I was looking around and wondering if there were any e30 M3s out there that were for sale with the e36 S50 engine in them. I figured that there were a few of them out there, and I was wondering what they would go for price wise.

What do you guys think they are worth? Assuming good running condition?

Mpire

I have not seen any of these for sale. I don't think there are too many people with the S50 in their M3's. I think a lot of people want to keep the S-14, to keep the car original as much as possible.

I think a car with that conversion could sell for some money for all of the costs of the conversion, but I think purists would not care to buy the car - thus driving the price down, due to the different motor.

You could always buy a car without a motor (or a running motor) and do the converision. Although I would say something against this because I love the buzzy S-14 motor.

S50 powered M3s are either collector's cars or racing machines. You'd be hard pressed to find one for sale in the near future. Find a nice E30 M3 with high miles but no rust/decent interior. Have the conversion done or do it yourself. Engine, brain, wiring, tranny, diff, custom exhaust misc conversion parts will cost around $8000-10,000. Used M3 engine, wiring, brain, diff, and tranny will fetch around $4000-5000 to recover some costs. If you're picky/anal retentive about your cars, plan on spending $12k-15k for a perfect job.

The Project Orca CD is $149 from Zionsville Autosport (http://www.zionsvilleautosport.com). Complete details for the whole conversion, including BMW part numbers.

JamesM

Here in Austin, TX, Sayther Automotive have done three S50 conversions. Each one a success. While not a purists' car, they pretty much rock an roll. I"m told they only add a few pounds to the front end (on the order of 70 from what I recall), which I found surprising.

You may want to call the shop and see if any of their customers would be interested in selling one. . . you never know.

For more details PM Alex McHenry...he's on this board and DTM. He is getting the S50 swap done now except he and his father are making that engine SICK :eek:

Yeah, 3.2 will be done in a matter of weeks now :)

I'd consider selling mine if you show up with a RSP '98 Supra TT 6-speed :D

If you do buy a car and would like to go through with the swap, shoot me an email.