All,

I am wondering what the cost of a good S54 motor with all of the necessary wires and ecu would be for a street car that would need to pass emissions?

Thanks.
Jon

Hey jon,

Depends on how cheap you can get the motor, and how cheap you can get the labor, it can range from $5k-20k plus depending on the variables.

Hell, I got a very nice S54 with an exceptionally clean e46 m3 wrapped around it for 15k :)

How did you manage to get a nice e46 M3 for that cheap?

scuba car

so you are saying that it is possible to find the motors with proper ecu and wiring ready for shipping for around 10k?

Fresh Water flood, water came upto about the sideskirts at most, no water damage, engine ran when I got it, interior was nice, body was gorgeous, 19" wheels were perfect. Making half the purchase price back from selling parts :)

is the best place to look ebay?

s54?

you doing an engine swap on the r32? or do you have something planned for the se30?

Haha, S54 R32, get the hell outta here. R36 is kinda fugly i think but interior is hot.

I'd rather wait for the new 3series turbo motors to get into the salvage yards, turbo's would be fun...hell i'd even like to run that in my e46 racecar. Could probably easily make more power than S54 without stressing it much.

One downside to the increasing level of sophistication in cars is that simple engine swaps become much more difficult. I'd presume that an S54 is like the M54's as found in E46's and late E39's. There's quite a bit of integration between the ECU and other modules and I suspect you need quite a bit more than the engine, harness, and DME.

S54s are great motor and feels great especially in lighter car, doing it with original S54 harness is complete biatch, I did it because I couldn't afford stand alone, in order to make it run without engine lights been on like secondary airpump, speed sensor, etc. You'll probably end up spending alot of money, keep in mind you'll have to make custom middle pipes, P/S lines, modify shifter linkage, gearbox bracket, shorter driveshaft, shorter LSD, hoses, also if swap is going into E36/E30, you'll need longer wiring harness since E46 M3 wiring harness is short which makes it hard to find place to place DME so you'll need 01+M coupe S54 harness since it's longer and makes easier to place it somewhere where tight and secure, also fuel system needs to me modifed since fuel regulator is under the car where fuel filter is and only single fuel line is going to the motor and you'll need filter, fuel line, regulator, regulator housing, and modifying fuel current fuel lines +maybe fuel pump depends which car it's going in. Oil cooler lines will need either bypass or modified also. Keep in mind DME, General Module, and complete EWS system have to be all matching and has to be out of same car other wise it won't start. Almost 2 years ago in E36 so I don't really remember everything, but you can search on this forums under my screen name and M3forum.com.

Keep us posted, :drink1.

IIRC, if you get an S54 w/harness from an M Coupe/Roadster the wire harness is the proper length saving you much hassle. On the other hand, by the time you found one from those cars, you may have had less headache than modifying one from an E46. A lot of work, but you'll end up with a wicked fast car that's reliable (at least in theory).

AEM stand alone is a great affordable solution for this kind of swap. WAY less time consuming and considerably less expensive and readily available.

Definately, that's what I'm planning now and saving money for, I mean longest it's proper tuned and running cats, you should not have any problems passing emissions, but if you're planning to put it after 96+ E36 you have no other choice but to run it on original Siemens managment unless you have no emissions in your area.

I must say that the folks here have some incredible imaginations. I am actually looking to sell the R32 as I am beginning to grow out of it. I have enjoyed every moment of ownership, but an extra set of doors are really becoming something I would like without having to give up the hatch back. So I am extremely tempted to buy an E46 wagon and drop an S54 into it. Someone else did it already and I think it is a great idea. I would prefer to drop something less aggressive in, such as a ZHP 235hp motor, but I figured I would learn as much as I could ahead of time to see if any of this is feasible at all.
I also went and drove an E90 328i car this evening (yes 328 for 2007) which now has 230hp and 200 lb-ft of torque from the factory, quit impressive I must admit. If only they made a 335i wagon.
Thank you all for your ideas, I really do appreciate it.
Jon

Jon, i've got an AWESOME 2003 330i zhp, cheaper than doing a e46 with s54, warranty, reliable, available. Let me now if you are interested.