E30 Zone

I`v been trying to do my M50 for some time now but for one reason or another it`s never been completed.
Because most of my questions and pics are dotted all over different posts i thought i`d start a new thread of my own and add to it bit by bit as i go along.
I did a trial run on virtualy bare shell and got it all in and running but never actualy drove it.





All i need to do now is fit it into my daily in June.


Since having it in the donor i`ve been medling.
I took the plung and cut out the auto gearbox part of the loom out and left with two wires coming out of the engine ecu plug,
brown/orange,brown /grey. Can i just cap them off?

Also started on the coolant pipes on the throttle body,have i got it right?

this is mine as it runs

I assume that you just blanked off the hose thats running to the centre tube on the Tb?

it is all explained in here mate

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=181824

Cheers Lee

As every one else says nice write up

Got a bit bored over the holidays so i did a bit of cleaning.


My nephew come round today and had ago aswell




Not exactly homo clean but its gona get all covered in dust an crap anyway.



Glad i done it because i found out that the new dipstick seal i put in was caput and some unwanted bits of rubber gasket in the sump from when i removed the baffle tray.

Managed to find a bit of sparetime over the last couple of days so did a bit of meddling.
I`ve made up my uj`s,just need to sort a rod for them.

I used to drive my E36 donor lump and had to have the lamba changed but what i didnt know until the day i took the lump out was how bad it had been fkn bodged.
Had a look at it today and when i shook it it rattled.I dont know nothing about lambas except for reading fumes? but i doubt its supposed to rattle.



The dilemma i`ve got is,i`ve got three spare lambas.One from an alpha 156 and two M52 ones that when i brought the mannies off e bay had the whole leads on but when i got them they had been chopped



Would rather use one of the bmw ones but i dont think it would be a good idea to attache new wires to them?
Dont know how to wire the alpha ones up because the wires dont have the same colours as the bmw loom.

Or number four.Can i use the one the one thats running in my M40 now?
Need to get everything sorted because its deffo going in the end of june i`ve booked some time off work to do it.

Things havent gone quite to plan
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=199346

So started stripping things down.
Made a camshaft locking tool and a damper pulley hub tool







Knowing that the water pump had done less than 5000 miles i took it off just to have a look,not what i expected to find


Removed the top timming cover,then started on the lower casing and come to a stand still after removing the first head /timming cover bolt.bmw decided to make things difficult and invent a "special tool" for removing the bolts.Which is basically a long reach female torx socket size e8.I normally go to halfords to buy a single piece when i havent got a set.
Looks like they dont do them

Did you get the crank bolt out with that pulley tool? Id expect it to snap off easily TBH!

I have a set of these - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/14PC-DRAPER-35381 ... 099wt_1199

They are really good TBH, ive not broke one yet and ive got 2 broken Snap-On external torx sockets waiting to be changed!

Where your at now you ought to just get the head off and check it out for flatness and see if there are any cracks, another £50 for head gasket and bolts isnt going to hurt and you'd rather do it now than find out the hard way you have a problem

Ye the tool held up well tbh,its all in the mig wrist action lol bar bent a little.Not the easiest of bolts i`ve ever removed.


I`ve got a half decent set thats held up to some abuse,but it`s the shoulders that wont fit in the recess for the two other bolts.Thats why i thought id get a long reach set.
Just tried getting at the main head bolts and that socket wont fit in either.




Not a bad price for your set and fit by the sound of it

I know what you mean about removing the head,now than later.Just pissed that it wont be going in end of month.

E30BeemerLad wrote:it is all explained in here mate

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=181824

Is this an M50 swap or M52 swap?
Cos if it's an M50 swap i didn't realise there was work to be done around the TB/inlet area
If it is the case that there's work needed there, could someone give me a brief rundown of what's required please?

On an m50 swap there is no work needed mate!
Just join the 2 water pipes that go to the throttle body then leave the ports on the TB open (these are the 2 that lee has left blank) and the 1 to the left is a vac port, block this as per lee's picture and all will be good

Been doing a bit more tinkering and got the timming cover off so i could get the damaged spocket off.
I think you could safely say that both sprockets are fubberd and one of the guides is pretty well worn.All things considerd it is a twenty year old lump.
On the main chain tensioner the plastic is also a little worn but not as bad as the others,can you just buy the plastic part that clips on or is it the whole thing job?




Next job is to whoop the head off and hope there isnt any other nasty surprises

The cam sprocket will go again but the crank sprocket is well fooked, never seen one so bad!

If you can just clip the plastic part onto the guide then you'd be well chuffed, you would have to buy a complete new guide though, doubt you would get it separate, last one I bought had to come from Germany, ECP have stopped selling them now

I try not do things by half dan lol.
If you think the cam sprocket will be ok i`ll use it again and put the saved money to a new chain.The main chain tensioner has less marks on it than the cam tensioner so that will be going back on also.

Got the head off this afternoon,pretty chuffed so far.
No cracks and looks flat as a pancake.It`s possible that its the original gasket too,i`ve got all of its history before i had it and cant find any reciepts for any head work.
I dont know for sure but it looks as if the water was starting to track across
Some pics;









Just need to order a few more bits then put the feckr back together

Main guide wears most at the base, new chain is about £30 and is a must. Same as new valve stem oil seals while the head is off, check for flatness with a piece of paper under the straight edge

I`ve not got the tools for stripping the head down that far and i dont spose it would be cheap to have it done for me

Its the only time to do it, not got a mate with a valve spring compressor?

Its been a while but i`ve stripped the head down decoked it all and re seated the vavles and changed the stem seals.Undoing and tightening up the cams was a bit intense waiting to hear if they where going to snap or not.
Cant show any pics of it all as i managed to delete all the pics i took ,which should be interesting i took the pics so i could refer to them if i cant remember how half of it went together.

I`ve got all my gaskets,sprockets and chains etc just before crimbo.


Just need to work out where all these seals and washers go

Ive got a bag full of those O rings/washers The inlet manifold seals are £5 a piece from BMW so thats a bonus!

Did you get both new sprockets?

Yes got both sprockets (i think, got that many bags of bits) and got an oil pump one as well.got to get the head bolts tho.

Been lumbered with this shit as well,

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=211718

Sounds like an expensive order!

I darent add it all up. I do get 15% discount at bm so that helps a bit.The head gasket set stung a little.

Can you pm me with a price for sorting my loom out.My effort works but not as tidy as i`d like it.

Sure can