So, tell me how you like your S50/S52 swap...

[aeryk7]

Agreed with everyone , i love my car . I wouldnt have chose any engine but the s50 . They are much more reliable than a turbo setup and are a lot more user friendly especially when you do your own work. Plus turboing the s50 later with thicker head gasket , ARP studs , and low boost and you will put an owning on Z06's if you get traction.

[MR 325]

Great replies guys, thanks!

[MR 325]

If you go s50 you wont end up on a flat bed.

haha, the reason for the tow was a thrown belt, nothing turbo related. :)

[87Blue325iC]

Any sort of ballpark cost for this? Used engine, of course...but how much for everything else you need?

[bmw332i]

I love mine. I wouldn't have had it done this way if I didn't think it was the right way to go. I can't compare an e30s50 to my e30s52, as I've never driven one, but the extra .2l can't hurt if you've done the OBD1 conversion on the s52.

[LINUS]

I can't say I've driven a S52 ever - but this OBD1 swap crap is getting old. My parts have been trickling in, and when it's done I'm sure I'll dig it, but my buddy has a S50 swap and it would have been so much easier to be a simple swap like his timewise than to be like me. If I was in a "no headache" mode I'd buy a S50 and swap it, and down the road maybe worry about a S52 once I was up and running. Prices on 52's will only dive further in the next few years. At least then you would have all the parts without question from your install and then be able to buy a fresher 52 down the line. The only reason I have a 52 is that was what was available at the time - didn't care which I got to work with really.
My other problem is that I'm a perfectionist - not good for this project.

[Erick]

i prefer NA over the high maintenance turbo car

A high maintenance turbo car costs 1/2 what an N/A motor does.

If you pay the same for the turbo setup as you would for an S5x swap, you would have one hell of a reliable turbocharged motor. (Unless you're a fucking moron maintaining it)

[Jason89i]

I...... I can't compare an e30s50 to my e30s52, as I've never driven one, but the extra .2l can't hurt if you've done the OBD1 conversion on the s52.

e30s52 nose to nose with a schrick cammed e30s50 from 40 to 120+/-. almost identical cars. only difference......mine is 3.2l w/ lightweight flywheel, buddies is 3.06 (one size overbore) with schrick cams. both with identical goodies. the s50 is a little more rev happy (shorter stroke) and the s52 is a little happier below 6800rpm. for a daily driver, s52. for the track, s50 might be a little happier. however, i just adjusted my shift points and ....well...... its still an animal.

ditch that m20 with its 1975 technology. manual adjusting valves, broken rockers over 7k, cam belt maintenance, oil leaking piece of junk. m/s50/2 without any question. ive owned (10) e30's and (4) m/s50/2's. hands down. daily driver / track car.....heck even my winter beater. swap it.
cheers, jason

[iflytii]

I'm thinking of taking on another project sometime soon and am really leaning towards going the S50 or S52 route with the regular minor bolt on mods. I know what's involved in the swap itself but what I really want to know is if you guys all feel it was worth it. Tell me your opinions on the swap and how happy or not happy you are with it. Anybody have any idea how it might compare to my turbo E30?

Thanks guys.
Matt

I pulled my m20 turbo motor to put it "back" in my 2002. It ran great, was tuned well and made good power. I picked up a s50 for my e30 to be more competitive auto-xing and because my e30 will soon be a dedicated bmw club racer (yeah, I am a glutton for punishment going straight to CM).

Anyway, for the comparison. The turbo motor was fun to drive and even with all the mods I made to the s50, the turbo motor made more power. It just wasn't conducive to auto-xing because the power took too long to come on. I was spooled in the mid 3k range and the car was fast. However, running SM and having to wait even just a tenth of a second for the power, it makes you uncompetitive with any other well prepped SM car.

On my local track, the power loss was noticable on the straights but I gained back some time in a couple areas because of better overall power delivery. Time wise, I was marginally faster with the s50 but that could have also been attributed to other factors (temp, tire wear, brake wear, etc).

I wouldn’t have any issues keeping the turbo setup if my car wasn’t mostly dedicated for track and auto-xing. Overall, the turbo motor makes more power for less $$ than I have tied up in my s50 setup. The turbo setup also proved to be very reliable after I got it setup and tuned. I auto-xed and tracked it with the turbo setup regularly and had no issues of any kind. The problem with the turbo setup is it did require frequent tinkering. I was “tweaking” my fuel settings all the time which isn’t that big of a deal but again, in a car that I am using to improve my driving I wanted to simply show up and drive without lugging a laptop everywhere.

Now is the s50 worth it? Yes, without a doubt! Is a s52 a better choice, sure, I guess. I've dynoed with a buddy several times with his s52 and he always makes a little more power than me with identical mods. Obviously that could be attributed to several things but with the deal I got on my motor I am plenty happy with it's performance.

[madjurgen]

dammit, i was so set in stroking my m20 and trying to prove that i could get at least stock s50 power out of it, but this car needs to be reliable and the s50/52 swap with minor bolt-ons is sounding better and better everyday. I think cost-wise it would end up being pretty close depending on what deals i could find. I feel that if i start messing with the m20 internals, headwork and adding a piggyback/maf, im only asking for problems in the reliability area. Since the '02 is in the process of becoming balls-out track, i can relegate the e30 to mainly dd with a few autoxs thrown in. This way i also dont have to worry about the extra weight in the front(keeping a/c), even though most people have said its negligible or can be tuned out with suspension.

[bmw332i]

This way i also dont have to worry about the extra weight in the front(keeping a/c), even though most people have said its negligible or can be tuned out with suspension.

It's not too bad. I still have A/C, and even though you can feel a slight difference, the rush of power is just so insane (compared to the m20), it negates any negatives regarding to the increased weight of the s5X up front.

[MR 325]

Awesome fucking info guys, keep it coming!!

[325Projectz]

I have a s50 in m3 right meow with all sorts of little goodies and it holds its own. As soon as my car gets back from the body shop I'm dropping in a s52 with all of those goodies plus more. Stay tuned.
e30x50(2) owns all m20s. You'll hate those pieces of fucking shit the moment you switch over. Unless you have a new m20 (which 99.9% of people don't) then they have problems, and even the people with the new/rebuilt ones STILL have problems, yet they are all the most retarted problems to have.

[madjurgen]

I wouldnt go as far as to say that. My m20 has 150k and it still pulls very strong, has zero issues and i drive the crap outta it. But get caught below 4k rpm and youll be going nowhere fast.

What are your specific reasons for going s52 after having an s50 in there?

[325Projectz]

Because its just sitting in my garage collecting dust :)