performance upgrade

[bigjohnson503]

hi, i own a 2001 330i. i absolutely love the car. i really liked the M5, but i chose the 330i because of my budget. i'm in no way disappointed with the performance of the car, but i'm still craving the M5 experience. i've been looking at many options to achieve that kind of power. but that would require extensive motor work. so i thought if i'm going to spend so much money to build my motor and transmission, i might as well just do a full motor swap. i'd like to swap in a E39 M5 motor and transmission, but i'm unsure as to where i would locate one at a reasonable price. i know i could achive the same power with a turbocharger or supercharger. but to me a forced induction BMW feels rather unnatural...maybe even a bit wrong. so does anyone know any prices so i could get an idea of the project cost and also a reputable tuner shop. i live in south florida. i really dont want to travel past orlando. thanks in advance.

[EXtech]

So you couldn't afford an M5 because of your budget, however you would be able to spring for an M5 motor and trans? I can't tell you how much you would find these for outside of a dealer but I can tell you that the M5 shortblock used to cost ~$10-11,000 (dealer cost). Factor in a tranny (~ 5k or so), maybe a custom driveshaft, heavier suspension pieces (added weight) and all of the necessary hardware and misc. pieces plus labor... you'll be spending at very minimal $20-23,000. That's if everything even fits. Get yourself a supercharger and DME programming. It's much cheaper, reliable and will add a respectable amount of power. Then save up some money and later on do some head work and cam swap.