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Bought myself a project

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Either way, I'm not going to dump a bunch of time into diagnosing anything internal. A good rebuilt 4.4l motor is ~$1500 or so, and takes about as much time to swap as it does to replace timing guides.
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No disrespect to you but how is it possible to get a rebuilt BMW 4.4l motor for such a ridiculously low price?
 
sontakke said:
No disrespect to you but how is it possible to get a rebuilt BMW 4.4l motor for such a ridiculously low price?
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$2500 is a bit more accurate for a true rebuilt motor.

$1500 will get you a ~100k mile pulled engine with new timing chain, guides, and rebuilt vanos.


I live in a very BMW-centric city. We have tons of indy and performance BMW shops.
 
The last time I was in the market for a new car, I had to give up on my first choice (2010 535ix) because of the maintenance scare. If I knew what you know, I would have probably jumped in. If you don't mind, which city are you talking about?
 
I wouldn't get any AWD bmw. To me, part of the 'essence' of a bmw is that they're RWD.

I've owned many bmws, and honestly the biggest PITA is dealing with dealerships while under warranty. BMW dealers are terrible.

I am a happier bimmer owner doing all of my own work.
 
Just a quick update...


~$2000 in front suspension, valve covers, spark plugs, couple of oil changes later and she drives great. I replaced everything from the top of the shock towers to the subframe... Including all steering components.

This thing drives amazing... But... I could use a pep talk. After a month of putting ~80 hours of time I really don't have into this I'm not so sure I have time for a project.


It definitely needs the vanos replaced, and while I'm in there I will replace the timing chain and guides as well. That's easily another 80 non-rushed hours and another $2k in parts.
 
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When I've got a project of that magnitude I make a point of sitting down and doing 1-2 hours every night I am able to and it gets done faster than I would have imagined. Frequently I'll say to myself "I'm just going to work from 5 until 6" but then I get into the work and *poof* it's 9 o'clock. Invite some friends over, supply the beer and burgers, and a LOT of work gets done. Just go easy on the beer until most of the work is done 😉 Speaking of beer, put a beer fridge in work-space. Also, get some music out there too if you haven't already.

Having just redone all of the suspension (and then some) in my Miata I know it's a lot of work. However, it is way better than having an otherwise perfectly good car sit and rot, it keeps you off meth, it's way cheaper than paying someone to do it for you, and the reward of an awesome car that you rebuilt with your own two hands makes it all worth in the end. It makes the car YOURS. It won't be a 'car you bought' anymore, it will be a 'car you made awesome ' instead.
 
SpatiallyAware said:
I wouldn't get any AWD bmw. To me, part of the 'essence' of a bmw is that they're RWD.

I've owned many bmws, and honestly the biggest PITA is dealing with dealerships while under warranty. BMW dealers are terrible.

I am a happier bimmer owner doing all of my own work.
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Pretty much goes for any dealer.

They all bend you over backwards, some just act "nice"....aka Lexus

Listen to your wallet man, at this point it sounds like it should really REALLY hate you. hehe
 
SpatiallyAware said:
Just a quick update...


~$2000 in front suspension, valve covers, spark plugs, couple of oil changes later and she drives great. I replaced everything from the top of the shock towers to the subframe... Including all steering components.

This thing drives amazing... But... I could use a pep talk. After a month of putting ~80 hours of time I really don't have into this I'm not so sure I have time for a project.


It definitely needs the vanos replaced, and while I'm in there I will replace the timing chain and guides as well. That's easily another 80 non-rushed hours and another $2k in parts.
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Dibs if you plan on selling it...

I miss my e39 🙁

That wasn't much of a pep talk. 😛

You've done a lot of work on it already. Drive it for a while and enjoy it. When you get to the point where the VANOS rattle frustrates you enough, you'll have enough motivation to hunker down and get it done. After all, eating/sleeping is always optional. Because RaceCar

Also, thought you were looking at an engine transplant?
 
I would keep it, but I don't really need another vehicle... My intention with it was purely as a weekend/afternoon project car.. IE getting enjoyment out of working on it a few hours a day. After that it would be our long-haul vacation car. So it was never intended to be a DD for me.

The problem is that I simply don't have a few hours extra in a day (or week, for that matter).. So instead of being enjoyable, it was stressful trying to carve out 3-4 hours on a saturday. Sad, because I grew up doing little mini restorations, but at this point in life I just don't have the time for it. Just too many things going on right now.

Engine transplant was worst case scenario, in case of a stuck valve or broken timing chain guides. I don't think either is an issue, it has the very distinctive "diesel" sound when warmed up, I'm about positive it's the vanos.

I did a lot of thinking yesterday and I'm definitely just going to sell it. I'm going to put it on CL this weekend.
 
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