m54 rotating assembly in non vanos motor?

[haaken675]

I have been reading up on the m54 internal swap into an m50/52, but I have not been able to determine if it would work with a non vanos motor/head...

I don't particularly care if I have Vanos or not, and I do like the idea of the simplicity of no variable valve timing, despite that the VANOS system seems to be fairly simplified. I was thinking about snatching up an m54b30 rotating assembly if I could, adding new rings and bearings, good MLS head gasket, cleaned up block, and a set of Cat Cams with a fairly high lift/duration. The only thing I don't know is if the NV head will make contact with the pisotns since there really isn't much info on doing what I was considering.

[pazi88]

It's basically same head. Only one or two cc difference in combustion chamber size. So you can use m54 internals No problem.

But have you driven vanos and non vanos engines to compare those? The non vanos engine has very little low end torque compare to the vanos engine. I would choose vanos engine over non vanos everytime. Also the nv engine has lot heavier Valve train than vanos engine (for example valves are 7mm compared to 6mm in vanos engine and the lifters are heavier too) and that makes difference if you are going to Rev it high with high lift cams.

[haaken675]

I had a 92 325is that I loved years ago. I also had a 328ci with the m52 double vanos motor. I don't remember the 328ci being particularly quicker...I have not however driven an e36 with an m52 in it, so it is hard to compare. I do remember however that the '92 with long tubes intake, and a chip tune definitely had a torque deficit at lower RPM's, but after owning an FR-S for a few years, I don't think anything will compare to that kind of low torque besides maybe a miata...

So, all that being said I don't particularly mind the loss of lower end torque so long as the motor makes decent power across the rev range, and is a good performer for performance driving. I am not planning on a daily driver kinda build.

[haaken675]

I had a 92 325is that I loved years ago. I also had a 328ci with the m52 double vanos motor. I don't remember the 328ci being particularly quicker...I have not however driven an e36 with an m52 in it, so it is hard to compare. I do remember however that the '92 with long tubes intake, and a chip tune definitely had a torque deficit at lower RPM's, but after owning an FR-S for a few years, I don't think anything will compare to that kind of low torque besides maybe a miata...

So, all that being said I don't particularly mind the loss of lower end torque so long as the motor makes decent power across the rev range, and is a good performer for performance driving. I am not planning on a daily driver kinda build.