Vanos M50 to 3.0L (Stu?)

[Stu]

No it doesn't. No they aren't. No it's not. The block is the same. No thickness difference. No strength difference.

There were different castings used when BMW built the M50's. The earlier blocks (not sure exactly what month the change was made) are thicker in the area inside the freeze plugs. The later blocks have ~.0050 less meat in this area.

[2002maniac]

I don't want to assume :) Let's hear it from CA guys, wouldn't BAR check the VIN on the engine and require it having all of it's OBD2 stuff ?

the vin is not easy to get to. they wont bother poking around with a mirror between the motor/firewall.

[matt]

There were different castings used when BMW built the M50's. The earlier blocks (not sure exactly what month the change was made) are thicker in the area inside the freeze plugs. The later blocks have ~.0050 less meat in this area.

I don't believe that.

And I don't think 5 thou matters that much.

[Stu]

I don't believe that.

And I don't think 5 thou matters that much.

Sorry, 50 thousandths.

The same was done with the M10 blocks. Early on with the 2002 2.0L blocks, you could bore them quite a bit and still have plenty of wall thickness. This decreased slightly with the 1.8L E21 block, and even more so with the E30 1.8L block. That's not to say you couldn't bore the later blocks the same amount (you certainly could), but the wall thickness wasn't there like with the early blocks.

The same is true for the M50 blocks. Wall thickness decreased when BMW changed the casting (not sure when this was---there may be non-VANOS blocks with the later casting...there may be VANOS blocks with the earlier casting).

In any case, the block with the updated casting will be lighter, and when you bore it to 86mm, you'll have less wall thickness. That's not to say it won't be reliable and last 200K after a rebuild--it's just a better idea to use the thicker block.

This was tested with a sonic tester in the mid '90's on a '91 525i block and '94 325i block.

[edwjoc]

I just bought a s50 crank and pistons and I have 2 complete non vanos blocks. With the 2mm hone will this set up give good power.

[SpecM]

Sorry, 50 thousandths. ... This was tested with a sonic tester in the mid '90's on a '91 525i block and '94 325i block.

-maybe the older blocks are more seasoned, too

[brandon11130]

-maybe the older blocks are more seasoned, too

yea the rust caked up on the inside of the walls from being 16 years old actually allows you to bore it out to 100mm, the less cooling system matenence the car had, the better :)



im guna go with the m54b30 crank, pistons and rods, on a vanos m50.

roughly what will my CR be? are there any other piston choices will that get me closer to 11:1 or 11.5:1 with out boring over 84mm?

i could always bore out to 87mm but im not sure if it would be worth the extra work to go 3.2 liters

also im assuming i can just run the ecu from a 95 s50 and my vanos m50 wiring harness correct? if i use the complete m54 rotating assy.

[SpecM]

also im assuming i can just run the ecu from a 95 s50 and my vanos m50 wiring harness correct? if i use the complete m54 rotating assy.

-I would assume so, but maybe not.
-BTW, the m54b30 stroker is the way to go, IMO

>stu, I love the ZHP line. Classic!

[HST]

What about doing a NV stroker for low compression? I plan on a healthy amount of boost in my future. I'm looking at using the M54B30 internals. Should I just go with the thicker head gasket, or is there another way?

[arubaru]

yea the rust caked up on the inside of the walls from being 16 years old actually allows you to bore it out to 100mm, the less cooling system matenence the car had, the better :)



im guna go with the m54b30 crank, pistons and rods, on a vanos m50.

roughly what will my CR be? are there any other piston choices will that get me closer to 11:1 or 11.5:1 with out boring over 84mm?

i could always bore out to 87mm but im not sure if it would be worth the extra work to go 3.2 liters

also im assuming i can just run the ecu from a 95 s50 and my vanos m50 wiring harness correct? if i use the complete m54 rotating assy.

Im making a m50 nv stroke with a m54b30 crankshaft but not sure about pistons, which piston would be better? m54b30 pistons or m52b28, to get higher CR?

Thanks

[Alameer]

Im making a m50 nv stroke with a m54b30 crankshaft but not sure about pistons, which piston would be better? m54b30 pistons or m52b28, to get higher CR?

Thanks

anyone can answer the question above please? :)

[Major]

If you use M52B28 pistons on an M54B30/S52 crankshaft, they'll be, what, 2 or 3mm outside the top of the deck? M54B30 pistons for ~10.5:1, or custom for higher compression, those are your options.

[thenavybimmer]

Just joined this forum, and I enjoy this discussion immensely. I have a question, instead of starting out with an M50 block, then source the internals, as in M54B30, why not just get a S50 or S52 and do an overhaul on that engine? Would the results not be the same? I am in the beginning planning stage of a project, and want to figure out the most cost effective/best power yielding combination possible. Any suggestions would be welcomed. Thank you.

[Adrian_Visser]

I haven't done the math on what the machine work would cost for all this frankensteining but I can tell you that s5xs aren't that expensive.

Not every s52 but most s50s will be fairly tired by now if they haven't been rebuilt.

Honestly I think you're better off finding a good low mile s52 with good compression and running it until it needs a rebuild. Save yourself the hassle.

That's just my opinion though.

[FreedS4]

Bought an M54B30 for $350, pulled the bottom end and will sell the rest of it for at least the $350 I originally bought it for. Bought a 92 525i for $400, pulled the engine, trans, and a whole lot more, sold various parts off of it for $300 and the rest of the car to the Pick-n-Pull for $260. The NV M50 and M54B30 bottom end is at the shop right now, getting rebuild. I'll let you know what they charge me, but so far, this NV M50 stroker is working out to be quite inexpensive, albeit, this may be a rare case, but it made more sense to me to do it this way.

Chris