m42 conversion cost

TobyA · Post by **TobyA** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 2:10 am

i would like to have a go myself at dropping an m42 into my 316 and have done a fair bit of research but, realistically, i won't have time.

does anyone know of an experienced garage or enthusiast who'd take on the conversion? if so, what is a fair price?

many thanks.

e21-Mark · Post by **e21-Mark** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 8:14 am

The only garage I know of that offer e21 conversions are Fritz Bits down in Taunton. If I were you, I would go through some of the BMW magazines and find workshops closer to home, then ask if they'd be up for the challenge? Any half decent workshop should be able to do the job once they've researched it.

thetomc · Post by **thetomc** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 9:00 am

when i did mine it took me a full week of 8 till 5. You've gotta be looking at 30 to 40 hours labouri would guess. Give fritz's a call and see what they say. It'll be a good starting point for a quote i would think. Also you could ask drjim about places local to you as he's manchester based and may well have an idea of somewhere that would take on the job.

tommi_e21 · Post by **tommi_e21** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 10:09 am

i would get fritz to do it, they got all the right parts to do the conversion and will prob get the job done quicker then a normal garage and save you some pennies.

pistonheader · Post by **pistonheader** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 11:08 am

austin25uk wrote:i would get fritz to do it, they got all the right parts to do the conversion and will prob get the job done quicker then a normal garage and save you some pennies.

agreed. they know how to do it straight off as they've done it several times.

e21-Mark · Post by **e21-Mark** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 11:32 am

Let us know what they say?

pistonheader · Post by **pistonheader** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 1:50 pm

RetroBeemer wrote:Let us know what they say?

won't be cheap, approx 2k as a guess. that includes everything, you take car to them with no bits, they source and fit everything. will be interesting to hear.

TobyA · Post by **TobyA** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 2:30 pm

I've just put down my phone having spoken to Richard at Fritz's Bits - what a dude. He was happy to help and said I could just pop in for a cup of tea anytime. If only I wasn't at the other end of the country!

As for the dosh... Understandably, they're reluctant to give a figure without knowing the details. He's costing up routes i could take over the next week.

But approximately:
£1250 for 15hrs labour
£350-500 for parts (exc. donor car) 'cos they may change the chain; sprockets; and head gasket

BTW i thought the going rate for an e21 lsd was £400-500 but apparently it's more like double that and needs to be sourced from the states! damn!

e21-Mark · Post by **e21-Mark** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 4:13 pm

I'd make you a cup of tea if you were gonna be giving me 2 grand too! In fact, I'd even throw in some biscuits! I'd also be happy to hear from people prepared to offer me £85 an hour.

As for LSD's, they seem to be getting rarer the more the 02 guys convert them for their cars. Last one I was watching on German e-bay fetched £523 so I'd think again before you think of shipping one in from the USA.

drjim · Post by **drjim** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 5:59 pm

Toby

As I recall it's my old car we are talking about.

If you have the bits, then actually doing the conversion is not all that hard if you have the facilities. If not then you could try speaking to ric wood in Stockport who did a lot of work on the slug, but he aint cheap.

How is the car going anyway? Is the engine playing up, it was swapped in after the original died when Jamie bought it, but I think it ran a bit hot.

If you just want more power, the M10 upgrades nicely to the M42 power level and it's probably no more expensive than paying for a swap. If you were thinking of M52 type swaps then different ball game. I am pondering whether to go totally loopy with the slug and swap in an e36 M3 engine - in which case I have a 160ish BHP M10 going spare.

Be interested to see how the car looks now, have you put some sensible wheels that don't need spacer/adaptors on??

Jim

e21-Mark · Post by **e21-Mark** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 6:48 pm

Are you thinking M3 diff & box too Jim?

drjim · Post by **drjim** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:00 pm

Toying with idea of buying a whole car from a salvage place - saw a 3.0 cabby for 2k recently. Use engine box and diff in the slug and sell the rest to recoup the cost.

See how I feel about more power on Monday and take it from there.

It's very much a thought that comes on after a few beers at this stage!

pistonheader · Post by **pistonheader** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:37 pm

RetroBeemer wrote:I'd also be happy to hear from people prepared to offer me £85 an hour.

Mark, maybe the guy typed it wrong because on every receipt i have from fritz, they are £45 an hour. i suspect the labour price quoted was correct, but i reckon it'd take more than 15 hours....?

tommi_e21 · Post by **tommi_e21** » Sun Jul 11, 2010 1:18 pm

depends really if your going to give them a whole doner car or just an engine.

sourcing all the parts and collecting them takes ages and there are lots of parts to change.

gotta stick in electric fuel pump and return lines if its a 4 pot banger to begin with.

custom making the engine mounts

exhaust modification

airbox mount creation

battery relocation

etc etc

so really its total strip down of the engine bay undeside and interior to reroute the battery

15 hours is an understatment so price is good

rob0r · Post by **rob0r** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 2:48 pm

drjim wrote:Toying with idea of buying a whole car from a salvage place - saw a 3.0 cabby for 2k recently. Use engine box and diff in the slug and sell the rest to recoup the cost.

See how I feel about more power on Monday and take it from there.

It's very much a thought that comes on after a few beers at this stage!

DO IT. Presuming the E21 M20 getrag can take the power I would use that box and twist the engine towards the inlet using E21 M20 engine mounts so the gear linkage is straight. It will be extremely tricky to get any sort of exhaust manifolds to clear the steering linkage/column laying an M5#/S5# at it's correct/flat angle. The diff ratios would also make more sense, though a stronger diff swap would be sensible anyway!

Or you could use the M3 box and twist the engine on E21 M20 mounts, but the gear linkage will need to be twisted to suit. Though I don't know how much room there will be for the std M3 airbox when twisted...

An S50 conversion is the same as an M50 conversion in an RHD E21, if I had the money there would be an S50 M3 engine sitting in my engine bay instead of the M50....