My m52 budget swap

[Northern]

Had to modify the damn SAP blockoff plates. Trim the sides and ream out the holes for the studs. Ah well, they're installed and doing their job. $14/piece sucked tho

I used those same plates because they were mentioned in a few spots, but they're actually EGR plates and aren't even close to the right shape/bolt pattern. I still have them somewhere. They never leaked but when I took them off, it was obvious they bent while installing.

I wonder how many people have bought/modified those because the information out there says they fit.

[128keaton]

I used those same plates because they were mentioned in a few spots, but they're actually EGR plates and aren't even close to the right shape/bolt pattern. I still have them somewhere. They never leaked but when I took them off, it was obvious they bent while installing. I wonder how many people have bought/modified those because the information out there says they fit.

I hope there aren’t many. At $14/pop these aren’t cheap. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[128keaton]

https://youtu.be/g1HRjfnvWcI Finally. It’s alive. At first my fuel lines were swapped, figured that out with the help of a friend. It’s running smooth! The exhaust is 50 percent done. Downtubes have been clearanced. Just need to mate to the E30 exhaust. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jbontke]

https://youtu.be/g1HRjfnvWcI Finally. It’s alive. At first my fuel lines were swapped, figured that out with the help of a friend. It’s running smooth! The exhaust is 50 percent done. Downtubes have been clearanced. Just need to mate to the E30 exhaust. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Excellent! That has to be a good feeling. This is good motivation for anyone reading along.

[128keaton]

Excellent! That has to be a good feeling. This is good motivation for anyone reading along.

Yes! Just a bunch of issues to sort thru now. Turns out two of my valve cover nut studs were snapped, so I need to fix that as I was spraying oil. Missing a bolt on my VANOS solenoid, right at the top. And I’m hearing a funny whirring noise on the driver’s side when it’s running that I’m hoping isn’t the starter Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[128keaton]

I got the fan wiring finished and buttoned up the front. Also put the wiper fluid tank back in. I also got the new fan wires wrapped in with the body loom. I did get the missing hardware replaced. I had two studs on hand and plenty of valve cover nuts and grommets. Before I got a chance to see the new fan switch in action, the rear coolant hose blew off. Ugh. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Yayrea]

I received my harness today!
Very excited now!

Who and where did you pay for this to be done? Very interested.

[twright]

Use this guy: www:redline-motorsport.com

He advertises here all the time. Good, fast and inexpensive work. You won't be sorry.

No, he didn't pay me to say this. I used him for mine after I couldn't figure out the harness. Problems solved.

[jbontke]

Use this guy: www:redline-motorsport.com

He advertises here all the time. Good, fast and inexpensive work. You won't be sorry.

No, he didn't pay me to say this. I used him for mine after I couldn't figure out the harness. Problems solved.

This is just an adapter that goes form the M5x/S5x engine harness plug to the e30 plug with a few extra wires for the Oil level/ABS/AC, right? Do you end them the engine harness??

[twright]

He does both. He will make you an adapter, or he will modify your harness to the correct configuration. Your choice.

[128keaton]

Who and where did you pay for this to be done? Very interested.

There’s a guy on Facebook that does them. I am very pleased. He helped a ton with some other misc. troubleshooting as well. PM me, and I’ll ask him if he’s comfortable with me sharing his info. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[128keaton]

So it’s pretty much just exhaust keeping me from driving this thing. I’m going nuts, it’s been almost drivable for weeks it seems. I reconfigured the cooling hoses today. Used the stock E30 bypass and heater core hose. The bypass hose I cut a bit before the end of the second 90* bend. The remaining hose section works perfectly as a line from the ICV to the intake boot as it has the flared end that fits on the ICV. I finally put my used seat cloth on my seat. I got the cloth for free so I wasn’t expecting perfection, but I think it turned out quite nice. I was able to bend some tabs and get the cables tight again so all the adjustments work without a whole lot of force. I also cleaned the seat rails really well so the seat slides like a new car seat. Much better. I also got the power distribution wrapped up. I initially went with the e36 power distribution block but there just weren’t enough posts and it looked awful. Some eBay bus bars went a long way. I also tried to make a front lip to replace the cracked/hanging by zip ties tray. I found some garden edging out by the dumpster, but it was pretty thick plastic so it was kind of a waste of time. If I can get a shorter section of thinner plastic, it’ll look better. Similar to the HD lip e36 guys do. My valence is pretty trashed since PO hit something (or somethings I should say). Don’t laugh. All the lips I’ve seen on eBay are for post-facelift. Maybe I can find a Volvo 740 lip or just redo with thinner plastic. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jbontke]

I have been looking for a hard plastic to make a lower lip as well. You have to start somewhere.

[128keaton]

I have been looking for a hard plastic to make a lower lip as well. You have to start somewhere.

Exactly. Well the exhaust was finished yesterday. Waiting on some more flange nuts to come in to put the finishing touches on it. The S52 down tubes were modified to fit in the e30, and were done to align with the stock exhaust geometry. Forgot to snap some final pics, but the outer exhaust pipe was cut from the flange and a bend portion from the cat section of the E36 exhaust was used. The inner pipe was cut to allow an sharp angle to clear firewall and swaybar. Then the e30 cat portion was cut and 1.75 to 2” adaptors were tacked underneath the car. Finally, it was all welded together. From the cat to the muffler, it’s all e30 stock exhaust. The alignment is near perfect and fits better than when the m20 was in it. Sounds good too. Fired it up, fixed some more coolant leaks (watch out when modifying the heater core pipes), only to find my t-stat isn’t opening. Went ahead and ordered another 88C t-stat just in case mines bad, even though it’s brand new. Irritating. Any tips for bleeding the coolant system on these? Metal housing so no bleed screw. Also, side note, the hood strut clips cost $7.50 a piece from BMW. Do not lose them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[twright]

I have a couple of pieces of a rear bumper rubber cover that can be used for a front license plate delete. Its what I used for mine. Interested?