[Patrón]

Originally Posted by Mingwan

Swap is redundant. Especially if the goal was to put the S65 into a lighter chassis. The E9x M3 is only about 200-300lbs heavier than the E46 M3. That amount of weight is removable on the E9x M3 without stripping it down to a bare bones. What makes the swap even more redundant is that swapping the motors apparently messed with the steering on the E46.

So basically, they have an E46 M3 that no longer has the original steering feel. The car gained about 100hp, but the motor is now in a car that has an even more outdated interior. All for the price of an: E46 M3, S65 engine, and an additional 50k for the next buyer. And the wait time would only be about 6-8 months.

Damn, that's a good deal.

he loves the e46 body and interior, like i do and i own an e92m.
he also did a carbon roof at the same time. i do agree the swap time is nuts but i think they include taking on the task along with their day to day operations, not 100% work on 1 swap with all resources.

[marcva]

Rob Levinson at uuc did a detailed S54 retrofit into a us spec e36m. He did the complete project with all gauges and lights intact. His comment was that doing everything properly was a 400 hour process. Perhaps others have gotten more efficient with learning, but a pioneer spending 400 hrs @ $100/hr= $40k. Not saying it's rational, but doing things right takes time.

Still cheaper than a gtr.

[Obioban]

Originally Posted by marcva

Rob Levinson at uuc did a detailed S54 retrofit into a us spec e36m. He did the complete project with all gauges and lights intact. His comment was that doing everything properly was a 400 hour process. Perhaps others have gotten more efficient with learning, but a pioneer spending 400 hrs @ $100/hr= $40k. Not saying it's rational, but doing things right takes time.

Still cheaper than a gtr.

But today, OE like S54 swaps into e36s are easy (and DIYable). In time, it shall be as such with the s65 into the e46.

As I said in another thread:

A swap "kit" shouldn't be that bad (price wise), were someone to offer one.

-Modified front subframe, with mount locations for the s65 and scalped to clear the oil pan.
-330i/d transmission mount brace
-custom headers that allow the stock steering rack path, section 1 that would route pipes to the stock section 2 location. No reason these should cost more to produce than other headers/section 1s once the development work is done.
-custom drive shaft that correctly aligns/has flanges with e9X trans mounts and e46 diff mounts (which YCW could make and said they would, since they're making they're own shafts now (can cut to any length and have flanges for e46M and e9XM Guibos and diffs)
-stock E9XM DSC, ECU, Engine, trans, DSC Module (so you'd want to buy a crashed car, likely)
-an arduino to translate e9X ecu speak to e46 chassis speak (which is really the sticking point on the stock ecu, and above my pay grade... but certainly a far easier task than the MSS5X community reverse engineering) for the stock e46 cluster, cruise control, etc to work. Very cheap to reproduce once the translation leg work was done.

And since a stock ecu would be used, emissions compliant and no need to pay for a standalone ecu or tuning.

I suspect we'll see this in a couple years. I know of two places working on it.

50k is certainly an early adopter price point. And, an awesome car as a result, long before the rest of us could have one!

[dmk08]

Originally Posted by Cbozz

honestly this is a great build, but with bugs here and there and costing total within $75K area I think buying a used e92 and e90 m3s would be a much better choice for a daily driving purposes!

Im sure there were lots of bugs.. it was built by Technica. They have a less then stellar reputation around Atlanta. (Where they are)

[bd307]

Plus the "reviewer" is a jack ass too. Watched one of his video last year and it was some laughable material.

[Obioban]

Originally Posted by bd307

Plus the "reviewer" is a jack ass too. Watched one of his video last year and it was some laughable material.

I have to say, Matt Farrah is one of my favorite reviewers. Here's why:

1) he's one of the only people in the industry to actually be willing to be negative about things. Every Chris Harris Review in the last 4 years would have you believe that all cars are sunshine and rainbows. Fuck that, most cars suck.

2) He actually interacts with people directly-- goes to car meets, responds to youtube comments, etc.

3) I very much enjoy the one takes, which are pretty unique to him, because he showcases modified cars (like the one this thread focuses on)-- and critiques them, good and bad. I'm incredibly bored of reviews of the identical Turbo EPS automatic car that every car maker is making these days.

I don't even particularly agree with matt on a lot of things. He prefers a fast steering rack with good response off center, I prefer a slower rack and prioritize feel. He prefers turbos/torque, I prefer revs and low torque. But, I really like that he's actually honest about the cars he's driving and willing to point out the negatives (as he sees them) as well as the positives. It's incredibly rare in this modern era of not hurting peoples feelings/everything has to be awesome.

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by bd307

Plus the "reviewer" is a jack ass too. Watched one of his video last year and it was some laughable material.

Cut Matt some slack. The vast majority of his content is literally a one-man-show. He writes, shoots, cuts, and edits his own shit. Yes, he gets the details wrong some times, but let's be honest, everyone slips up now and then. He doesn't have a production team watching his back, so some things are bound to slip.

What matters to me is his honesty and willingness to express an opinion. Matt is a real automotive enthusiast, and he does a ton of work to produce content on, frankly, a staggering number of cars. Just scroll back through his YouTube history. I really respect the guy, even if I don't always agree with him.