S52 Swap - What to refresh while engine is out of car

[Deah7]

Hey guys,

I've been a long time lurker and owned one e30 in the past. I recently purchased an S52 that has already been converted to OBD1 but as of now I do not have an e30 to swap it into.

While I am waiting for the right car to come along I would like to go ahead and prep the engine. What would you recommend replacing while I have the engine out and on a stand?

I was thinking:
-Gaskets (oil filer housing, valve cover, oil pan (obviously), etc.) Should I consider doing the head gasket too?
-New water pump
-Thermostat
-Vanos seals from Beisan Systems

I do not want to spend $5000 on a complete rebuild but I would like to do this swap the best I can. Any recommendations you have on refreshing the engine, transmission and steering rack is welcome. Thank you for any help!

[Neil1138]

I have a pretty comprehensive list in my swap thread.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=305827

I replaced everything short of the head gasket and engine internals. HG job depends. I do regret not doing mine. Not because mine is bad or anything, but because I've been toying with idea of boost and I wish I had put an MLS head gasket in there while the motor was out of the car. Now it's going to be a pain to replace it.

Preventative maintenance is always better than corrective maintenance.

[Deah7]

I have already seen your thread Neil and it is perfect. I cannot express to you how much your excel spreadsheet has already helped. Also, your photography is beautiful. Thanks for all the help!

[Neil1138]

Thanks man, I'm glad it helped <3

[ClausE30]

I didn't bother with the HG either. I'm obd2 (being able to see what's going on is nice), but I replaced all vacuum lines, most easily accessible gaskets, cooling items, most sensors ( not necessary, I was tracking an issue $$), drvanos 1(make sure when installing it to align the teeth correctly, I thought I did.. But I was off 1).,

If you decide with the zf320 I'd suggest rebuilding the shifter pins first, my first zf320 had first and reverse issues (had no idea of rebuilding prior to installing), bought a lower mile zf from a junkyard and rebuilt that, the reverse and first pin sleeve was a total bitch to replace FYI it tends to adhere to inner wall.

Oh yea fuck those eBay headers, raspy thin metal, likely fitment issues, I'm switching back to obd2 headers. Also I want to run both o2 sensors in the correct place

GL, I learned a ton from my swap. Don't hesitate to pm me if you got questions!

[Deah7]

Thanks ClausE30. I was actually looking up the shifter pin fix today. Is that all you did to the transmission and how did it feel after you were done? The reason I ask is that there is a local ZF transmission for sale for $200. Its a good deal but the guy said that second gear has a whine. If I could fix that myself then I would happily pick it up but I do not want to grab an unfixable tranny.

[ClausE30]

I may be incorrect, but a whine cannot be solved by that. this pin fix is for issues related to 'finding' your gear, or simply put getting it in. Oh and I can't say for sure the difference noticed because i used a different ZF, but my first ZF needed a lot of force to get that bitch into first..now it shifts perfectly.

[Blackthorn]

Not to bump a dead thread, but what did you end up replacing? Im fixing to have my s52 out of the car and i want to do as much as i can with it on the engine stand.

[AllydNYC]

Not to bump a dead thread, but what did you end up replacing? Im fixing to have my s52 out of the car and i want to do as much as i can with it on the engine stand.

Regardless of what that person ended up replacing you should do what is below. This should take care of most, if not all of the common preventive maintenance items that would be hard to get to once the engine is installed. I went above and beyond this list but this, to me, is the bare minimum. If you removed the exhaust manifold I would put on new gaskets there. I would also put new gaskets on the intake manifold.:

• Valve cover seal
• Oil filter housing gasket
• Valve cover gaskets for the screws, you'll need 12, IIRC.
• Water Pump (Stewart one)
• Thermostat - Your choice of what temperature you want it to open at.
• Thermostat O-Ring
• Thermostat housing, usually comes with a gasket. I suggest just going with a plastic BMW one. When researching into it it seems the metal ones don't fit/seal as well among other complaints. I also couldn't find a OEM BMW one. Just replace the housing every few years as preventative maintenance while doing a coolant flush.
• Oil pan gasket
• Oil level sensor gasket (sensor on the M50 oil pan, not seen on an S52 pan)
• Oil pump pickup gasket (*note, I can't find a genuine BMW one that isn't a large pack of them)
• Rear main seal. Get this kit, it makes it very easy.
• Pilot bearing

I would also weld the oil pump nut or get a nut with safety wire.

*I linked to ECSTuning since it's laid out nicely and has pictures. I would contact Dave at Blunt Tech and see if he can source things cheaper. His email is DealinDave@blunttech.com

If the engine has age/higher miles, VANOS seals. And if you have the mechanical know-how on top of it, head gasket. Better to do it now on a stand and have peace of mind.

Don't cheap out. Really, don't cheap out. Get BMW (Genuine) OEM parts. A lot of people complain about Victor Reinz products and lesser quality parts. You either pay for it now or you pay for it later, unless you don't plan on keeping the car very long after the swap. Here's a thread from a week ago complaining about this: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=394723

Spend some time looking at build threads. The good threads, that are doing 24v swaps, will show you what people are replacing and what they are running into.

Oh, and you'll need this or something like this for when you're doing the valve cover gasket:https://www.ecstuning.com/ES1967642/

[Blackthorn]

Great info allyednyc i appreciate it.

[GG///M3]

Question I picked up a s52 from an automatic m3, and is there anything that needs to be added besides a flywheel when installing a manual trans on it?


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[pazi88]

Pilot bearing for clutch saft.

[GG///M3]

Pilot bearing for clutch saft.

Would you happen to know the part number?


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[Blackthorn]

Any recommendations on HG? I might as well do it while its out and id like to see the condition of things while im in there. And before people jump on the OEM band wagon, iv seen a bunch of HG upgrades with solid metal spacers and the like. I just wanted to see what peoples opinions on these were.

[exhaust]

I've used Elring gaskets on a several motors including my race car and they've always been fine. Victor Rienz gaskets get a bad reputation but I've used their full head gasket kit successfully.