Looking to swap in an s52

[EbzyyE30]

So I have decided to go this route and want to swap in a S52 into my e30. I've been looking for a motor for a couple months and one has finally come up that I am supposed to go see this weekend. However, I have some concerns. 1. I understand that you can take the covers off an s52 and put them on an m52 so how can I verify im looking at an s52 before seeing the engine Id or vin on the back of the motor. 2. where are these ID's located exactly and what do they look like? 3. what should I look for when I go to check it out and 4. Its currently in a 318ti shell and the ad states that its a 97 US M3 motor with 83k miles (133k kms) with a Mark D tune, I haven't seen anywhere on the internet of something called Mark D so that got me a little iffy and lastly what a good price to pay, He's giving me motor, trans, harness and driveshaft ((he says that 318ti should be same wheel base as an e30) and maybe 3.45 lsd all for $5500 CAD or around 4300 USD.

Here are the images on the ad, if there is anything that raises your eyebrows let me know. He says he can show me it running before I buy it as well.

[mjweimer]

Mark D tune references Mark D'Silva. He was at one time a go-to for performance tunes for the early Motronic cars and some of the later OBD2 E34 and E36 cars. His software has a good reputation. Sorry I don't have enough experience with the S52 and M52 identifiers to help ID the engine.

[ZEKTI]

Mark D is well known int he community. There is a sticker on back of the head that would tell you VIN. WBS you’re good. You could measure the stroke too with a dowel rod. You can also use the rear Ti subframe for 5 lug. Lots of usable parts there. Plus what appear to be headers. Fair asking price for the whole car. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[e30austin]

quickest way to identify M52 vs S52 is plastic oil filter housing cap.

the block casting numbers on the intake side, down by the oil pan, are also a quick identifier, too (should read "32" if S52)

[EbzyyE30]

quickest way to identify M52 vs S52 is plastic oil filter housing cap.

the block casting numbers on the intake side, down by the oil pan, are also a quick identifier, too (should read "32" if S52)

Can the oil filter housing cap be changed from the plastic one to the metal one? and thanks to everyone for their replies I appreciate the help.

[e30austin]

not without changing the entire oil filter housing.

[323i E30]

Scroll down to page 30: http://www.ge39.com/files/zeigeinfo.pdf
I've never taken the time to verify the numbers in that sheet, but it might be an easy double check when the engine is out.

[EbzyyE30]

Scroll down to page 30: http://www.ge39.com/files/zeigeinfo.pdf
I've never taken the time to verify the numbers in that sheet, but it might be an easy double check when the engine is out.

this is great, ill be sure to refer to this. My last question is things to look out for, like I know s52's have poor rod bearings if im not mistaken, also the oil pump bolt backing out is there anything that jumps out to look out for? I should be getting compression numbers tonight or tomorrow.

[EbzyyE30]

aright so we just had a video call and he started up the motor sounded good, pretty sure its just open headers right now so it was quite loud, other than that he did a compression test as we called and showed me every cylinder, the motor is at 100k and it was run for a brief maybe 10 seconds and revved up slightly. I know compression numbers vary on temperature and it was sitting outside in cold temps (were in Canada) so keep this in mind

Cylinder 1 - 155/160
Cylinder 2 - 155/160
Cylinder 3 - 155/160
Cylinder 4 - 155/160
Cylinder 5 - 170/180
Cylinder 6 - 170/180

are these good numbers and why did the last two cylinders read a little higher. if all is well ill be picking it all up tomorrow.