m52 what to look for when purchasing??

[garymillscab]

been offered a complete e36 328i and was wondering what sort of things i should be looking for to help towards my conversion?
also
is there any way of telling the difference between m50 and m52?

and is a vanos lump better than a non vanos lump?

and ecu codes i would preferably need ?
any help would be great thanks gary

[DanThe]

If its a 328i it will be an M52, these are all vanos engines, ECU numbers are irrelevant as they all need matching EWS parts to run the engine

[garymillscab]

Nice one Dan . is there any way of looking at the engine and knowing its definently a m52 ? any certain things to look for when purchasing one ?

[HairyScreech]

aluminium engine block.

m50s are steel.

[Supafly]

the inlet manifold on a m52b28 has narrow inlet tracts. look at some pictures on the net and you'll see the difference between an m50b25. Also I think the m52b28 has pink injectors.
If it is an aluminium block and has nikasil liners look for a metal stud near the starter motor on the block which signifies that the block (or liners?) have been replaced under warranty by bmw.
Although, if it's running fine and has lasted this long the consensus seems to be that the nikasil is not a prob.
Hope this helps

[garymillscab]

Thanks for your help guys purchased a e36 328i se on an N plate for good money still searching for an e30 to put it in tho lol seem to of done it abit backwards.

Could i have a bit of advice on what you would think is the better gearbox to go for as ive got the 328 one but noticed alot of people on here on here seem to opt for the m42 one? (any reasoning behind this?) just need to source the rest of the parts for the conversion any help would be much appriecated

Im pretty sure il be calling for more help throughout the build as im resonably new to this conversion .

[e30-EVN]

I'm using the m42 box on my m50 build. Using it for a few reasons... The 4 pot gearbox will bolt up to an m50 or 52 block and sit at the right angle so no modification to the gearb ox brace needed. If you choose any other it will sit 10-15 degrees out which will require modification to the brace!
The other reason is that I can use my e30 320i gearing linkage ect
Also the m42 box can take the 200lb ft + that these motors can chuck at it and it will give shorter gearing.

[E30BeemerLad]

The ZF gearbox bolted to your 328 is a stronger gearbox and fits without any dramas. The only pain using the donor vehicle's gearbox is the E30 diff ratios are no good. The only bolt in solution is an E30 M3 3.25 LSD. Otherwise you need to get e36 ratios rebuilt into an E30 casing