The body is not so good, as I lightly rear ended someone a few weeks ago. I was also stripping the car out to race in IP, but last night i was driving down the highway and pop. Pretty sure the timing chain either jumped or broke and some pistons hit some valves.

so now what? I just bought my suspension and some fixin up parts, and have no money left for a whole new engine. so these are my ideas.
Sell the car as is and take a big hit in the wallet? if so how much could i get for it?

put in a V8, BMW or otherwise?

Let it sit for maybe 2-3 years and save enough to make a good well sorted racer?

any suggestions or opinions?

N/M. I re-read what you posted.

E39 M5 motor, not many people have GTR's thats a big project though

Any V8 project will likely be way more expensive than any I6 project. If you're low on cash, get a cheap M50 (you can find 'em for a few hundred bucks if you look hard enough) and race the car in JP instead.

no stay out JP, i dont like the 6cylinder cars in JP they ahave more grunt than the 4 cylinders and BMW Club lame ass rule book wont write car specific regulations. giving the 6cylinder car a weight penalty or something due to its extra power. I guess BMW club needs to take themselves seriously before that happens.

No JP is a good class and with that car you could run in ITS, for some reason E30 M3s are ITE cars i dont understand why they arent in ITS...I mean really i dont get it at all.

Spend money on driving and less on the car. Get into a lower level competitive class and rac as much as possible. Set your budget, and decide which class you can be most competitive in with a VERY reliable car. Having to only fix 1-2 things all season is the goal... add tires, gas and go!

I would stop and save for a new engine. If you are really looking at a V8, I would scrap that idea and look what the club racers are getting out of the S54 transplants. Otherwise save and put in the USS52. Really you are better off setting your sites on IP and building accordingly. If you are worried about $ now, Mod is not going to be fun for you. I don't even want to know how big of a shovel one would need for the cash it takes to build a decent Mod car. I say that being 96% done with building an IP car.

Well M5 V8 is out of the question, way out of budget. American Muscle V8 is cheaper, but the retrofit would be worthless for BMWCR. S54 requires a decent pocket as well, $15k min.
S50/S52 is the way to go.

cut a hole in the floor pan under your legs and pedal the car...duh.

wait a second, you want to race but you don't have money to fix the engine? simply doing DEs requires a budget for wheels, tires, brakes, fluids, etc. how can you go racing without the appropriate budget?

is this for a 325 or M3? i say just buy a used stock motor and put that in there.

bring your car over here to me in bucks county, we can rebuild your engine for cheap....explain to me more what happened...how fast, etc. Your pistons are probably fine...valves arent too expensive, I can have the car back up in a weeks time.

I just dont have the money for it right now...
In a few months, when I start working again i should have a good bit. I am probably going to build up an aluminum block I6, or swap in a 4.4L V8.