Originally Posted by vividracing.com

I've owned several older cars (20-ish year old) and I've owned a 50 yr old car. All of them had engine swaps, and all of them were totally reliable. Sounds like someone is bitter that they had a crappy car at one point in their life.

Originally Posted by QuagmireS2k

I think the biggest concern you have Riley, Is will you be able to pick up guys in you old BMW?

Originally Posted by blasphemy101

This is a pretty valid point. Saying you've owned a swapped car says nothing of the quality of the work that was performed. The are tons of low-to-mid-budget swapped cars running reliably. Think of all the B-series and k-series, sr20 and RB-series, and STi-based swaps out running right now. Most of these conversions are more work intensive than an M5x/S5x swap into an e30. In fact, with my current project, it is going to be more work to get the stock M20 in fighting shape than to swap in an M50. That said, I would rather do all the work/maintenance required to get my motor in shape than go through the hassles of a swap, simply because the motor is already there, and buying the required tools and taking the time to locate a motor and learn a new platform are not worth my time right now.On the other hand, if an M50tub pops up near me for less that $300, that opinion is going straight out the door...

Originally Posted by blasphemy101

No problem - I just found e30performance.info and I think I'm going to be pretty active on there. It seems like they want to bring a lot of the information over from e30tech, since it seems to be lacking in site management. I'm hoping to do a write-up on my timing belt replacement this weekend.

IMHO, if done right, a swap can be the absolute best route to take with an older car. A well-swapped S50b32 in an E30 M3 is right up there with a SC AP1 in my book of dream cars

Originally Posted by Disgustipated

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Yeah, that was my point exactly. Just because one swap is unreliable does not mean ALL swaps are unreliable. Nunco is a retard who argues using logical fallacies.

Thanks for the links to e30tech and e30performance BTW.

Originally Posted by SlowTeg

That's the answer right there, you answered your own question. Less affluent people tend to buy cheaper cars because it's a lower upfront cost, it's as simple as that. Cheaper cars also carry other benefits that you may not be considering.. In VA we have property tax on cars, so cheaper cars pay little/none for property tax. Also, you can probably get by without collision on your insurance (drive carefully ). Depending on the car, buying old can be much more economical than you think. A $2k car that only lasts 4 yrs and may not have high maintenance costs isn't a bad deal for $500/yr for a car. You'd be hard pressed to find a new car that'll cost you $500/yr, and of course, then there's the high upfront cost.

For example.. when I was in college I bought a 92 prelude for $4000 as my daily driver w/ 70k miles on it. I sold it 6 yrs later with 120k miles for $1800. That's under $500/yr for the car. Now of course there were maintenance costs, but still, you can't beat it. If the guy I sold it to gets 3+yrs out of it (very likely as it was in great running condition), he'll be doing alright. And if he gets 5 yrs out of it (certainly doable), even better. So.. old cars certainly can be a great bargain if all you need is transportation, and you don't mind riding it till the wheels fall off.

Originally Posted by NuncoStr8

FYI, a logical fallacy is "I was at an event and there was a BMW there that had a motor swap and the owner said 'It's totally reliable.' Ergo, all BMW motor swaps are totally reliable."

But I'm a retard, what do I know?