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  4. Are there any m50 swaps in our group?

Are there any m50 swaps in our group?

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General Technical
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  • C
    C
    Chadley
    wrote on last edited by
    #10

    I did the M52 swap....

    Posted Image

    Ryan is a post whore af330i.gif

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      blebob
      wrote on last edited by
      #11

      So Chadley are you happy with the result? Did you do the swap or pay someone? I'm trying to figure out whether I want to do mine or just have it done. That would bring up another problem , who to have do the swap!

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      • C
        C
        Chadley
        wrote on last edited by
        #12

        Well, it was in the car when I bought it. But it also had the E36 conversion mod done too...

        :P

        Ryan is a post whore af330i.gif

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        • B
          B
          B C
          wrote on last edited by
          #13

          Maybe all the ones I have seen have been in a bad state of tune, but I am just not that impressed with the M50. My opinion is that it would only be worth the effort to do an S50 at minimum, even then the S50 doesn't impress me much either (meaning that the cost and effort of the swap are not justified by the performance gains)

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            blebob
            wrote on last edited by
            #14

            Sagaris, I guess thats whu I'm asking questions now rather than be sorry I pulled a perfectly running e36 apart. I was planning on doing a stroker motor but thats not a cheap route either. Are there any good builders in the area, I used to use a guy on the north side of Milw but he's out in Cali now. I'd love for Jenny Morgan to do it but don't think thats going to happen. Anyway I'm weighing my options.

            Bill

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              C
              Chadley
              wrote on last edited by
              #15

              You can stroker an M50 for less than 1k.

              Get M54 pistons, crank, and rods. Drop em in, throw in either s5x cams or throw the intake cam out of an M54 in. You'll need trays and such and need to shorten the vanos gear by 4mm.

              Heres a build thread

              http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=569110&highlight=

              Brilliant, yes. But if you dont know how to engine work, this might be a bit too much. I wanted to do it, but I think I' mgonna go FI. since the new compression ratio would be 10.5:1, that would not work too well with a turbo...lol...

              Ryan is a post whore af330i.gif

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              • GunMetalGreyG
                GunMetalGreyG
                GunMetalGrey
                wrote on last edited by
                #16

                I will have done two swaps within the next month, m50 swap into my 89 325is and one into a friends 84 318i, they really are simple once you have all the parts, I would gladly do it for you if you don't want to tackle it, if you had all of the parts, or had money right away for all of the parts I could probably do it in a week depending on my work schedule. It's a solid power plant with a lot of room for mods, I have also dabbled in motor building, m50's anyway. Text me some time 920-851-497five

                ...

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                • EarlE
                  EarlE
                  Earl
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #17

                  Tim is getting an m50?

                  museum sig 2earl.jpg

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                  • GunMetalGreyG
                    GunMetalGreyG
                    GunMetalGrey
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #18

                    Has, needs to go in though.

                    ...

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                    • straight6pwrS
                      straight6pwrS
                      straight6pwr
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #19

                      yup i have an m50 swapped late model car.

                      didnt do the swap myself, bought it that way.

                      its an m50b25tu with the trans from the same car still attached.

                      with the 3.73 it was super torquey, lots of fun but too high of rpms for the freeway.

                      with the 3.25 it is still way better than the m20, but not quite as ballsy.

                      i have no complaints about the car except i dont think the brake booster was done quite right, as it leaks and causes a lumpy idle at times.

                      oil = so easy to change

                      power = good

                      27 mpg, 30 if i drive like a granny

                      anyone who tells you an m50 isnt worth it doesnt know what value is

                      Dan
                      yajsYRL.jpg.e5f350b4dfe961d76ac8b32efce2e1a6.jpg

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                        blebob
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #20

                        Hummm! Lots of good stuff here. Grey, if I were to decide to do this I may use your services. 6pwr, I know I like the m50 better overall, its got plenty of power but even better its dependable. I have always had problems with oil leaks with the m20, and I think the rubber band is a pain in the ass. I'm also really tired of having to adjust valves all the time.

                        That being said, I would like to take a look at a couple of finished swaps. I would love to do the swap myself, but I travel way to much to be able to get finished in this decade..

                        My car has over 285k on it but has a factory new steering rack , tranny, and 4:11 LSD in it. The car has no rust on it, and the interior is nice and soft yet. I've had both e36 325is and M3's and they are nice but I'm not really into the doctor, lawyer image thing, I'm old but I still like to let it hang out if ya know what I mean! The e30 is a fun car! I just want to make mine alittle less work to drive. After this gets done then I can do what I do! Paint!

                        Bill

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                        • GunMetalGreyG
                          GunMetalGreyG
                          GunMetalGrey
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #21

                          4.10 LSD will be horrible lol, I have a 4.10 LSD in mine right now, but thats only because I dont have money for something else lol.

                          ...

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                            blebob
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #22

                            I don't mind it, that keeps the motor right at the power band at interstate speeds. It also sounds better than any stereo;-) Aint much that sounds better than a BMW motor thats happy!

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                            • GunMetalGreyG
                              GunMetalGreyG
                              GunMetalGrey
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #23

                              Truth, with a nice exhaust you cannot go wrong with 3,000 rpm's, only thing is that first gear will be almost pointless, even with my m42 I fly through first. What year is the car you want to swap?

                              ...

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                              • K
                                K
                                kalib0y
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #24

                                I would do the 3.25 and no higher. My s50 e30 was perfect with that ratio, for the street, hwy and track

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                                • B
                                  B
                                  blebob
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #25

                                  The car I am planning on swapping is my 87 325is.

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                                  • GunMetalGreyG
                                    GunMetalGreyG
                                    GunMetalGrey
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #26

                                    Solid, looks like a nice car!

                                    ...

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                                    • straight6pwrS
                                      straight6pwrS
                                      straight6pwr
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #27

                                      feel free to come look at my swap whenever. i will be doing some maintenance in the near future (oil, ebrakes) so that day would be best i think.

                                      Dan
                                      yajsYRL.jpg.e5f350b4dfe961d76ac8b32efce2e1a6.jpg

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                                      • B
                                        B
                                        blebob
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #28

                                        Thanks Dan , I will let you know the next time I get down to the Milw. area. I was going to come down for the meet this weekend, but not going to make it.

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                                        • Q
                                          Q
                                          quillbro
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #29

                                          straight6pwr said:

                                          yup i have an m50 swapped late model car.

                                          didnt do the swap myself, bought it that way.

                                          its an m50b25tu with the trans from the same car still attached.

                                          with the 3.73 it was super torquey, lots of fun but too high of rpms for the freeway.

                                          with the 3.25 it is still way better than the m20, but not quite as ballsy.

                                          i have no complaints about the car except i dont think the brake booster was done quite right, as it leaks and causes a lumpy idle at times.

                                          oil = so easy to change

                                          power = good

                                          27 mpg, 30 if i drive like a granny

                                          anyone who tells you an m50 isnt worth it doesnt know what value is

                                          agreed.... they are much better engines for routine maintenance over M20's in my opinion. I have had a few swapped, a few M20's, a few m20 turbo's. The M20 turbos were the most fun but the most headache.

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