its easy to work on... possibly easier than the m20 overall, parts just as cheap as m20, they are known to last over 250k just like every other BMW engine. progressive throttle body plus a head that flows better than the m20 equals great gas mileage, factory longtube headers, etc. no valve adjustments, no timing belts... the timing teeth really only wear out and become pointy if the guides are never changed and ran broken for many miles.

does everyone just hate m42 cause it likes to leak oil, sounds like a 4banger and makes the power of one too lmao????

the e30 m3 has a 4 cylinder for good reason. BMW didn't make a racing m20 for a reason. they didn't make a racing version of the m50 either, the e36 touring cars got 4 cylinder engines too. the weight balance of the e30 is thrown off by heavy engines, its pretty obvious with the added weight in the trunk of 325s and rear mounted batteries compared to cabrios + m10 cars, etc.

the sporty nature of the powerband is what makes it more fun than the m20, which yes is pretty typical for all dohc I-4 engines. the m20b25 is fun too, and faster and more classic ... but that's why I enjoy owning and driving both of mine interchangeably

Have you even driven an S50/S52 swapped e30?

[5Toes]

the m42 is fun to drive and r3v happy etc but it will never be fast. the engine is pretty much maintaince free and isnt a pain to maintain.

truth. anybody who doesn't agree on these basics is misinformed.

Ive ridden in a s50 swap and m50 swap, haven't driven one myself.