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Moral of the story - don't look at that number too often. I stopped keeping track so I'd stop looking at the performance/dollars. It only gets worse with time. hp/dollars drops every time I add something.. It is a losing battle.
I think the big thing that is skewing your numbers to the low end is the fact that you don't have pricing input for a lot of the high dollar components.
I'm at just about $10k on my n/a K24A2 swap and I bargain shopped a LOT of the parts from Black Friday this last year. I also added some non-necessary things to get there, but you get the idea. The small things snowball up fast if you really document every item. I have mine all documented here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing
Let's just say I took my build right now and wanted to boost it and do the BMW trans / Getrag setup. Turbo alone is close to a $2k adder not to mention all the oil feed / return lines and fittings, intercooler, intercooler piping, couplers, etc. It would be safe to assume a $3k adder minimum for boost components. BMW trans kit is close to a $2k adder by time you pay for trans, driveshaft, adapters, mounts, slave lines, and shifter parts. Keep in mind the OEM mazda trans and components really isn't worth much to resell unless you have a 6spd. Getrag kit to add (assuming stage 2 billet hubs) is $2k + your Getrag diff costs, you might get a few bucks back assuming you have a torsen as they sell for decent pricing, but keeping $2k as a budgeting ballpark is reasonable. Last but not least, you have the exhaust to keep in mind (and the price isn't listed in your sheet). I've spent $1600 on the full Kmiata catback. Unless you have the skills (and time) to fabricate your complete exhaust yourself, I'd expect to be right around that same figure. Lets just throw $1.5k at it for easy numbers.
So where I'm going with this is, budget high and if you come under budget, you have won the car modding game . Given my total cost rollup right now per my link (~$10k) and all of the items you are looking to add on top of that noted above in bold ($3k + $2k + $2k + $1.5k), I'd fully expect a turbo Kswap with Getrag and BMW trans to fall in the $18.5k ballpark. One could even say $20k would be a safe bet to make as you will run into those "well as long as I'm in here" mods during the build process. Nearly doubling the cost of the swap to go down the boost path with a reliable powertrain is essentially why I chose to keep my setup n/a (well... at least for the foreseeable future )
Thanks for the breakdown and your spreadsheet. I have quite a bit of that on order. I agree that it might cost about 18kish after all is said and done that isn't with me selling anything off the car as of now. Right now I have spent a bit over 12k out of pocket and the car is still together in its current form so we shall see. I do plan on making my own exhaust and a few other things. I have a buddy that is going to help make the turbo manifold, and just a few other things that will help cut down the cost.
I currently already have on order the getrag stage 1 kit and the zf 6spd trans kit just waiting for them to arrive. And this past weekend got the diff out of the junkyard for pretty cheap. And we shall see what your foreseeable future is. We all love turbos here!
Originally Posted by Mudflap
Moral of the story - don't look at that number too often. I stopped keeping track so I'd stop looking at the performance/dollars. It only gets worse with time. hp/dollars drops every time I add something.. It is a losing battle.
I hated just looking at it but it is also a great tool for anyone else that is thinking about building this and to know what they are getting into. Where they can cut corners and if they want to go all out it gives them a baseline. But agreed its a losing battle!
Finally ordered my Transmission. I was looking for a while and was slightly confused about which ones to get. The blog on Kmiata only takes you so far. So FYI, if you are looking for a zf6 spd you need the RWD, non SMG, non XI. Searching ebay it will come up as a 2006 330I you have to make sure it isn't the AWD version. I was confused due to most of them said they fit the 06 plus 530i and the blog post states the earlier years for the 530i. As long as it is a 2006 330i like I explained it is good to go. That is what I found the most while I did my search. They are getting a bit more expensive however it still wasn't bad mine was right over 800, and had free shipping. I hope this helps anyone that might be looking.
Finally got back home and my new house is pretty awesome. Still getting stuff here and worked out. But I just got a notification for the last big thing I need got shipped from kmiata. But here are a few phots for the update!
Vsracing 5855 vband turbo This is gonna be a monster!
Progress is looking good. But why didnt you get a real turbo when you are spending all this money?
You are correct it isn’t a Garrett or precision however this is a reputable brand. It isn’t an off the shelf eBay turbo it is a dbb turbo from a proven brand. They are used in a lot of ls builds and even mr Mattman is using one for his build. It saved a bit of money over a “true” turbo and if it turns out to be the wrong decision it’s a vband so I can always go to a real turbo.
You are correct it isn’t a Garrett or precision however this is a reputable brand. It isn’t an off the shelf eBay turbo it is a dbb turbo from a proven brand. They are used in a lot of ls builds and even mr Mattman is using one for his build. It saved a bit of money over a “true” turbo and if it turns out to be the wrong decision it’s a vband so I can always go to a real turbo.
Okay let's not get so defensive here, it's just another chinacharger. Hopefully it works out.
06-03-2020, 10:36 AM
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. Given my total cost rollup right now per my link (~$10k) and all of the items you are looking to add on top of that noted above in bold ($3k + $2k + $2k + $1.5k), I'd fully expect a turbo Kswap with Getrag and BMW trans to fall in the $18.5k ballpark. One could even say $20k would be a safe bet to make as you will run into those "well as long as I'm in here" mods during the build process. Nearly doubling the cost of the swap to go down the boost path with a reliable powertrain is essentially why I chose to keep my setup n/a (well... at least for the foreseeable future 
)
