Ahmedsinc

Agree 100% on 17s for NZ roads. There's just too much inconsistency with local goat tracks, especially out these ways! It's the main reason why I won't put M-Pars on the wifes wagon, it rides nicely on the style 66s already. From memory I'd need to go to a 30/35 profile tyre to get the rolling diameter right and its just not enough tyre to ride comfortably on. That and she'd kerb them to death in like a month! Buuuuut, it does look tits on the staggered Alpinas!

Are the wheels the set that popped up on trademe this week? Meant to PM you but figured you'd have already seen them. Bit of a leap from the blown E36

Probably the only person I've ever seen thats happy about the CEL being on!

It needs the staggered Alpinas as seen in the spotted thread

Before you go jumping off the deep end, start doing a bit of research on proper ECU tuning vs. mail order 'tunes'. That setup is for the american market, based on their fuel octane, altitude, temperature range and a metric sh*t-ton of other variables that probably won't be of any use here. Taking a one size fits all approach to engine enhancement and tuning is a sure-fire recipe for failure. I agree entirely with Polley, double your budget and you might get close to something that runs well and doesn't implode at the first sign of abuse. Don't forget that the better part of $1000 of that budget needs to go on getting the car certified afterwards - you won't be doing any miles at all if the car gets a pinkie for not being legal. You'll burn more than 5k on just acquiring all the parts, assuming you can do all the fabrication yourself. Look up Garrets build thread on his E36 turbo drift hack, you'll get a pretty good idea as to how much work is involved from there -will make that S50 swap start to look very cheap real quick!

I see there is an S50B30 on trademe currently for $5500. M3 performance for around 5 grand. Easy.

I'm impressed the chain lasted that long

What sites are you getting your info from? If you have been on the American forums they are referring to the S50B30US, which is effectively an M50B25 with an M54B30 crank. Those cams will drop straight into your engine, the proper S50B30 ones will not without extensive modification

Yeah, I suspect the LSD, Konis and manual conversion would go reasonably quickly, not sure about the rest. Will see if the bits gather any interest on here, can't be bothered with the messing about that seems to happen with Facefart.

Don't forget to add the cost of certing the coilovers too Might make the pricing you got from Stocks a little more attractive

As you say, people always have differing ideas as to the value of parts - hence wanting to see what those differing ideas may be. I'd hazard guessing that the engine would be worth around $1500, the Megasquirt $600-700, $1000 each for the diff & Getrag kit, $700 or thereabouts for the exhaust, suspension around $1000, and up to another $1000 for the ancillary bits listed above. However, the buying public might think I'm barking mad expecting that sort of cash, or they might agree, hence wanting to hear peoples thoughts. Cheers

Nobody knows / cares?

Costly is right! Only option I've come across is a US$4k crank from VAC. Otherwise 186ci is the best it'll get

I'm contemplating liquidating my project and moving up to an E39 530i sedan but have no idea what I'll get for the parts in my E36. I suspect the parts are more valuable than the whole, if anyone can give me an indication for what they're worth that'd help me immensely! So the list is as follows: M54B30, M50B25 intake, locked Vanos, stock cams, circa 220,000km. New HG, bolts, main belt, valves lapped, electronic thermostat replaced with 80-somethingº mechanical thermo, OEM ali thermo housing. Alternator & PS pump included, aircon deleted. Replaced head gasket for peace of mind, cylinder sleeves still had factory honing marks, head internals were nice and golden too. PO looked after it fairly well from what I could see. Megasquirt II, in as-bought condition from another member on here. Unused, I believe its configured for VR sensors but will need to confirm. 2.5" Remus muffler with 2.5" mild exhaust, Coby type resonator. I used the stock 2" downpipes from the M52B28TU type headers, 2.5" mild from where the stock pipes merged. Was planning to run S50B32 headers but they need quite a bit more work to have them clear the trans tunnel brace so decided to go with something simpler to start with. Getrag 220 conversion package with DM flywheel & clutch, driveshaft, pedal box, UUC clutch stop. Also have an M20 flywheel & starter. Medium case 3.15:1 LSD M-sport spec Koni front shocks (less than 5000km since fitted), full Eibach spring set (20mm drop from memory) and Bilstein rear shocks. Other ancillary parts like gearknobs, spare M50B25 manifold & throttle body, complete M50B25 with DME, M54B30 intake mani with throttle body, spare drive by wire gas pedal, alternators, starter motors, and all the other bits that make up an E36. I'm quite close to having this back on the road, just need to build the extra ignition circuits and tune it really. I'm not yet 100% committed to swapping cars yet, I have an idea what I'd like for all the parts but I want to hear what the market thinks they're worth before I make the call Thanks!

Kinda like looking directly at the sun, I can still see this when I close my eyes......not in a good way either. Wonder how much of a shunt it had to have qualified for a full respray......?

Would rather see the site vanish for a wee bit than risk you guys nuking your gear! Lol, have worked in small server rooms in the past with IT guys running in carrying multiple $20 fans from the Warehouse in desperation. Then going into utter panic mode when the current draw from the fans is enough to trip the RCD on the wall outlet. Schadenfreude ftw!!

New thread please!

B30 or B32 cams? Both sets of cams deliver higher lift than B25, cam carriers need to be modified extensively to allow for the extra lift

Simple answers: S50 cams will physically fit but you still need a bit of machining and the correct lifters. Ideally you should have bought the matched lifters and trays with the bearing blocks. If boosting the engine use the B28 crank in the iron block, though i don't understand why you're bothering with hotter cams if you're turbocharging. Longer duration cams = power curve shifting to the right. In your position I'd look for an M54B30 crank, might as well go for maximum displacement while you're in there. Google Steve Murch, MSE Engineering. NZ agent for Holset & knows a thing or two about boosting bimmers. Good luck

What mucking fuppet scraps BBS rims?!?! Nice work on the resto, only thing I'd do differently would be to have the lips done with a satin finish instead of polished, but that's only my tastes

I wonder if the seller ever got the engine to run using the E61 brain. Custom wiring loom is all well and good but the DME goes looking for quite a bit before it will give the ok to run. Somehow I doubt that an EWS delete will be quite as simple as cutting the wire at pin 18 Would be an epic swap into an E30

Ask Andy, he seems to be up this way reasonably often

Quickest solution will be an Exedy kit through your nearest BNT

Bit 'spensive though http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/bmw/diffs-axles/auction-1014837617.htm

Allan has some good points. I know you're emotionally attached to the N46 (though I and a lot of other folk don't fathom why ) but this to me looks like the death knell. On the basis of economic sense it seem to me you're better to cut your losses with this one and either outright replace it or use it as a parts source to get the B25 running again. Is the 325i still registered or has it lapsed / dereged?