S54 E30 M3

[John V]

For storage, I completely get the one-post thing. They still kind of give me the willies.

I agree w.r.t. four post lifts, they are irritating. The people that own them like the fact that the posts are realistically never in your way (like with a two post) when you're under the car, and assuming the lift has a trolley jack they can be useful.

[FC]

Originally Posted by John V

For storage, I completely get the one-post thing. They still kind of give me the willies.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by John V

For storage, I completely get the one-post thing. They still kind of give me the willies.

Right up there with projectile welding equipment.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by John V

For storage, I completely get the one-post thing. They still kind of give me the willies.

I agree w.r.t. four post lifts, they are irritating. The people that own them like the fact that the posts are realistically never in your way (like with a two post) when you're under the car, and assuming the lift has a trolley jack they can be useful.

The AC Lifts version with the big foot doesn't bother me. It's really not meaningfully more disturbing than a two post lift, IMO. There are some ripoffs with little feet that ARE scary.

[Nick M3]

It'd be super great if the USPS would stop holding my shift carrier hostage...

But at least the yellow car is back on the ground. New clutch feels nice.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

It'd be super great if the USPS would stop holding my shift carrier hostage...

But at least the yellow car is back on the ground. New clutch feels nice.

Getting the shipper to open investigations into stuck packages seems to be working pretty well at getting them unstuck. Not working as well on the buyer end, though.

[John V]

So back on the S54 topic. Nick - do you happen to know the distance between the shifter and the back of the cylinder head (or rearmost part of the engine) on the S54 with a 6-speed manual? I got a thought last night which I probably shouldn't pursue, but here we are...

Also where does one go to procure good, used S54s and what's a reasonable price?

[Nick M3]

Going rate is probably about $4,000 +/-. As for where... Good question. They're floating around all over the place.

Edit: Also, I can give you a distance, but it won't be any of the factory distances. It'll be the E36 engine to shifter length.

[John V]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Going rate is probably about $4,000 +/-. As for where... Good question. They're floating around all over the place.

Edit: Also, I can give you a distance, but it won't be any of the factory distances. It'll be the E36 engine to shifter length.

That's fine, I'm just looking for a ballpark. The nice thing about the gearboxes used in these cars is the shifter location is somewhat arbitrary. I can ultimately put it wherever I need it, within reason.

I'm assuming you use a factory BMW DME from an E46 M3 to run this thing? How, tunable are they? Can you, say, change the VIN in the computer to match a different vehicle so it's OBD compliant (not that you need to do that, obviously, but I would)?

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by John V

That's fine, I'm just looking for a ballpark. The nice thing about the gearboxes used in these cars is the shifter location is somewhat arbitrary. I can ultimately put it wherever I need it, within reason.

I'm assuming you use a factory BMW DME from an E46 M3 to run this thing? How, tunable are they? Can you, say, change the VIN in the computer to match a different vehicle so it's OBD compliant (not that you need to do that, obviously, but I would)?

Yep. And don't rule out the 5spd if you need a shorter trans.

Yes to the factory DME. And extremely tunable. There is basically no reason to go standalone for the S54. Note that power gains on the S54 generally come from screwing around with the VANOS and dialing back engine protection. Many tunes aren't touching ignition maps. Yes the VIN can be changed.