Re: Going through a complete engine rebuild myself (archive)

I am not criticising your course of action, merely pointing out an option. The E34 M5 is dropping in value and spending $10k on a max $20k car seems to be a bit much to me. However, if you're going to keep it 20yrs the whole equation changes. Amortized over 20yrs this is a small amount.

As for used vs rebuilt, don't forget that you end up having a partially intact motor on the side that you can part out and make up part of the cost. I've seen heads go for a few thousand and I'm not sure what the crank and block would go for, but it is probably not cheap. Chances are, in time, you could be zero cost on the used motor deal.

Other than that, I'm not sure how careful the rebuild is going to be versus an M-Sport assembled motor. I find that most techs do not really work that conscientiously when it comes to clean assembly and torques and such. When I did my top-end I could see hundreds of places where a tech might cut corners.

Also, I said just bottom end because you said you had the head ready. I understand about the assembly of the head onto the motor, of course.

It is just that, having done this once w/o having any information when I started, $10k seems like way too much for bottom-end machining, parts and assembly. I bet you could get someone like Steve Haygood to do it for less. However, it is your car and you have to be comfortable with what has been done to it so you can drive it w/o worries.

Neil Deshpande
http://www.neilwerke.com

***

Neil, I don't mind you saying it and appreciate all the advice you've given in the past. What I don't understand is why you think that would be a good route to go. Why pay 3-4k for an old engine, 160-180k if I remember right, when I can get mine rebuilt for about the same price? And I still have to pay someone to do the swap-out & setup so that's about the same.

I'm too scared to do it all myself. I can't find a manual, I don't have tools or basic engine rebuilding knowledge, can't find torq #'s etc...

I'd like to keep this 20 years so I figure a good reliable rebuild is my best investment. I would DIE if I screwed something up that caused a big problem (one that would probably cost me a lot more money)

Also, to be completely fair to the 10k shop, they were going to use Msport factory pistons and install everything so it runs when it leaves the the shop. Not JUST a bottom end :-)

Michael

Follow Ups:

[ Follow Ups ] [ M5 (E34) Message Board ] [ Msg. Board FAQ ]

Questions, comments, or problems, please visit the Roadfly help desk.