LocostUSA.com

So I've been trying to buy a BMW M3 from mid-late 90's to build with. The short explanation is, I'm expecting to use the 3.2 liter version of the engine.

Will this fit? (Coveland, etc.)

The search isn't going well. In California, people assume an unrepaired wreck with maybe $9k in damages only takes a few hundred off the price.

From the picture, I'd guess there's some frame damage. 50/50 odds there was an insurance payout on this car as a total loss, and the guy is hoping to cash in on someone dumb enough to believe his claim ". . . .needs very little body work that include. right headlight, tail light, right fender, hood, kidney, grills. . . ."

The price has fallen from high private party KBB to not much below high. (Sigh)

If you read this Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving.

California? What part?

Try this...Copart
http://www.copart.com/facility/qfacWST.htm
Auto auction on salvage cars
Yes thoose prices are obscene...

Type in your zip and search forplaces close to you....
Do you Yahoo?
Click here

Maybe Googl Local

Found linked to Auctions.Yahoo.com
http://www.readytofix.com/Inventory/List_2.htm
http://auctions.yahoo.com/i:BMW%20M3%20 ... 1:94188238
(somewhere there is a gimic here)

Ebay
http://motors.search.ebay.com/m3_Cars-T ... QQsbrsrtZl

NationWideAuctions occassionally has nice Bmeers....
http://www.nationwideauction.com/ENU/default.asp
Nothern CA, and two in southern CA

I guess it really depends on where you are from......get aqquainted with your local scrapper...ask him where he gets his stuff (the stuff you like)...ask insurance people, how they dispose of their salvaged vehilces. salvage is typically 15 percent the value of the vehicle so if you live in a urban area you could maybe make a "owner"/crash victim an offer at 20-ish percent the vehicle value and buy it from the "owner"/crash victim. A win /win situation! may take a little time though....

There are several options though...it really is a time+effort= (+ or -) money kinda thing.

Another option is to reconsider the donor. less than 5 grand you could buy a solstice drive train (engine tranny rear end) and still have money left for dinner (to explain it all to the wife/girlfriend/Sig Nif I CAnt Other).

Other donor can be even cheaper.....but sounds like you have your target set on a specific donor.

_________________
I'll keep an eye out for you!

To err is human...
I am more human than most.

the 3.0 (ie 1995 model year) motor would be a better choice since it is OBD I and could easily be retrofit into a custom car. with OBD II you need swap over a bunch of OBD I parts anyway. as for it fitting, I haven't seen many (actually none) inline 6's fit with much success. i'm sure it's "possible" but not very easy and honestly it's a big engine for a lightweight car. for the money (in obtaining, rebuilding, maintaining) it would cost for the M3 motor I'd find a nice Miata or RX7 motor and run that N/a and if that still isn't enough fire in your pants put a low boost turbo system on it and I can't imagine you wouldn't be satified with that. i speak from some bit of knowledge on this, my 95 M3 is a blast to drive but it's expensive and not cohesive to a clubman IMO.

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**Build diary**

I'm not opposed to pulling an OBD II computer out of the old car. It would get me out of a Megasquirt conversion, eh?

My big problem is, there's problems with ANY car I choose. Including getting my hands on it. (Although engine fit is crucial.) Miata, wonderfully cheap replacement parts. If I wanted just a street car, that'd be great.

But I'm looking for a racecar when I'm done. My limited understanding is that I'd have a good IT-E car with an M3 engine. Maybe even radial sedan. And IT-E apparently is a success in Southern California, so I'd get to run it. I haven't found a good way to come up with other ideas until I found this board. The link to the NASA Super Se7ens in another thread here was the first I heard of it, no sign of it at the main NASA site. Is there a way to cross reference those classes to the SCCA? (And yeah, I could run both, got time on my hands.)

http://www.nasatx.com/supersevens.asp

And cheap is usually cheap for a reason. If there was a banged up old car with a rear drive ecotec available, I wouldn't have a problem with that except I have no way of knowing if it would be competitive.

And it seems no way of finding out before the big build, and the possible disappointment. That's what makes this car selection so hard. If I knew I had a place to go with it and be competitive, I'd settle for a Tercel.

This is so frustrating.

The philosophy behind the Seven's design was to add speed by reducing weight. A big ol 6 cylinder may scream down the straights but throw your balance off to the point you find yourself being owned in the turns by a Miata powered car. What does an M3 engine weigh anyhow?


If you want to see something rediculously fast check out this tuboed bike engine powered seven.

http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtop ... 1304#11304

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

I agree that weight and size are likely to be problems. Most inline 6's weight about as much as a pushrod V-8. The extra length of a inline 6 is almost sure to be too much to fit in a standard Book sized chasis.

I tend to agree with the rest of the guys here... just a thought, I own a E36 BMW so I know how much you're going to be paying for an engine etc. If you're looking at something with big power and you're already going to be forking out the big money for it take a look at this site < http://www.nagasakijdmmotors.com > look under Mazda at the 3 rotor wankle, this ought to be more than enough power. Failing that look at a Nissan RB26DETT from a Skyline, that should leave the Bimmer for dead and it's also a I-6. Personally if I had the money I'd look at the SR20DET four cyl you can get lots of power out of those and with an aluminum block they're light aswell.
I'm not so sure about a inline 6 fitting a book chassis car or even a +442 but there is a company in Alberta Canada selling a kit called the Velosity < http://www.halerconcepts.com > as I recall it's supersized and is designed for a inline 6 or V8. I'm not so sure about how wheel base etc affects what class you would race in.
All the best,
Ted.
[Web links edited by LocostUSA Janitor]

Funny you should ask this. I am building my Locost with an M20 (325e) it's an inline 6. I guess the only thing it really has going for it is lots of torque, and the fact that I got the donor for $152.50

Anyway, I have been thinking a lot about the "next" locost and I thought it would be really cool to use the S14 engine from a late 80's or early 90's M3. Inline 4 is much more likely to fit any kit or book size chassis than the inline 6. To give you an idea, my engine bay is about 9 inches longer than book.

Interesting stuff
http://www.s14.net/forums/showthread.ph ... dimensions

s14.net/forums - lots of talk, turbo's superchargers etc.

As much as I've enjoyed using an unusual donor, if I had to do it over, I would probably go with a 4 cylinder. Don't underestimate the amount of time you will spend changing the length and width of things, and oops well that changed that and blank doesn't fit anymore.

So anyone got an E30 M3 with perfect drive train and crap body for cheap?

Good luck whichever way you go,

Eric
Locostmonkey