hey guys, my 90 m3 currently needs a rebuild as i suspect it's having some piston slap. It starts to make a mettalic slapping noise around 3000-3500 rpm. Anyway, i wanted some recommendations on what to rebuild it with and if anyone knew some decent (and decently priced) shops in the San Diego area. Currently a guy at Baron's said it would probably take about 30 hours ($2700). Also i was looking at having him install the E30 M3 2.5-liter TMS Engine Conversion Kit from turnermotorsport.com. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

You might want to do some diagnosis and figure out what the noise is before going in for a rebuild.

Talk to Carl Nelson at La Jolla Independent, he's a BMW tech advisor of long standing and honest guy.

A full rebuild will cost you over $5000 IIRC.

I have never heard of an S14 motor developing piston slap.

How many miles are on it, what kind of a life has it led?

Yeah. Rebuilds do cost quite a bit of money. But if you're a purist, then you'll do everything you can to keep that S14. I however, believe in interbreeding and chose the S50 route instead of the rebuild.

I agree with M3 Mitch about finding out what is wrong before jumping into "the rebuild." If it does come to the rebuild point, A 2.5L is going to run atleast $10k. 30 hours ($2700) sound about right for a R&R motor, dis/assembly. Keep in mind a 2.5L is not just slap in the turner kit ($2200) and your good to go. machine shop to bore the block($3-500), Inspect the head($?) what about more fuel? new injectors($3-400)? need more air, EVO AFM? I would assuming you have about 100k miles. would you spend $5,000 on the bottom end, and reuse your components (timing chain, guides, rails, water pump, oil pump, rods)? there's alot more to it. some others can chime in. Good luck!

I had an e36M3 and an e30 M3, I sold the E36, :D

sad to say the car belong to my mother's husband who didn't drive it for 6 years. I bought it off him and finally got it started, after changing out all the fluids, gas, etc... The car has 70k original miles on it. I think you're right in saying i should get it inspected before jumping into a rebuild, i may not even had to do that.
you guys can find photos of the car at http danknox.ath.cx:3000/~reza/

Odds are that you have spun a bearing if you have a slapping/knocking noise. I would take to to a shop that is familiar with the s14. I don't recommend going to any old shop. The one recommended above is a good reference. They will be able to diagnose if it is a major problem or if it is as simple as a failed timing chain tensioner. Could save you lots of money.
Good Luck,
John

So you think my best bet would to have it towed to that shop, and have them tear it down and figure out what exactly the problem is? Then go from there? I found this other shop in SD, unfortuanately i cannot remember the name at the moment. However they are apparently a bmw performance shop (recommended to me by a guy with a mini S..) and said they could rebuild it for around 2K. Is the s14 alot harder to rebuild than any old engine? Unfortuantely I'm working on a really tight budget, not making a whole lot yet...at age 21:mad

To rebuild it properly the parts alone could easily cost $2K. Add labor and your looking at $4-5K at a bare minimum and that's if there isn't any significant damage.

Scott

I found the TMS 2.5L kit for 2,200. However, I dont see why the labor is going to cost so much? One shop qouted me 30 hours (they've done a few s14 rebuilds) and another qouted me 20 (dont know how many they've done). Both are BMW only shops. Is it siginificantly harder to rebuild the s14 than any other motor? Or you just want someone who has extreme attention to detail.

Let's assume you get the Turner Kit for $2200.00. The labor to build the motor from this point is not going to be any less, it still needs to be disassembled and reassembled. Labor at $75/hr for 30 hours is $2,250,00 plus the $2,200.00 you paid for the Turner 2.5L. Its a $4-5K job minimum.

Scott

So you think my best bet would to have it towed to that shop, and have them tear it down and figure out what exactly the problem is? Then go from there? I found this other shop in SD, unfortuanately i cannot remember the name at the moment. However they are apparently a bmw performance shop (recommended to me by a guy with a mini S..) and said they could rebuild it for around 2K. Is the s14 alot harder to rebuild than any old engine? Unfortuantely I'm working on a really tight budget, not making a whole lot yet...at age 21:mad

The s14 is not super hard to work on. I rebuilt mine to a 2.5 myself with support from VAC. However, nothing for them is cheap and once you get into it, you will find more costs. If you can budget for $5,000 to tear down and then rebuild than you will be in a good place. Once it is done, you have a nice solid car from the sound of things. If you can avoid replacing crank, pistons, rods, it will be a good bit less. However, you don't want to tow it to a shop having only 2,000 and have them tear it down to find a lot more cost. Then you are stuck. Good luck with it, if you can get it pulled together you will enjoy the car.