darrencnz

Hey people. Am looking for some old front lower control arm bushing mounts for the left and right side so I can press in my new urethane bushes.

I dont really have the car off the road while I take mine out and get them swapped over so I kinda need a second set so I can just swap them out.

One of mine that is currently in the car is very new and there's nothing wrong with the other one either so am happy to send these back to someone if they want them

Would need to be cheap otherwise I'll just wait a day or 2 to press them out...

I don't get why you need the kit in the first place. I ran the m50 manifold, m50 TB, e36 Intake boot with 2 bungs, One I fit the IAT sensor into and the other one I fitted the m50 ICV lines but used the m52 ICV. Put a T into it with a tube for the Crank case.

I have routed the CCV hose into the oil dipstick rather than venting back into the intake manifold

I don't get why you need the kit in the first place. I ran the m50 manifold, m50 TB, e36 Intake boot with 2 bungs, One I fit the IAT sensor into and the other one I fitted the m50 ICV lines but used the m52 ICV. Put a T into it with a tube for the Crank case.

Basically, cos at the time i had an M52 engine thats was missing half its bits and pieces, i didnt take the engine out of the car myself, i had never worked on a BMW before and after reading and looking at all the misinformation and hack jobs on the internet i decided that the smartest way to approach this task was to get the kit that had everything i needed.

Because of my lack of detailed knowledge of the subtle differences between the M50 and the M52's engine parts, such as fuel rail, throttle body etc, i just wanted a proper solution that was affordable and tidy and this seemed like it...

Dont get me wrong, i'm very happy with it, engine runs great, idles nicely, has lots of power, no complaints, just wondering if the sound i am hearing at switch off is...

a) normal and nothing to worry about

is going to ruin my engine

c) i have something in the vaccuum line connected incorrectly

d) can be fixed/removed easily

This is normal. Your system is sealed up now so what you are hearing is the ccv leaking down (equalizing pressure) after there is no longer a vacuum source on the engine.

Before you did the swap there was so many leaky spots around the seals there was less overall vacuum in the crank case and when it leaked off after engine shutdown it just went around all the leaky seals instead of through the ccv.

If your idle is good and you don't have any other issues I don't think this is anything to worry about.

This is the email i received, the car runs fine, idles fine, all the rubbers are in good condition. I'd be interested to hear more opinions or perhaps a solution to the problem would be better.

The only thing i am not 100% sure on with this whole setup is the tiny little straw sized vacuum lines because the manual had clear instructions for M50 engines but not so clear instructions for the M52 which is slightly different in how these are connected.

Does anyone have this setup and NOT get a hissing sound on shutdown?

Cheers

Darren

I was running a one way valve from an m50 when I fitted to my m52. Idea is it keeps the brake booster under vacuum when car is off. Mash the pedal a few times and you lose the pressure anyway

That makes sense...

My e30/s50 coming from a MKII booster to the pressure rail. You can see the 1 way/filter there.

^ That looks purty.....

I got a one way valve today from cylinder head specialists today, so i've got that sorted. Just received an email from Eric at m50manifold.com and he said the hissing sound is normal, apparantely cos everything is sealed up nicely, its just the pressure equalising...

sounds like a vacuum issue, recheck the little vac lines. I used the kit from m50manifold from eric in the usa. if you bought it from him, i suggest you get in touch, hes quite helpful.

I've emailed the guy to see what he says so will wait to hear back but ive also found a forum online where lots of people have mentioned the same thing and everyones seems to think it is normal, like it is just the air escaping out of one of the cylinders and that the reason you ntoice it is because of the removal of all the factory airbox stuff and that theres nothing to worry about?

Maybe there isn't but i like to ask others opinions... I've installed the one way valve but havent noticed any difference in anything but thats ok.

sounds like a vacuum issue, recheck the little vac lines. I used the kit from m50manifold from eric in the usa. if you bought it from him, i suggest you get in touch, hes quite helpful.

Yeah thats what i thought too... I did get it from him but there was very little information about fitting it to the M52's

Hey guys

So i've had my M52B28 in my E30 for a while now but have pretty much finished most of the work on it and now it's time to iron out all that list of niggly little issues, i've mentioned a few of them below and would love to know your thoughts and opinons on what might be causing them and ideas to fix them.

1) I've done the M50 2.5L inlet mod and i have the proper conversion kit installed and something i have noticed is that when i turn the car off, i get a hissing sound of built up air somewhere that's trying to escape. If i push the gas pedal down, i can hear it releasing faster so im wondering where that problem is coming from, I wonder if i have connected the small vacuum lines correctly when i did my inlet conversion as all the info about what vacuum linbes to connect were for the M50 engines which have some different inlet bits or it it may be a combination of some of the other questions below so keen to hear your thoughts.

2) I've replaced the brake booster with a VW golf Mk2 and when i did this, i wasn't sure if there should be a one way valve in the 1/2" rubber hose that goes from the booster to the plenum on the inlet, again, is this related to the issue i mentioned above?

Is this an m50 or m52? The reason I ask is cos my m52 had factory stainless headers, these look cast... Could this be something to do with it?

I also had to put spacers in my rack mounting position, and my engine mounts look taller than those...

If you do have a 2.9 or there abouts it'll be pretty much spot on with the ZF box if it's the E36/46 box with 1:1 5th. Close as damn it to factory 2.98:1.

Awesome... This is what i'm working toward so that's great to hear...

My Getrag 240 has done 250,000kms so it's geting replaced when i have some spare cash and can find a ZF 5spd

yeah in the 240 1:1 is 4th gear.

with a 2.9 youll have quite long legs.

not sure what your car will have originally, if it was a 320 or 318 auto it prob has something around a 4.45 which will make it rev quite high.

I have a 3.64 with a 240 and its about right for me.

Are you also running the M52B28?

Mine was a 320SE NZ new 5spd from factory but i've replaced the current diff so i know it's not the factory one and didn't take much notice of the ratio, there was no tag on that one either.

I guess i'll just have to wait and see but currently 1st gear is almost useless, and im mostly curious about the relationship with the newer 5spd gearboxes as that's what will eventually go in there.

I can deal with longer legs with the 240 but if it meant even longer again with one of the newer 5 speeds i'd be a bit bummed. I just didn't expect it to be so high TBH

I had to shorten mine, i just bolted it together with washers and spacers, lots more clearance. no dramas..

Hey guys

Currently having my LSD rebuilt with new bearings and seals. I called to find out the ratio as the tag was missing and could've been wrong anyway... Apparantely it's a 2.9

It's going in my 1990 E30 with 2.8L M52 which is currently running the standard Getrag 240 gearbox and im not exactly sure of the ratio of the current diff but its quite low. I cant measure the RPM as my tacho doesn't work at the moment but i hardly use 1st and she revs quite high in 5th on the motorway.

My questions are.....

1) What is 1:1 in the Getrag 240? is it 4th gear?

2) Does anyone else run this high ratio diff with this setup adn what are your thoughts?

3) When i eventually put a ZF 5spd gearbox, how will this change things?

I'm staying with the 2.9 regardless as it's being rebuilt now anyway, it was difficult to find in the first place and i got a sweet deal on it. Im just curious as to the difference between what im currently running as it seems like the polar opposite and i would prefer a higher final drive ratio than i currently have just not sure if this is too far in the other direction.

Chur

Darren

Yeah i managed to get a bit of pedal back from adjusting the rod, maybe im expecting too much, my thought was also the linkage issue, id love to test drive a LHD to see the difference.

I just really like a firm pedal and after replacing the entire brake system, i thought it would be better than what it is, the brakes are there but not as good as id like them to be.

Hey people

So ive just finished my m52b28 conversion in my e30 and i seem to have all the red warning lights on on my instrument cluster.

Something i realised when trying to diagnose it was when i unplugged the x20 plug in the engine bay, all the lights of concern were off as they should be, the handbrake lights up like it should and the brake fluid level is off as it should be.

When the x20 plug is plugged in, i get all the lights lit up about 3/4 when i put the handbrake on, you can see it light up just a little bit more as though it is now lit up fully.

Im not really concerned about the brake pad wear light as i can just remove the bulb and forget about it, but theres something not right to cause the others to light up like they do.

Any ideas? I know a lot of people have done these conversion and wonder if anyone else has had the same issue? Apart from this, everything else is great, everything runs and works as it should.

So i've got the car back, new discs front and rear, new pads front and rear, new shoes in the rear, resleeved master cylinder and vacuum bleed and a Golf VW booster...

Still feels horrible and spongy but it does stop the car, i just hate a spongy pedal, any suggestions?

So she's finally a runner, realised whilst testing everything that the thermostat had stuck closed, probably from being dry for a while. I was waiting to test for the electric fan and noticed it wasnt warming up on the lower hose so i replaced that and everything works a treat.

Also put some black interior in and replaced the ugly blue interior.

Hey guys

I've got an M52 engine and have removed the heating for the throttle body and i want to have the pipe brazed cos i really dont like having a short piece of rubber hose clamped on with a bung in the end.

My question is, How do i remove the black metal pipe from the engine that the heater and the water heating for the throttle body are fed from, it looks like it is just bolted to the engine but how is it connected and sealed where it joins the engine?

I dont want to start pulling things apart and damaging stuff without first understanding how its sealed and how to remove it properly as i've never pulled one of these engines apart enough to know... I dont want it to overheat one day and ruin the engine becuase i was to lazy to seal up a heater pipe properly...

Cheers

Thats cheep! Surprised it hasnt sold...

If manual gearboxes were easier to find i would've just put one in but i didn't want to hold up the whole project just for a gearbox when i had one that would work... It seemed pointless at that point, it also gives me a chance to create a version 2.0

Yeah, i may change it and customise my original mount at some point or just wait and upgrade the gearbox and run the standard mount, im not sure just yet...

Getting a warrant for this isn't really a problem for me, and if i really wanted to, i could make an aluminium section to cover it and no-one would be any wiser, if people wanted to get really tech then the engine should be certed too because of the additional capacity and power output but to be honest, i dont really give a f**k...

Hey people looking for an M52 engine wiring loom from an E36, PM me if you can help.

Brown is ground. Purple / red dosent sound right. All the ones I've done have been green/ purple on both sides.

Ill post the diagram i used, i have found a few others as well and they all say the same thing so i assumed this was correct as all the wires and colours they say were correct to the pins etc... I just dont have them with me at the moment but be interesting to see what others think...

I'm not really sure, I'm not connection up things that I'm unsure about. I thought it could be a ground too but not 100%

Yeah everything's ground correctly, the wiring diagrams I've looked at all say the same thing and all the wire colours were exactly as the wiring diagrams said they were.

C101 pin 13 purple/red to x20 pin 13 green/purple

Will get everything else sorted first and then send it to someone to sort out, it won't be much, I'm sure, just someone that's familiar with it... Electronics just ain't my thing and my time is more valuable spent elsewhere, I'll leave it to the pros.