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Thread: Considering an E36 to replace my 2 1JZ-powered sedans...

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Okinawa, Japan
    Posts
    4
    My Cars
    1997 Toyota Chaser

    Considering an E36 to replace my 2 1JZ-powered sedans...

    Like the title reads, I'm thinking of getting an E36 so I figured I'd finally join and solicit opinions on my options. A little (ok, a LOT) of background:

    1. I live in Japan. Taxes/registration/inspections/etc. cost a fortune compared to Stateside, especially my home state of Florida. My current cars cost ~$450/year for road tax + ~$800-$900 every two years for inspection. Works out to about ~$900/yr per car. A full tank of premium gas is about ~$90. My cars answer the question of "What would a 335i look like if Toyota built one in the 90's?" Iron-block turbo I6 engines, RWD sedans. Sporty yet practical, reliable, but...low-rent Toyota Camry interiors. I don't care about luxury so nothing of value lost there. I consider the E36 and the JZX100 Chaser tied for "sexiest sedans ever made". Dunno why Toyota never makes their RWD sedans available to the US outside of Lexus.

    2. I have a 1997 Toyota Chaser Tourer V with a 5-speed manual swap, currently sitting unregistered as I do upgrades/maintenance on it. It's already decently equipped with a 2-way LSD, ORC clutch, Tein coilovers, PowerFC standalone ECU, FMIC, exhaust, intake, and I just installed a downpipe/cat delete with a wideband O2 sensor. Oh, and a pair of sexy Recaro seats. For ages I've been planning a ~500rwhp build, so I bought a 2JZ-GE VVTi bottom end from an Aristo for only $200. This would give me a 1.5JZ for much more torque and power with minimal effort (in theory). Unfortunately the VVTi -GE has weak conrods so I started pricing out parts for a bottom end rebuild and it's coming out to ~$2000 in parts alone. That would give me a block good for probably 600+ hp or near-indestructible @500hp, but I'd still need a new turbo too (and injectors, and fuel pressure regulator.....probably another $2k total).

    The bad news is.....I'm pretty sure the frame is bent, probably from an impact to the front-right wheel area before I bought it. The JZX100's are well-known for having a flexible chassis anyway. I had an alignment done and the car needs a -4deg camber on that wheel to drive straight. Driving it is almost terrifying over 100kph, you feel like you are fighting the car to keep it going in a straight line...NOT confidence-inspiring at all. Also, I'm now chasing an electrical gremlin that is draining the battery. Electrical gremlins are so frustrating and my OCD makes me want to rip out all the wiring and redo the car with a custom CAN BUS system. There's a few open source ECUs I'm looking at but my current favorite, the rusEFI, is very immature and has no support for a turbocharged engine currently.

    3. I have a 2003 Toyota Mark II iR-V Fortuna Yamaha Power with a 4-speed automatic. Automatic + electronic throttle control = total bore to drive despite a ~300hp turbo-6 engine. This is my daily driver and really it's a decent car but I hate driving it. It gets better gas mileage than the Chaser despite the same engine + extra weight, but the savings is lost

    I'm considering ditching BOTH of these as follows:
    -Do minor repairs to the Chaser to make it sale-worthy. Keep the current 1JZ engine and don't upgrade to the 500hp 3.0L 1.5JZ. Then sell it for probably $3k-4k.
    -Buy an automatic E36. The Japanese aversion to all things old, used, and high-mileage means you can get older performance cars for a steal. I'm looking at 3 sedans (all 2.5L or less) and 1 coupe (with the M52B28), all less than $4,000 with no accident history. The cheapest is <$1k but is '93 and looks pretty worn. The only major expense is getting the damn things shipped down here to Okinawa by ferry, probably an extra $1500-$2000
    -Sell the 2003 Mark II. Should be able to get $6k-7k.
    -Manual swap the E36 and drive it with no other major power upgrades for now. I might keep my Recaros from the Chaser and put them in it, though...

    This reduces my car inventory down to one (saving $$$ on taxes and maintenance), still gives me a manual for driving pleasure, and will eventually pave the way for........an LS swap!!! (at least a few years down the road) 450+ naturally aspirated American horsepower, in one of the lightest, sexiest sedans ever made (IMO). Plus if I stick with NA engines I can more easily implement a low-cost open source ECU + CAN BUS solution.

    So here are my questions for the forum members:
    From a reliability/maintenance perspective, how serious of a downgrade is it from a 2003 Toyota to a E36 as your daily? How about after it's been modded?
    From a performance perspective, how tolerable are the NA I-6 engines, considering I'm coming from a modded turbo 2.5L I6? And will the automatics make me hate life as much as the Toyota auto until I can swap it out?
    I REALLY wanna do the LS swap, but I absolutely adore the buttery-smooth power and sound of the 1JZ. Has anyone done an LS swap and regretted losing the sound/feel of BMW's equally-glorious inline-6's?

    Thanks for reading. And maybe I'll post some pics of my cars later...
    Last edited by Noble713; 10-02-2014 at 03:48 AM. Reason: language fix

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    SF Bay Area
    Posts
    873
    My Cars
    '05 330 ZHP slosh box
    To answer your question 1, Toyota sells Lexus as their RWD sedans

    2005 E46 330 ZHP Imola Red
    2004 E46 325 M56 Steel Metallic Blue - Sold

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Arida Zona
    Posts
    30,108
    My Cars
    z3
    I dont know the answer to most your questions OP but the M50/M52 engines can take a lot of power. Maybe not entirely 1JZ/2JZ levels but not too far behind.

    Quote Originally Posted by stephenkirsch View Post
    To answer your question 1, Toyota sells Lexus as their RWD sedans
    He mentioned that in the post

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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Okinawa, Japan
    Posts
    4
    My Cars
    1997 Toyota Chaser
    Here's the 4 BMWs I'm thinking about:
    You probably can't see the Japanese-market prices, so I've included $ estimates:

    $3800: http://www.goo-net-exchange.com/used...001/index.html
    Nice car, low mileage, but the most expensive.

    $3300: http://www.goo-net-exchange.com/used...003/index.html
    Ugly wheels and wing, but bigger 2.5L engine.

    $2000: http://www.goo-net-exchange.com/used...001/index.html
    Biggest engine @ 2.8L, but much higher mileage and it's a coupe. I'd really prefer to stick with a sedan...but this is pretty sexy.

    $980: http://www.goo-net-exchange.com/used...002/index.html
    High mileage, and looks pretty beat up, but so cheap! Well, until you factor in shipping down here to my island.....

    And here are my cars, the Mark II:


    and the Chaser:



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