The comprehensive DOHC engine swap thread.

[Teaguer]

Needs the M50 manifold and oil pan, but I here this needs to be upgraded anyways, so it does not matter.

That engine will already have the M50 intake manifold , unless you mean its missing or damaged .
And yeah you will need the E34 525i oil-pan .

I agree with Bryson on freshening up the head but I would also do the bottom end as well .
I've got a eng, with 160k on it and I'm getting the cylinders checked and honed and installing new rings .
Might as well do it now because its gonna need it pretty soon anyway (if it already doesn't) .
Beats having to pull the eng. again in the near future .

[timers]

Needs the M50 manifold and oil pan, but I here this needs to be upgraded anyways, so it does not matter.

That engine will already have the M50 intake manifold , unless you mean its missing or damaged .
And yeah you will need the E34 525i oil-pan .

I agree with Bryson on freshening up the head but I would also do the bottom end as well .
I've got a eng, with 160k on it and I'm getting the cylinders checked and honed and installing new rings .
Might as well do it now because its gonna need it pretty soon anyway (if it already doesn't) .
Beats having to pull the eng. again in the near future .

That 4.10 that you have now. You cant use that right, with the M50. My 3.73 will be fine right?

And Bryson I tried to IM you, timers007 on AIM. Thanks.

[OOMPH!]

Needs the M50 manifold and oil pan, but I here this needs to be upgraded anyways, so it does not matter.

That engine will already have the M50 intake manifold , unless you mean its missing or damaged .
And yeah you will need the E34 525i oil-pan .

I agree with Bryson on freshening up the head but I would also do the bottom end as well .
I've got a eng, with 160k on it and I'm getting the cylinders checked and honed and installing new rings .
Might as well do it now because its gonna need it pretty soon anyway (if it already doesn't) .
Beats having to pull the eng. again in the near future .

That 4.10 that you have now. You cant use that right, with the M50. My 3.73 will be fine right?

And Bryson I tried to IM you, timers007 on AIM. Thanks.

Yeah the 3.73 should be fine. What year oil pan needs to be used? There's two 89-90 or 91-up? Two different part numbers

[325Projectz]

M50 91+ oil pan.

[Teaguer]

That 4.10 that you have now. You cant use that right, with the M50. My 3.73 will be fine right?

Yeah the 4.10 would be too short of a gear with a M/S50.
The 3.73 will be perfect if you keep the E30's getrag trans but if you use the ZF out of the E36 (or E34) than you would want to use a taller gear like a 3.25 .


OOMPH! : The first two years of the E34 525 (89-90) the single cam M20 engine was retained .
You want the 91+ oilpan from a M50 powered car.
The above years are referring to US spec cars.

[Ferret]

Can anyone that used the E30 transmission post a picture of the modified selector rod?
I'm going to modify mine, but I'm not sure how it should turn out.
Thanks,
Avner.

[Bryson]

should come out 10 degrees askew
from the top it should look the same
_
|
| < - cut and rotate here.
|_

rotate the rear piece 10 degrees counter clockwise

[Ferret]

Thanks,
but I'm still not totaly clear on where to cut. Can you mark it on this image?



Thanks (again),
Avner.

[cheades]

On the e36 95 325i wiring harness there is a 2 prong plug that goes towards the back of the car along with the O2 sensor. Does anyone know what this plug is for? It wasn't on my 92 525i nonVANOS motor so I am not sure if I need it.

Also, how many people have deleted their charcoal canister and hooked up the hose directly to the throttle body?

[Addissimo]

I have a couple mm gap between my driveshaft and tranny with the guibo installed... Anybody else have this problem? My drive shaft is pulled as far as it will go.

[JGood]

On the e36 95 325i wiring harness there is a 2 prong plug that goes towards the back of the car along with the O2 sensor. Does anyone know what this plug is for? It wasn't on my 92 525i nonVANOS motor so I am not sure if I need it.

I would assume it's for the reverse light and the reason your 92 525i harness wouldn't have it is because it's likely from an automatic since most 525i's were. That's just a guess though.

[equate975]

Hey guys, I was about to start the s52 today when I came across a problem... I think I have a m50 wiring harness not a s50... The plug for the engine that you connect to the body harness is there twice (the two plugs look almost identicle) I know the s50 only has one. I looked up my etk and they were labeled as x20 and x69. Now im wondering if I need a new harness... But I thought I read somewhere ANY 93-95 6cyl (manual) harness will work? If you did a m50 swap what happens to the extra connector? Everything in my car works... except for the engine lol

[Addissimo]

Hey guys, I was about to start the s52 today when I came across a problem... I think I have a m50 wiring harness not a s50... The plug for the engine that you connect to the body harness is there twice (the two plugs look almost identicle) I know the s50 only has one. I looked up my etk and they were labeled as x20 and x69. Now im wondering if I need a new harness... But I thought I read somewhere ANY 93-95 6cyl (manual) harness will work? If you did a m50 swap what happens to the extra connector? Everything in my car works... except for the engine lol

isnt that just the diagnostic plug? Mine has that, it looks very similar to the body harness plug, but it looks something like this:



-Addis

[Addissimo]

Okay, I'm thinking that it is time to go with my old tranny- the e36 gear set isnt to my liking.

I'm not going to have alot of time to do the swap, (2 days max) so I need to make sure I have everything in order from the beginning.

When making the tranny bracket, it is my understanding that I basically just start with a streight piece of tubing and make a 10 degree arm off of it... Once the arm is made I can work on the "knub" for the right side tranny mount...

I need to use e21 mounts, and I can keep my current 325i driveshaft correct?

Who does a good job with lightening the m20 flywheel?

Thanks
-Addis

[i3uller]

Ok guys, I'm in a pickle. Can I use my stock throttle cable? Also I got an e36 5 speed with a 1:1 5th gear that I want to use but I only have my stock 325is e30 driveshaft. I hear that I can't use it so is it worth the money to get a new one or should I just use the stock e30 tranny?