m52 engine posision not quite right..

[taylorstattoo]

hay all ,, just wondering if any body doing the m52 convertion with the m42 box could advise me on what they did for engine mounts...

everbody seems to agree that the cylinder type e28 m5 one are the ones to use but after looking at them i dont think the offset of the studs is going to be anoth, my gearbox is back in the exact same place it used to be but the holes for the mounts are about a inch off with the engine mount holes being further forward to the rad,, is there somthing im missing or are the m5 mount a bigger offset than they look,, im concerned that if i stretched the mounts to fit they will not last,, considering going old school and welding in a new place to sit the mounts in on the car..

[BATTS91]

Are you using the e36 arms , and so you know where the gearbox support/mount bolts on the car ,well these are on sliders to be made adjustable .

Id get the engine on mounts go from the if stuck get some pics ?

[capnmchl]

Sounds like the bolts for your gearbox mount need to slide towards the back of the car. Mount the engine first, as it has no adjustment, then mount the gearbox, which has a lot of adjustment.

[taylorstattoo]

ahh i know what you mean,, only thing isits already set right back,, there is a locating spike thing in the middle of the car conected to the shifter, this is pushed right back,, and the gear stick is perfectly lined up at the mo..??

[jmc330i]

Have you cut the locating 'pin' from the bottom of the round M5 mount?

When I did my S50 conversion, the E28 M5 mounts were one round and one kind of rectangle shape.

[taylorstattoo]

no i have not got them yet,, was going to get two round ones,, but after looking at a pic of them the offset does not look enough for what im out by,, the pin thing i was on about cutting shorter is the long shaft at the back, behind the shifter it wont push back in to its rubber hole anymore,, if i force everything back then it just trys to push its way forward again and i think this would be to much pressure on the mounts,,.

[jmc330i]

I only used one round mount (passenger side IIRC). The threaded studs are offset and I did fit it with the locating pin still in place to begin with - the mount fitted but it would have torn if left like it.
I removed the pin so the mount could rotate slightly and now thinking about it, the threaded stud doesnt go through the original mount hole. There is the round hole and a slot in the subframe, and the mount needs to be in the slot to line up properly with the engine mount arm.

This is all old info (it was 2004-2005 when I fitted the S50) and this is how the conversions were done back then. Ive not kept up with how people do it now, but I cant see it changing much.


You shouldnt need to shorten anthing in the gear linkage. Are you sure you have the correct bits? (I have no idea whats needed for the M40/42 box BTW)

[Grrrmachine]

If you're using the M42 box you should be using the M20 shifter rods. That might be why your shifter is lined up but your engine isn't:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... mbinations

[DanThe]

What gear linkages are you using?

[taylorstattoo]

all standard m42,, everything from engine back fits like a dream, im just a bit concerned as the holes are about 30/40mm out of line,, did not want to buy the mounts if the offset is not enough, the engine will push back a bit more but springs back again, even with this the hole are still 20mm or so out.. please dont tell me i need more bits from anoth sort of bm, lol

[DanThe]

The engine is not sitting right then, you need to be using M20B20 gear linkages with an M42 box, take the linkages off and try to shuffle the engine back on its mounts, if you get some pictures it would be easier to point out whats wrong

[taylorstattoo]

ill give it go,, and ill get some pics up at the weekend,, hopfully i will have sorted it by then,, thanks again for all input,,