New To forum, looking for best results. Pics also!

[canuckder]

ohkay so heres the story so far. The car is an 89,4door 325i Got this car off an older gentleman whos been restoring the car to FACTORING SPECS. replacing cams,valves, almost entire engine bay.

21/2 in piping, and a bovarian auto sport intake, H&R springs and blistien shocks is all the mods on the car so far.

so now heres my problem. im torn between turboing this car or doing a swap right off the start, which ive been in contact with millerperformace out in bc, and they have givin me some great info on turboing it. They even told me they have a kit, to 260hp, with no intercooler. m20 is a tractor engine, and you can never kill a tractor right?

Now i went to a met a few weeks ago, one guy right away said put m50, another guy OBVIOUSLY said throw an e36 m3 in it.

althought another guy gave me some great advice, saying the mustange gt injectors will bolt right to my m20.

anyone with expereince on the m20, or even help me get alittle extra juice.

[T.Dot_E30]

I like the color, very good/clean car to start with.

I'd say enjoy the m20 for a little while before you decide to swap/turbo.
Look here for some small mods to get more power out of the m20.
http://www.maxbimmer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55842

Once you know you need the extra power, my vote goes to the s50 or s52 (e36 m3 motors). It will be more reliable than going FI, but if you aren't concerned about reliability then you can consider FI.

Welcome to max.

[canuckder]

yess the colour is actually 350z blue ! Looks very sharp

[canuckder]

oh, and that you for that link, kinda answered the questions the guy at the met was talking about. I am new to bmws, had a acura rsx before hand.

[cormier]

great looking car man, real clean

i would say go with the s50/52 swap as well, i always find NA more reliable than FI, and if you go that route you can re-build the whole engine (voila, almost brand new e36 m3) without taking your car off the road. Also, the swap is HEAVILY written up so its not a problem, theres also a truckload more parts available for s5x motor than your m20...

m30 is also a common swap, and ive seen v8s etc. in e30 chassis as well....
if we use 260hp as your benchmark -- i would say going almost there (240 crank) with a stock s52 motor all rebuilt would be a better bet than beating the crap out of an m20 to get the same results relying on a turbo... besides, you can always turbo the s52 =D

[canuckder]

How would i go about finding an s52, for a decent price. then getting into installed for another decent price. I am actually new to the south, (just moved down a little under a year ago from thunder bay) and have yet to meet my own connections for labor and parts.

also, What would my stock engine go for. probably not in the highest range even with the remodeling done to it.

[cormier]

i just looked on ebay/all bmw forums etc. and managed to get my s52 in good shape with tranny headers etc for under 2k...you gotta look around for the deals, and of course m5x will be easier/cheaper to find than s5x..

youre going to get the swap done for you somewhere?

Originally Posted by canuckder

also, What would my stock engine go for. probably not in the highest range even with the remodeling done to it.

you may be able to trade it for a rad...or something to that extent

[canuckder]

I think i would probably get the swap completed somewhere for me. or find someone in the area that would come drink some brews so i can have the learning experience. i am fairly new to cars.

I bought my first car last year which was an rsx non type s. and tried to keep it for a daily driver while saving for another. when i moved to burlington, my insurance went threw the roof on the 2 door car because im under 25.

so i found this ride, 4 door super old. insurance is nothing.

[Bullet Ride]

So clean man. Enjoy the stockness. Throw on some bolt-ons if you want a bit more pepper. I'd keep the M20 and if you want more power down the road ==> boost

[canuckder]

well the problem is i already want more power. I was seriously thinking about turboing it. the engine is very clean and runs strong. i was also researching stroker kits, but theres some big money in that, and for the price could just do an m3 swap.

i already have 2 1/2 piping with a cold air. There isnt to many things i could do after that. other then changing the injectors. or is there?

[davericher20]

chip?

And is that ever a clean engine bay. very nice

[cormier]

im not an m20 man but i believe the HFM + tune + injectors if usually a good combo, were you going to do any engine stuff if you turbo'ed?
Im about 1 1/2 years into my s52 swap but im loving every second of it, it is a realy fun option lol and isnt that bad mechanically -- id be down for some brews lol too

[Bullet Ride]

Originally Posted by canuckder

There isnt to many things i could do after that. other then changing the injectors. or is there?

Cone filter + M30 AFM + #19 injectors + chip
depending on how much money you want to spend you can also do cams, big bore throttle body, headers, extrude hone the intake etc etc.... check out the M20 section on e30tech for extensive discussion of each of these mods.

but for cheap brute power just boost the car and you'll make more power than any n/a M20... check out the F/I section of the forum for discussion as well as the F/I section on e30tech

[JINT]

Get S54 Mpower if you got the money for it, it's got some proper balls, and it's probably gonna be hard to find someone to do this swap for you.

[elroy]

the s52 setup is obd2, as i've been told and read, taking it back to obd1 gets more power....true?