e36 vs 5.0 coupe (am i ever going to be happy?)

I have 94 325i sedan, with a turbocharged 2.8L (m52), m3 zf trans, m3 rear diff, nice m3 leather interior, h&r cup kit , d/s rotors , etc. it runs great ,no hiccups and it's a comfortable dd , it can be made faster .... but i am kinda meh about it.

I kinda like my cars ... raw(er) . I have the craving for something like the cars I traded for this (s13/240sx rb20 coupe and s30/280z with an rb25) .

I thought that maybe a 5.0 mustang coupe would fit the bill , I've always been curious about them and all that .

How could i make a 5.0 mustang a hairy chested , reliable , fun , good handling/braking car ....( burnouts, drag racing , auto-x

N/A ? turbo?

Make my e36 faster/scarier and handle better ? (do i need a therapist?)

No, you're not going to be happy. Just hand over the BMW and walk away.

New 5.0 or old fox-body 5.0?

Either way, I don't think it's too hard to get them into the hairy-chested range (I would argue the new one is already there).

Making the old fox bodies handle well seems best re$erved for those with a love for the chassis. I guess it depends on just how well you expect it to do and what you're willing to spend. I don't think it'll ever handle like your BMW though.

There were a couple of fox body 5.0s at the last autocross I attended. Both looked real haggard, were gutted, and had a mean growl. I'm not sure of the suspension modifications, but they shredded the course! One placed 4th and one placed 8th overall out of 75 cars! They were very impressive and very "raw." They looked like fun to me!

e36+5.0 = problem solved?

http://www.vorshlag.com/index.php?cPath=1_4_63

Lof8 wrote: There were a couple of fox body 5.0s at the last autocross I attended. Both looked real haggard, were gutted, and had a mean growl. I'm not sure of the suspension modifications, but they shredded the course! One placed 4th and one placed 8th overall out of 75 cars! They were very impressive and very "raw." They looked like fun to me!

If you stiffen the hell out of a suspension it'll generally perform well on a smooth autocross course. If you try to retain a decent amount of travel, well that gives a POS like the Mustang rear suspension a chance to show how bad it really is.

stealthfighter1 wrote: Make my e36 faster/scarier and handle better ? (do i need a therapist?)

Put a 10 pt cage, solid engine and trans mounts, ltw flywheel (not those Bob Costas ones E36 M3 shops sell to street racers... a real 6lb race setup) stiff springs, fat front bar, and a carbon shell race seat in it. If that isn't harsh enough for you... buy a motocross bike.

Step 1. Gut car completely

Step 2. Remove all exhaust after the downpipe

Step 3. Enjoy your new "raw" setup!

i doubt noisy translates to raw...

Well then what about bigger cams, more revs, and a bigger turbo?

I agree with combining 5.0 mustang with the E36

Although the stock foxbody mustang setup needs major improvement, said improvement can be done for reasonable money. A watts-type link for the rear end does a lot to calm it down.

I would argue, though, that part of the "hairy-chested" driving experience may result from a less refined, less capable suspension. When you're trying to connect big horses to the asphalt through that kind of suspension, you had better be able to drive it because it's a handful. But that's part of the point, too. Mastering a powerful and strongwilled beast to do your bidding is a rush. I think it's related to "driving a slo car fast is better than driving a fast car slo" somehow. None of which should imply that Mustangs can't be blindingly capable when correctly set up.

Another nice point is that you can always sell a hot 5L foxbody fairly easily if you decide to move on.

E36 V8

A friend of mine just completed a 5.0 swap into an E36. Holy. Crap. It's. Awesome.

any good places to find a decent inexpensive one for sale ( besides CL and Autotrader?)

coll9947 wrote: E36 V8 A friend of mine just completed a 5.0 swap into an E36. Holy. Crap. It's. Awesome.

have any links to a build thread or specs? i specifically purchased my 93 325is with this swap in mind and i'd love to keep reading other's experiences. i see it as the cheapest easiest way to 300 hp in an e36.

I agree on needing to love the chassis to really make it handle.

I love mine, and if I didn't, I would've had it crushed about 8 times by now.

If you want to see the gritty details of what all's required to get one to turn correctly, check out Maximum Motorsports or Griggs Racing's websites. Or just start digging through Corner-Carvers.

In mine, I've scrapped the factory 4-link for a torque-arm/panhard-bar setup, braced the crap out of the chassis, and now I'm looking to replace the k-member, A-arms, and do a coil-over conversion just to get the front grip up to par with the rear.

This seems to work with a 5.0 also

ok so i found someone with a desirable fox that is willing to trade me car for car...

here are the specs 1994 Calypso red 325i sedan, 167k miles on body 75k on engine/transmission

-Full OBD1 Converted M52 great compression (2.8L from 328is) -1998 ZF 5 speed transmission (from m3) -3.23 LSD out of 1998 m3 -H&R Cup Kit -Full 1998 m3 leather interior, leather insert door panels, armrest etc. -m power engine cover -3 inch exhaust -m3 clutch/ flywheel -rays gram lights57d 17x9 +22f ,18x9.5 +12r (25mm spacer/adapters all around) -nardi steering wheel NOB edition -subframe is perfect and intact, strut towers are MINT -glass headlights Custom Turbo kit -TO4E master power turbo -SPA cast manifold -38mm wastegate 5lb spring -Draw throu HFM set up with Euro 3.5" -audspeed tune -walbro 255 fuel pump -earls oil restrictor -all earls braided lines and an fittings -front mount intercooler -turbo xs knock off bov -nicely tig welded oil drain in pan -oil feed is tapped into the filter housing -boost controller -rear strut bar -arp headstuds and cometic headgasket done less than 500 miles ago... - I just did an oem valvecover gasket and ngk plugs on friday -m3 front bumper and mirrors as well -and also on friday i put in a new sony headunit...but has no sound ??? idk

needs a few things here and there ... i know for a fact the bov will need to be replaced and the p.s leaks ,but has cold ac & p.s. works fine i'm pretty sure that is it

now has solid motor/trans mounts that lower the engine/trans and a new oem from bmw driverside mount to motor bracket you can take the wheels off the list since i'd keep them if we did trade.

VS:

this is a clean title fox body coupe i just dropped in a fresh 5.0 engine mods- its the XXX block with forged internals good for around 600whp! elderbrock lower and upper intakes along with 65mm tb bbk long tube headers 3 angle valve job ported and polished heads over sized radiator with electric fan ac delete tremic t5 trans king cobra clutch hurst short shifter quadrant clutch cable posi rear end with 3:73 gears 5 lugs swap cobra brakes up front eibach pro series suspension car rides low and smooth decent hook this car is fresh just dropped in the 302 fresh tune up wires spark plugs water pump oil pump spark plugs diff oil trans oil and motor oil just changed this its getting harder and harder to find a CLEAN TITLE ORIGINAL 5.0

copied and pasted from original poster btw...

he's also throwing in turbo manifolds , tapped oil pan and oil filter relocation kit...

thoughts?

wow , it didn't stay written as a list and now i look like a dummy... sorry!

How are you with transmission swaps? I'm thinking a T5 behind anything close to 600hp will have a very short life. I'm probably verging on fanbois status, but from the descriptions above, I'd much rather have the bmw - which leads me to believe it's not quite a even up trade.

WilberM3 wrote:

coll9947 wrote: E36 V8 A friend of mine just completed a 5.0 swap into an E36. Holy. Crap. It's. Awesome.

have any links to a build thread or specs? i specifically purchased my 93 325is with this swap in mind and i'd love to keep reading other's experiences. i see it as the cheapest easiest way to 300 hp in an e36.

hey sorry didn't check this thread after my post. haven't found any build threads myself, but a friend of mine just did it. he's pretty handy with a wrench and has a nice shop. completed it in a few weekends in his spare time once all of the parts were gathered up. i keep asking him to document his build (he did take pics the whole time) but he doesn't dabble much in automotive forums.

i can't even convince him to join the GRM community... and he owns the E36 V8, a nice 240z, 50s chevy pickup, 09 civic si sedan, and sold me his 90 crx hf. DIY all day too. It's a damn shame.

ehhh...of the top of my head I'd say yours might have a little more invested in it, and might be worth a little more depending on the local market. The Fox sounds good, but "Just dropped a fresh engine in, not many miles!!" always makes me nervous. I'd rather see a few thousand on that Fresh motor to make sure it's not a hand grenade waiting to happen.

In the end, if you drive the Fox and it pushes your buttons, you're the only one who can decide if it's worth it. If you like the car, swap him. If it makes you happy, why not?

I go back and forth on my fox, but in the end, there's just good clean fun in swinging a sledgehammer around, even if you have to drop a couple grand in it to make it actually hit what you're aiming for

But what heads/cam are on the 5.0? Just because the guts are good for 600 doesn't mean the car makes a third of that.

I had a very mild bolt on suspension stripped 87 coupe with a 2.3T, it was fun and I though it handled great-until I drove a stock protege5. And then I built a 4500 wagon with a mild 5.0, a set of springs and shocks and ran circles around them both...Then I bought a BMW, replaced/upgraded the suspension and have been very disappointed. Funny that the grandma car has the best front suspension out of everything I have-and the rear suspension, even though it's a triangulated 4 link like the mustang-works SO much better than the mustangs.