M50 vs M52

[Danger 31]

Done a fair bit of searching tonight but no solid answers.

Scenario is I have a vanos M50b25 in my e36. I have S50 cams on the way from a fellow forum member.

Now I can get an m52b28 with low kms quite cheap.

Is it worth the effort to build an m50b28 from the two or would I be better off just using the m52 with the m50 manifold?

Would the S50 cams fit the M52?

Any help or advice will be appreciated

[Ahmedsinc 414]

Simple answers:

S50 cams will physically fit but you still need a bit of machining and the correct lifters. Ideally you should have bought the matched lifters and trays with the bearing blocks.

If boosting the engine use the B28 crank in the iron block, though i don't understand why you're bothering with hotter cams if you're turbocharging. Longer duration cams = power curve shifting to the right. In your position I'd look for an M54B30 crank, might as well go for maximum displacement while you're in there. Google Steve Murch, MSE Engineering. NZ agent for Holset & knows a thing or two about boosting bimmers. Good luck

[Danger 31]

Thanks for the advice, I was/am under the impression I can use the S50B30 cams in the M50 head with M50 lifters?

I'm not set on turbocharging yet, just floating ideas and keeping an eye out for parts.

[Ahmedsinc 414]

B30 or B32 cams?

Both sets of cams deliver higher lift than B25, cam carriers need to be modified extensively to allow for the extra lift

Edited January 22, 2016 by Ahmedsinc

[Danger 31]

B30 cams

[Xcel 7]

I'm looking at boosting eventually with the M50B25TU myself. Planning on using an M54B30 crankshaft, M54B30 rods and pistons (perhaps replace with forged), M54B30 intake camshaft and MLS decompression plate.

[Ahmedsinc 414]

B30 cams

What sites are you getting your info from? If you have been on the American forums they are referring to the S50B30US, which is effectively an M50B25 with an M54B30 crank. Those cams will drop straight into your engine, the proper S50B30 ones will not without extensive modification

[Danger 31]

I got the euro spec cams by mistake. Will be listing them on trademe in the near future. Still on the fence about NA vs FI.

Kelford cam's regrinds seem like good value, anyone tried them?

[thorburn 121]

What are you trying to achieve and how much would you like to spend?

[jeff002 23]

force induction is easy way to goal

[Danger 31]

I dont really have a goal in mind. Pretty much just want my $1500 325 to be on par with an m3 for maybe 5k.

I already have a ton of projects so just a cheap opportunistic build ie if I found a cheap turbo capable ecu maybe id take that route.

I can fabricate, build motors and do wiring but tuning is still a mystery to me

[Danger 31]

Already got bilsteins/ eibachs, big brakes and a zf 5 speed. An Lsd, some bracing, weight reduction, some more power and it'll be a very fun little car.

[thorburn 121]

If you want something very cheap you could go for a speeduino ecu. Find someone who is keen to tune using tunerstudio(same as negasquirt).

[Ahmedsinc 414]

I see there is an S50B30 on trademe currently for $5500. M3 performance for around 5 grand. Easy.

[Xcel 7]

I do like how (relatively) simple an engine swap is and the S30 is a fantastic motor. I think you could get more power out of an M50B25 for $5500 with a turbo though, but it's hard to say based on the quality of the kits available until you actually test them. At least with an S50 you know it's going to perform reliably.

[Danger 31]

A little out of my price range as a lump sum currently. Will keep an eye on it though.

Those turbo kits look pretty hit and miss in a RHD, I'd rather build my own manifold

[polley 916]

I do like how (relatively) simple an engine swap is and the S30 is a fantastic motor. I think you could get more power out of an M50B25 for $5500 with a turbo though, but it's hard to say based on the quality of the kits available until you actually test them. At least with an S50 you know it's going to perform reliably.

Good luck building a reliable turbo m50 for 5500.

[Xcel 7]

Good luck building a reliable turbo m50 for 5500.

I wouldn't know how reliable it would be, but I'm curious to see how this combination would work:

turbo kit (with a better quality turbo/wastegate)

chip/MAF/injectors

cooling

+ exhaust

[Ahmedsinc 414]

I wouldn't know how reliable it would be, but I'm curious to see how this combination would work:

turbo kit (with a better quality turbo/wastegate)

chip/MAF/injectors

cooling

+ exhaust

Before you go jumping off the deep end, start doing a bit of research on proper ECU tuning vs. mail order 'tunes'. That setup is for the american market, based on their fuel octane, altitude, temperature range and a metric sh*t-ton of other variables that probably won't be of any use here. Taking a one size fits all approach to engine enhancement and tuning is a sure-fire recipe for failure.

I agree entirely with Polley, double your budget and you might get close to something that runs well and doesn't implode at the first sign of abuse. Don't forget that the better part of $1000 of that budget needs to go on getting the car certified afterwards - you won't be doing any miles at all if the car gets a pinkie for not being legal. You'll burn more than 5k on just acquiring all the parts, assuming you can do all the fabrication yourself. Look up Garrets build thread on his E36 turbo drift hack, you'll get a pretty good idea as to how much work is involved from there -will make that S50 swap start to look very cheap real quick!

[Danger 31]

I like the idea of the WAR chips however by the time you land one with AFM and injectors and pay GST on it you're in Link territory anyway.

[wrs 120]

You can check out my project to see what you can get from a NA M50B25nv turned into a M50B30 (M54B30 guts) + S50US Cams + Link ECU + M3 Headers + M50 Manifold:

Everything just swaps in and bolts up. The only machining required was to the alternator braket from the M52 to fit the M50 alternator.

http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/53887-e36-325i-coupe-project/

Only mistake was not using the M52B28 pink injectors. I'm going to swap to these injectors soon when the car goes in for a re-tune. It appears the bigger exhaust and fixing up the Vanos has stuffed up the original tune a bit so a good time to fix the injector issue too...

Edited February 12, 2016 by wrs