Seeking tips on salvage m50

[E30Martini]

Good evening masters of r3vlimited. I've been stalking around the bimmer forums for a while trying to decide what to do with my '87 es since its hg blew.

So I decided to go big! M50 vanos swap. I found a motor in my local salvage yard which seems to fit the description of the right motor for the job.

The good:
'95 525i 110,XXX motor, ebay header, ecu and harness for $400. I'm not married to it yet, so let me know what you all think about how good of a deal this is.

The bad:
Hard front hit totally what was otherwise a pretty cherry e34. I won't know what the actual condition of the motor is until my buddy and I have at the front clip with a sawzall. What I do know and is not promising, is that the back of the transmission is cracked.

I still have the inclination that this is worth slicing open to see if it is worthwhile, but if I do layout the $400, I'm married to it.

Any advice on the situation or *specific* damage to look for would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for your contributions to the BMW community and Happy Holidays.

P.S- Didn't have my camera with me today and I'm leaving town for Christmas tomorrow. I will post pictures of the pull when it happens around the second Saturday of January.

[MattM]

92 M50 wont be vanos. Mine is the same from an 92 525I(E34)

if the transmission is cracked that means that is has seen some pretty violent movement, and i would start with a compression and leakdown test before i go any further, also, push the clutch in and try to start it. it can run without coolant for a second or 2. if it fires then you know its good and just shut it down again quickly.

[herlsy]

It can be a tough decision to buy motors from the junkyard, after all there is a reason cars ended up there in the first place.

Since it has been wrecked there's a good chance the motor may be alright, but like MattM said, sounds like a pretty violent movement to the car to crack the trans. Can you rotate the crank by the main bolt? Does it turn over smoothly with no feedback? May be hard to judge if the trans is jammed.

Personally i'd probably go for it, but i wouldn't trust it to just throw in a car. I'd probably end up breaking it down a bit just based on the fact it was from a yard. Good luck.

[E30Martini]

Thanks for the feedback. The engine is a '95. Unfortunately, it is an automatic. Is there a way to fire this engine with an automatic trans that may not turn?

I won't have access to the crank to inspect/turn the engine by hand until I literally cut the front of the car off. The radiator is mashed around the front of the engine, but the engine itself looks largely intact.

They may not have the key for the vehicle. Does anybody know how to tell if the car has the coded key or not?

herlsy, I've only really gotten into my m20 in bmw world, any pointers on handling the m50 on a good going through?

MattM, good call on the compression/leakdown test. The results will surely end up giving direction to offer a lower price or drop the cause all together--considering the engine looks good enough to get to that point on.

Thank you!

[hugh jass]

the nose of the crank can get bent pretty easily in front impacts, and you won't really know it until you fire the motor and the crank pulley is wobbling. ask me how i know this.
the integrated oil filter housing will also likely get broken in any front end hit.

[E30Martini]

I couldn't see all angles of the integrated oil filter housing as the rad was wrapped around the front. If the crank isn't warped, I might be able to get them to throw one in from a parts car further in the yard (missing its head) if it is indeed broken.

Another thing to note is that the airbags didn't deploy. Could it be it didn't hit *that* hard or could be some other reason?

Thanks again!

[hugh jass]

If the nose of the crank is bent, and even if you get a replacement crank, the front crank journal could be egged which would mean the block is junk. You won't know this stuff until it's too late.
Two good rules of thumb - don't buy engines from front end hits and if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

[flyboyx]

those things hugh jass mentioned are possibilities to look at. i have also seen a junk yard engine or two in my day that had broken aluminum on the front of the head where the timing chain runs. a 95 engine won't start very easily without the key. that is the first year for a viable ews. with a jumper cable box, you will be able to bump the starter over to do a compression check though. don't worry that it is an automatic. the valve train will likely be in better shape because no one would have had an opportunity to do a money shift. if the transmission housing is broken, that means the motor mount arms are broken too. get yourself a couple of battery operated sawzalls and go to town on the radiator support to get it out of your way to see what you actually have there.