The Sad tale of a 1995 BMW 318Ti "Club Sport ULTRA RARE AND CLEAN"
 

I am the recent new owner of the 1995 club sport mentioned in this thread (http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthrea...995+club+sport)

Complete Newb needs some advice!

So, I took this lovely car to a track day. It overheated. I took it to my local BMW shop (http://www.precisionmotorworks.net/ great website I know....). Initially it looked like a cracked radiator. They installed that, but the car ran hot. After some compression testing, they narrowed the issue down to cylinder 3. They said that the block is cracked there and I 'll need a new engine. They quoted me $1,800 for an M42 with 72k miles on it. Then quoted me around $2500 for labor. I found a cheaper M42 motor 115k miles on it with a 2 year warrantee for $800 with shipping to Seattle. I'm still looking at a hefty fee for labor. I'm not sure what to do here guys!? Again I'm a total newb and I realize that so spare the mean posts.

What should I do?
1) scrap this car :( (sad outcome but might be the most practical way to recoup some funds and requires no further investment)

2) Put an M42 in there and bring it back to life. I'd hope to do some fun road trips and maybe a track day or two. It could break again of course, but if it does not, the resale value for the car would be pretty good ( I assume?).

3) Swap to a stronger motor: The shop told me they would do this, but they would basically offer me a "Blank Check" for the labor. Meaning they won't give me any quote. I now a lot of guys swap s50 and s52 into this car. Does this kinda of swap typically require custom fabrication? Is it easy? How does this impact the resale value of the car in the future?

I'm pretty bummed out right, not sure what to do.

Also if anyone has a trusted shop or mechanic up around Seattle or the surrounding cities, please let me know!

Thank you.

Sorry to hear about your situation. I remember seeing this car on CL right after it had sold in Cali and was wondering what was going on with it. Sounds like that is when you picked it up. Surprising that cooling system failed when it was listed as replaced 11/2013. but isn't that always how it goes....

Seems to me it'd be worth somebody sticking another M42 into it. Don't know your time frames, but you should be able to find a used one locally. There is a 95 318i at the pick n pull in Lynnwood, don't know the status of the motor though.

If you go (6cyl) engine swap, you will have to replace more than just the motor.

Can probably find a person to do the work for less then $2500 as well. I have a shop that I would go to, but haven't had to yet. The owner has a TI. Otherwise there are people that will come to your house (traveling mechanics) and do this type of thing relatively cheap. You'd want to replace most all the cooling system parts while putting the motor in as well, another $400 in parts.

Don't be so bummed! These things happen. It's only money.

Could always just sell it whole with the blown motor. Maybe the person you bought it from will be OK with his S50 swap now....heh. I kid, but people are always looking for project cars.

Bradestar! Sincerely appreciate the response.

Looks like I was just a little to hard on the old girl at the track. What's the name of the shop you're referencing?

Sorry to hear about your loss. The coolant system in these cars are certainly a weak spot. If you decide to go with a stock replacement or a 6 cylinder make sure that you perform the necessary upgrades. $2500 seems to be very expensive for essentially two days of work, if I were closer I would gladly help you replace it.




What should I do?
1) scrap this car (sad outcome but might be the most practical way to recoup some funds and requires no further investment)
If you decide to go this route I'd be interested (if we can work out the logistics).

2) Put an M42 in there and bring it back to life. I'd hope to do some fun road trips and maybe a track day or two. It could break again of course, but if it does not, the resale value for the car would be pretty good ( I assume?).
Preventative maintenance is key to longevity, radiator, water pump all new hoses, etc. This may be the best decision for the long run, this car will be the equivalent of an E30 318is in the next 10 years or so.

3) Swap to a stronger motor: The shop told me they would do this, but they would basically offer me a "Blank Check" for the labor. Meaning they won't give me any quote. I now a lot of guys swap s50 and s52 into this car. Does this kinda of swap typically require custom fabrication? Is it easy? How does this impact the resale value of the car in the future?

The ceiling for appreciation is somewhat dictated by the prices of equivalent M3s, but the overall performance is hard to beat. I would actually look at installing an S54 if you decided to make this type of investment.

If it's a Club Sport, I would only put another M42 into it. But, I'm a bit of a purist like that. :-)

Hey Dahamler!

I really appreciated your response. I think you may have emailed me directly. If that was you, I've responded.

In terms of options #2 and #3. I'm kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place here. Dropping an S54 in there is pretty much my wet dream lol. I'd love to hear that awesome motor screaming out to 8,000 or so RPM and be behind the wheel. However to roadrash's point, maybe I should continue to keep this car pure. I could buy an M42 and rebuild it, make it rev a little more quickly and perform a bit better.

I was freaking out a bit yesterday, but I realize now I have some options and some time. Love this forum, thanks for the helpful insights.

Believe it or not an M-42 or M-44 ti closely resembles the 1.9 Z-3, mechanically and how it performs and handles. Club Sports have cult status among ti enthusiasts, and I would go back in with a stock motor, to keep the car oem. I paid 5k for my 1998 base model, then 20,000 miles later paid about 3k in parts and labor to replace a blown head gasket and install a new timing chain while things were torn apart. Love the car and I don't regret putting the money into it, because I plan to keep it long time. Just wanted to share my perspective with you. Good luck! John

PM sent on shop info. Not sure about the etiquette of posting them here.


The simple thing is to find functional M42 drop it in, with new cooling system, and go back to what you were doing.

I'd offer to help, if you do it yourself, but of course I have my own problems at the moment (non-auto related), lol. If it was easy to get to (north end) I could likely help some.

I'd plunk a six in it. While they may have been a limited run car I don't forsee them appreciating all that much. Heck e36 M-technic's are not gaining in values in a major degree yet.

It's time.

http://www.eurosporthighperformance....Large_1907.jpg

I personally don't have anything against swapping a Club Sport. There's nothing unique or different about the engine in a Club Sport, it's not what defines it at all. I say go for it if you want to!

Best of luck whatever path you choose!

-All

Just gotta say I love the support I'm feeling from everyone here. I'm excited to share more news with you guys once I figure things out and finalize a plan. Again though I can't say enough how helpful the messages and responses have been. Long live the Ti!

-Marc

M42 swap is not all that hard, just intimidating the first time. A six swap would make it so much more fun tho. :cool:

OP buys old car, does not do any maintenance, does not invest any money into old cooling system a must on old BMW. Then takes it to the track and abuses the crap out of the car. Then after engine is shot, comes here and cries.