Keep the S54 or rebuild the M20

[Staszek]

So my project has been going on for a few years now. Life got in the way with new house, traveling blah blah and I am getting closer to the finish line, but I still have a lot of the big work yet.

I already have the S54, the complete exhaust setup I want, new arc asylum pan and subframe, and wiring harness.

Lately though I have thought more and more about maybe just rebuild the M20 and keep the car more pure since it is a 325is.

Do I keep finishing the build with the kick ass S54, or do I stay more pure to the E30 heritage with the M20 (wish I would have asked this question before I bought just about everything).

I wont get my money back on everything I bought, maybe 2/3rds since it was never installed, but its not the main component in my decision.

[stonea]

Finish the S54, not only will it be a bad ass car when you are done with it, it will be more fun. I struggled with the same decision for a while, but just ended up building the car I truly wanted. There are plenty of e30s out there and most of them still have the stock power plant, so why not do something different?

[MrBurgundy]

I agree, with the money you'd loose selling the s54 stuff, its probably going to be more than what a good m20 is worth.

Finish the s54 build. If you're really missing the m20 life after that, buy an m20 car :)

[rturbo 930]

IMO there would be two reasons to keep the M20, outside of originality.

Number one, you've mentioned time being an issue, will you have the extra time to put in to changing the motor vs simply reinstalling? I imagine there's a lot of little things that you don't expect that need to be done to complete the swap.

Number two, will the effect of the added weight bother you? I think there's some 60-70lbs difference between the two, although it could be offset with a carbon hood, AC delete, etc.

I don't like standard 24V swaps since I just find them to be soulless, and IMO they sound terrible for a straight six, but S54s are cool.

[reelizmpro]

I say finish the S54. You have already sacrificed 2 years and have some of the parts. Besides a 325iS isn't that coveted, at least not for its engine. S54 swaps while still expensive will hold their value a while before declining but will always be a big upgrade over the M20.

[Julien]

Depends on how nice/original the car is. I agree its a 325is, at some point non-swapped examples are going to become more sought-after than swapped/no a/c,p/s,etc hardcore cars. That is unless you go all out on the swap to make it look & feel OEM which is $$$

[2mAn]

Was the car already far from stock? If yes, proceed. If its close to stock then try to keep it stock-ish

If I remember right, it is pretty well modified already, so DO IT and finish it

[Staszek]

Was the car already far from stock? If yes, proceed. If its close to stock then try to keep it stock-ish

If I remember right, it is pretty well modified already, so DO IT and finish it

It was stock when I got it, just kinda a mess. Its modified now but more stockish modified. It will have everything working, so it will not look like a track car, more a show car that can hit the track if it wants to (more autocross then track though).

Yea I am probably sticking with the S54, I just had a moment of frustration of all the things I still need to finish and the time I have to actually do it lately. Want this car to be done so I can drive it already!

[Rusty.Piranha]

s54 son! That is the DREAM!! M20 is decent, but not that quick.

[AWDBOB]

So, I went down this same road. I somehow had $15K into a 24v swap that would've made 240whp, and still needed 2-3K worth of parts to get it up and running to the quality I had in mind.

The biggest thing that I've learned is that if your passion and focus is on other things in life, your time and $$ are worth a lot more than you think. If finishing the swap means taking a substantial chunk of mental energy away from the things you care about more, ditch the swap. That's what it came down to for me, and I could not be happier with my decision in ditching my swap.

[flyboyx]

fiddy-fo!

[Staszek]

Votes pretty close, although after sleeping on it, I will take the extra time to finish the S54. Just wish I knew how to weld, it would help me finish the process on my own instead of needing to bring it somewhere.

[nando]

get a cheap used stick welder and learn. I see them all the time for ~$150 or so.

[Staszek]

get a cheap used stick welder and learn. I see them all the time for ~$150 or so.

Even if I learn, not sure i trust myself with the firewall.

[325isman]

Do the s54