best place to get parts?

[bboylxix]

hey guys, new to posting on the forums and so far im liking the info you guys got here. anyway ive finally stashed away enough money to start collecting parts for my s5x swap and was just wondering were you guys would recommend buying parts from.

i have seen that zionsville has pretty much everything you would need for the complete swap and ive heard a lot of people say if they did it over again they would just buy the packaged deals from them to save on the headaches of mismatching all the parts.

so i guess my question to you guys is, what route did you go in terms of getting parts? did you search ebay, junkyards and classifieds for parts? or how many of you threw down a couple grand to a company like zionsville for everything at once? and what was your experience collecting parts like? just trying to get a feel for where i should be looking around, thanks for any input!

by the way my swap is going to be into an 84 318 planning for mostly tracking

[browntown]

welcome to r3v, lots of good info.

Use paragraphs, that's a whole lot of text in one big block.

Read the engine swap thread in this subforum

It really all comes down to your budget, if you can afford it buy the package. I think most people on this board will take the cheapest option and work through the problems as they arise. If you want a painless/quick install and can afford it, a package may be for you.

Treehouse makes a well respected wiring adapter for the swap. Besides the oilpan, and brake booster, that's the easiest way to simplify your life if you source a s5x with wiring and accesories complete.

good luck, take pictures, and browse the site.

[bboylxix]

Use paragraphs, that's a whole lot of text in one big block.

got it, advise taken.

and as for the DOHC swap thread im about on page 20, learned a lot already.

[bdi_fc]

For the e34 525 oil pan and other various parts, I went to Harouts in Sun Valley, CA.

http://www.harouts.com/

[BDSax]

im a junkyard dog.... i have my motor, trans, driveshaft, and all new hoses and gaskets for my motor, having the tranny looked at and flywheel shaved and im just over $1K

just be patient and look for deals, and i strongly suggust junkyards. i paid $30 for my e34 oil pan, $120 for my m50, and $100 for my trans setup (everything but the diff)

[bdi_fc]

im a junkyard dog.... i have my motor, trans, driveshaft, and all new hoses and gaskets for my motor, having the tranny looked at and flywheel shaved and im just over $1K

just be patient and look for deals, and i strongly suggust junkyards. i paid $30 for my e34 oil pan, $120 for my m50, and $100 for my trans setup (everything but the diff)

I haven't seen any junkyards in my area that have BMWs newer than e30s.

Maybe I'm mistaken.

[BDSax]

they are rear, but im my area i have seen about 6 318i e36's 2 325i e36s, and 1 e34 m50. gotta keep an eye out

[EtaSport]

I got a lot of my parts here on r3v, some on ebay, and some on bimmerforums. Other than that, I bought such parts as mounts, hoses, oil pick-up tube, maintanence parts, etc from fap99.com and pelican parts.

I feel I saved a ton of money and did the swap for very little. Everything seems to be working just fine too. When you find your engine try to get everything you can with it; computer, wiring harness, maf, manifolds, ps, alternator, flywheel. Buying it all together really helps out.

bdsax- where do you think you'll be at money wise when you are completed? You got some really good deals there. I bought my motor for 700 and ended up at around 1600 with it in the car and driveable.

[bboylxix]

thanks guys. well, i just called a bmw performance shop today cause i heard they had an s50 for sale. the guy wants $2500 for it, and its pretty much just the block/head assembly :???:

he said he was going to fix a head gasket leak on the engine before selling so the engine would have a new gasket, cleaned up head, he also said he would take care of the oil pump nut and see if he has a wiring harness/alternator and coils he could throw in for me.

what do you guys think? compared to some engines ive seen online for sale in the past it seems a little over priced to me but you guys would know more than me. the compression is great, and has about 90,000 to 100,000 miles on it.

would you guys jump on it? or keep looking?

[browntown]

I'd give joe funk a call or PM him (funkmasta) and ask his opinion. He sells them for a living and knows what to look for and what makes a good price.

Autobahn Sport 503.233.8726 - sales@autobahnsport.com

[LINUS]

I'd give joe funk a call or PM him (funkmasta) and ask his opinion. He sells them for a living and knows what to look for and what makes a good price.

Autobahn Sport 503.233.8726 - sales@autobahnsport.com

Good advice. Joe pretty much is the guy to deal with if you don't hunt down your own parts. Excellent guy to do business with. Look at the "Transaction Feedback" forum, he's listed. Many of us have put our money into Joe, and I've never heard a peep of bad service from him ever.

[BDSax]

bdsax- where do you think you'll be at money wise when you are completed? You got some really good deals there. I bought my motor for 700 and ended up at around 1600 with it in the car and driveable.

im not sure.... funny thing is im doing a 5 speed swap at the same time. all i think i have left is some little parts here and there, tranny swap parts (clutch and what not) and i think im going to go with a short shift too and paint to paint the engine bay before i put in the motor. im thinking about another $800 and maybe some money to pay TJ (digitalwave) and erick (rwdrift) some food and beverages because they are a huge help in this swap!

im also really lucky because my good mechanic buddy has a WorldPAC account which has the best deals all around.