New motor, day numero TWO

[Jon K]

http://www.blowneuroz.com/newmotor/6.jpg

http://www.blowneuroz.com/newmotor/7.jpg

http://www.blowneuroz.com/newmotor/8.jpg

Head and oil pan off... everything looks great!

BJL4776 said he had detonated on these pistons somewhat....

this is further proof that M50 Non Vanos > World.

[kyleN20]

jon, im looking at a 1995 318ti sport package (possibly club sport) wotha a bad m42 (or m44). i guess what im wondering, is, is it worth it to get a near mint 318ti with a bad motor for 2k as a project. o know i can get a 50k m44 for about 950ish.but would this be the perfect op for a built m5o/s52?

thanks for any input

[Jon K]

Dont bother putting in anoter M4x, if you're going to invest money in it do an M50/M52/S50/S52. If you find a car with a good motor.. and you're happy with it, leave it be.

[632 Regal]

whats the atv? at first it looked like the engine stand had air tires...lol

[kyleN20]

yeah, but is that a good deal? how much work/money am i looking into it i go for a m50. will it bolt right up to a m4x trans? figure im spending 2k on the car, what will i see coming if it neesds a motor and im upgrading. go ahead and pm me if you want, dont wish to hijack, the motor looks great. is that going in a e30, i replyed about extra e30's on BE. let me know

kyle

[Jon K]

yeah, but is that a good deal? how much work/money am i looking into it i go for a m50. will it bolt right up to a m4x trans? figure im spending 2k on the car, what will i see coming if it neesds a motor and im upgrading. go ahead and pm me if you want, dont wish to hijack, the motor looks great. is that going in a e30, i replyed about extra e30's on BE. let me know

kyle

no it's not a good deal. there's really no sense in buying a $2k car to swap a motor into - chances are in that budget hte car is going to need more work than that. To put an M50 driveline in means M50 motor, harness, ecu, trans, custom driveshaft for 318ti i think, i think you need to do a 325/M3 rear end too... so after you spend like $6k on a $2k car, you have a car with good power to weight ratio but poor traction due to hatchback design.

[winfred]

i've seen them bolt a s52 right up to the stock 318 5 speed and it's driveshaft so that's something that dosen't need buying, the diff can take it and if it's a posi unit doesn't need anything, regular e36 m3 diff would fit anyway as the ti runs a e30 trailing arm suspension


To put an M50 driveline in means M50 motor, harness, ecu, trans, custom driveshaft for 318ti i think, i think you need to do a 325/M3 rear end too... so after you spend like $6k on a $2k car, you have a car with good power to weight ratio but poor traction due to hatchback design.

[bjl4776]

Looks great for a 212k motor with a turbo. Glad everything is working out so far.

[Dave M]

Tops of those pistons look great for the mileage. Mine after 300+K had a larger carbon build-up. I'm looking at the same thing in my garage, except its progressing the other way (finally). New crankshaft is in, bores are honed and the oill pan/head will go on tonight.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

Dave M

[kyleN20]

screw it i think is the general consenus. heser the pics of the car, it looks pretty good from the outside, guy said it has custom bmw sport seats, black with red inlay in the middel. 126k and a 5 speed manual.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b216/kylen20/get-attachment.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b216/kylen20/get-attachment-3.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b216/kylen20/get-attachment-2.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b216/kylen20/get-attachment-1.jpg

whatever i guess

[winfred]

a 95 ti would be the ideal starter car for a 6 cylinder conversion as it's not obdII, you can do whatever you want with one of those and not have check engine codes to screw with you

[632 Regal]

Jon, can you see the cross hatch pattern on the cylinder walls?

[kyleN20]

seee, you seem to think this is a good idea, and jon seems to think not. i really want a 90 e30 325is, but icant find one, but this car dose strike my fancy.

[bjl4776]

Is the head design different on the M50 vs the M50tu. The reason i wonder is the pistons on the M50 seamed dished a little. When i tore the head off of my M50tu it it had flat top pistons with the cutouts for the valves, but i thought they both had 10:1 CR. Anybody know of this?

[infinity5]

seee, you seem to think this is a good idea, and jon seems to think not. i really want a 90 e30 325is, but icant find one, but this car dose strike my fancy.

IIRC, Winfred (like me), has an affinity for BMW hatchbacks, so he might be biased? :)

Jon: you mentioned the Ti having poor traction with the more powerful engine. Is that becuase the backend is lighter or becuase the 6 would make the front end much heavier than stock?

BMW needs a rear engined car.

[winfred]

vanos and non vanos heads are very close (externally the same) and could be interchanged if you put the cams and vanos unit on the non vanos head, not sure how different the pistons are, i've read that the non vanos motor had hotter cams and higher compression (beleave this is the reason that the non vanos motor had the same power as the later varible valve timing motor) but have not had a reason to research it personally


Is the head design different on the M50 vs the M50tu. The reason i wonder is the pistons on the M50 seamed dished a little. When i tore the head off of my M50tu it it had flat top pistons with the cutouts for the valves, but i thought they both had 10:1 CR. Anybody know of this?

[winfred]

i like the ti because i like the semi trailing arm suspension better then the z link of the rest of the e36s, it's more fun, tougher and easy to find posi traction diff's from e30s. the interiors seem to be less breakable then the higher end e36s, a ti is basicly a z3 (or e30) with a different body shell so the weight distribution is not going to be much different then a z3 with a 6 banger


IIRC, Winfred (like me), has an affinity for BMW hatchbacks, so he might be biased? :)

Jon: you mentioned the Ti having poor traction with the more powerful engine. Is that becuase the backend is lighter or becuase the 6 would make the front end much heavier than stock?

BMW needs a rear engined car.

[Jon K]

Jon, can you see the cross hatch pattern on the cylinder walls?


Jeff - absolutely. Theyre clear as day. I'd almost think the motor were rebuilt.

[Jon K]

vanos and non vanos heads are very close (externally the same) and could be interchanged if you put the cams and vanos unit on the non vanos head, not sure how different the pistons are, i've read that the non vanos motor had hotter cams and higher compression (beleave this is the reason that the non vanos motor had the same power as the later varible valve timing motor) but have not had a reason to research it personally


Winfred, the compression info is reverse of that. I've looked it up in bmw tech articles. The M50 vanos is 10.5:1 but has 228 cams. The M50 non vanos is 10.0:1 and has 244's. That is apparently what makes up the difference. The M50 non vanos pistons are dished (awesome for boost and focusing the combustion) while the M50TU are flat.

[Brandon J]

The M50tu piston skirts are also shorter, lighter, thus making upper revving a little easier.

I have seen the M50tu dropped into a 318ti using the stock tranny. It bolts in and as winfred said, it is basically a Z3 coupe. I would definitely do this project as the right parts are there from the e36 and Z3. No custom parts needed. Then as time goes by, you can always look into a 5 spd swpa from an e36, but again a donor z3 for parts from a salvage yard could do the trick for finding the necessary parts. As winfred said, the '95 is ideal as it is much easier to for the swap not worrying about OBDII. You might not even have to cut and cplice wires as an e36 325i wiring harness might simply bolt staright in. Looking at all the swaps out there, this one is one of the easiest in the sense that a M50 or M50tu in an e36 and Z3 already exists with a lot of them out there. So finding the necessary parts won't be too difficult. The etk here is a must, lol.

[laguner]

If you like the car and Like the original motor, I don't see a problem with dropping the same motor in and saving yourself a lot of work. I bought my 535i for $2200 and it runs and looks great. It needed tranny mounts, struts and a driveshaft. I look for a car that needs simpler things to replace and is driveable while the upgrades are being made. You gotta do what's right for you though.