John,

Try and be humble, go easy on his ego :) Have a good time just the same !!! Just a thought. Don't tell anyone about the 200k on the motor until after the dyno numbers come out. ADL.

They are all expensive, 2 valvers probably cheaper to maintain, I ended up putting in an '88 M6 engine. The engine fit well with stock engine mounts. Using the Getrag 280 transmission, the front portion of the driveshaft had to be shortened a bit. I think the toughest part was the wiring (need longer M6 harness), nothing a manual and a few days time couldn't fix. I also have a Conforti chip, Euro headers, M3 cats, X pipe, 745i muffler, 4.10 rear end with 55% lockup. And no, I did not do the work...

I uploaded some pictures, don't know if they made it. Try searching under "An "M7""

If you drive in the city a lot, the 2 valve 3.5 probably feels a little better torque wise. But over 3500 rpms, the M6 screams. Blew away an Impala SS the other day, pretty even with an E36 M3 on the straights on the track (still working on the curves!). Would like to drag an M3 to see what it can do...

Yeah, the modded 745s will eventually pass me (sorry, just a personal preference), but this is power RIGHT NOW to 7200 rpms!

Eric,

A well modified 745i is playing in a whole other ligua....No comparasion with any ///M car. We are talking about almost 500 HP and 650+ Nm of torque.
The ///M cars I'm playing fairly with them, every other day here around. Some times, I only take the wastegate's hose away (no mods!) just to have fun....

Regards, Afshin.
1982 745i

Sorry I forgot to answer your question. If you absolutly want to stick with 735i, the best way to get a real improuvement on performance is to fit a supercharger (not cheap) but still cheaper, I guess, than to fit an ///M engine.
But the cheapest power/money ratio is the 745i...

Regards, Afshin.
1982 745i

I should be able to post some figures of what the tricked up Impalla SS is putting out...

We are having a Dyno day in Atlanta made up of mostly the e24 series. I will be taking the 745, and a friend of mine from work will be bringing his tricked up Impalla SS. He was happily recounting the stats from his last run which posted 280 ft lb of torque at the wheels .... Hmmmm, my last dyno traces at factory boost (.5 bar) put me at 230 ft lbs at the wheels on a 200 000 mile engine.... I hope he has a sense of humor....

Regards

John Stein