S54-Swapped BMW E36: You’ll Never Need a Radio Again
3,513This 1997 BMW 328is looks like your typical tuner build, but there’s way more to it. Owner Mike swapped in the legendary S54 engine from the E46 M3. Sounds pretty good, Mike.
[CARISMA is The Drive's new series exploring the connection between enthusiasts and their cars. NEW EPISODE OUT NOW! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glu3vTNWh5A]
“Half the time I don’t have the radio on in the car when I’m driving by myself. I’m just truly rolling through the gears and hearing the feedback from the engine. That’s all it takes to clear my mind.”
For Mike, his 328is is a full-circle build in so many ways. Back in high school, he bought a wrecked E36 as his first car and brought it back to life with his dad. But money was tight, so he entertained himself by making lists of everything he'd do with an unlimited budget.
Mike’s dad owns a small independent garage in Yonkers called Pit Stop Foreign Car Service, and despite his warnings to find another career, Mike moved out to California and found success working at high-end Ferrari shop. There, he bought this 1997 328is and promptly blew the motor on a road trip. After moping about it for a while, he decided to commit to the build, sourced an S54 engine, and swapped it in.
Because a naturally-aspirated straight six with a 7,900-rpm redline deserves a proper wrapper, Mike continued with the M3’s Getrag 420G six-speed transmission, a 3-clutch 3.73 diff, Bilstein PSS9 coilovers, hand-built carbon fiber airbox, completely custom exhaust, real E36 M3 body kit, a full glass-out/panels-off respray to British Racing Green, and more.
Time marches on, and eventually Mike decided to move back to Yonkers to be closer to his parents. When his dad had a small stroke, he knew he had to step up and take over the business. But after blazing his own trail for a decade, he was ready. And coming home had one more surprise in store.
“I was going through my little knick knacks in my room, and I found an old index card with a list of every mod that I thought would be amazing to have if I could afford it. It was a full circle moment,” says Mike. “I looked outside and looked at my car, and I had far surpassed anything I thought I would do as a 19-year-old kid.”
Follow Mike on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/motoring_magic/
Produced, shot, and edited by https://www.instagram.com/tomgorelik/
Previous episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV6zvcDtnSs
The Drive is the chronicle of car culture. We write stories you actually want to read. → https://www.thedrive.com/
FOLLOW US!
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/thedrive/
Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/thedrive
TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@thedrive_official
X → https://twitter.com/thedrive
Threads → https://www.threads.net/@thedrive
Bluesky → https://bsky.app/profile/thedrive.com