Bavaria- Engine Rebuild or Replace Options

TedS

TedS

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So with the Bavaria not commanding prices anywhere near the coupe what is the general consensus on dealing with a tired engine?
I know within the Bavaria crowd we have restorations, drivers, and rust buckets so condition needs to be taken into account to some degree but I'm just curious what others think generally.
It's my understanding that replacement pistons are going for around $1600 or $1800 so add that to labor at an experienced shop and the rebuild cost can go up to $6k.
But on the other hand, and I know this from personal experience, you roll the dice with used engine. There's always the head condition hanging over your... head. And the miles continue to go up on these.
Have people had good luck finding replacement engines? Am I missing something on the rebuild costs?


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theres so many m30 motors out there, it makes little sense to invest in a whole rebuild. I've been offered 3 good motors for free. I could spend 6-800 to freshen them up to new(ish) if I wanted to, but I would be hard pressed to spend 5k on one, especially for my bav.
 
A rebuild doesn’t always mean new pistons, a machinist can determine what is needed after measuring the block. On my b35 I just did main and rod bearings, rings, chains and that kind of stuff.
 
there are bunches of relatively low mileage m30b35 ... that can be reconditioned as HBChris has suggested. a compression test will tell you a lot for starters. you can also find m30b34 engines, which are low compression and not as much fun as the b35, but they are generally affordable engines. you should have a reasonable selection in socal.
 
Good discussion. I was thinking m30b35's are more exotic but it looks like there's plenty of engine swapping going on. I think I was stuck on the mechanical fuel pump head issue and all of the problems associated with trying to match a head with a block without losing performance. Seems like you just convert to electric fuel pump and move on.
On the other hand, I remember a guy was selling a b30 supposedly out of a CS on craigslist for $2000 a few months ago. I called and asked why so much. He said someone will want it. Could be- it's not there now.
I guess you have to know where to look?
 
If anyone has one of these 'common' M30B35s with known good compression, please let me know...
 
I helped a kid from LA give a Bav a shot of vitamin B35 a couple months ago. He had blown a head gasket and was looking at selling the car for a huge loss. He towed it up here and we spent three days in my driveway doing the swap. It was a motor I found in a early 90's 7-series in a local boneyard. He is very pleased with the results. These motors appear quite regularly up here, and a good portion of them are in pretty good shape. I got one for Dan G. that was like new inside and apparently was a factory replacement motor.
I have a Row52 search active for BMW's up to 1992, and when one shows up that has an M30 I go check it out. If it passes my visual test I grab the long block. It takes a few hours to do this, but I'm getting better at it. I got one last week out of a 535 that I'm going to use in my Nova.
 
If they're common down here I think this is also a huge market for them so you have people holding on to them as nest eggs. I've called several salvage yards and I can barely get the question out before they're saying no.
It seems like all of the good salvage yards selling classic Volvo and BMW parts are up in the Sacramento area (Rancho Cordova).
 
TedS said:
If they're common down here I think this is also a huge market for them so you have people holding on to them as nest eggs. I've called several salvage yards and I can barely get the question out before they're saying no.
It seems like all of the good salvage yards selling classic Volvo and BMW parts are up in the Sacramento area (Rancho Cordova).
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I can help you find a b35 locally.
 
use car-part.com to search for JY parts. you can put in your location and search by distance too.
I got a complete s38 ITB for $40
 
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