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m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:13 am
by rado-steve
Right Newbie alert :D

The 3.0litre single vanos motor in the early E36 M3's is an S50?? so what is an M50 out of or are they the same??

I take it the 3.2 Double Vanos in the Evo cars is a s52 then???

Somebody put me right lol!!!

Last 2 questions, i take it the 3.0litre motor is the one thats gonna be more reliable has it wont have all the vanos probs of the later 3.2 motors??

Also how much are you roughly looking at fitting one into an e30! It cost me just shy of £3k to get a VAG 1.8T fitted into my rado drive in drive out :)

Cheers Y'all

Steve

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:20 am
by rado-steve
dribble

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:29 am
by AC_S
this should help, until some of the more knowlegable guys get involved

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M50

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:32 am
by daimlerman
M50 comes from E34,post H/J reg,early cars are non-vanos,later one's single vanos.
Also found in E36 325i.Later E36,328i uses M52....

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:33 am
by Jhonno
M50 is the 24v 2.0 and 2.5 found in the e36 e34

S50B30 is the 3.0 M3 engine

S50B32 is the 3.2 M3 engine

S52 is a US spec M3 engine based on the M50

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 12:19 pm
by rado-steve
Is there Many peeps that have put the S50B30 into an e30 then???

Take it this one is better than the 3.2 motor???

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 12:29 pm
by Fushion_Julz
Jhonno is nearly correct...

The M50 is a 24V 6 cyl motor...2.0 and 2.5 versions either with no vanos (early) or M50TU with single vanos
You get these in E34 520/525/525ix and E36 320/325

The S50 is a 24V M series motor with individual throttle bodies. 3.0 only and all have single vanos
You get these in the Euro E36 M3

The S52 is an uprated version of the S50....3.2 only and all have dual vanos
Found in E36 M3 Evo and Z3M early models

The M52 is an alloy block uprated M50...2.0, 2.5 and 2.8 versions in US they were iron block
Early ones have single vanos later ones dual vano as M52TU
Found in E36 320/323/328, E39 520/523/528, Z3 2.0/2.8 & E38 728

The S52 is the US M motor....effectively an iron block M52 with single throttle induction and spikier cams all with dual vanos and in 3.0 and 3.2 sizes
Only in US E36 M3

There is also an M54...uprated M52 alloy block all dual vanos...2.2, 2.5, 3.0
These are in later E39 520/523/530, Z3 2.2/3.0 and Early E46 320/325/330

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 12:41 pm
by mt1104
why don't people like vanos? isn't it just a bmw implementation of variable valve timing and therefore a pretty good thing to have?

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 12:45 pm
by mr_dink
mt1104 wrote:why don't people like vanos? isn't it just a bmw implementation of variable valve timing and therefore a pretty good thing to have?
Mightily expensive when it goes wrong, especially on //M engines.

It is definately a good thing to have performancewise though.

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 12:57 pm
by Benho
rado-steve wrote:Is there Many peeps that have put the S50B30 into an e30 then???

Take it this one is better than the 3.2 motor???
wrong feller.

s50b32 (the 3.2) makes about 320ish
s50b30 (the 3.0) makes about 280ish

these swaps have been done numerous times. go to the engine swap forum as theres two going on right now iirc

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 1:19 pm
by oakey
What's the story behind your "rado" then steve? Storm is a vr6 is it not? 20v transplant?

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 1:42 pm
by Jhonno
Fushion_Julz wrote:Jhonno is nearly correct...

The S52 is an uprated version of the S50....3.2 only and all have dual vanos
Found in E36 M3 Evo and Z3M early models

The S52 is the US M motor....effectively an iron block M52 with single throttle induction and spikier cams all with dual vanos and in 3.0 and 3.2 sizes
Only in US E36 M3
I am 100% correct.. Thanks. You are nearly right.. :wink:

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 2:02 pm
by Benho
Jhonno wrote:
Fushion_Julz wrote:Jhonno is nearly correct...

The S52 is an uprated version of the S50....3.2 only and all have dual vanos
Found in E36 M3 Evo and Z3M early models

The S52 is the US M motor....effectively an iron block M52 with single throttle induction and spikier cams all with dual vanos and in 3.0 and 3.2 sizes
Only in US E36 M3
I am 100% correct.. Thanks. You are nearly right.. :wink:
Jhonno is right. s52 is the US version which has significantly less power... however they all rave about it over there when it comes to engine swaps for some unknown reason :roll:

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 2:53 pm
by rado-steve
oakey wrote:What's the story behind your "rado" then steve? Storm is a vr6 is it not? 20v transplant?
LOL! YEAH ALL storms have VR6 engines and are either mystic blue in colour or classic green! 500 made with 250 of each colour!

I found some badges in a local VW breakers for a silly cheap price (normally go for £100 plus on egay) so I thought i'd put them on to upset the purists on the Corrado forum :wink:

It's had a 1.8T transplant from an octavia vRS, using all the DBW system and original VAG ecu management! RR'd at 195bhp so it ain't slow 8)

Looking to get a 325i so will be jopining the ranks soon :P

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 3:14 pm
by DanThe
Jhonno wrote:M50 is the 24v 2.0 and 2.5 found in the e36 e34

S50B30 is the 3.0 M3 engine

S50B32 is the 3.2 M3 engine

S52 is a US spec M3 engine based on the M50
This is correct :)

DIY S50 conversion = £6k

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 6:40 pm
by rado-steve
DanThe wrote:
Jhonno wrote:M50 is the 24v 2.0 and 2.5 found in the e36 e34

S50B30 is the 3.0 M3 engine

S50B32 is the 3.2 M3 engine

S52 is a US spec M3 engine based on the M50
This is correct :)

DIY S50 conversion = £6k
£6K??? Seems excessive...I've seen the motors complete for £1K surely it cant cost £5K to fit it!!! I could understand maybe £6K at a garage!!!!

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 7:04 pm
by DanThe
Thats the price that was agreed by the S50 converters on here a while ago

If only it was as simple as dropping a £1000 engine in the bay...... :)

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 7:23 pm
by rado-steve
Well Go On........Genuinley interested mate

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 7:49 pm
by DanThe

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 8:01 pm
by DanThe

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 8:14 pm
by rado-steve
Fair Play Dude!

It's not quite as easy as fitting 1.8T's or R32's into a MK2 Golf or Corrado then lol!

For £6K i could fit an R32 to my C and turbo it to roughly 500bhp!!!!

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 8:16 pm
by E30BeemerLad
Steve, if you know of any decent cheap ABF lumps for sale let me know

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 9:01 pm
by mt1104
rado-steve wrote:Fair Play Dude!

It's not quite as easy as fitting 1.8T's or R32's into a MK2 Golf or Corrado then lol!

For £6K i could fit an R32 to my C and turbo it to roughly 500bhp!!!!
retaining the 4wd system I hope lol, 500bhp through the front wheels would be funny.

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 9:06 pm
by Rav335uk
TORQUE STEER straight of the road :mad:

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 9:09 pm
by DanThe
rado-steve wrote:Fair Play Dude!

It's not quite as easy as fitting 1.8T's or R32's into a MK2 Golf or Corrado then lol!

For £6K i could fit an R32 to my C and turbo it to roughly 500bhp!!!!
Nothing easy about it at all to be honest, also with it being such a refined engine you want to keep everything as close to how BMW intended it to be, so for example, hacking up an old manifold and fixing the nasty bits with exhaust repair paste is much further than a step backwards :)
If you dont do the job properly you are wasting your time and money, more to the point though, you will be restricting the engine and performance will be lost

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 10:00 pm
by bss325i
Jhonno wrote:
Fushion_Julz wrote:Jhonno is nearly correct...

The S52 is an uprated version of the S50....3.2 only and all have dual vanos
Found in E36 M3 Evo and Z3M early models

The S52 is the US M motor....effectively an iron block M52 with single throttle induction and spikier cams all with dual vanos and in 3.0 and 3.2 sizes
Only in US E36 M3
I am 100% correct.. Thanks. You are nearly right.. :wink:
US S52 uses single vanos in 3.0 and 3.2 litre versions.

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 10:20 pm
by rado-steve
E30BeemerLad wrote:Steve, if you know of any decent cheap ABF lumps for sale let me know
I do actually, you run a veedub too???

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 10:32 pm
by omgyjya_switch7
I like this site for engine and chassis numbers. Nice and simple;

http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/enumber.html

8)

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:17 pm
by E30BeemerLad
rado-steve wrote:
E30BeemerLad wrote:Steve, if you know of any decent cheap ABF lumps for sale let me know
I do actually, you run a veedub too???
Yeah, the wife has a MK2 Valver and the KR lump just feels a bit tired. Just after the bare engine as I'll be bolting the KJet stuff onto it

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:46 pm
by rado-steve
Why??? Just swap the lot over, Very easy to do! if I can do it (Did on my old MK2 16v)

Image

then anyone can lol

Swap over the shift mech so you can run the cable shift 'box, cable clutch conversion piece, My mate will do you a loom for not alot of cash, if it's a 90 spec car it'll connect straight in!!!

Weekends work no probs :)

If you just want a 2 litre bottom end it would be easier to find a 9a motor from a corrado!!!

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 11:58 pm
by Daf318is
rado-steve wrote:Why??? Just swap the lot over, Very easy to do! if I can do it (Did on my old MK2 16v)

Image

then anyone can lol

Swap over the shift mech so you can run the cable shift 'box, cable clutch conversion piece, My mate will do you a loom for not alot of cash, if it's a 90 spec car it'll connect straight in!!!

Weekends work no probs :)

If you just want a 2 litre bottom end it would be easier to find a 9a motor from a corrado!!!
Should only take you three years then Lee winkeye ! Sorry - couldn't resist :o:

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 12:09 am
by E30BeemerLad
prob not far off there Daf :)

It's not a 90 spec car and I'm quite happy keeping the K-Jet to be honest.

So the alternative is 9a bottom end and KR head yeah?

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 12:13 am
by rado-steve
Yep, pick up a 9a motor comlplete for between £150-200!! Keep the 9a head, but use the cams from your KR motor (more valve overlap) which should get you jut over the 150bhp mark! 9a std is 139bhp which is only 3 more than the 1.8!

You'll find it has loads more torque but dun't like to rev as much as the 1.8! It will go well in a MK2 as they are pretty light!

HTH

Steve

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 12:18 am
by rado-steve
Actually mate.......

http://www.edition38.com/forums/index.p ... pic=231955

£20 to you! ABF block, too cheap to pass really!

Re: m50 or s50?? I'm confused...

Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 10:54 am
by Daf318is
I used to have a 'rado with the 9a engine, you're right it has a surprising amount of torque! With over 160k on the clock it used to pull easily in 5th from 1Krpm. :) It's a really nice easy engine to work on to. I've often thought about getting another one but I'm hooked on the rwd :D