My M52 swap

[jimbob88]

had a trip down to stoke yesterday with my mate to pick my "new" lump up.
here she is, M52B28, 68k with history, shallow sump, dipstick, tube and oil pick up, -ews, box, wiring loom, e36 rack, M50 mani, clio servo and a couple of boxes of assorted parts £500

Still a lot to do and a lot of parts to source before she goes anywhere near the car

so far i have and am planning on using
E36 lump
E36 box + crossmember,
E36 shift rods
E30 lightened flywheel,
E30 uprated 4 or 5 paddle clutch,
E30 starter
DANTHE super special modified wiring loom
E36 rack, i do have the usbframe and wishbones?? is this any good/easier/useless
Clio brake servo

and i still need

engine mount rubbers
electric fan and loom
radiator and pipe work
E36 prop shaft
exhaust mani's
metal impeller waterpump
80 degree thermo
throttle cable
and probably quite a few parts i've forgotten

If anyone has any input AT ALL or can help me with any parts please feel free to comment

where is a good place to source parts?

whats the deal with the prop? reverse bearing??

jimbob














OOOO before i forget i stumbled across this lstnight and it may be of use to someone else so i thought i'de share it
full M52B28 conversion walkthrough with pics and part list/numbers

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19443

[Jozi]

Congrats on the purchase! There's some good info in the stickies for different ways to fitting the engine to an E30. That thread linked to on driver is also on here somewhere, the user is a regular here.

[randomspeedfreak]

had a trip down to stoke yesterday with my mate to pick my "new" lump up.
here she is, M52B28, 68k with history, shallow sump, dipstick, tube and oil pick up, -ews, box, wiring loom, e36 rack, M50 mani, clio servo and a couple of boxes of assorted parts £500

so it was you who bnought that one off pistonheads!?!?!

[jimbob88]

it was listed on ebay at £600 or best offer, guess my £500 was the best offer

[e30-EVN]

Well done mate, you are going to fukin love it!! I had an m50 which made my car a quick car but now with the m52 in she is an absolute flier!!! Its epic and I can't believe how well it goes.

Enjoy mate cos I am

[jimbob88]

thanks e30 im glad to hear it, cant wait to crack on with it, engine is going up on the stand today for a clean and prep ready for the trnasplant.

have you got an m50 mani aswell then? im also gonna be sticking a 100 shot off nitrous in the boot just for good measure . and perhaps us m3 cams if i can find any

[e30-EVN]

Yeah I used the inlet and throttle body off my m50 engine, its torquey down bottom but the m50 inlet really opens her up at the top!! Its brilliant mate

I've been thinking a 100 shot through mine in the near future aswel lol, was talking to craigeeb about it as he is doing it on his, wanted to get the low down off him first.

[jimbob88]

i was planning on tarting the m20 b25 up and fitting a nitrous kit but when i got the engine out i thought fuck it i might aswell put summin big back in
ive been doing quite alot of reading up on nitrous kits and bhp/£ is unreal

[e30-EVN]

Got to be done, dohc 24v FOR THE WIN mate

[jimbob88]

yeh im quite looking forward to it, engine going on the stand tomorrow for a new waterpump and a spruce up before i start tarting the bay and rack up

are you running a standard clutch ? i was maybe thinking paddle but if a standard plate can hack it then theres no need

any idea where i can get a few parts? rubber pucks? fan temp switches, temp sensors?

[e30-EVN]

Yes standard e30 m20 325 clutch, seams to be fine with it tbh.....

Go to gsf for the rubber mounts and temp sensors mate. Reasonably priced and good stuff

[jimbob88]

ok mate will do, thanks

[jimbob88]

just a quick query and didnt want to start another thread, engine is coming on now, new waterpump, serp belt and paint job etc but im just about to start the m50 mani swap.
does anyone have a straight forward write up/parts list? tried google but its all american 3/16's blah blah blah.

cheers jimbob

[DanThe]

Top of the forum, thread titled "M50 inlet on the M52"

[jimbob88]

sorry

[jimbob88]

progress is a little slow at the minute with the beemer due to other jobs but managed to put a couple of days into the engine and these arrived today, brand spankers of fleabay £60 delivered
in for the chop 2moro then bolted on to the freshly painted engine, parts on order for 2moro to finish the m50 manifold swap and the engine is finsihed then i can move on to the engine bay and subframe (clean and repaint)
then start ordering wiring loom radiator etc etc ............baby steps

[e30-EVN]

good luck with those manifolds mate! i bought exactly the same items and had to sell them on...... the back one cannot be chopped enough to fit, the plenims are angled to much meaning that if the required amount was chopped you wount be able to get some of the nuts on.
these are made to fit these engines but in the e36 engine bay where no modification is needed. i even rung the company up when i was in the custom place but i couldnt be arsed with their returns procedure so i sold them on for the money i payed for them to someone with an e36

dont mean to be a buzz kill mate, just fore warning you. also i payed £90 for mine a few months ago . just glad someone came up with an e36 who gave me exactly that back for them

Ant

[DanThe]

A few have bought these then chucked the towel in. Like Ant says not worth touching IMO, id go as far to say they will not flow as well as the standard M52 manifolds

[e30-EVN]

best thing to do is mod a set of m52 mani's and have the ports reemed out to help better flow. i got the guy who did my custom to do this for me. i reckon its made a difference

[macas]

With one of dans linkages,do you still have to have modified manis?

[e30-EVN]

not worth touching IMO, id go as far to say they will not flow as well as the standard M52 manifolds

say no more

[jimbob88]

Here's a few piccies of the engine as it stands now, sorry about the quality iPhone camera's are crap

[Jozi]

Looking good... but... thats the same pic 5x

[jimbob88]

Lol I know I'm new to the iPad

Fixxored now

[maf260]

Looking good! I'm also doing a M52 conversion into a red cabby.
For the prop have a look at the pic on page 3 of my post http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... 56#2205656 - E36 328i and E30 325i side by side. E36 prop uses the same bearing in the middle, but reversed. Fitted mine at the weekend and it's like it was meant to be there!

[Jozi]

What did you use to clean the engine? I've got to do mine in a few (hopefully) and it looks as bad as yours did.

Pics working right now to

[jimbob88]

I used a paraffin gun and wire brush where I could and then used an alloy wheel cleaner then paraffin again the a heat ressistant crackle silver to paint .

Onto the engine bay now

Thanks for the comments

[Green]

Engine looks mint I could do with one of them stands for the ease of the swap but it would be on my driveway and I'd get paranoid that someone would wheel it off in the night!
Is it easier to land the engine in already on the subframe as what looks like you're doing?

[jimbob88]

Lol yeah I don't think I'd be too keen to leave mine on a stand on the driveway

Too be honest I'm not sure if it's the easiest way to do but I'm gonna try it none the less. Seems like the common sense approach to me tho

I'll let ya know

[maf260]

Is it easier to land the engine in already on the subframe as what looks like you're doing?

Engine goes in great from underneath on the subframe. Gearbox already attached, plus all the suspension if you like. Check out my M52 build thread to see what I've done so far http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... sc&start=0. One big tip for anyone doing this - fit the throttle cable whilst the engine bay is empty - took me ages not knowing this simple tip!

[jimbob88]

Is it easier to land the engine in already on the subframe as what looks like you're doing?

Engine goes in great from underneath on the subframe. Gearbox already attached, plus all the suspension if you like. Check out my M52 build thread to see what I've done so far http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... sc&start=0. One big tip for anyone doing this - fit the throttle cable whilst the engine bay is empty - took me ages not knowing this simple tip!

Good stuff thats what I was hoping to hear

[jimbob88]

Quick piccie update, progress is "relaxed" but we're getting closer. Sorry about the quality but iphone cameras are shit

Skimmed flywheel, new clutch kit, gear box mounted and Z4 short shift fitted



Not to everyones taste but i decided on a matt black engine bay to contrast the silver engine

[jimbob88]

Hi all, havent been on for a while, beemer took a back seat due to work commitments etc but had a little revival, engine bay "smoothed" out a bit, painted matt black and interior out for a good clean and a re-dye.

Not much done towards a finished product, infact its in even more peices now but hey ho progress is progress