Why do people pick the E30 M3 to do an engine swap?

[edvaracing]

in my case i have bought the car with 318is motor in it, and i can't find any s14 motors in my country ,so i got s52b32 motor with 6 speed.

[///M3 Terr]

I haven't taken the time to read all of the previous posts so I may not be making a new point but the reason I chose to do the engine swap in an E30 M3 instead of a garden variety E30 (I owned both when I did the swap) is that the parts you take off an M3 can be sold for enough to make the project cheaper to do. Once I had sold the engine, tranny and suspension I had a near zero cost basis in my M3 which I did get a very lucky buy on at $7000. If I had done the swap in my very nice '87 325is my cost basis after selling the parts I didn't need would have been about $5000.

There's a thread discussing your car here:
http://www.s14.net/forums/showthread.php?t=36823

[Reelizmpro]

I haven't taken the time to read all of the previous posts so I may not be making a new point but the reason I chose to do the engine swap in an E30 M3 instead of a garden variety E30 (I owned both when I did the swap) is that the parts you take off an M3 can be sold for enough to make the project cheaper to do. Once I had sold the engine, tranny and suspension I had a near zero cost basis in my M3 which I did get a very lucky buy on at $7000. If I had done the swap in my very nice '87 325is my cost basis after selling the parts I didn't need would have been about $5000.

You posted the same thing two years ago. BTW, why do you want to sell it? Sounds like a blast with the alu V8 and plenty of power/torque.

[Stranger941]

Personally, I think the reason anyone would do a swap is because it's cheap to make big power and the car looks amazing, so why would they choose any other car? say someone puts an LS2 into an M3. The LS2 can be bought for around 2k while the corvette is much more expensive. Some people just want a nice car that goes fast. You shouldn't judge them until you drive it yourself and see how awesome the car feels.

Edit: And one more thing, maybe you shouldn't be worried about the "value" of their car. For me, my car is priceless. There is no way I am going to sell it and I want my car to suit me by any means necessary.

[GMW-CSL]

I haven't taken the time to read all of the previous posts so I may not be making a new point but the reason I chose to do the engine swap in an E30 M3 instead of a garden variety E30 (I owned both when I did the swap) is that the parts you take off an M3 can be sold for enough to make the project cheaper to do. Once I had sold the engine, tranny and suspension I had a near zero cost basis in my M3 which I did get a very lucky buy on at $7000. If I had done the swap in my very nice '87 325is my cost basis after selling the parts I didn't need would have been about $5000.

[new guy]

WoW this is the most longest thread i hve ever seen. Even though do not own an E30 M3 (but planning too, FOR SURE); i am 100% purist on this subject. Keep the car the way it is supposed to be, the way it is meant to be. I no there are ,many people who would disagree with me, but thats their opinion. My opinion is "KEEP IT ORIGINAL, KEEP IT ONE OF A KIND" THANK YOU

The car in your avatar has an engine swap...

That is pretty funny...

[1fastcosmo]

because its old technology.Anyways who cares once some one owns it they can do whatever they want.I think its cool to see newer and different engines in shit.Just unique and thats what most people like about them.Different from anything you see on the road

[mpire]

This is funny to me. Everyone likes the styling of the E30. You should just appreciate that people think your car looks cool and not harrass them because they want to make it thier own.

[Carlo M3]

WoW this is the most longest thread i hve ever seen. Even though do not own an E30 M3 (but planning too, FOR SURE); i am 100% purist on this subject. Keep the car the way it is supposed to be, the way it is meant to be. I no there are ,many people who would disagree with me, but thats their opinion. My opinion is "KEEP IT ORIGINAL, KEEP IT ONE OF A KIND" THANK YOU

The car in your avatar has an engine swap...

[TheStig30]

WoW this is the most longest thread i hve ever seen. Even though do not own an E30 M3 (but planning too, FOR SURE); i am 100% purist on this subject. Keep the car the way it is supposed to be, the way it is meant to be. I no there are ,many people who would disagree with me, but thats their opinion. My opinion is "KEEP IT ORIGINAL, KEEP IT ONE OF A KIND" THANK YOU

[mpire]

I can't pick apart the rest of what you said because it's your opinion and you're entitled to it, but the sentance above shows you have no clue what you're talking about, haha. Why don't you try doing some research before opening that fat, un-informed mouth of yours. :hi:

Sheesh, some people's kids.

Kids? Whose kids are you referring to.

Reality states that the differences between the E30 325/318 and the E30 M3 are in the rear window, are they not? You can buy the fenders all day long. You can buy larger aftermarket rear fenders as well. If your going to replace the subframes and the drivetrain, what are you left with thats so unique? The rear window. You can always buy an E30 M3 trunk lid. You can't buy the rear window, if you could, then we would be buying 325s instead of M3s for this conversion.

Anyone know where I can get an m3 rear window to graft onto a 318? Seriously, I would love to find a way to avoid paying 10 grand for a whole car when all I want is the shell.

[BingM3]

Because it is always getting picked on by ricers

[1fastcosmo]

haha you guys crack me up,who really cares what some one else does with their car. "that engine and that car is the winningest race car ever",who cares those places had huge budgets and that was the technology at the time.The s14 is cool but some people just want something different and in my case i wanted something cheaper that fit my budget.I wouldnt mind an s14 powered e30 but at this point its just easier for me to go with a 24v swap.Oh yah and cars are horrible investments !!!

[aaronmjr]

if you could get the rear window on a 325 then the M3 would retail for less than $3000 today. Its just a styling exercise.

I can't pick apart the rest of what you said because it's your opinion and you're entitled to it, but the sentance above shows you have no clue what you're talking about, haha. Why don't you try doing some research before opening that fat, un-informed mouth of yours. :hi:

Sheesh, some people's kids.

[Low Level]

My thought is that this is S14.net. The key element being the S14. There are plenty of other E30 forums. This one centers around cars powered by the S14.