time for new Engine

[Dave]

OK, time to either rebuild or put a new engine in. (e6 318is)

Cost and time for rebuild - +- R15000 (with oil pump) about a week or 2.
cost and time for new engine - +- R10000 about a weekend

thing is, has anyone tried buying one of these engines from engine den or japtech?

a friend of mine bought one for his Jetta 2 and it runs quite nicely. and also worked out cheaper than to rebuild his old engine.

just putting it out there to see who has done this and what experiences you had with it.

 

[andrewbuch]

Japtech have E30 M3 Engines

 

[Gerhardm32]

Engine Den has reliable engines.

 

[Dave]

Sounds like a plan, but then would need to change gearbox and a whole lot of other stuff. so dont really want to go that route.

 

[zaleonardz]

Where is your sense of adventure

Or is it hiding in the same place as my wallet is currently hiding.

 

[Dave]

lol, exactly. as cheap as possible and as reliable as always.

my 318is is quite decent with speed. its slow bottom hand, but has enough on top hand. i travel a lot as well, so big engine wont do for me

 

[andrewbuch]

Wasnt the E30 M3 a 4cyl Engine ??

 

[Sankekur]

Yeah it was a 2.3l 4cyl engine, if I remember correctly

The best would be to just go for another 318is engine as everything should be pretty much plug and pray, sorry I mean play, or do I....
If you go for a different engine you would need different wiring, computer box etc.

 

[Dave]

interesting. might just consider it if that's the case, but will still be a headache to go through all that for a daily drive car.

 

[zaleonardz]

I say put an M70 in it and be done

On a serious note, , is it auto or manual ?

THe only thing with a second hand motor is you never know what your buying, the bearings could be brand new, or what bearings ?

Most of these guys do give a warentee, but you dont want to drop in the motor only to find out that its stuffed and have to take it out first and then get another one. That said however, at half the price it may be worth it, cause even if you have the motor rebuilt, you have a risk of somebody stuffing something up and you fry that motor 6 months later as well.

 

[Dave]

its a manual. i hear what you are saying about the condition of the engine.

i was hoping to find more guys who have gone this route as i only know of one so far and he is loving his new engine.

 

[Jandre]

I had a rebuild done, and I spent around 20k. Today I had a chat with another mechanic(not the one that built the engine) about my high oil usage.

Seems I might have stuffed it up. According to him, you are not supposed to run fancy multigrade oil in a newly built engine for at least the first 15 000km. I might have glazed my cylinder walls. :bawling::bawling::bawling::bawling::bawling::bawling::bawling::bawling:

The fix is about 5k which includes some engineering work, and new piston rings. I am pretty upset, to say the least.

 

[Dave]

yip, i was following your posts when you did yours. as my valve stems seals were just starting to go then.

dont want to have to go through that. so rather just replace, fill oil, service and get going.

 

[Gerhardm32]

The mechanic I am going to have bought about 9 engines from Engine Den and installed them with no come backs at all.

 

[Dave]

can i get his number?

 

[Gerhardm32]

You got a PM!

 

[Dave]

Thanks, i will give him a call.

 

[zaleonardz]

Jandre, that sucks big time man...

That is the risk I was talking about with building an engine, the slightest thing and your screwed.

However, I once bought an import motor for Subaru, same thing. went through all that work, started it, and spun a bearing...

So its a gamble... either which way.