My m50 swap

[ahriley91]

I might feel bold tonight. It's almost the end of spring break and I want to feel like I got something accomplished before I have to go back to school. haha. I'm tryin to find m20 starter, single mass flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate. I can order the 323i throwout bearing from bavauto. Lucky for me though, school isn't to far from home, so coming home on the weekends to get stuff done isn't a big deal. I hope to get the thing running relatively soon. I need to find an e36 exhaust too.

[Wh33lhop]

Make sure to get the flywheel shaved down.

I did my swap with the E30 as my only car, and I did it on the weekends while taking 17 units of electrical engineering classes, 40 miles from home. It can be done. :p (it did take awhile though)

[ahriley91]

I saw that when I read your entire thread. haha. I was impressed. And still am. I hate when new people just ask and say that they searched when you can tell that they didn't because they are asking dumb questions. Every single bit of information that someone needs is on this forum. They just gotta search. That's my rant for the night. haha.

[xwill112x]

and I am now looking for a m20 starter, single mass flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, and euro 323i throwout bearing.

doesn't the stock m50 tob work??

[ahriley91]

Maybe if I was using a zf tranny? I'm using the 240 and going to the m20 stuff. Single mass flywheel will be better than my 28lb dual mass flywheel. haha

[xwill112x]

Maybe if I was using a zf tranny? I'm using the 240 and going to the m20 stuff. Single mass flywheel will be better than my 28lb dual mass flywheel. haha

i have the same setup. im using the getrag 240, m20 singlemass, clutch, pp, and starter. thought the tob for the m42 worked aswell.. hmm

[ahriley91]

Does it work for you? Cuz ordering one less part would be great! :)

[xwill112x]

i dont know yet, i havent got the m50 yet..! :razz:

[ahriley91]

Well get on it man!! All I have to say is prepare for road blocks. They like to pop up. And get all of your parts before hand. There is a website that tells how to convert the m42 to the m20 stuff, so it will work the same for the m50 with the 240. I'll post it for you.

http://www.blackforestindustries.com/m20flywheel.htm

Just substitute the changing the gear for the whole starter. haha

[xwill112x]

nice.thanks for the info, i didn't know that. its always the little shit! always!


but its nice to have someone to ask questions to thats doing the exact swap/setup im doing. i currently have the e36m50 arms, red label 413, the clutch combo as stated above, and the coding plug. should have the m50 soon. im using the e34 mounts and and some shims so i can clear the stock booster.

[ahriley91]

hmmm...Do the e34 mounts work? I used the e28 ones. No problems. I just picked up a brake booster and master cylinder from an e32. Mounted it without any modification. Might have to shave a few fins on the intake manifold though. Not sure though. Which m50 do you want? Vanos or no vanos?

[rosphill]

Re:

Nice swap so far! I'm picking up my Vanos M50/E36 tranny/driveshaft next weekend so I'm still in the research/ordering parts/prep stage.
I have a couple questions. Why is the entire front end stripped completely bare i.e. headlights bumpers etc? Also do you have any pics of where you have that jack stand placement in the front? I was thinking about putting the entire car front and back on tall ramps or jack stands but it looked like you were just rocking one front central jack stand?
Anyhoo much props on the swap I hope to be into mine soon.

[ahriley91]

Me stripping it was mostly by choice. haha. I pressure washed my engine bay so I just kinda felt like it. Uh...with the jack stand thing, there are rails behind the front wheels. There's a link on this forum for places to put jack stands. You don't really need to jack the back end of the car up. I didn't at least.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/tech/jackpoints/Jackpoints.jpg

Hope that helps.

[xwill112x]

im using a nvm50. and yes the e34 mounts work, and will allow it to clear the stock booster with some shimming.

what driveshaft are you using?

[rosphill]

Re:

Cool. Are you getting any resistance on the swap from other people who don't understand it? lol My parents are driving me nucking futz about it..
They're like "why not just buy a new car?", "Why would you put a new engine in a 23 year old car when the current engine is still running?", "that's a lot of money to put into an old car..." etc etc.
I told them an E30 m50 swap is not something you do because it makes sense or saves you money...its something you feel in your balls and you just have to do it! :D