wrs

One thing hopefully someone can help with as I'm getting a bit of conflicting info from manuals and Google; Has anyone done a manual conversion replacing a Jatco Trans before? If so, the wiring diagram data and wire colours don't seems to match up for the reversing lights. My car appears to have a brown wire for the reversing lights going back to the X20 connector, pin 10 (engine loom side) where all the drawings I have say it's supposed to be blue/yellow.

I went into the workshop today to check out progress and do a bit of wiring - sometime handy being an electronics engineer... It's looking pretty good. Everything is in except: Coolant Overflow Bottle - doesn't fit on the all alloy radiator. This will be mounted elsewhere. Driveshaft - the wrong front half was supplied and doesn't fit - looks like it came off a 318. The correct one will be sent out on Monday. Today I installed the Link ECU, changed the wiring for the AIT sensor (as we're using a LInk one in the inlet pipe vs the BMW one in the manifold), installed the relay and wiring for the 1980CFM electric fan and connected the relay control to the old pirge-valve cabling. The USB lead from the Link ECU was also put through into the glovebox for easy in-car access. Left to do is create a 1mm alloy sheet air duct for the bottom of the radiator - removing the airconditioning cooler also took out all the air directors and surrounds so new ones must be fabricated of most of the air will bypass the radiator and go under the car. Here's the engine installed now looking like a M52 due to the M52 Vanos, Cam Cover, Coils and Oil Filter Housing More pics to come of the gearbox etc.

I'll take pics this weekend. 6-Speed box has 0.83 top ratio. I'm starting with the original auto diff @3.7 and the 6-speed drops the 100km/h RPM from 3160 (5-speed) to 2620. If this turns out to be too high and too fuel hungry I'll consider changing to a 3.4 which will make 2400 @ 100km/h. With the 3.7 diff the pick-up will be much better... Depending on off-the-mark performance I could even look at a diff ratio down around 3.1 as this would mean a single gear-change to get to 100km/h vs 2 changes (102km/h at redline in 2nd (@6800)).

After almost 1 week at the shop some pretty good progress has been made with a few learnings along the way. The non-vanos head has been converted to vanos and the Shrick M3 cams installed. The cams were a bit tight and had to be ground slightly to fit properly. The old cams and new were sent to the local engine shop and the journals on the new cams ground to match the old. I don't know how much needed to be removed but the outcome worked out well. The vanos bolted straight up. The modified wiring loom had 2 issues with connectors not matching. The were some male/female differences - appear not all M50TUB wiring looms are created equal. This will be resolved but cutting off the wrong plug and solder/heatshrink the correct plug onto the wiring loom. The maunal conversion is done. The supplied manual conversion kit came with a dual-mass flywheel which I wasn't too happy about. The supplier said they would provide a single mass but... To save mucking around and because time was short I decided to just buy a solid flywheel kit from NZAD - they had one in stock. It meant no shagging around trying to find an E30 flywheel and matching components to work in the E36. The engine and gearbox were being attached this afternoon and re-installed into the car. The driveshaft supplied in the manual conversion kit was for a 5-speed and a 6-speed box was supplied so the driveshaft is too long. I knew this and accepted it prior to being shipped. Tomorrow the driveshaft will be sent out to be shortened to suit. All going to plan the driveshaft should arrive back on Monday. On Tuesday the car will go in for dyno tuning and I should get it back Wednesday. I'm going to ask for the dyno plot so I can post it here - not sure what will be achieved re KW but should be reasonable - assuming nothing goes wrong... Other mods not listed above that have evolved since the original post: Cold Air intake added - DIY airbox built where the old airbox goes + Greenfilter pod-filter and 76mm direct pipework added. The MAF has been deleted. The purge filter has been deleted and a carbon filter to atmosphere added to the fuel breather. The Oxy sensor has been deleted. The link will be tuned using MAP, IAT and TPS only. Knock sensors will only be used as a security measure. The main cooling fan has been deleted and a 1980CFM push-mode electric fan added controlled by the Link ECU. The airconditioning control, aircon radiator and wiring has been deleted (never worked since I purchased the car 13 years ago so why bother with it now)... Will report back once all going... Will also try to get some photos...

Thanks for the offer. I'm in Napier so a bit out of the way. I'm already committed to this path and the car is going into the shop on Monday for the upgrade so a bit late to make changes now... One other change being made not mentioned so far is the MAF is being removed so MAP & TP will be used instead. This should help remove a little more restriction from the inlet. Will report back how it goes + any problems found along the way.

The stroker compression has been confirmed to be 10.5 I did a bit of research regarding the M50 vs M52 manifold. Looks like the M50 is the one to use as it flows significantly better at high RPM. There will be little to no impact on low-mid range torque due to the addition of vanos, cams and the Link ECU. It will certainly be much better low-mid torque than just leaving the standard non-vanos M50 cams in the engine with no vanos... I found a good dyno test showing the M50 manifold makes a big difference at high RPM. The configuration I'll be using will be similar to the second to last test (with the 252/244 cams). http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/3351/Tested-S52-vs-M50-Manifold-and-the-TMS-Stage-2-3-Packages-for-the-BMW-E36-M3.aspx Since the engine will be dyno tuned I should be able to get the graph to post here...

I tried to find used S50US cams locally but no luck. Must have called 50 used parts suppliers. Didn't think about asking here though :-( Ended up getting a set of New Schrick cams - ouch!!! So, standard US S50 duration 252/244 - should be much better than the standard 240/228. At least with new cams the risk of problems should be reduced. The M52 was cooked - very low compression and I'm not sure what state the head is in. I only got it because it was very cheap, much less than buying the vanos bits I needed for the the nv to vanos conversion separately. I also wasn't considering the possibility of swapping more major parts at the time I picked it up either... I'll be replacing the M52 vanos seals before using it too. Re M52 manifold - really worth doing or not? As you say, the vanos and B30 will make a big difference to the low-mid-end torque already. As long as the M52 manifold doesn't reduce torque at higher RPM and helps increase low-mid RPM torque then it's worth doing. I've had a M50B25nv for 13 years so I'm fairly used to no low-end torque but lots of revs (car before the E36 was a Ford Escort with a 2L Sierra engine running Cosworth A6 cams 5000-9000RPM) - I've always been a bit of a rev-head. However, this project has the opportunity to improve round-town drivability too so if low-end torque can be improved without affecting high-end torque, definaely worth doing.

No worries, p*ss away :-) I want to find out any issues before the car goes to the shop... The main reason for using the non-vanos head is the M50B25 stroker is already built - I purchased it already running at a much lower price than I could have buit one for + it already runs (risk reduction). I don't want to take the head off an already running engine unless I absolutely have to. I'm not sure what was done about the compression - seems to go alright though, much better than my 2.5L. The engine was built by one of the guys at HellBM so they've hopefully done something to sort out the lower compression (or maybe not so I'll check) - didn't know about this issue prior to buying it. I suspect most of the parts have or are coming from members of this site. Yes, S50US cams so should be no problem. Did accidentally get a set of S50 Euro cams and found they wouldn't fit - duh!! I have the full M3 exhaust including the headers coming. The M52B28 is buggered - got it for almost nothing + I want to keep the M50 so the car looks as stock as possible. I have a M52 inlet manifold - if it flows better than the M50 then it would be fairly straight forward to swap it while the engine is still out of the car (could just swap it, injectors and all). I thought the M50 flowed better but maybe this is just the M50 non-vanos vs the M50 vanos manifold. Yes, I am making things more complicated than they need to be - it's all to keep the car looking as standard as possible. Thanks for the input though - possibly have a gotcha already (compression)...

Yes, it's an expensive upgrade and certainly not worth it based on the car value but that's not why we make these changes... Yup, keeping the NV head to get the 7mm valves and double valve springs. The cam trays are the same as the 93 & later M50 vanos so S50 cams will drop stright in.

Thanks - good spreadsheet!!

My 1992 E36 325i Coupe has just ticked over 324k's and is fairly buggered. Shortly it will be getting a new engine and manual conversion. I'm tempted to wait another 1000km's so my 325i will have done 325k's... The current engine is M50B25nv with a Jatco trans and everything else pretty stock. The trans was fully reconditioned under insurance about 11 years ago and has done 210k's and is still going. The local trans-shop did a very good job!! It's near buggered again now though - the jerk is back and it flares a bit from time to time. What's going in: M50B25nv stroked to 3L (M54B30 internals) S50 Schrick Cams + Vanos conversion & oil filter housing from a M52B28 (this is supposed to work) Update - S50US Schrick Cams... Getrag 6-speed manual conversion kit M3 Full Exhaust Update - Including Headers New all Ally Radiator Link G4+ ECU M50TUB25 Wiring Loom The engine will be dyno tuned. Using the Link ECU means I should be able to use the M50 crank and cam sensors but will learn if this works at startup. I have a M52B28 donor engine to rob all the vanos parts required. Depending on advise the injectors may also be used from the B28. With the B28 available to rob parts off, if crank sensors, harmonic balancers, cam sensors etc need to be change over to get things working they will be immediately available to install. Many hours of research has gone into the project to make sure all the interchangable parts will fit but due to the amount of conflicting info on the net I'm not 100% sure all the ducks are lined up. The non-vanos to vanos conversion of the M50 head should be straight forward - the S50 cams will drop straight in and only the front right corner of the casting need to be dremelled a bit to get the vanos clearance. The two heads share the same vanos gasket and same cam trays. The reason for using the M50B25 as a base is so the car looks stock when the bonnet is opened. At this stage the car will be going into the workshop in just over a week. Have I missed anything, that's going to bite me?

Thanks for the help and suggestions in the previous posts. Based on comments made above I did a little more research into driveshaft vibration problems - specifically looking for info where people had an original BMW driveshaft reconditioned with new UJ's. I found 3 separate instances (one here) where people had issues with driveshaft vibration immediately after new UJ's were fitted - even if done by a good machine shop and properly balanced something was different causing a vibration. So, I ordered a second hand driveshaft from SD and fitted it today. All vibration is gone. With the previous fix of the rear gearbox mount fixing the shudder and a genuine unmodified BMW driveshaft I finally have no more problems. So the few warnings you see on various forums about it being very difficult to get a reconditioned BMW driveshaft to be successful appear to be very accurate - I've given it 5 goes at 3 different shops with 3 different types of UJ's and none of them have worked. The irony of all this is I only reconditioned the first driveshaft because it was way cheaper than buying a brand-new one from BMW spare parts. After 12 years of owning the car the spare part price has dropped significantly and a brand-new driveshaft now only costs about 20% more than a recon...If only I'd checked this before trying another recon a few weeks ago...

Thanks for the response - will try to answer all the above in the same order: Yes, driveshaft has been balanced all 5 times it's been done - have seen it being done twice - yes, 2 piece balancing with the hanger bearing already fitted - you can touch the hanger bearing and it's smooth as. 3 different people have had a go at doing the UJ's all with the same result. Is usually balanced at 1000-6000 RPM range but not below 1000 RPM where the problem first starts when in the car. It appears to be possible to replace the UJ's - the Hasting BMW shop has done it a few times using the same machine shop I've used twice and they've never had problems. No guibo - Jatco Auto (oh yeah) - the trans flange bolts directly to the first UJ flange. Currently running on the original trans after a full rebuild. Has had a temporary second hand trans in it too (while the original trans was being rebuilt) with the same resonance problems. As above 3 different workshops have had a go at doing these - 2 of them very good one very bad (first one - got a refund). If you put the trans into neutral and let the car coast down in speed as you pass through the road speed the resonance occurs at it happens. Happens at any torque but a little worse under load. Engine has done 180k with no major change in the resonance since the problem began - seems to be due to other factors, compression ok for the k's. Doesn't appear to be excited by the engine. Is road - speed dependant only and not related to engine speed or the gear you're in. Driveline missalignment - unknown and will hopefully find this out on Wednesday. If it's been crashed prior to me owning it, it's not on any NZ records. It's an import so who knows what happened outside NZ. Currently has all genuine BMW mounts for the engine, trans, rear subframe, aftermarket trailing arm bushes. Engine M50B25 - original, no mods - computer rechipped. The problem was there before the rechip though.

Hi, I've been trying to find the source of a long-term driveshaft resonance problem. Every 30,000k's I need a new set of UJ's as they're stuffed due to the resonance problem. If the heatshield is removed, the halfshafts disconnected from the diff and then the car run on a hoist you can see the driveshaft going into resonance at specific speeds - can move up to ±5mm in the centre hanger bearing. Things that have been done to try to fix the problem: Replace the driveshaft with a new one with new UJ's and new hanger bearing (3 times). Replace the diff. Replace the Gearbox. Replace the Gearbox and Engine mounts. Replace the diff mounts Replace the rear subframe mounts. Replace rear trailing arm bushes. None of these changes have ever removed the resonance - just changed the frequency a bit or made it better for a short time but it always returns. New rubber mounts only hide most of the problem for a while but it returns within 2000km. It seems none of these changes have fixed the underlying problem causing the resonance and only temporarily masks it at best. The resonance frequency changes when parts are replaced - eg a new gearbox mount. The frequency goes up due the mount being stiffer but as it softens the frequency drops. Depending on the state of the rubber mounts (new vs been in for a while) the resonance occurs first at about 37km/h when the rubber is new and drops to around 25km/h as it softens. The resonance is also present at higher road speeds at multiples of whatever the first resonant frequency is at the time (eg; 25, 50, 75, 100km/h). At higher speeds the driveshaft moves a lot less but causes vibration instead. About the only thing not done which will be checked this Wednesday is to check the alignment of the diff and gearbox flanges to make sure they are parallel. Any ideas???

A while ago someone here had an avatar called hail.gif - a little guy would hold up a BMW sign and all the other little fellas in front of him would bow down. Anyone got this?

My car is now fixed and to top it all off the small flat spot at about 5500RPM is gone. My old fuel pump must have been on the way out for a while... I'd like to say a big thanks for the huge support shown by many members. I had many PM's offering to help. Quite inspiring actually and great to see there's so many people willing to help. If I can ever return the favor...

Hi All, My fuel pump has given up. Where is a good place to buy a good quality replacement that doesn't break the bank? Thanks.

Can you make your own rollcage? I made mine for my old racecar (before I found BMW's) and it didn't cost all that much. Not up with the latest regs on racecars anymore. 15 years ago when I made mine you could make your own cage as long as it was inspected and passed by the appropriate authority... I used seemless tube, sand filled and capped it before bending so it didn't deform. Had a sweet lookin cage that slowly turned into a space-frame. That allowed me to start cutting out huge area's of steel (like the floor) and replace it with aluminium etc... By the time it was finished, it extended front the front to rear suspension. Ended up taking 77kg's out of the car and making is many times stronger. It was one strong mother when finished. However, it was a Ford so it was doomed before it began!!

I bow down to your patience - heatgun and scraper - must have taken weeks!!! :bowdown:

Don't know how much, mines hydraulic... Good luck!!

Does E30 have knock sensors. Excess internal engine noise might be tricking the knock sensors into thinking there's detonation, hence the loss of power and rev limit... Have read elsewhere that noisy tappets can trick the knock sensors. It's a wild guess really... Until sorted, I wouldn't rev it too much or load the engine too much. If it's timing related, you don't want to burn a piston. Have done this before!

Ok, here's an update. Still battling the problem... Changed the diff. Less noise but no change in the shudder. Changed the centre hanger bearing and rubber mount. 25km/h strong shudder gone. Now there's a low frequency annoying shudder of about 15-20Hz at most speeds from very slow to damn fast. Is less on very smooth roads. Wheel balance checked - ok (was unlikely to cause this issue). Rear shocks and top shock mounts replaced. Now is higher frequency shudder at 20-25Hz - what you'd expect from tighter shocks. Got under the car tonight and got the misses to put the car from forward to reverse on the auto. The diff is tipping up and down with the change. It's a total of about 4-5mm at idle torque. Got her to give it a bit of gas with foot on brake pedal. The diff kept tipping and moved about another 3mm with about the same level of pedal to do 50km/h. Noticed a large crack opening in the rear diff-mount rubber on the passenger side and the whole mount was deforming quite a bit. Maybe this is flexing like a bastard while driving normally causing the shudder. Also the whole subframe moves a small amount. I guess its supposed to move a bit. Anyone got any experience with diff movement. What's acceptable. I'm picking all my diff mounts are shagged... I know the cracked one is for sure is changing to an oval shape... Also going to change the rear gearbox mount as it's soft as. RH engine mount also has very small splits forming so will replace this too. Not leaking yet though...

Got the local BMW dealer to take out the driveshaft and get it checked. The guy's who replaced the universals recently got it pretty wrong. The first universal was put back off-center and not-straight. It was also quite out of ballance. Now the vibration is gone there is only the shudder left. The vibration used to dominate the shudder above 25km's but now it's gone it's possible to feel and hear the shudder at most speeds with 25km's being the worst. I dropped off each end of the half shafts and they are very rough (quite coggy) so it looks like they are stuffed too. Have 2 new ones to try. If that doesn't fix it, the spare diff I've ordered should. The shudder has been getting worse and now feels a lot like axel-tramp. It gets worse the longer you drive it until about 1 hour when it just stays really bad. So when it's cold after sitting all night it's not bad. Anyone ever heard of an auto gearbox doing something like this?

Looks like both Auctions have been withdrawn. They didn't reach the $95 reserve anyway...

Yikes, mines been like this for 6 months!! I've had it to every suspension / drivetrain specialist in HB and to the local BMW agent. Nobody can say what it is. All they can offer is replacing bits until its ok, - sounds damn expensive to me... Thanks, sounds like I best change it sooner rather than later.