M50 conversion list

[TOURINGDADDY]

come on then peps wot do i need to do this conversion

1.

[johnono]

m50 engine and bottles
gearbox
starter
rad
diff
shortened driveshaft
electrics from the genius brian

[6potWil6pot]

Probably going to need some sorta custom exhaust manifold!

Also an E36 radiator is just fine!

[johnono]

o yeah, u unlucky right handers

what did u have will? was a 4 - 2 split wasnt it?

[6potWil6pot]

Yeah 4 and 2 home brew jobbie! Made the thing sound nice tho! Kinda uneven warble!

[jmc330i]

Go for an E34 525i M50 - it should of had an easier life than one in an E36 325i and it already has the correct sump and oil pick up.
If you use an E36 lump you will need to change to the E34 sump and pick up anyway.

[Brianmoooore]

Go for an E34 525i M50 - it should of had an easier life than one in an E36 325i and it already has the correct sump and oil pick up.
If you use an E36 lump you will need to change to the E34 sump and pick up anyway.

And the engine wiring loom's better.
You'll also need:
An electric fan (One from a five or seven series with aircon fits perfectly).
Aluminium engine mounts and gear linkage from an E36.
Brake servo from a Golf, or one of the other well documented ways of getting manifold/servo clearance.
A diff ratio of something around 3:1 or so, to allow for the E34/E36 gearboxes 1:1 fifth gear.
Airfilter box from a M30 engined E32/E34 fits in nicely, wioth the AFM mounted inside the top of the filter box.

E30 325 prop fits OK
E30 325 rad works OK
E36 front exhaust manifold fits OK. Rear one fits with some mods. Later,
(M52?) manifolds are tubular steel rather than cast, so may be easier to mod.

[TOURINGDADDY]

cheere every one i,ve got most of these parts now. ive also been told that there is a plug that can be purchesed so that the looms just plug and play is this correct and where could i find one of these?

[jmc330i]

ive also been told that there is a plug that can be purchesed so that the looms just plug and play is this correct and where could i find one of these?

I think this is what youre on about, its the only one Ive seen..... Click Me

IMO its not worth $399 (Ԛ£230). I made mine in about 2 hours costing less than a tenner.

[chris325]

Hey peeps...just wondering if anyone knows if there is a great big difference between the 2.5 m50 and the 2.8 m52 as book bhp is 1bhp more...

Also, would the e30 325 prop still fit same as the 2.5 m50??

cheers
chris

[6potWil6pot]

M52 is an alloy block so its quite a bit lighter than the M50, also M52 is commonly accepted to be a heavily restrictive engine when stock, can be easily modded to give more!

[chris325]

cheers buddy!
im liking the pic u got!
how much we looking at getting a decent m52 for?? and would it be advised to strip it and recon it and get it lightgened and balanced first??
how else could one derestric it? apart from the fact i wont have a cat
cheers
chris

[6potWil6pot]

Inlet manifold is strangled, pretty sure an M50 one is what you really want on there. A big bore throttle body, cams perhaps and a decent remap. I think theres places in America that sell M52 "kits" that take it up to a nice bhp but i dunno where exactly! Someone else here should know a bit more tho!

[Brianmoooore]

Think the restriction on the 2.8 is mainly confined to the very small runners of the inlet manifold. Cured by using the 2.5 manifold.
Unless there's a good reason to, I wouldn't touch the engine internals, except possibly replacing the dual mass flywheel with an E30 single mass item.
All you need to connect the M50 electrics to the E30 is a 15" section of E30 engine loom with the C101 plug on it. Feed the E30 loom into the M50 wiring box, leaving about 6" outside the box with the plug on.
It's a fairly easy job then to connect the E30 wires to the wires chopped off from the M50 plug.

[6potWil6pot]

Pics of the two Inlets ive dug out the archives, theyre from a friend whos currently doing the conversion,
hope he doesnt mind!



M52



M50



See the difference!

[TOURINGDADDY]

Brianmoooore: i dont spose u'd happen to have a diagram of the wireing would u?