M50 Developments - considering an M50? Read this.

[teejay]

hi guys and a very good early morning to Ian too.....

I'm about to transplant a 1994 E34 525i M50 engine into my 86 320i
i've made comparisons of the wirings but mine doesn't have the round plug for the engine wire harness

suggestions from those who has done it with specific advise on the wirings, as i would like it to appear as factory as possible, i'll be gettting a complete front car, so i can salvage and use all the parts of the E34, also any info on the wiring color code to match would be much appreciated....

another is the strut brace, i think there's about 2-3 inches from the brace to the firewall, has anyone here fitted the wiring box and used the original strut brace that is on with the M20 engine?

cheers!
tj

[buster]

ok ,nice one,just poured in 5 litres and was wondering.

What oil do you use ?
I put in 10 40 magnatek full synthetic as i was unsure on what to use.

[ian332isport]

ok ,nice one,just poured in 5 litres and was wondering.

What oil do you use ?
I put in 10 40 magnatek full synthetic as i was unsure on what to use.

Andy,

I use Silkolene ProS 5w40 fully synth in my car. It's a superb oil, and works out cheaper than Mobil 1 or Castrol RS from Halfrauds - and that includes delivery to your door

For all your oil needs, you should contact Opie oils http://www.opieoils.co.uk/lubricants.htm. Great products, and great service.

Magnatec is okay, but I thought it was only semi-synth, not fully.

Cheers,

Ian.

[ian332isport]

hi guys and a very good early morning to Ian too.....

I'm about to transplant a 1994 E34 525i M50 engine into my 86 320i
i've made comparisons of the wirings but mine doesn't have the round plug for the engine wire harness

suggestions from those who has done it with specific advise on the wirings, as i would like it to appear as factory as possible, i'll be gettting a complete front car, so i can salvage and use all the parts of the E34, also any info on the wiring color code to match would be much appreciated....

another is the strut brace, i think there's about 2-3 inches from the brace to the firewall, has anyone here fitted the wiring box and used the original strut brace that is on with the M20 engine?

cheers!
tj

Hi tj,

I don't have any info on the very early E30 wiring, so can't really comment on what's required.

I guess you could basically make your own connection for the engine to plug into, but don't really know what connections you already have on the car. I guess the early 320i had the L-Jet system rather than Motronic.

I'm still trying to find a strut brace that will fit in my car. I think one from G-Power in Germany may fit, but it's very expensive, and I'm not sure if I want to risk it.

Cheers,

Ian.

[buster]

Ian,
my twin tube sparco strut brace fits but i had to remove the plastic e36 wiring cover.I am going to fit the e30 4 cylinder loom cover as you had sudgested before.
Even maybe one for the e30 m3 should fit yours i would have thought

[Jhonno]

Here tis..

[buster]

jhonno,
i dont think thats any good.Its got the wrong bolt pattern for a start.
unless its got the 4 bolt e30 pattern behind that shroud

[randomdave325]

it will be the standard bolt pattern behind the shroud m8. the 944 one was the same. who's goin to gaydon then? mine'll be there. if anyone wants to have a ganders n i'm not there my number is 07977767049. u should recoqnise it from the pics on here. does yours run now then buster?
would love to see it.. r u going ian?

[randomdave325]

btw. i have the twin tube sparco strut brace and the e34 wiring box fits spot on. if you get the top flappy bit with it. it just sits in the rubber and looks made for the job

[jmc330i]

it will be the standard bolt pattern behind the shroud m8. the 944 one was the same.

But wont the rod that attaches to the brake linkage be too long?

who's goin to gaydon then?

Did you get my PM mate?

[randomdave325]

randomdave325 wrote:
it will be the standard bolt pattern behind the shroud m8. the 944 one was the same.

But wont the rod that attaches to the brake linkage be too long?

yes it probably will be but covered it way further back in this post so didn't bother this time.

Did you get my PM mate?

just read it m8. just stick a new pump in it 2mo. go on. u know u want to

[Sooty]

The 325i and the 328i used the same box, so no problem at all.

Iain
Just found out that the above may be incorrect. I found this little bit of info on the Yahoo pages.

"Therefore many people elect to swap in an E36 5-speed along with the M50 engine. But this brings up another set of issues. First, there are two E36 5-speeds, and they differ slightly in size. M3's and 328's were given the bigger one (ZF S5D), while 325's and 323's got the smaller (and lighter) Getrag S5D. Both are fine for any M50 engine, but the size difference affects driveshaft choice."

This would explain why the output shaft, bolt PCD on the 328 box is greater than that of my 320 box.
I'd read somewhere that I could use the standard E30 prop with the E36 box, but for the life of me I couldn't work out how it was possible with the PCD difference.

Or am I

[jmc330i]

Yup, with the E36 Getrag box an E30 320i/325i etc prop will fit, but the E36 ZF box needs the E30 M3 prop.

[Jhonno]

jhonno,
i dont think thats any good.Its got the wrong bolt pattern for a start.
unless its got the 4 bolt e30 pattern behind that shroud

that 3 bolt mount unbolts and then you can bolt the e30 mount on instead..

i know will's used a 924 servo, but no idea what they did to it if anything..

James does it look about right in terms of length? or do i have to get the tape measure out?

[jmc330i]

I would measure the rod that pushes the into the master cylinder (the bit thats arrowed in my pic) just to make sure its the right length. As a quick guide, the rod should end about level with the casing of the servo - its not very easy to tell from the photo.
The best thing to do would be to bolt the master cylinder on and see if there is an play between them.

The only bit Im not sure about is the rod that goes through the bulkhead to the brake linkage. It looks a bit long, but Dave said he covered how to get around that very early on in this thread.

[randomdave325]

Yup, with the E36 Getrag box an E30 320i/325i etc prop will fit

it won't m8. the e30 uses 10mm studs and the e36 uses 12mm studs so unless you can make a donut with the different hole sizes it won't fit. well technically it will but i wouldn't like to drive it! i used 320 box, 318 front half, 325 rear half all e36 with an e30 centre bearing and with nearly 3000 miles of hard road test it all still spot on! cheaper than a m3 prop!
with the servo rod just put it all in place. mark it. saw it off and re tap the thread. i haven't done this yet as i'm still usin the golf servo. but that would most definatly work.

[buster]

dave,do you have a photo of your engine bay, mainly i want to see your wiring box and strut brace to compare them to mine.
cheers
andy

[iKst]

Hello,

i just have a quick question about M50 and board computers. I have an m50 from E36. Donor car has board computer (the big one). I heard that these BCs have some kind of ignition lock. Is this true ? Is it possible my engine wont start because its somehow locked ?

If this could be an issue, how can i unlock the thing ?

Tnx

Btw...i couldnt figure out how e30 drive shaft goes on E36 gearbox either. So i just used E36 drive shaft. It fits perfectly to e30 diff.

[teejay]

has anyone had problems with the vanos units on their conversions?

some questions to ask....
1. does vanos need proper wirings setup for it to work?
2. is there anyway to check if the unit is working?
3. can the diagnostic plugs be used ( how are wirings setup for this?) to identify any problems with the engine

cheers

[lentec]

hi guys and a very good early morning to Ian too.....

I'm about to transplant a 1994 E34 525i M50 engine into my 86 320i
i've made comparisons of the wirings but mine doesn't have the round plug for the engine wire harness

suggestions from those who has done it with specific advise on the wirings, as i would like it to appear as factory as possible, i'll be gettting a complete front car, so i can salvage and use all the parts of the E34, also any info on the wiring color code to match would be much appreciated....

i found this doc very handy when converting from the early type to the later round plug!
http://lentec-e30.tripod.com/index10.htm
its the pic at the bottom

[jmc330i]

Yup, with the E36 Getrag box an E30 320i/325i etc prop will fit

it won't m8. the e30 uses 10mm studs and the e36 uses 12mm studs so unless you can make a donut with the different hole sizes it won't fit. well technically it will but i wouldn't like to drive it! i used 320 box, 318 front half, 325 rear half all e36 with an e30 centre bearing and with nearly 3000 miles of hard road test it all still spot on! cheaper than a m3 prop!

Yeah, sorry I remember you saying that before now. I got that from some info I have and I forgot to change it.
My M3 prop was Ԛ£100 delivered and is a direct replacement when using the E36 M3 5spd box.

[Jhonno]

I would measure the rod that pushes the into the master cylinder (the bit thats arrowed in my pic) just to make sure its the right length. As a quick guide, the rod should end about level with the casing of the servo - its not very easy to tell from the photo.
The best thing to do would be to bolt the master cylinder on and see if there is an play between them.

The only bit Im not sure about is the rod that goes through the bulkhead to the brake linkage. It looks a bit long, but Dave said he covered how to get around that very early on in this thread.

it comes level with the casing

[Jhonno]

right had a quick look through and cant see it mentioned..

which throttle cable should i use with my s50?

[Karan]

right had a quick look through and cant see it mentioned..

which throttle cable should i use with my s50?

e36 m3 one

[ian332isport]

right had a quick look through and cant see it mentioned..

which throttle cable should i use with my s50?

e36 m3 one

The E36 M3 cable will only fit if you either modify the mounting bracket on the No5 intake tube, or modify the cable itself.

Modifying the bracket is easy enough to do, but I chose to modify the cable as I wanted it to look factory.

The problem is the distance from the bracket to the throttle lever itself. It's too long on the M3 cable, so you either have to shorten the cable, or move the bracket further back.

There is probably a BMW cable that will work, but it's a case of finding it.

Ian.

[Jhonno]

how do you shorten it?

someone from the US said about an e34 cable.. is that for the US ones only?

[jmc330i]

Ive just made an extension for the bracket that sits on the No.5 intake.

[ian332isport]

how do you shorten it?

Send it to speedy cables with the correct measurements, and they do it for you

someone from the US said about an e34 cable.. is that for the US ones only?

Not sure on that one. A US E34 would be LHD, so the cable from that would not work. It's possible the RHD E34 cable would work. Maybe an E34 M5, as they have a throttle body setup as well.

Ian.

[Jhonno]

someone has just said they used a standard 325i one..

now im really confused

[ian332isport]

someone has just said they used a standard 325i one..

No ,that won't work - I tried

[stulane]

I just used a standard e36 325i one, works fine and fits ok.

[ian332isport]

I just used a standard e36 325i one, works fine and fits ok.

That was M50, we are talking S50

[Gunni]

I did use a 325i one
on my S50

so it can work

[Jhonno]

ahhh im fecking confused bout all this throttle cable nonsense now

Think i'll use the e36 one and get it shortened..

cant bike shops adjust cable lengths?

[Jhonno]

so if i get a remote servo from fritz

cable sorted via speedy

e36 rad with reservoir

i think i have most issue sorted fingers crossed