BMW E36 318is to a 6 cylinder cost?

[Mr.k]

Howzit guys , just curious about doing a conversion and if it's worth it. Does anyone know how much it would cost roughly for a proper reliable conversion ? Thinking about selling it and buying something else but had this car forever , actually for 19 years this year , so a little reluctant to. Maybe turbo charge the little 4 pot ? But I'm sure it starts getting expensive when you have to build a turbo motor.
Thanks in advance

 

[DoctorJ]

I wouldnt. Unless your name is Gizmo, and you are going to do all the work yourself.

It goes way beyond just shoving a big motor into the engine bay.

 

[wikked]

Don't build what you can buy


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[SylisM]

I am no mechanic, but I think it will cost a lot.

@Gizmo is the guru, he will be able to give you solid advice.

 

[Gizmo]

Do it the proper way and buy a donor 328i so you get everything you need to convert the car like it came from the factory. It is the cheapest and most reliable way to get all the correct parts you need for the conversion. Buying bit by bit from scrapyards will cost you a fortune and waste your time and fuel driving all over looking for parts that are getting rarer by the day.

 

[kilotango]

eish, thats one clean e36 that you have.

im very jealous, because i've been looking for a good one like that most of life!
i'd keep it the way it is now.... its more special that way :chef:

 

[HitokiriZed]

Don't do it to an iS!

Rather sell and buy a 6pot!

 

[Jeremy.d]

If its an m42 I would boost it...
A boosted m42 is low key one of my dreams...

 

[Gizmo]

His E36 is clean and had it for many years, I can understand why he would prefer to upgrade it instead of selling and buying a 328i. I have had my e36 for 15years now so I know how attached people can get. Mine has been upgraded many times in her life, the best bang for buck has been dumping the 4pot for that sweet sounding inline 6 that BMW do so well.

 

[SylisM]

His E36 is clean and had it for many years, I can understand why he would prefer to upgrade it instead of selling and buying a 328i. I have had my e36 for 15years now so I know how attached people can get. Mine has been upgraded many times in her life, the best bang for buck has been dumping the 4pot for that sweet sounding inline 6 that BMW do so well.

BMW hit it on the nail with N/A 6pot engine I must say. Just hearing a 325/328/330i startup is just orgasmic.

 

[Nikhil]

what is your aim? 6 cylinder swap is awesome tried and tested and there is a wealth of knowledge available across multiple forums that make it rather simple.

I would personally take the stock engine and boost the living hell out of it after rebuilding with forged internals or even supercharge it. you looking at around R11k minimum for a 6 er which you will probably have to refresh... add the rest of the drive train plus electronics along with brakes and you could easily build a 250wkw 4 cylinder and maintain a numbers matching car

 

[Gizmo]

M44 doesn't do well on boost, there are no turbo or supercharger kits available for them either so everything will have to be custom built with huge expenses. This will mean the car will be unreliable and spend more time on trestles than tyres. Mr K is Durban based so why not take full advantage of that sea air and enjoy a large displacement naturally aspirated engine that is reliable, fuel efficient and you can walk into any spares shop and pick up parts for it off the shelf.

11k gets you a whole 328i motor, you can't even buy a turbo for that...6cyl conversion has the turbo conversion beat right out of the gate...If you building a 250kw 4pot you going to want to upgrade the entire drivetrain anyway so that point is moot. Numbers matching means nothing if you butcher the car with a turbo conversion.

 

[Jeremy.d]

Isn't this an M42 Gizmo?
My understanding is that they have forged internals already?

I take the point of having to upgrade the whole drive train anyway, but surely boosting will give some decent power without major expense? Sorry for the thread hijack, but you're killing my dreams of a big bad boosted 4 pot. lol

 

[wikked]

318is is M44.


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