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Otherwise if your absolutely dead set on it. Since your in new york. Id go to guten parts+ service but just warning you levent will do it right and not any other way so you will be resealing that engine and replacing lots of things. Expect to be north of 5k on final bill. He will even tell you to do an m20 or s50 if your gonna do anything
1989 325isl1984 euro 320il1970 2002 Racecar 1991 318i 4dr slick top
It's been covered many times in the past, but expect 40-50ish labor hours. Labor prices vary quite a bit, but I would consider $85 avg right now ($75-125 in this area pending type of shop/quality of work from Indy shops, dealers are closer to $150). Many shops will not warranty and engine you bring them. That puts you in the $3-5k range plus parts. Some will just bolt/wire/plumb everything up so it works with wiring draped over the engine etc - places like mine will clean everything, all wire junctions use the factory crimps (no butt connectors, no solder), use all the factory clips/mounts/connectors/pins etc, so those little parts will nickle and dime a swap to death since a shop isn't going to go to a JY and pick all those things, they will be new.
We did an m52 swap, owner got engine free, after installation it was burning oil almost as fast as fuel. He brought the car home and did the replacement himself which wasn't as difficult as a task as the original job, I felt really bad, but unfortunately feelings don't cover shop overhead.
Also, many clients feel if they place the engine in the car, they should get a significant discount, but in reality the placing of the drive-train in the car is one of the easier tasks. If you want to save at a shop, get all the parts installed on the drive train you can before you bring it in, and purchase swap tidbits such as a re-pinned harness from Nando here etc.
The worst is when a basket case comes in the shop. The cars with the stock engine gone, missing hardware, disorganized piles of parts in the trunk, wiring half clipped off/tangled, things half bolted in (or hand tight), parts installed wrong, unproven used parts etc. In trying to save money they half do things, or do them wrong, so might as well pay the professional to do it once and not pay to have stuff removed then re-installed.
I guess a couple good questions to ask yourself are; what kind of e30 are you trying to build and how much you're willing to spend to get an engine in the car
I am having a shop do my S50 swap and so far I'm at north of 11K with parts,labor and exhaust work. I thought I got the short block for cheap but it needed head work. From that point on...everything that could go wrong, in fact has gone wrong. I even had to replace springs since the PO decided to cut them to lower the car instead of actually buying springs. I also had them do some other work, like replace the CAB, Rear Subframe bushings, reinforce my subframe. Then just when I thought I could bring the car home, the shop called and said that my heater core was leaking, so that was another week in the shop.
I finally thought that I would get my car back and guess what...it needs head work again...it's been in the shop for ~4 months now and doesn't look like I'd get to drive it before fall ends
I only blame myself. This was my first time ever swapping an engine and I probably will never do it again. Now every time the shop calls me, my heart skips a beat. Having the shop do the swap and work out all the kinks was good in that if I did it, with no prior knowledge, I probably would've set the car on fire with all these set-backs. Buuuuuuuuuut the parts and labor costs quickly add up and has surpassed my so called budget big time. I still have other stuff to take care of....I always thought my old 300zx twin turbo was a money-pit but the e30 also takes the cake.
I cringe when I see half finished swaps that come in for repair because there's so many unknowns... I've actually pulled back on doing 24v swaps just because its so damn time consuming.
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