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Some questions for S50us owners out there... slight problems here.

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    Some questions for S50us owners out there... slight problems here.

    I've put nearly 1,000 miles on my S50us swap so far. Loving it, though I had my share of hiccups along the way. At this point I don't doubt the reliability of my car, which is nice after the blood/sweat/tears/cash poured into it.

    Anyways, I'm still working out a few issues that could be major. The idle was crap but steady, so I replaced the ICV and that solved it. However, now that I idle steadily at about 6-700rpm (which I still believe is a bit higher than it could be) I get a lot of vibrations. It does stumble and probably misfire here and there, but really the idle seems decently healthy aside from the fact that I can feel the engine so much. When driving, it's nice and smooth. I have new e28 5-series motor mounts, new spark plugs. Does anyone have a smooth idle? Smooth as in vibrations, not engine speed.

    Also curious (though I suspect is related to vacuum and/or the TB) is the noise I hear during part-throttle from idle/stop. Sounds almost like dieseling, a very strange engine-clearing-throat noise coming from under the hood that only occurs from idle (parking, taking off). Doesn't seem bad but can't be good.

    Aside from those I have the common lifter tick. However, I think it is a bad case. Is there any harm in continuing to drive it with a loud case of the tick (don't really have a choice)? I don't remember a tick until a pseudo-track-day where I finally got to wring the car out a bit. I did not flog it as hard as I could have, I am running sport springs only. Figured that it was the heat and lateral acceleration, but ever since then the tick comes back once the car (water) is up to operating temp. Sometimes it's very loud, but that's when I check the oil to see that I've burned some and have room to add. I ran Rislone 100QR and that helped alot, but was only temporary. I run 15w-40, could probably use a change after the additives.

    Speaking of burning oil... I am fairly certain that's another problem. I seafoam'd the motor a couple weeks back, the smoke show wasn't that spectacular but the motor felt better. A few days later I started to notice occasional smoke after driving hard. At first it was very bad, like omg my car is fubar'd, but it's tapered off in frequency and intensity. Has anyone experienced residual seafoam burning off later, perhaps trapped in the intake? Coolant level is constant, and the oil cap is never milky. But, I'm burning enough oil that I believe it could be showing up in my exhaust and I probably need a rebuild on this motor.

    I'm mostly looking for feedback on whether I can take 6-10 months to save up for a proper rebuild from this point. Sucks, I should have rebuilt first, but I basically had one shot to do the swap before starting work so I took it. I won't be able to pull the motor on my own again, hopefully HPF here in portland can hook me up on some NA work.

    #2
    I installed my S50,I did a leak down test and found a couple burnt valves,so I pulled my head and had it rebuilt,I replaced a lot of parts,completely went threw the whole thing..since day one it's idled smooth,has awesome power and doesn't leak or bitch,i love it...( knock on wood).

    Sounds like you may have either a vacuum leak or check your coil packs..make sure one isn't breaking down

    Good luck,and let us know what you find..don't give up!
    NASA
    BMWCCA member
    PCA member 25yrs




    1991 318IS slick top
    1997 M3 sedan
    2001 325CI DD

    “whoever turns the wheel the least, wins"

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      #3
      what flywheel are you using? if it's an M20 one, it may idle a bit rough as it weighs less than the stock S50. My idle was terrible on the stock tune but is great with the new idle bumped up to 1000...per the TRM chip for a lightened flywheel.
      '87 325ic, powered by S50.

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        #4
        my car idled great at 1200, but that's easy to do. I'm actually using the ZF320, I bought a rebuilt unit from drive-gear. I mated that up with a south bend / DXD feramic clutch and I cleaned up the surface of the stock flywheel from the S50 and used that. didn't want the side effects of a light flywheel, and did research before concluding that even BMW re-uses stock 1 time up to 120k miles. my motor has less than that so I felt comfortable doing it.

        I put in a new TOB etc, all new gaskets and seals with new cooling system. basically everything that can be done without pulling the head. I do, however, have the old coil packs in there. strangely, I notice moisture on the front 3... moisture which must be oil but I replaced the entire VC gasket system and torqued to spec. not sure how oil would show up on the cover of the coil. it does not fire up instantly like I believe it should.

        the thing feels incredible when I'm driving, she rips hard and sounds awesome and I absolutely love the swap... no electrical trouble, no more cooling issues. she just makes some strange noises, ugh.

        I'm mostly annoyed that I do not have the time to pull the head myself, I never even had the tools or wanted to go down that path on my own. So, I'll be dropping my car off somewhere in the Portland area and asking them to either pull my head and R&R, or better yet pull the motor and do the bottom end too (I'm not sure how this all works, I'll be researching that... pulling the motor out must be absolute terror in terms of "labor cost").
        Last edited by butters; 09-01-2011, 06:42 PM.

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          #5
          Originally posted by e30rapidic View Post
          what flywheel are you using? if it's an M20 one, it may idle a bit rough as it weighs less than the stock S50. My idle was terrible on the stock tune but is great with the new idle bumped up to 1000...per the TRM chip for a lightened flywheel.
          pulled up my tune sheet and i indeed got the ltw flywhl optiong but i have an idle under 1000...

          Butters, i have that throat clearing sound you are reffering too. never really thought much of it though. i also have lots of vibrations, but i have custome delrin motor mounts that transfer quite a bit more.

          btw, im right off the 95 bristol ramp. have a s52 coupe and soon to be m50 vert.
          Originally posted by Lof8
          4 doors allow you to transport more whores.
          therefore, their value is much greater.
          Down to: 89 aw2 332i/4/5 , 70 Sahara 2002

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            #6
            Originally posted by Unearth078 View Post
            i have that throat clearing sound you are reffering too. never really thought much of it though. i also have lots of vibrations, but i have custome delrin motor mounts that transfer quite a bit more.

            btw, im right off the 95 bristol ramp. have a s52 coupe and soon to be m50 vert.
            nice, I'm in Portland until July, although I'm actually flying out for the holiday weekend.

            I guess I'll have to see how it idles once everything is worked out.

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              #7
              If lifters are very noisy, the solution would be new lifters. If ran hard for extended periods the cam carriers can get scored from worn lifters.

              diseling marbles rolling noise could be vanos unit needing rebuild, research this issue for e36m.

              one 24v I had prior had worn oil rings; compression was perfect x 6 and it did not burn oil unless idling.
              OBD1 M54/M52TU swap as a M50b25

              Z4 non powered steering rack fits e30



              Euro e46 2005/6 320d 6mt gearbox into E30 with M20 hardy and beck 1985 327s engine

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