Alpina M50 2.5 Laguna Green

[S2Avant]

Hi,
Thought I'd do a project build / give me some pointers thread.
I bought the engine and box and loom from the E36 that was advertised by Andyboy in the parts section.
I got the use of a lock up for 4 weeks thrown into the deal.
Maxfield came up with the pickup pipe dipstick and sump from an M50 engine off an E34.
I bought an E28 525e diff off Ebay and I have a 3.91 LSD from a sport which I plan to coble together into an 3.08 LSD. Can anyone give me any pointers with this please?
I am using the Alpina radiator as it worked quite well on the rusty E36. I have bought an Electric fan of EBay and I am waiting for that to be delivered.
First thing we did was to find our way round the engine bay of the E36 as my friend and I have both owned E30s previously, but not an E36.

On our first session we managed to remove both radiators and find that the engine wiring on BMWs is the easiest I have ever come across with regard to engine swaps.
Here is the engine with it's wiring sat on top.

Last night we decided to remove the gattling gun that is the M40 together with it's gearbox. After remembering that we had left the gear stick in the car - that went ok.

Few questions so far:
What I need to know is will the lifting lug on the m50 engine support the engine and box in the stupid angle it will need to be at to get it in the e30?
What are people using for the radiator thermoswitch or is everyone using a switch on the dash?
Who makes a decent exhaust which isn't too loud and will flow enough for this conversion? I will be using m52 2.8 modded manifolds.
If I take the propshaft off the E36 will it be the right length to go on the E30? I know I would have to change the centre bearing.
Will the wiring plug pinouts be the same as any other M50 or do Alpina have a "special" pinout?
I'll be updating this as we progress.
If anyone want any of the M40 stuff you can have it for a beer. The engine itself is knackered but it didn't hesitate or run cold like the last m40 I had. No issues with the gearbox either.
TIA

[Ant]

Talk to Rich @ Fritz bits fella, they do a complete M50/E30 system inc proper 6 branch , all stainless with lifetime gnt, sounds awesome and will add hp too, most gain around 10 HP right through the RPM range, tell him I sent you

Pinouts will be same as any other M50 dude, if your car has ABS you may have to patch the feed back in from the car side C101 connection.

As for the angle of the dangle...... no issues at all, just swop the sump. p/up pipe and crane her in, dont forget to fit a smaller brake servo 1st though.

All the nitty gritty is in the M50 thread @ the top of the page, not a definitive guide, but very useful.

As often posted on here, there is no ONE way to pop in 24V mill, indeed I have done 6 now, and all are different as the process evolves, Indeed I still favour using the M20 Getrag box as it saves a lot of hassle finding oddball final drive ratios to suit

For the rads, I use an 11" push fan with a rad mounted switch from Car Builder Soloutions, E36 rad with 318iS lower mounts and £34 525i non vanos rad hoses fit without cutting.

HTH

[benjy]

I still favour using the M20 Getrag box

How did you get round the gearshift carrier sitting to far forward, as viewed from indside the car??
Sorry for the hijack

[ed325i]

I still favour using the M20 Getrag box

How did you get round the gearshift carrier sitting to far forward, as viewed from indside the car??
Sorry for the hijack

It should sit in the same place.

[Andyboy]

Looks like it's all going ahead! You can use the M40 gearbox you know - not the ultimate forn strength but acceptable as long as you don't go silly. That means the engine sits at the right angle and you don't need another prop or diff rebuilt - just pop the 3.91 in as it is. The E36 325i box is normally just a small Getrag as fitted to the 316i/318i/320i. Not many 325i's used the big 525i box.

You leaving the old M40 with Phil?

[Jhonno]

e36 325i prop wont work afaik

[Andy325i]

I bought an E28 525e diff off Ebay and I have a 3.91 LSD from a sport which I plan to coble together into an 3.08 LSD. Can anyone give me any pointers with this please?

Have a word with "Kevo" on here as he rebuilds Diffs at a sensible rate. He is located in S. Wales. Apprently it is quite involved, and hence he will be doing mine shortly (E34 lsd into E30 325i casing)

What I need to know is will the lifting lug on the m50 engine support the engine and box in the stupid angle it will need to be at to get it in the e30?

When I did mine I dropped the subframe out (4 bolts on the subframe, 6 13mm nuts on the top mounts and 2 bolts on each lolly pop), then mounted the engine and box on the subframe and lowered the car onto it

What are people using for the radiator thermoswitch or is everyone using a switch on the dash?

I used an E36 318i fan switch iirc, although this is a little high when it comes in for my liking. Not sure what others have used.

HTH

Andy

[jaistanley]

I don't know 100% but I have a feeling you can use the E36 prop fitted with an E30 cetre bearing. I think this because it's possible to use the 328i prop when using the 3.0 litre M3/ZM/328i gearbox.

With the E36 getrag box it's possible to use an E30 325i prop.

If your gearbox has the larger guibo then an E30 M3 prop or a 328i one is used.

3.08 final drive with an E36 box should be nice with the torquey engine, about the same as a 3.73 diff and E30 box.

Jhonno and I are bout to experiment using his BTB S50 manifold on an M50 as a temporary measure. If it works we'll keep you posted. It's not bloody cheap though!

[S2Avant]

Talk to Rich @ Fritz bits fella, they do a complete M50/E30 system inc proper 6 branch , all stainless with lifetime gnt, sounds awesome and will add hp too, most gain around 10 HP right through the RPM range, tell him I sent you

He wants more than I have paid for the entire project for the exhaust.
Thanks anyway.

[S2Avant]

Been busy doing other stuff so not much to report for this week. Order the m52 manifolds off Ebay and gaskets, mounts and a dipstick from zimmerbimmer. - Excellent service from the parts daddy.
Been thinking about all this talk on re-tapping things and I was wondering am I going to have to move the arms down the block or will they be ok where they are on the E36 engine?

[DanThe]

If its an E36 engine the mount arms stay where they are

[ha22]

the e30 looks like my old car, reg number ends with EVL??

[S2Avant]

the e30 looks like my old car, reg number ends with EVL??

I wondered how long it would take you.

[ha22]

i'm busy doing my swap, so not looked on the forum properly!!

[S2Avant]

Does anyone have a part number for the clio servo that they have used?
Either that or a year and engine size, or are they all the same?

[Jhonno]

plastic wing clio..

[S2Avant]

Engine in, clio servo in, e36 rack in. Pics to follow - it's been a long night.

[S2Avant]

Any pics of the bracket for the dip stick and how it bolts to the engine?
I can't work out how its supposed to fit, I have an E36 engine with the e34 sump and dip stick.

[DanThe]

There are two types of dipstick tube, one bolts to the E34 alloy engine mount arm and the other bolts directly to the block. If you have the first type you need to space it out as you wont have an E34 mount arm to bolt it to. I usually cut a piece of the mount arm off

[S2Avant]

Just to inform the doubters - the E36 propshaft fits like a glove in the E30 shell when fitted with an E30 centre bearing mount and the E36 box. The gear stick lines up perfectly too.
So get a rusty E36 and pinch the lot from it, then get a E34 520i sump and it all goes straight in.
I used the E34 m535 engine mounts in the outer holes, a clio servo, the e36 radiator, e36 rack with e36 pipes and a spal 15" pusher fan.
I still have to finish the wiring and the exhaust, but that is going to have to wait as my first child is now overdue, so the car is getting parked as it is.

I'll be back......

in a few weeks

[Jon_Bmw]

Nice one. It will be quite a weapon with the added 'pina bits.

So does the e36 prop bolt up to a medium case rear diff then?

[S2Avant]

Well, the K reg E36 Alpina propshaft bolts to the diff that's on at the moment, which is the 316i diff.

[S2Avant]

It's a tight fit, but it does go in from above ok.

[S2Avant]

Evil on it's way home:

What exhaust systems have people used? I don't want to restrict it.
Are there any issues with Mongoose?
Does anyone use the Milltek for the e30 M3?

[Jhonno]

An e30 m3 one should be fine, as would tbh, a standard e30 325i one.. Player6 on here with his 2.8 making 260bhp used a standard centre section

[S2Avant]

Got this running and legal after three years.
Does anyone know if the Alpina B2.5 is guttless up until 4k revs? This is, and then it goes fooking mental.
Could the diff ratio be a bit too tall for it?

[DanThe]

Have you got all sensors connected and working properly? Especially lambda?

[S2Avant]

Brand new lambda sensor fitted.
I have nowhere to put this sensor which used to live in the airbox:

would that make a big difference?
What is it and how does it work?

[DanThe]

Thats just the throttle body heater switch, when the incoming air gets below zero it opens and flows hot coolant to the throttle body. Needs binning ideally as its just in the way

[S2Avant]

Started it up this morning and oil was pissing all over the floor. What is this fucker and what's it's problem? (red circle is where the oil is coming from)

I pinched the picture BTW - sorry

[DanThe]

Anything screwed into the oil filter housing has oil pressure against it, thats a poor pic, but it looks like you have circled the vanos oil feed line?

[S2Avant]

No mines non vanos. It's a "cap" about 1" diameter held in with a circlip that I can push with my finger.
Done some digging on the net and it appears that there are o-ring seals behind these which have probably gone hard on mine as it's been sat for so long.