Randomspeedfreak's M52 conversion

[randomspeedfreak]

It begins!

just bought a cheap motor off the bay, to begin my M52 conversion!

Matey assures me it was running perfectly, im taking a compression tester, and my fingers crossed that its a alusil replacement like he says!

if it is okay im just getting on my way on the conversion, ill keep this thread for advice from you lot and to help others in the future.

Just got onto ECP for the e28 M535 mounts. about £60 all in so going down there today or tomorrow.
Scrappy for e34 sump, clio servo, 1.9 rack and possibly 328 rad (fingers crossed) (anythign ive missed)

on the lookout for a e30 318is gearbox and e30 m20 325 clutch flywheel and starter motor

what prop will i need with this gearbox?

anythign ive missed?

cheers lads

[e30-EVN]

For using the m42 (318iS) box you need front half of a 325 prop, all the rear sections are the same...

When you get the gearbox measure the input shaft, most likely it will be 12mm for which you will need an m20 spigot bearing. If its 15mm (unlikely) you can use the m52 spigot....

You will need an e34 525 throttle cable also (525 m50 cable)

E30 brown temp sensor and buy a new blue temp sensor while you are there!

Also most important is a metal impellar water pump and new thermostat, do these and then when you've bled the coolant you can leave it alone for a good while

Get your m20 flywheel and the starter motor off here, (parts for sale), but buy a new clutch kit mate- £100

You should find yourself an electric fan aswel, and I highly recommend PM'g danthe for one of his electric fan looms!

Ant

[randomspeedfreak]

For using the m42 (318iS) box you need front half of a 325 prop, all the rear sections are the same...

When you get the gearbox measure the input shaft, most likely it will be 12mm for which you will need an m20 spigot bearing. If its 15mm (unlikely) you can use the m52 spigot....

You will need an e34 525 throttle cable also (525 m50 cable)

E30 brown temp sensor and buy a new blue temp sensor while you are there!

Also most important is a metal impellar water pump and new thermostat, do these and then when you've bled the coolant you can leave it alone for a good while

Get your m20 flywheel and the starter motor off here, (parts for sale), but buy a new clutch kit mate- £100

You should find yourself an electric fan aswel, and I highly recommend PM'g danthe for one of his electric fan looms!

Ant

where did you get these parts?

throttle cable - scrappys

m20 spigot , temp sensors, water pump+thermosat - ecp

clutch? which make? ebay?!

best place for slim leccy fan?

how much is danthe charging for the fan looms?

what do teh different temp sensors for ? one for ecu 1 for dash reading?

cheers ant

Matt

[e30-EVN]

Throttle cable can be got from a scrappy but it has to be from an e34 with m50 engine. Failing that they aren't to exxpensive at bmw!

M20 spigot is around £12 at bmw

E30 brown temp sensor is for temp guage and about £12-15 in bmw
Blue temp sensor is about the same price, available from GSF, this is the ecu sensor....

Best clutch kit to buy would be sachs, as recommended by danthe, don't by an LUK clutch!

Look on ebay for an electric fan- I will find the link to the 1 I'm buying, its £35 and can run either way (pull or push fan)- 16' fan

I can't remember how much he charges for the fan looms, he did me a single speed 1 at my request.... I highly recommend them, they are excellent quality! Also when you PM him about that ask him how much to modify manifolds.... I know he does this also and I've seen his car mate and they are brilliant!

[e30-EVN]

Ebay link for the fan.....

http://wap.ebay.co.uk/Pages/ViewItem.as ... an&emvcc=0

[randomspeedfreak]

perfect ant thanks very much

shopping spree tomorrow!

[e30-EVN]

Happy days

[randomspeedfreak]

picked up the motor today im pretty pissed for a few reasons -

blokey said it had all ancilleries - off the top of my head, it dosent have - the mass flow meter, any rad work or piping, a key (hoping its not ews now) and a pas pipe has been cut.

all of this while this :

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 500wt_1156

has come up on ebay which is a much better engine to start from with way less miles.

not a great start to the conversion



few questions - do i need the 328 piping to the rad and that?

what about the mass flow meter, does it have to be 328 aswell?


shopping spree also suspended as i have exams!

[e30-EVN]

I used e36 325 rad hoses, had to chop them a bit to fit.

That sucks mate, bad luck

[DanThe]

The ECU is pretty much useless without the matching key chip and module
MAF has to be M52

[randomspeedfreak]

The ECU is pretty much useless without the matching key chip and module
MAF has to be M52

whats the probabillity of me having an ews ecu?

*edit - what i mean is they are not all ews are they?

[e30-EVN]

Very high probability its ews mate, afaik the m52's are all ews equipped

[randomspeedfreak]

Very high probability its ews mate, afaik the m52's are all ews equipped

ah shit

[e30-EVN]

Its no biggy bro, you will need to find an ecu, chip, key and ews module that all match. I had a set off someone for £120

But they must ALL be from the same car!

[randomspeedfreak]

Its no biggy bro, you will need to find an ecu, chip, key and ews module that all match. I had a set off someone for £120

But they must ALL be from the same car!

the scrap man is going to when he sees me coming!

[e30-EVN]

Haha, keep the engine mate cos if you get ecu, ews gear, chip and key they will run any m52. Aslong as its a set!

[randomspeedfreak]

Haha, keep the engine mate cos if you get ecu, ews gear, chip and key they will run any m52. Aslong as its a set!

yeh i was just sayin im gunna be giving him a couple of K£ at this rate!

[randomspeedfreak]

im thinking of having a punt at that other engine on ebay (link above), and getting rid of this one

what do you boys think?

[e30-EVN]

Would always make a good spare to be honest mate! That's what I'd do

[E30_Crazy]

E30-dk: What are the gearbox options for an M52 swap? I might have to pick up the one linked above, as my M20 just crapped out I'm thinking. I will have it for any of the M20 parts (Tech1 high comp) Flywheel, spigot, shaft, etc. Would be nice if I could just use my sport box.

[e30-EVN]

You can use your m20 box and 325 prop but I think you need a low ratio dif afaik. This is the same for the m50 and m52 boxes!

Using an m42 box makes dif choice a lot easier as you can use anything from 3.91 - 3.64

My advise is buy m20 spigot brand new, about £12 in bmw mate

[E30_Crazy]

Besides better diff choice (the one in it!) are there other advantages to the M42 box? or the others?

yeah, might as well buy a new spigot while I'm there, huh. Save time and money later on.

[e30-EVN]

Being a sport, your car would prob have a 3.91 lsd or very similar. That's £300 minimum you could save from spending on the conversion as you already have it. In my opinion if I was in your position I'd spend £60 on an m42 box and use your 325 prop and dif.

My car started life a 2.0 which has 4.10 open so I have no choice but to spend £300 on a decent sliper and the right ratio. I've run the m50 on it but wouldn't trust it to stand up to the m52 going in next week!

[randomspeedfreak]

OKAY UPDATE: im continuing to make schoolboy errors,

Ive still got the m52 328 engine, ive also bought a 'complete' m50 conversion from the dodgiest bloke ever, had a look at what weve actually bought (yes we bought it in a rush in the dark: schoolboy!) and i think hes stiched us a bit, we are short a clio servo and we think a prop - we have a 325 e30 prop we think
few photos for some light entertainment, then some questions






the box we have is an e36 box, which prop should we have?
we have a 328 aircon rad that has apparently been in an e30 already, which temp sensor will we need for this if any at all?

the brown e30 temp sensor, can it be found on all e30 engines? i.e. will my 316i m40 motor have one?

we have a e36 m3 steering rack to go in, how much will the exhaust manifolds need to be modified in order to fit?
are we correct in assuming we will still need 14mm of spacers to fit the steering rack? will the bolts from the e30 rack fit ?
cheers
matt

[Green]

This topic will give you all the options you need, is a big use http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=177634

You'll need to 328i prop for the 328i box
For the sensor the e36 318ti compact sensor is needed part 61 31 8 361 787
The brown temp sensor will be fine from the 316i, it just sends to temp to the gauges

Not too sure on the rack, the mani's are needed to be modded to fit the steering linkage. But the spacers will be needed still if 14mm is the right amount. There's an article on this in the wiki iirc.

Hope that's useful

[nickso]

E30 M3 prop also fits the e36 'box.

E30 rack bolts will fit.

[randomspeedfreak]

cheers boys thats a big help, were on the hunt for the steering ujs and clio servo today.

which clio is it mk3?

[DanThe]

Two types of output flange on E36 325i and 320i boxes. Some will bolt to an E30 prop others wont

[randomspeedfreak]

Two types of output flange on E36 325i and 320i boxes. Some will bolt to an E30 prop others wont

fingers crossed then! is there anyway to tell?

weve got the servo now just looking for a pair of universal joints, few more questions if you will!

does anyone have a link to someones thread with modifying the exhaust manifold with a e36 rack?

when mounting the rack do the spacers want to go above or below the rack? id assume above?

how do you remove the water pump?

we have a plastic thermostat housing on the front of the engine, does this need swapping out?

cheers boys!

[Green]

Waterpump's easy just remove the 4 bolts on it and wiggle it out. Getting the fan off it can be an arse though. Plastic thermostat housing is fine but I snapped mine and had to replace it.

[randomspeedfreak]

Waterpump's easy just remove the 4 bolts on it and wiggle it out. Getting the fan off it can be an arse though. Plastic thermostat housing is fine but I snapped mine and had to replace it.

cheers for the response bro

we had a go at that when it didnt come we assumed it was hiding something! will have a go tomorrow

anyone else able to have a crack at the other questions?
cheers, Matt

[nickso]

definately replace the stat housing no matter how good it looks. you can get alloy ones.

I put the spacers at the top of the rack bolts, should give a tiny bit more room around the manifolds.

[randomspeedfreak]

ok thanks mate will update later

[DanThe]

Spacers need to go on top otherwise the sump will touch the rack

[randomspeedfreak]

definately replace the stat housing no matter how good it looks. you can get alloy ones.

I put the spacers at the top of the rack bolts, should give a tiny bit more room around the manifolds.

why replace the housing mate?, the alloy ones are £45 i dont have!