My M52TU Swap

[hoveringuy]

Very interested to see how the cluster transplant works I have wondered about this myself.

On the subject of m52TU's how different are the oil passages in the head/block compared to the earlier engines?

I am assuming that since no one has gotten an earlier head to fit that they are substantially different. It's too bad since there is a nice m52TU sitting in a wrecked '99 528i at the local PnP. I would love to build a motor around that alloy block.

It's not that the oil passages are that much different, but the coolant flow has been completely changed. It's called "reverse flow" or something like that. Coolant passages will never allow an M50 head on an M52tu/M54.

[mightywhitey]

So before anyone gives me too much grief, I figured that since I am doing OBDII, I should use as much of the OBDII equipment as possible. So here is what I started working on today and will get more done on sunday. I took a spare instrument cluster from my 325e, took the guts out and cut out an outline to fit around the frame of the smaller e46 cluster. Then I took apart the e46 cluster and cut the bezels out so they would match up with the e30 frame. Mind you, these photos are all I have done so far and everything is really rough cut. It will be finished up by fusing the two clusters together using some of FUSER plastic welding products and paint. I have worked with their plastic glues before and they are great for body work and bumpers, so I figure it should work good here too.

Hope you guys like the idea.

cluster swap is looking good so far not sure why anyone hasnt done this before. Ill be following that keep us posted.

[Lawson509]

So I am quickly learning that in order to do this project, It is going to be a hell of a lot more work that first anticipated. To get that instrument cluster to work right, I basically have to adapt all the switches and sensors from the car... Everywhere, and then tear out all the control modules out of the e30, including abs control module, body control, etc. and replace them all with the e46 modules.

If I use all the e46 control modules it should work, but the speed sensors are setup different between the two cars, plus a few other sensors...

[Lawson509]

More progress!!!

So I my last post, a couple months ago, I figured out it would be a lot of redoing the entire car to get this swap to work. Now I have figured out what actually needs to be done and have started hitting the checklist to complete some of the items. I will be posting a lot of stuff so I will break it up into a couple posts

Honestly I have to admit, when I started, I only had a vague knowledge of how difficult this project was. On a scale of 1-10 for DIY'ers, it's probably a 11. So here's what I have been up to the last couple months:

A group of my fellow students and I went to the Las Vegas Sema Show this fall. I spent hours gleaning as much information as I could from anyone who was willing to spend time talking. Unfortunately there weren't too many people who dealt with BMW, but still, I picked up a lot of useful information.



Anyway I worked a bit more on the instrument cluster. Got the e46 case fused to the e30 case. The main thing I have been tackling is re-greasing the urethane bushings and re-doing the whole braking system. Since I am going to an OBD-II e46 electronics i figured out that the e46 uses the wheel speed sensors to calculate vehicle speed instead of the sensor in the diff. So if there is anyone out there hoping to do a similar swap, a later model e30 with ABS is a must. I am staying with ABS in the car. Only difference is that I am getting rid of the e30 ABS and using the e46 ABS system, including module, pump, a re-routing of all my brake lines.


Here is the original location of the e30 ABS pump


Here is where I mounted the new ABS pump. The reason I mounted it by the firewall is because the e46 intake is bigger and I have a Injen cold air intake that pipes out right where the e30 ABS was mounted. consequently ALL the brakes had to be routed to that side. The lines aren't as good looking as I hoped, but this has been my first time ever bending lines.


The e30 uses a brake proportioning valve and a single line that Y's in the rear to the two wheels. I caped one port on the Y and routed another new line from the right rear wheel all the way to the front.

[Lawson509]

other progress

Another issue that arises with the braking system is that on most M52 swaps, the intake runners are longer than an e30's, hence most guys run a smaller brake booster. The two main ones used are an e21 booster and the Porshce 944 booster. Guys using the e21 booster complain about less braking power. I decided on the 944 booster since that car is pretty close in weight to an e30. Stock e30 booster in 10.5" and the 9.5" diameter. I only lose an inch overall in booster diameter. The real issue that arises is the fact that the OBDI intake runners are a bit shorter than the OBDII ones on the M52TU. So even though I have a smaller booster, I still might have to index the booster away from the motor.


Here is the stock e30 brake booster next to the 944 booster which I sanded and repainted. You can see the size difference.


From the left: Stock e46 Master cylinder (the one I am using for reasons I will explain later), middle:e30 master, right: 944 master (surprisingly the 944 master is the exact same bore diameters as the e30.


More brake lines that I had to bend around the corner to give me more room.


here's what the 944 booster with e46 master looks like with the newer lines. still waiting to see what happens when i put the motor in again with the booster to see if I need to index it.

[Lawson509]

The engine mods have been going slow, but that might be due to my recent focus on getting braking issues worked out. The M52TU runs the oil separator off of the valve cover and dumps into the dipstick tube. With the e34 dipstick tube it doesn't have a port for that. Hoveringuy welded an addition tube to his (he has a phenomenal thread going on an M54 swap), I decided to tap into my pan another way.


I drilled a whole in the pan and tapped in. Doesn't look factory but it does just what I need.

In order to get power steering with the stock e46 pump, I doesn't actually fit. at least not with the pump my e46 was running. There are two different pumps, the other might have fit without modification. I had to cut and drill new holes into the bracketing power steering mount brackets. Before I did this the pump was hitting the pan. Now I have about 1cm of clearance.

[Lawson509]

I got the oil sump figured out. The welds were all tigged and don't look world class, but they work and are solid. I liked Hoveringuys design a bit better tho.

[BMWerke]

subscribed

[Lawson509]

Got the engine bay all cleaned up so I actually had a decent area to work with. During thanksgiving break I was able to do one test install, but ran into problems with motor mount bushings, transmission crossmember, and brake booster. Just figured out the cross member tonight and did another test install of the motor. The motor went in way easier this time with the new booster and headers. Had to modify the transmission crossmember. The angle of the new motor is different in the engine bay than the m20 so the transmission is angled accordingly.

I made a new crossmember, just wondering if anyone else had had to do this? also when I did the test install, I found that using non-offset motor mounts don't work. For now i am using the motor mounts from my e46 stuff. The motor mounts that everyone recommends for a 24v swap seem to be the same part # as e30 bushings. Plus they aren't offset. the mount arms only work with a offset bushings. Anyone had this problem either?

[RobertK]

Not sure if I'm convinced the OBDII swap is worth the extra effort to install a M52TU.

[Lawson509]

why OBDII?

I think it is worth the extra effort. First off, how many people actually have an OBDII e30 swap? hardly anyone. Second, I will have essentially two motors with keeping the dual Vanos and get an awesome power curve plus I will always pass emissions. Third, I will have traction control, which in the northwest is a must in the snow. I also will be able to turn it on and off at will. The main reasons I went OBDII is because it is a good challenge, a great learning opportunity, and nobody really has one.

Everyone has their opinions when it comes to swaps, I just think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

[RobertK]

I think it is worth the extra effort. First off, how many people actually have an OBDII e30 swap? hardly anyone. Second, I will have essentially two motors with keeping the dual Vanos and get an awesome power curve plus I will always pass emissions. Third, I will have traction control, which in the northwest is a must in the snow. I also will be able to turn it on and off at will. The main reasons I went OBDII is because it is a good challenge, a great learning opportunity, and nobody really has one.

Everyone has their opinions when it comes to swaps, I just think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Actually Matt Lown has done this already (actually swapped in the entire interior of an OBDII E36 M3) and its cool but there are a few more road blocks for the E46 stuff.

And I'm not knocking your decision to go OBDII I'm just thinking out loud from more of a performance perspective vs. labor. A complete S54 OBDII swap might be cool but the M52TU is a 192hp engine. I decided long ago if I'm going to take on a labor intensive OBDII project it better yield a 50hp+ advantage over my stock M20.

I totally agree its an awesome challenge to take on and I commend you on your efforts. If you dig around you might be able to find the thread where some guy did a complete S54 OBDII SMG swap into an E30. Some really good documentation in there you will probably need to tackle some of the trickier things like the fuel pump and fuel level sendor.

I will definitely continue to check in to watch your progress.

[Jand3rson]

Quick question for you, I have the opportunity to get a 944 booster and master from a friend for dirt cheap, what year (late/early) car do the parts need to come from to work with an E30? Are all the locations for the hardlines on the 944 master the same, meaning will the stock E30 hardlines bolt up to it?

[e30rapidic]

a buddy of mine has a TU motor in his e30 racecar. With the Pete M headwork and a few other things, he's pushing close to 240 at the wheels. Its OBDI though

[RobertK]

I also meant to ask what you were going to swap in the entire E46 suspension accommodate the ABS and traction control or do you have plans to modify the rings on your existing axels/hubs?