Thinking of buying S38/M88 - Thoughts?

[jamesw]

This engine popped up for sale recently and piqued my interest. I have seen a few swapped into E9's and apparently they are a FANTASTIC and very expensive motor.

Apparently it's an M88 motor that threw/broke the timing chain at some point in the past. The price for the motor is so low (<$1,000) that I am still interested even though I can see I'll be in for a hefty rebuild bill.

What do you think - am I nuts? The very least I am in for is pistons and valves (plus the usual bearings etc). Am I looking at a >$5,000 rebuild?

What are the other considerations for putting the engine into my coupe? He also has a 280 dogleg transmission available. Is that the right one?

Cheers
James

 

[jamesw]

More pics:

 

[Nicad]

Might be a boat anchor when you open it up depending on what happened to the valves. A very pretty boat anchor suitable for a living room. You should get a borescope down the cylinders and make sure it turns over freely before gambling on it.

 

[Polariscsl]

I spent £10k rebuilding an M88. It was a top job done professionally with a few choice parts including cams. Not cheap compared to an M30 - it was £140 per valve from memory (and there's 24!!)

Great engine and fantastic when tuned but expensive to rebuild - arguably better to buy a later functioning s38 which is more common...

 

[TodB]

S38

Do you know the mileage? If you do not do the work yourself, budget $10K for a rebuild either now or in the future. That said, they are great motors.

 

[decoupe]

ITB's with horns

If the engine is a wreck and the price is low enough, buy it and convert to mega squirt (or the like) - take the ITB's and put them on a hot b35 set up. Simple and cheap (relative) engine with an incredible EFI set up that will put out pretty close to the same power for much less than a good s38 rebuild. I'm assuming you do the installs.


This is what it would look like on an m30 (apologies/thanks to Petrolicious)



My .02 worth.

 

[m5bb]

If the engine is a wreck and the price is low enough, buy it and convert to mega squirt (or the like) - take the ITB's and put them on a hot b35 set up. Simple and cheap (relative) engine with an incredible EFI set up that will put out pretty close to the same power for much less than a good s38 rebuild. I'm assuming you do the installs.


This is what it would look like on an m30 (apologies/thanks to Petrolicious)



My .02 worth.

Now that is about what I am talking............. :mrgreen:

 

[rb1971]

Decoupe definitely has the right idea. But heck, for <$1000 I'd buy it just to have the world's coolest coffee table if I didn't want to rebuild it. I would not have out an S38 in my car if it hadn't fallen in my lap, but I don't regret it for one second.

 

[m5bb]

I rebuilt the motor in my E28 M5 about 5 years ago.
New pistons, cams from a S38B36, Miller Maf, headers,etc,etc.

I did all the work myself except the machine shop.
Over $6K.
Develops almost 100 HP over stock. Fun, fun..

Much more to consider than the rebuild.
Wiring upgrade and Euro ECU is unobtainium.
Drive train needs upgrade from the HP increase.
Suspension needs upgrade to handle the faster speeds you will be driving. Brakes need upgrade to stop you from the faster speeds you are driving. LOL.

We'll a little tongue in cheek but you get the picture.
Build that ITB M30 motor. Wow!

 

[jamesw]

Thanks for all the input gang. I'm just going to go ahead and buy the engine out of curiousity lol.

I'll post an update once I get the head off.

Cheers
James

 

[m5bb]

I did the same thing a couple years ago with a known engine that needs a valve job. Paid $1000 for it with an harness and ECU.

I will tell you that the parts are worth quite a bit.
If the head is not toast and can be rebuilt it may be worth $400-500+
The cam box maybe the same.
Valve cover $200+. Flywheel (lightweight) maybe $300. I would be interested in the flywheel.
ITB- $300-500.
So you get the idea.
You can probably make your money back.
Before you try to take the cams out check online about the proper procedure or you could bend or break one.

Good luck and let us know what you find out?

Gary

 

[Ohmess]

Decoupe definitely has the right idea. But heck, for <$1000 I'd buy it just to have the world's coolest coffee table if I didn't want to rebuild it. I would not have out an S38 in my car if it hadn't fallen in my lap, but I don't regret it for one second.

BMW engines make really cool coffee tables. Here's mine (well, actually, the one I built for my son):

 

[m5bb]

BMW engines make really cool coffee tables. Here's mine (well, actually, the one I built for my son):

Cool...........

 

[Stevehose]

Awesome, how to convince the wife this needs to go in the upstairs office...

BMW engines make really cool coffee tables. Here's mine (well, actually, the one I built for my son):

 

[jamesw]

My problem exactly!

 

[jamesw]

Here are some photos of my engine dis-assembled at the machine shop. They think they can repair the cam-box at #1 and the nose of the crank.

I think I am looking at less than $2,000 in parts. I already ordered all of the S38 timing equipment and gaskets. Still need to order bearings, rings, and gasket set.

The Euro ECU is missing :-( So if I can't source one I'm looking at Megasquirt or equivalent as my only option.

Cheers
James

 

[jamesw]

Two more.

There is an S38 cam box on Ebay right now from seller "Photopark" who seems to find a lot of M5/M6 engine parts. I am really hoping my cam box can be bored and sleeved for that one cam-follower though.

Cheers
James