M50 and M52 guys... HP#s

[So Live]

My nonvanos m50 w/ chip and cat back keeps up with e36M3's (dinan intake exhaust n chip) (i have 3.73 rear gear with zf320 though :) )

Im shooting for 350whp by this summer :evil:

[zav3n]

i have an m50 with chip, flywheel, headers/exhaust and intake and i made 180whp...

[MIKe30]

My nonvanos m50 w/ chip and cat back keeps up with e36M3's (dinan intake exhaust n chip) (i have 3.73 rear gear with zf320 though :) )

Im shooting for 350whp by this summer :evil:

hmm... i take it you plan on FI. with that aluminum block i just mentioned, i dont think FI will be a viable option. guess you're not selling her anymore!

anybody got any knowledge/an opinion about my last post?

[SchnellerVert]

NV is cast iron. Unless there was mention of an other engine that I missed? NV is robust enough to take boost.

ZF320 and 3.73, that must make for a buzzy combo of bouncing the rev limiter in the first 3 gears. I drove a like combo in buddies car, too much as soon as you got on the highway. The addtion of a 6th gear would make that gearbox comfy.

[FredK]

didnt want to start a new thread if there was this one that was similar. couple questions.

1, searched a bit, but didnt find a direct answer for this. do s50 cams work in an m52 motor? I heard the difference between the s50 and s52 cams are that the s50 cams are more agressive... true or not true?

S50 cams work in M50 and M52. S52 cams only work in the M52, unless you swap to M/S50 cam trays.

2, may be looking to get into an obd1 aluminum m52 powered e30 with s50 cams installed, what kind of power numbers should i be expecting. my goal is to have/build a ~250whp e30... should i be looking elsewhere? I know s52's struggle to get up to there, but is this m52 gonna be far off? in all honesty i think i'd probably still be content with about 230 to the wheels - 250 is a goal.

With a lot of the bolt ons and an exhaust, you can expect around 210-215 whp from an M52. Look up bimmerforums member "torquey" for some M52 with S50 cam dynos. He was running the Siemens DME (OBD-II), but there shouldn't be that much of a difference between DMEs.

[SchnellerVert]

Fred, European car eons ago had a write up on grinding out some of the Cam Carriers to make room for the S50 Lobes.

Edit: I see where MIKe30 referances the Z3 2.8 M52.

[FredK]

Yeah, from what I hear, it's a minor interference that could be removed, and not a gross incompatibility.

[EtaSport]

sig says it all

[MIKe30]

S52 cams work in M50 and M52. S50 cams only work in the M50, unless you swap to M/S52 cam trays.


With a lot of the bolt ons and an exhaust, you can expect around 210-215 whp from an M52. Look up bimmerforums member "torquey" for some M52 with S50 cam dynos. He was running the Siemens DME (OBD-II), but there shouldn't be that much of a difference between DMEs.

Interesting. This guy that has a car i'm interested in, claims he has s50 cams in that m52. Looks like some questions need to be asked. I will look up torquey now.

thanks fred

[FredK]

um, scratch that, I had a brain fart and said the exact opposite of what is true.

You can use S50 or S52 cams in an M52. You can't use S52 cams in an M50 without modding or getting M/S52 cam trays.

[So Live]

Haha, yeah i cant sell it and i already have half a kit together :)

the 3.73 is annoying at times but it pulls pretty well around town. It tops out at 130 at 7k rpm and cruising at 60 im at 3k! Oh well i said i would upgrade when i had more horsepower so hopefully ill be upgrading it soon.

[MIKe30]

um, scratch that, I had a brain fart and said the exact opposite of what is true.

You can use S50 or S52 cams in an M52. You can't use S52 cams in an M50 without modding or getting M/S52 cam trays.

ah, ok ok. i searched torquey and read his thread. he's putting down some respectable numbers (224whp, 190wtq) but he doesnt specify which cams he has, he just says m50 manifold and m3 cams.

others in the thread mention wanting to do s52 cams too, and he doesnt correct them - so it looks as if he had s52 cams. you dont know him personally and know for sure do you? and if so what else he had other than the cams, m50 mani, and the s/w he was running?

Haha, yeah i cant sell it and i already have half a kit together :)

the 3.73 is annoying at times but it pulls pretty well around town. It tops out at 130 at 7k rpm and cruising at 60 im at 3k! Oh well i said i would upgrade when i had more horsepower so hopefully ill be upgrading it soon.

nice. you're reminding me of another reason i'm tentative about this potential alu m52. If i dont like the power i can't really go boost. i think my only other option would be lots of internal work. Not sure how much I like having my options limited because of a couple pounds saved.

[So Live]

Yeah man, If your even thinking boost might be nice, an iron m52 is the way to go. They take boost much better than m50s and even the 's' motors And theyre proven to make around 704 whp before they break hahaha. I would keep my options open and buy a normal m52. They cheaper and very boost worthy. The weight thing isnt that big of a deal. Just ditch all the a/c and your about what an m20 weighs (akaik)

edit* I think the boosted hp difference between a m50 and m52 isnt worth talking about in an e30. even 300hp is unbelievable (coming from a friend with a s/c s50 e30) and from what ive read 400-500 is easily obtainable on an m50. 500hp in an e30 is stupid haha.

So the n/a performance of a m52 is much better than an m50 and you have a lot of boosting potential. If your not planning on boost atm and want some pretty good n/a performance i think m52 is the best choice.

[MIKe30]

Yeah man, If your even thinking boost might be nice, an iron m52 is the way to go. They take boost much better than m50s and even the 's' motors And theyre proven to make around 704 whp before they break hahaha. I would keep my options open and buy a normal m52. They cheaper and very boost worthy. The weight thing isnt that big of a deal. Just ditch all the a/c and your about what an m20 weighs (akaik)

edit* I think the boosted hp difference between a m50 and m52 isnt worth talking about in an e30. even 300hp is unbelievable (coming from a friend with a s/c s50 e30) and from what ive read 400-500 is easily obtainable on an m50. 500hp in an e30 is stupid haha.

So the n/a performance of a m52 is much better than an m50 and you have a lot of boosting potential. If your not planning on boost atm and want some pretty good n/a performance i think m52 is the best choice.

thanks for the insight. and for the record i'm not really interested in a 5, 6, or 700hp beast. honestly, just want 250 to the wheels - have a nice mean, clean, sexy 5 lugged swapped e30. maybe m50 or m52 with light boost or all n/a s or worked m52... idk, i have lots of reading and deciding to do ha!

[FredK]

ah, ok ok. i searched torquey and read his thread

you dont know him personally and know for sure do you? and if so what else he had other than the cams, m50 mani, and the s/w he was running?

Nah, I don't know him personally. I am pretty sure he was just running the base Shark program for the M52, at least for the first few dynos where he has 210 whp or so.