Newbie: Should I buy or convert?

[Neovyte]

I live in the Monterey Bay Area of California and own a '92 740 turbo.
I'd love to have a diesel so my question is this; should I drop a d24t and manual transmission (M46, M47, or T5?) in my current car or should I just keep my eyes pealed for an older original?

In my mind it would be a lot of fun to do the conversion, plus I would still have a car with an airbag. On the other hand, I have no real experience with working on cars so it might be too far over my head (a good way to learn?). What do you guys think? What resources should I know about (greenbooks, tools, good threads to read, etc.)?

Feel free to PM me.

I need as much help as I can get so thank you!