x-post from roclife.
M3 SMG coupe donor car.
318i sedan project car.
Together.
Finished.
They should have done a wagon.
I like it
Is this possible in the US? as in OBDII compliance?
isnt there someone on here who helped write the software for the inspection software? there has to be a legal loop hole. I heard its ok as long as the donor engine is newer than the vehicle it is being put into…
bad ass swap minus the smg…
this should have been a stock option
Well for starters it’s in Norway. Second, you just need the engine from the same year or newer car.
yeah, it’s practically the same chassis
they never sold the 318 here, but you could just do the 325/328/330
I was going to ask why would someone do this instead of buying a M5 but I see taxes are crazy in Norway. it looks good
I know, I followed the thread on e46f a while ago. I never said “omgz how did he do that in the us?!?”
And second, I said I was sure the engine needed to be newer. I just dont know what the obd reads, and I thought someone on here actually knows. I know it doesnt read the VIN bc people have used cars side by side when getting them scanned (illegally, obv).
a nice, low mileage M5 isn’t cheap
that m3 coupe can probably be parted out to re-coupe a bunch of cost
All that work to use an SMG??? and poor oxford green M.
That’s an extremely easy swap, same chassis, same electronics. Nicely executed, but not difficult.
End result is hot.
cost of 318 + cost of M3 + labor/paint + time= less than M5? Im not into BMWs so I have no idea what they are going for. I get lost with all the numbers, E46, E85, E90 lol JK.
He said he was going to use as much as possible so I doubt he will be able to recoup much.
that’s pretty cool but it’s been done
yeah, but in the end, he still has an entire car worth of parts
hell, he could put the 318 motor into the m chassis and sell it as a 318ci
paint and other upgrades are mods that I don’t really associate with the swap…they weren’t needed
also
m3 = high 20s
325 = ~7k
so, 27k for a 4 door m3. Then, slap the 325 motor back in the coupe chassis, and sell for deeply discounted 5k(just to get rid of it), and you’ve got a fairly unique e46 4-door m3 for ~22k … you’re not stepping into an m5 for that price unless you get a 100k+ miles car.
as MPD47 said, it’s a straightforward swap and no other parts should be required to make the car run.
Labor = $0
When you do your hobby thing, do you ever include labor rates? Of course not.
Its harder than most people are lead on to be, especially with the harness integration for the chasis. I think there are only a couple road legal S54 sedans. Standalones are still a pain to use on this motor.
Standalones are EASY to use on that motor (yes, even with dual vanos), it’s the implementation of the transmission that is difficult. But when you have two complete donor cars and both are e46’s it’s an easy as pie swap.
LOTS of nuts and bolts…
but that’s a ton of work just for a 4 door… and if he put the M3 back together it’d be worthless, a slow coupe with jacked up M3 insurance rates.