E30 Zone

Had my e30 with a 2.8 in for a while now and want a bit more go. I have searched and a popular mod is to fit the bottom end from a m54b30 .is anyone else running one of these ?
A few questions .
Which block is best to use .i have a m50 b25 iron block and a m52 b28 aluminium block
Can I use my 2.8 chip or is there a chip suitable for the 3.0 litre .
Which engine management is best to use . The m50 or m52

Use the m52 block unless you are planning boost, it's lighter.

Speak to DanThe about maps, he should be able to sort you.

You will want to use the m52 management

I have heard the Danthe m52b28 ECU is fine fir the b30 crank

Instead of using the alloy M52 block for weight would it not be easier just to bolt a M52 head onto a M54 3.0 bottom end? or are the blocks different?

Don't think m54 head will fit a m52 block .anybody actually running one of these and what's the biggest improvement?
Just checking and read a 540 maf can be used ?

Slightly different pathways on the M54 block... m50/2 head does not bolt up

I used an iron M50 block after originally using an M52 and the head bolt threads pulling out. Had to start all over again with fresh machine work. Did not want to risk it with 'timeserts' considering the engine lives its life over 4k all the time on track. Yes the block is heavier (its twice the weight of the M52) but I wanted reliability.

I just dropped M54 crank, pistons and rods into the M50 block. New rings and shells. ARP studs on the mains. Using M50/2 head, M54 inlet cam and M52 exhaust cam.

Fitted new/refurb injectors so I knew they were all fine. Then fitted a wideband, built a datalogger, went out on the M52B28 map and logged data when running the engine in. Began to open it up and it was close to being fine, the MAF correction table in the stock map adjusts pretty well to the increased capacity/requirement of air. I'm running the stock MAF.

Other mods include M20 flywheel, 3.2 M3 manifolds modified into a single pipe, then a single system back with no cat. Walbro 255 fuel pump. Stock exhaust system was 37kg, new system 7kg. Completely counteracted the additional weight of the iron block and more which worked out well.

We made a few adjustments to the map, ignition advance mainly. Its safe and goes well. Feels like its gained torque mid range, and just more powerful throughout.

Thanks foxy .well worth doing then. Wonder why the head bolts pulled out? .i would have thought without a turbo ,cylinder pressures would have been the same as a m52 .did you have headgasket issues before with the engine . Thanks

Nope it was a block from a good running engine. Stripped down, honed, skimmed and then built up. The head bolts at either end of the block pulled when doing the first 90degree of the head bolt tightening sequence. After more reading it just seems that its very common, especially on M54s (even more so with head gasket failure).

I thought for the weight difference its worth just changing to an iron block, for peace of mind mainly if not anything else. I only ended up putting ARP studs in the bottom end as the mains bolt prices from BMW were just stupid.

I'm taking it to the dyno on Saturday for a bit of fine adjustment, so should have some comparable numbers as I ran my 328i on the same set of rollers, in stock form and with an M50 manifold..

Great write up there, looking forward to seeing the dyno results, will you share them here?

I will let you know how it goes

So here you go... results from today. I ran this same car, with a 200k M52B28 (M50 Inlet) approximately one year ago on the same rollers, and it made 216hp/205lbft.

Today, ran the car with the M50B30 (or M52B30 whatever you want to call it)..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXFZ8N0Jgt8



The old engine result is on the graph above also, for comparison. The B30 is much stronger, and holds power better top end as you can see. There might be a few more HP in the top end with some fuel removed, but its really not worth the messing about to adjust the file again and its very safe as it is now.

Full specification of the engine is: M50 Iron Block, M54B30 Crank, M54B30 Pistons + Rods, M52 Cylinder Head, M54 Inlet Camshaft, M52 Exhaust Camshaft, Refurbished B28/M3 'Pinktop' Injectors, M50 Inlet Manifold, M50 Throttle Body, M20 Lightweight Flywheel, M3 3.2 Exhaust Manifolds and Single 2.5" Exhaust System (No Cat), Stock M52B28 Airbox and MAF, Stock M52B28 'Siemens MS41' ECU with modified calibration file.

I can't view the graph, what was the bhp and torque increase?

Graph link: http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums/ag1 ... 97941a.jpg

M52B28 (M50 Inlet) - 216hp/205lbft
M50B30 - 250hp/250lbft

B30 has much more torque overall and holds power for longer up top end.

Flipping heck that is good. Epic stuff.

Thanks for taking the time to post up. It answers a lot of questions very nicely.

Nice result there Jord

The 3.0 pulls really well, the torque is there for a long time compared to the 2.8 and there is no need to rev the thing!

Cheers Dan, hope it lasts this time!

I may have misread but are you still running standard cams?

f0xy wrote:So here you go... results from today. I ran this same car, with a 200k M52B28 (M50 Inlet) approximately one year ago on the same rollers, and it made 216hp/205lbft.

Today, ran the car with the M50B30 (or M52B30 whatever you want to call it)..


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXFZ8N0Jgt8



The old engine result is on the graph above also, for comparison. The B30 is much stronger, and holds power better top end as you can see. There might be a few more HP in the top end with some fuel removed, but its really not worth the messing about to adjust the file again and its very safe as it is now.

Full specification of the engine is: M50 Iron Block, M54B30 Crank, M54B30 Pistons + Rods, M52 Cylinder Head, M54 Inlet Camshaft, M52 Exhaust Camshaft, Refurbished B28/M3 'Pinktop' Injectors, M50 Inlet Manifold, M50 Throttle Body, M20 Lightweight Flywheel, M3 3.2 Exhaust Manifolds and Single 2.5" Exhaust System (No Cat), Stock M52B28 Airbox and MAF, Stock M52B28 'Siemens MS41' ECU with modified calibration file.

M54B30 inlet cam
M52B28 exhaust cam

Nice results from them specs

How true are them results??

That's fantastic .thanks foxy .almost got all the bits together to build a similar spec to yours .

Is there any stroking combo to make 3.2? Aside from sourcing stuff from the U.S. Or alpina? Is it even worth it compared to the above specs?

You need S52B32 pistons from a US market M3, I have a full set of pistons and rods that were going to build a 3.2 for an E34 I had, but that didnt happen, so they may go into an E30 someday

Is that with a m54 crank Dan? Are the rods the same as 2.8 m52? What do alpina use as even the 3.3 in the e46 is a m52 isn't it?

impressive results, cant help but think the s50b32 is a better option tho. although not if it needs to be rebuilt.

i have built a 3l stroker even though i have an s50b32, mainly because i didnt want to pay for btb headers. i have a set now so using the s50

The only downside I saw with the S50B32 is initial cost, and availability. It wouldn't be 'new' either like you say

The main problem with an S50 is the lack of usable torque for a road car compared to the M52 builds

A healthy S50B32 has way more torque down low. from the factory they do have the pesky "torque" limiters in 1st though...S50b30 is noticeably weaker though

They certainly dont drive like it

DanThe wrote:They certainly dont drive like it

dont what your experiences are but even in the heavier e36 chassis and long diff it pulls proper hard from 2200rpm and basically peak torque 250-260+ftlb at 3k. have seen some dogs with problematic vanos etc wit torque curve like an overcammed m20

why m54 inlet cam ? what's the pro's and con's of this ??

240deg duration 9.5mm lift (M54) .vs. 228deg duration 9.0mm lift (M52)

i'm doing this stroker build on my spare m52 F0xy ...do you have a link to the big end shells you used ?

I got them from http://www.kingcomponents.co.uk/ who are local to me. Worth a ring, they do post stuff out. They are M52 shells, I just checked everything with Plastigauge before assembly. The rings were from there too, actually labelled as an N series engine but the same part as M54B30.

thanks fella ...do you remember any prices ?