Some concerns after putting m3 cams in my m50

[dude8383]

Fredk is hooking me up with the newer style stop plates and diaphragm. Looks like I'm tearing it all back apart and doing it again. Yay!

Luckily the job isn't TOO bad, just sucks to do it in cold weather!

[JGood]

Fredk is hooking me up with the newer style stop plates and diaphragm. Looks like I'm tearing it all back apart and doing it again. Yay!

[dude8383]

;)

:rofl:

Doh!

[JGood]

Should have made a noticable difference in the car. We did s52 cams on my buddy's OBD1 m52 swapped e34 touring, with an Active chip, and it pulls much harder from 3k-redline!

I think m52's respond much better to s52 cams. I've seen some dyno 220whp or so. I'm probably more like 185-190whp.

Don't get me wrong, it pulls harder, but I guess I was just expecting a miracle. I spent more on this cam/chip combo then I did on the whole engine swap. So my expectations are probably way too high...

Once I'm able to beat on it a bit I'll report back. I was able to pull 94-95mph in the 1/4 mile previously, so I'll see what difference this makes.

[e30polak]

Should have made a noticable difference in the car. We did s52 cams on my buddy's OBD1 m52 swapped e34 touring, with an Active chip, and it pulls much harder from 3k-redline!

[JGood]

I hope you pair that up with a chip because it isn't reaching its full potential with a stock m50 chip.

I put the m50/M3 cams chip in at the same time.

;)

I had the exact same thing. I got S52 cams puts in, and soon afterwards my vanos started to rattle and tick very loudly. I just got the vanos seals and anti-rattle kit put in today. I still have the tick. But the car feels soooo much smoother with the seals replaced. Get the Beisan Systems Seals and anti-rattle kit. It makes all the difference in the world.

I bought all the parts from Beisan and it came to $80 bucks, so that saves a crapload of money compared to the Dr. Vanos setup.

Thanks, I'll look into that if the updated stop discs don't do the trick.

I had vanos rattle...and I had the old style thrust washer on the intake cam. First I replaced the vanos with DR Vanos stage 1, and still had the noise. Put the new style cam/vanos thrust washers and the noise went away.

The noise is not hurting anything..in fact you'll probably lose a fraction of a horsepower by fitting the new washers (makes the vanos engagement much more tight=friction), but it does make the motor much quieter.

Ed

Perfect. I think I will try this first if the noise turns out to bother me. It's a relief to know it's just an audible annoyance rather then a problem. Thank you!

[trackbball21]

I had the exact same thing. I got S52 cams puts in, and soon afterwards my vanos started to rattle and tick very loudly. I just got the vanos seals and anti-rattle kit put in today. I still have the tick. But the car feels soooo much smoother with the seals replaced. Get the Beisan Systems Seals and anti-rattle kit. It makes all the difference in the world.

I bought all the parts from Beisan and it came to $80 bucks, so that saves a crapload of money compared to the Dr. Vanos setup.

[dude8383]

I hope you pair that up with a chip because it isn't reaching its full potential with a stock m50 chip.

I don't think that the thrust plate will change much though. I bolted mine back up with the older setup but then again, my vanos unit was already fecked prior to installation.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...41&hg=11&fg=25

Newer style:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...37&hg=11&fg=25

I'm not 100% sure that the noise will go away though...might be worth it to replace the seals and this

[ed94r]

I had vanos rattle...and I had the old style thrust washer on the intake cam. First I replaced the vanos with DR Vanos stage 1, and still had the noise. Put the new style cam/vanos thrust washers and the noise went away.

The noise is not hurting anything..in fact you'll probably lose a fraction of a horsepower by fitting the new washers (makes the vanos engagement much more tight=friction), but it does make the motor much quieter.

Ed

[JGood]

I dropped a set of s50 cams in my 94 e34 m50 engine today. I got the timing done correctly and got the full travel of the sprockets, and the vanos was installed on the first tooth I could get it on. I used the cam blocks and tensioner (thanks FredK). I put the m50/M3 cams chip in at the same time.

The car pulls strong from what I can tell so far. There is ridiculous amounts of smoke, but it's the valve cover gasket leaking onto the headers, which is now plastic as opposed to rubber due to age. The company I ordered it from managed to not ship it by the date I requested, so it won't be here for another two days.

Anyway, I now have what I believe is vanos rattle. It's a loud rattling sound coming from the vanos assembly, and it's audible while driving.

My m50 intake cam didn't have the "spring style" stop plates at the end, and my s50 cam didn't come with them. So I converted the studs over to the older m50 style and used that setup. Is this a problem?

I'll have to let the drag strip trap speeds give me real numbers, but so far I'm not so sure it was worth it. We'll see. The ECU probably still needs to adapt a bit. I didn't beat on it too much as I was trying to break it in a bit and the smoke had me concerned.