My Latest Creation....S54 now running

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glenn
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Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:19 pm

i've been working on my project for a few months now, and decided to give the garage a little tidy up and so while i had the car out of the garage, i thought i'd take a couple of pics........

it's about 85% complete

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a big thanks to ian haynes
Last edited by glenn on Thu May 07, 2009 8:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
pac1982
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Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:21 pm

What engine is that matey, looks beefy
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maxfield
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Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:22 pm

Hmmm, S54.

How hard is it then?
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pac1982
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Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:29 pm

ooooooooooh the E46 M3 engine! bet thats gonna go like stink!
Last edited by pac1982 on Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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1991 BMW E30 318i Neon Design Convertible (Sold)
1990 BMW E30 325i Touring (Sold)
1990 BMW E30 318IS (Sold)
1990 BMW E30 316i (RIP)
madaboutthe30
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Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:32 pm

There was a thread on here not long ago with the S38. An electric whizkid tried it and it appeared to be a nightmare. Hasnt finished it completely yet.

What sort of performance figures you looking at?
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baptie0
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Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:08 pm

nice conversion :cool:
are you using standalone management with that?
ImysE30
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Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:37 pm

Looks fooking awesome :cool: :cool:
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E30 335i Turbo M3 Convertible Replica
Chase007
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Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:40 pm

This is what i have been waiting to see if works 8)
THERE IS NO RIGHT SIDE TO WAR! ONLY THE SIDE THAT IS LEFT!
glenn
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Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:40 pm

baptie0 wrote:nice conversion :cool:
are you using standalone management with that?
no, standard bmw .
madaboute30 wrote:What sort of performance figures you looking at?
dont know, i expect it will pop along quite nicely :D
maxfield wrote:How hard is it then?
it's not finished yet, fairly simular to the s50 swap, simular but different, if that makes sense.
GrindCulture
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Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:55 pm

Compared to an S50, S54s look really boring (aesthetically). I'm sure the performance wont be though. :thumb: it's gonna be a true starship.
Not in E30s any more :(
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dicko
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Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:17 pm

How did you get on with all that Kan bus and ews3 stuff glenn ,it looks sweet and I bet it goes even better , what exhaust manifold did you use, also does the intake plenum take up as much room as a s50 one ?
well done Sir , more inspiration for us .
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Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:11 am

Bad man Glenn! How are you overcoming the fly by wire throttle? - must be the worst but no?
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GermanGorilla
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Mon Apr 20, 2009 1:30 am

Hi,

Glenn- looking good, did you retain the stepper
motor, or go with a throttle cable, ala Vac ?

I see you have kept the Vanos/ECU be interested
in knowing your views when done ?

I went Vanos delete and Motec M800, which seems
to work quite well for the Track, given the rev range
that the car is geared to work in, but would retain the
Vanos for a road car engine, as the low down torque, sub
4500 rpm suffers with it deleted.

Seems you missed the S50 B32 after all.

Regards,

The Gorilla.
glenn
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Mon Apr 20, 2009 8:59 am

Simon13 wrote:Bad man Glenn! How are you overcoming the fly by wire throttle? - must be the worst but no?
hello si,
if you look on top of the plenum, you'll see i've converted it to cable throttle
germangorilla wrote:I see you have kept the Vanos/ECU be interested
in knowing your views when done ?
hello dan,
yes, i've kept both vanos units. it's not quite ready to fire up yet,
but once it does, i'll go into more detail of how i've done it
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GermanGorilla
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Mon Apr 20, 2009 6:04 pm

Hi,

Glenn- yes I would be keen to know
your views.

After doing both engines into E30 M3's
the gains of the S54 are not as large
as you might think on paper, but its
a stronger overall package, which
seems to handle the higher rev band
just that tad better.

The S54 Vanos although it can also be
troublesome, is of a better overall working design
than the S50's.

I used the Vac Throttle linkage, but it looks like
you used a refabricated S50 Set up.

My next chapter maybe to de-tune the Car
as its to Track Focused, which limits the amount
of fun.

Hope all goes well for you.

Regards,

The Gorilla.
Benho
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Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:14 pm

your a god! did you do the conversion yourself or get a garage to do it for you? any mods for the block for the near future?
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Tue Apr 21, 2009 11:27 am

Nice work Glenn 8)
Engine conversions, Auto to manual conversions, parts, servicing etc etc... For anything e30 call 07718 901737
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buster
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Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:33 pm

very nice ,bin the stupid plenum and get a supercharger kit on there.Its got to help the conversion as it uses a smaller plenum , oh and the added performance also :cool:
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DieselMeister
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Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:37 pm

Awesome work as ever Glenn. I'm with Buster on the plenum fix :wink:
"Pass me the wheel before you hurt yourself, mate."
glenn
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Thu Apr 23, 2009 10:48 pm

DieselMeister wrote:Awesome work as ever Glenn. I'm with Buster on the plenum fix :wink:
maybe one day, if they come down to a more reasonable price.

i've already sorted this plenum out now. it's back on, bolted & plumbed up.
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Sun Apr 26, 2009 12:05 pm

Cool ! :cool:
glenn
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Thu May 07, 2009 8:44 pm

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

boy do i feel like a dog with two dicks tonight !!
got the engine running this afternoon.

i came up with an idea a few months ago of how to run the s54,
i ran the idea past ian (ian332isport) to see if any of the sensors were the same as the s50 and ian said 'most' of them look 'similar'.
so i went to fabs and bought an s54 and a s50b32 evo engine loom and ecu.
and so after endless phone calls to ian(i'm sure he's sick of the sound of me, lol), i've managed to get the s54 to run on s50 management, and so having both vanos units working.

thanks for your help ian
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Gunni
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Thu May 07, 2009 8:48 pm

So is it straight up S50B32 ecu and loom with S50 software
With great challenges comes great engineering.

Gunni
@ 2012 VEMS group buy !!
ian332isport
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Thu May 07, 2009 8:49 pm

Nice one Glenn :thumb:

I knew we'd get there in the end.
If it aint broke - Modify it...
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Thu May 07, 2009 8:55 pm

good work guys. I am impressed.
Are you going to be remapping the ecu to get the most out of the s54?
Bollocks to this 24v scrap!
glenn
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Thu May 07, 2009 8:57 pm

Gunni wrote:So is it straight up S50B32 ecu and loom with S50 software
yep, e36 evo engine loom and ecu (and a couple of e36 sensors)

possibly a worlds first ?

ian332isport wrote:I knew we'd get there in the end.

i was starting to have my doubts ian :lol:
glenn
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Thu May 07, 2009 9:00 pm

Bob_S wrote:good work guys. I am impressed.
Are you going to be remapping the ecu to get the most out of the s54?
yes,
also the s50's 7500rpm limit will need raising to 8000rpm
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Thu May 07, 2009 9:10 pm

glenn wrote:possibly a worlds first ?
Quite possibly for using standard management and actually getting it working.

Massive respect to you (and Ian of course) for pushing the boundaries yet again.
madaboutthe30
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Thu May 07, 2009 9:17 pm

Any sound clips would much appreciated right now winkeye
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Theo
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Thu May 07, 2009 9:27 pm

Great conversion Glenn, I hope to see if in the flesh sometime!
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Thu May 07, 2009 9:46 pm

Well done Glenn, I can tell you for sure your not the first to run one of these on S50 management

Possibly the first in an E30 though 8)
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Gunni
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Thu May 07, 2009 10:00 pm

S54´s have been run in E30´s before.
For sure the first in UK.
With great challenges comes great engineering.

Gunni
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DanThe
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Thu May 07, 2009 10:05 pm

On S50 management I meant
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GermanGorilla
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Sun May 10, 2009 12:19 pm

Hi Glenn,

Good to hear you got it running.

I am sure Ian could have written a best seller
on conversions using the S50 B32 Components.

I am very intrigued by how you have managed
to deal with the Vanos timing as the S54 is
not the same at full lift as the B32 engine ?

The Vanos angles, and more so the exhaust are not
identical, so uping the rev limiter, will not allow
more dwell or compensate for the duration
on the Exhaust cam, only more revs ?

Have you checked for valve blow by at near
or on full lift ?

I think it is a very clever approach to this engine
conversion, even though there are now ways around
the S54 EWS/Dash Pod detection/ Loom interlinks,
issues with the S54 ECU.

Be very interested to learn more.

Congrats to Ian and your self on this.

I am just glad I am not picking up your phone bill
this month !

Regards,

The Gorilla.
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