Need some advice about an E36

My wife was just given an E36 BMW 325i Convertible from her grandfather. The circumstances are unfortunate, so I won't go into them here. I'm flying to Cleveland on Saturday to drive it back to Chicago. Not sure on the year (wife couldn't remember but thinks between 95-97) White, black top, grey leather, immaculate condition, 43K miles, automatic :(. It spent winters in Del Ray Beach, Florida and summers in the Poconos.

My wife is thinking the ideal situation would be for me to sell my GTI and drive the BMW. Sounds great except that I bought the GTI for autocross and to mod as i see fit, provided the budget allows and can get me to/from the train station everyday. While it is possible to auto-x an automatic (I did it with my old Jetta for a season), I'd rather not go back to a slushbox.

What is the feasibility of swapping a 5-speed into the 325? Any idea on cost? I do what I can on my own, but a tranny swap is way above my level.

When I bought my GTI, I was looking for an E36 325is/328is, but ended up with the VW. I'm thinking a 325i convertible with koni/ground control coilovers, a 5-speed swap, and kumhos or hooisers would be a hell of a lot of fun to throw around a cone filled parking lot -maybe add a rollbar for safety.
I could try to find a co-drive for auto-x, but i haven't been doing it very long and don't know enough people to make that much of a possibility.

Is this just a pipe dream? Could a swap be done inexpensively ($2000-3000)?

Another option would be to sell the GTI, buy a NA miata for auto-x and daily the BMW, but insuring 3 cars probably won't fly with my wife. The 3rd car right now is a Murano with a CVT Tranny. I don't think it would tow very well. Otherwise, I might be able to kill the GTI insurance and tow it to events on a dolly.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks GRMers.

The bimmerforums.com "auto-x/track/racing" forum has a lot of useful info. This is as opposed to the bimmerforums e36 forum where you'll get...

"D00d!!! ThAts ~SwEEEt!~ she totally PWNED that d00d!!!! gottA get it H00kEd up w/ teh SwEEt angLe Eye headligjts~~!!

From what I've read it doesn't seen like it's a huge deal. The unibody should have most of what it needs to accomodate the changes, and there's plenty of parts out there.

Just drop in an e36 M3 drivetrain (and I actually mean "e36 M3" not sh1t or whatever this website auto-substitutes) and you're all set.

I do loves my e36

The swap isn't worth it - a 5 speed isn't going to turn a e36 conv. into a competitive autocross car.

To autocross this car - stiff springs, sporty shocks, camber and r-comps - be prepared to be trounced in DSP. You weigh too much.

I'd keep it as a DD and work backwards from the towing capacity of your Murano.

Or an autocross only (mostly) beater with liability only. I'm under $300 a year to keep my autox car street legal.

EDIT - forgot to say - sorry about the unfortunate circumstances

Thanks for replies, guys. My wife is driving it from New Jersey to Cleveland right now and discovered a new development-its not a 1995 E36, it is a 2002 E46. The mileage makes more sense now. And a swap would probably be even more expensive and cost prohibitive.

My wife isn't keen about having 3 cars. We only have a 2 car garage, so one of the cars would have to sit outside all winter long which would mean the non-insured GTI would get a coveted spot. Maybe i can find a storage facility that won't charge me an arm and a leg.

It would probably be easier to convince your wife to keep a third car than it would be to do the swap and make it competitive.

As I drive to work in my STU class prepped e36 M3, enjoying the 525F/625R spring rates on DC area pavement while mentally calculating the tire wear from the -3.5 degree F/-2.25 R negative camber and 1/4" total rear toe in...

I fantasize that a nice bone stock e46 would be a fine car to drive and not stick magnetic numbers on.

Get the car, put good fluids in, put some decent tires on and enjoy it.

(I too am sorry for anything negative incidental to how the car came to your family)