E34 S52 touring??

[Rigmaster]

Well, I know it's been done- but does anyone have any good links/info on putting an S50/S52 engine (E36M3) into an E34- specifically a '92 525iT....


I'm trying to buy a wrecked E36M3, and I was thinking of putting the engine/trans into my '92 525iT.....though I also have a '94 318iA 4 door with a bad engine and clean body that would be the ultimate sleeper with the E36M3 drivetrain in there.... Imagine a boring looking 318i with 15" steel wheels with the M3 engine under the hood.... :)


C'mon- lets hear some ideas on how to spend my $$$$$!!!


Bret.

[BimmerMeUp]

This is not a how to, but reading it might alert you to some things you didn't already know:

http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=22629&page=3

If you do find a parts list and or instructions somewhere, it would be cool to know exactly what's involved.

My vote is for swapping the S52 and transmission into the Touring. Even though the 318 would haul ass, it can't haul much of anything else...

[Jon K]

All you'll need is the oil pan off the M50 from the touring, transmission from the M3, and custom driveshaft. You can OBDI that S52 by using the 92 M50 parts.

[Elekta]

http://www.terrysaytherauto.com/Performance/frames/PerfE34Frame.htm

Terry Sayther dropped an S52 into a white 525iT, but I can't find the right write up on his site. Above is an M3 E30-S52 conversion.

You should call him for the details.

[filip00]

i'd drop it in the 318i. and maybe change the badge to 316i :)

[gtopaul]

All you'll need is the oil pan off the M50 from the touring, transmission from the M3, and custom driveshaft. You can OBDI that S52 by using the 92 M50 parts.

Well not exactly. I put a 96 S52 in my 92 525iT a few months ago and there's more to just swapping parts from the M50 to the S52. Number one is he's going to need a Vanos engine harness from a 93-95 525i. The DME from a 95 M3, before 12/94 ok after 12/94 needs EWS delete chip from Turner. The S52 coils and valve cover must be changed to the earlier M50 or S50. Suggest new coils at this point since it makes a difference. The oil pickup tube and oil pan, intake manifold, airbox, and throttle body can be swapped from the M50. You need a 93-95 or 95 M3 MAF (4-pin instead of 6-pin). I chose to replace all the sensors with new stuff at this point because when going to all this trouble installing an engine why put old sensors on it. The S52 uses a crank sensor mounted in the back of the block unlike the front mount on the M50 but it'll swap and you can leave the stock S52 sensor where it's at unplugged. New crank sensor, cam sensor and knock sensors a good idea at this point along with new coolant temp sensors in the head.

I chose to use the stock automatic trans just to make things go quickly. I did the swap in a day but had everything ready to go beforehand. I did install a freshly rebuilt auto though. I've had no problems with this setup other than I installed a reman 94 525i auto and it didn't match up with the 92 trans contrtol module. That was quickly replaced with a proper 94 unit and no problems since. I also kept the stock 4:10 differential. On cruise control at 80mph at 3k rpm I got 33mpg on the last roadtrip. That's with 225/45/17 front and 255/40/17 T-stars mounted. The wagons heavy and it doesn't accelerate like a stock M3 but it certainly is as fast as my 94 540 and has suprised a lot of rice burners even with the automatic.

I've got about 2300 miles on the swap now and have had zero problems. No leaks, no nothing. The engine does have that M3 buzz a little bit at idle though but that's normal. Might want to install all new trans and engine mounts while your in there. I spent $3k for a 96 S52 with less than 50k miles on it and probably have about $6k total into the swap. It'll go another 180k miles though hopefully. ;)

Paul

http://members.aol.com/gtopaul/private/525m3001.jpg

[Elekta]

$6k?

Cmon. I would do that all day long if I didn't have a 3.0 pig under the hood. That is outstanding, and someone ought to buy up 3 or 4 525iT's and go into business. You figure $3k for the 525iT, drop $6 into it and sell it for $12 maybe? 30% roi. If you borrow, the cash on cash number would be even higher. If it's a lot of fun, by the second one you will have drilled down all the uh ohs and get a system going. Let the buyers do the suspension mod's, or cost plus the extra's.

33mpg? for under $15k? and it's an M? Smells like teen spirit (if you can picture the album cover. I know there's a lot of demand in here

well done, let's see the process pics.

g

[Kalevera]

Geoff, you front the cash and I'll do the labor. I'm looking for a cause these days. The one hindrance is that after 9k worth of parts, the product is likely to still be a plain jane 525 touring with a hotter motor and possibly transmission in it. I wonder if it'd need a suspension and wheels to make it a 12k car.

What kind of market do you think there is for an S50/2 touring? I'm thinking people would rather own an E39t with an S62 or S54. Just wait until those E60 M5 tourings show up.