Upgrade to engine

Michaelj32963 said:
The car is absolutely amazing as is and has no issues. I have seen a number of people upgrade to an M3 or M5 engine with rebuilt suspension brakes and modernize the technology. What I wants to understand is who is best to discuss this with. Sfdon everyone points to you be it on this forum or BAT.
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what i can tell you is the s54 engine of the e46 m3 is an extremely difficult installation into the e9 ... you have to basically change everything in the front end. if you have any thoughts of doing that, speak to @bdigel. he has done it successfully, but it is NOT for the faint of heart. the s38 of the e28 m5 / e24 m6 is a lot simpler by comparison, but substantially more expensive just for the engine. the stock s38 is 288 hp compared to 245 / 250 of the better single cam (m30 / m90) versions. what you might not know is that the s38 makes its power above 4500 rpm. yes, the twin cams open up at higher revs and can dial it up substantially. now for the downside, while it is easier to install into the e9, its not an easy install as you will have to make other changes. with all of that extra power comes the necessity of much better brakes / suspension and bracing of the chassis.
 
Ive done an S54 swap in a coupe , and many other vintage BMWs , the coupe persents a unique set of issues that to over come correctly gets very very expensive , I talk most folks out of doing this and sticking with the correct family of engine an M30 with more modern fuel injection system . A swap I have done many many times . The S54 swaped coupe on BAT a few weeks back in my opinion was only half complete , the engine swap looked nice but they didn't do any brake or suspension upgrades and they even left the front sway bar off cause the oil pan from the s 54 gets in the way , there is an huge ammount of work that needed to be done to complete that swap
 
I think you really need to as yourself what you are seeking in this car.

@sfdon is absolutely right that you should own and drive it for a while.

If you want a race car, then maybe start with a less clean and complete (and cheaper) car.

Be forewarned though, you can easily make these cars very uncomfortable to drive. They will be quick and fast, but other than that, not very comfortable.
 
The last coupe that I knew of that was sent to LA for a twin turbo and 6 speed was scrapped for $5000.00 after the owner had spent 5 years and $50,000.00

An absolutely wonderful Csi destroyed for nothing.

I won’t touch a s54 swap.

Maybe Mario who is very good and able to do exotic custom work.

John Ward in Sydney can make you one if you desire.

www.fuelbespokedesign.com

FUEL Bespoke DesignFUEL Bespoke Design

John Ward at FUEL Bespoke Design works with the philosopy to take the best of two eras, the classic iconic automotive design of yesteryear and the modern engineering of today. John Ward has proven this with a 1958 Corvette restomod and just now with a BMW 2800CS restomod..
www.fuelbespokedesign.com www.fuelbespokedesign.com

Plan on $200,000.00 plus and years of waiting if you have a good shell.

Personally, I think you bought a beautiful car and I wouldn’t touch it.
 
@Michaelj32963 I think you got a lot of really good advice here. sfdon has it right. Drive it for a year, get to know the car, then see if you really want to go down the change things up path. So you know, I waited two years to find the car of my dreams. I talked to Don, Chris, Mario, and others about S54 and S38 swaps. They are are involved, expensive, and change the nature of the car from smooth classic cruiser to revvy wind up cars that make more noise, ride differently, and otherwise change the experience. Not that one is better than the other, just different and personalized to the experience you want. If that's what you really want, maybe an already transformed car is a better option for you. My guess is once you really get to know your new car, you will love it as is. Happy to chat with you if you like, I love this stuff. Good luck with your new ride! :)
 
rsporsche said:
what i can tell you is the s54 engine of the e46 m3 is an extremely difficult installation into the e9 ... you have to basically change everything in the front end. if you have any thoughts of doing that, speak to @bdigel. he has done it successfully, but it is NOT for the faint of heart. the s38 of the e28 m5 / e24 m6 is a lot simpler by comparison, but substantially more expensive just for the engine. the stock s38 is 288 hp compared to 245 / 250 of the better single cam (m30 / m90) versions. what you might not know is that the s38 makes its power above 4500 rpm. yes, the twin cams open up at higher revs and can dial it up substantially. now for the downside, while it is easier to install into the e9, its not an easy install as you will have to make other changes. with all of that extra power comes the necessity of much better brakes / suspension and bracing of the chassis.
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As an interesting (at least to me) data point is that I have a Euro 635 that runs its original M90 engine. On one group drive I did when I lived down in silicon valley was with a couple of Dinan M6s. I have told this story before, so if you have heard it, forgive me. It makes a good point relative to what @rsporsche says.

We took off from Saratoga up highway 9. A steep and windy road with numerous uphill hairpin turns. My stock M90 just grunted up that hill, literally spinning the back tires coming out of the hairpins. I got to the top (about 5 miles), a bit dizzy from all the turns, and waited for the M6's...and waited... and waited. They finally showed up, and off we when down Skyline Drive. This is a sinuous ridge-top drive along the hills west of silicon valley. I would drive into the corners, brake hard, downshift and blast out the other side, again spinning the tires if there was any curve left. Got to Alice's restaurant, and waited, and waited.. the M6's finally showed up, and we took off down hill on 84 toward the coast. I was expecting them to blow past me, but again, the tight curves never allowed them to get the car up to where it really had any power. All that hardware, and it was literally of no use on that road. We got down to Coast Highway and turned toward Santa Cruz. Within a few seconds on this straighter and flatter road the two M6's blew past me as if I was driving a Yugo. This was a contest between a lighter car (the E12 based Euro 635, and the heavier M6), but it was also a testament to where you want your power and torque. The M6's had about 260 hp, while my lowly Euro had 218. The problem was that the M90 torque starts at 1500 RPM and just keeps pulling, while the S38 has rather pedestrian torque and power until around 3500 RPM, where it really lights up. But on that road they would have had a hard time keeping the S38 engine in its power band.

I'm sure a different set of drivers might have been able to extract the juice from those cars on that road, but it would have been a deafening and very nervous drive...

As I said above, drive the car, and figure out what you are after in your driving experience before leaping off into a multi tens of $K engine conversion.
 
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