M54. Let the foolishness begin.

[TheAxiom]

I had the ZHP cams measured by a cam performance shop, and here are their real specs and how they compare:


Stock B30:
Intake 240 degree, unknown lift?
Exhaust 228 degree, unknown lift?


ZHP:
Intake 246 degree, 10mm lift
Exhaust 237 degree, 9.4mm lift


Schrick 248/248 set:
Intake 248 degree, 10mm lift
Exhaust 248 degree, 10.8mm lift


Documentation is attached.

M52TU/M54 228 inlet With 9.0mm lift 228 exhaust With 9.0mm lift up to B25
M54 240 inlet With 9.7mm lift for the B30 Engine

The ZHP cams are such a SMALL change for the B30, but would be a bigger improvement for the rest of the M5X cars. I would just swap in Shricks and be done with it.

[rkneeshaw]

Stock M54 cams are intake 240/9.7 exhaust 244/9.0
ZHP cams are 248/10.0 248/10.0

I had the ZHP cams measured by a cam performance shop, and here are their real specs and how they compare:


Stock B30:
Intake 240 degree, unknown lift?
Exhaust 228 degree, unknown lift?


ZHP:
Intake 246 degree, 10mm lift
Exhaust 237 degree, 9.4mm lift


Schrick 248/248 set:
Intake 248 degree, 10mm lift
Exhaust 248 degree, 10.8mm lift


Documentation is attached.

[Wanganstyle]

M54. Let the foolishness begin.

Full racing car that actually had a m50b25 based power plant in it already.

Power gain was not the goal; decreased front end weight and simple function of electronic items is.

The m50 electronics system is much easier to trouble shoot trackside and has no critical electronic items (no E throttle or E pedal). No EWS also is a benefit; have seen more than one bmw stranded track side due to EWS malfunctioning


The profile of the single vanos cams is more ideal for top end power; this car weight with no ballast is about 2300lbs and does not need double vanos as much as a street car; it would be nice to add in later.

much more is available aftermarket as well as the choice of s52 camshafts.

Not much needs to be changed to fit m50 items; if you know both well then you have seen how modular they are and that people have been fitting m50 intake manifolds and m52/s52 headers; in fact the spec e46 racing series mandates the use of single vanos m52/s52 headers.

[Andrew325is]

I did a M52TU swap but with a twist; I converted everything to M50 single vanos: both electronics and mechanical

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...83#post4524183

That's interesting that you removed all of the technical upgrades from the engine. Did you build that for the track? Because I wouldn't recommend anyone do that otherwise for the following reasons:
1) Decreased low end power
2) Lower fuel economy
3) Loss of OBD2 diagnostic capability
4) The engine will not run as smoothly
5) Higher emissions
6) More work involved due to switching out all those components
7) If the engine had to be replaced down the road more work would be involved due to the changed components

[Wanganstyle]

I did a M52TU swap but with a twist; I converted everything to M50 single vanos: both electronics and mechanical

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?p=4524183#post4524183

[DesertBMW]

Now let's see some more M52TU and M54 swaps. :)

Thank you for this, I will also add this information in my M54 swap thread.

[goarmy]

^^^Dude, great info!!

[Andrew325is]

I'm going to resurrect this thread because I don't think it's very common knowledge still that a custom oil pickup tube is not necessary for the M52TU and M54 because the E38 728i parts can be used. The oil pan is part number 11131710319. The pickup tube for engines made beginning January 2000 is part number 11417503261. The pickup tube for engines made before January 2000 is part number 11411432735. (They are not interchangeable without modification due to different oil pump & deflector designs.) For January 2000 and newer engines the oil deflector (or windage tray) is also required unless you want to modify your existing one like jjt did. It's part number 11137502669.

Now let's see some more M52TU and M54 swaps. :)

[jjt]

That's a great find! Brings the M54 closer to being a plug and play swap without custom fabrication.

My M54 swap has been running for over 5 years now! No issues whatsoever, just lots of fun. (I did shred the original clutch disc, but that doesn't really count as an issue)

Also the price should not stop any swap. 40 Euros here in Finland :)

[hoveringuy]

Just wanted you to know, that e38 728i has a pickup, that fits perfectly. My pic is from m52b28tü, but maybe this is doable in m54 too.

Requires drilling a hole in the windange tray and one 6mm bolt with two nuts.

The part number is: 11417503261

That's a great find! Brings the M54 closer to being a plug and play swap without custom fabrication.

My M54 swap has been running for over 5 years now! No issues whatsoever, just lots of fun. (I did shred the original clutch disc, but that doesn't really count as an issue)

[jjt]

After some research I decided that I need to keep the M54 oil pump. It has higher capacity and pressure needed for the dual VANOS plus it's newer so it must be better. The E34 pickup is useless on this pump so I need to fabricate a custom one for the E34 oil pan, which will fit just fine.

I made a model of the oil pan using some wood. Oak. German oak harvested from the Black Forest. BMW told me to do it this way so it's Ok.

The original pickup had a nice 90 degree bend that I harvested and welded to the attaching flange. Cut the pipe, add the pickup bowl with the metal screen. Amost done. It's not the best welding but I've always felt that if you put enough slag on anything it will hold. Argon is on my shopping list.

When I get it all done I'll test fit the pan with some playdough in the bottom and see how close I am to the right clearance.

I'm not comfortable having the pickup held with only one bolt at the top. It's secure but acts like a resonating pendulum and I've heard about this thing called metal fatigue that makes me want to add a second point of attachment. I'll ponder that over a beer tonight.

I've taken the stock windage tray off and will use the one in the E34 pan exclusively. In this picture you can see the triangular re-enforcing tabs that BMW added to tie the bearing cap to the side of the motor. I guess that's a provision for the aluminum block flexing more?

Just wanted you to know, that e38 728i has a pickup, that fits perfectly. My pic is from m52b28tü, but maybe this is doable in m54 too.

Requires drilling a hole in the windange tray and one 6mm bolt with two nuts.

The part number is: 11417503261

[Doni]

I think the sealing surface is "deeper" in the M54 head than on S50 engine. That is one reason why they hit the block. The headers hits also the 5-speed ZF transmission which is used with the same headers in S50B30.

You can see from the attached picture how it goes with the transmission even though I have a 10mm thick nut under the flange.

I'll get a 12mm thick spacer between cylinder head and headers. If it works out then the bolts has to be replaced with longer ones.

[hoveringuy]

Nice project. I really like when people put some effort on details!

Would you like to share some more details about the S50 header fitment. I'm working on a E36 M54 track car and planning to use S50 headers. The problem is that cylinder #1 pipe hits the engine block even though I tried a 0.4" spacer between header flange and cylinder head. Did you bend the pipes or how did you solve the problem?

Yeah... S50b32 headers are a really S.O.B. on the the M54 because the aluminum block is slightly thicker in a few places than the iron block which interferes with some of the runners.

To compound the issue, the s50b32 headers have individual flanges for each cylinder instead of having 3 or 6 cylinders share a flange like some other headers. So... if you heat or massage one pipe it can easily get get mis-aligned and be a b!tch to install.

I finally did a combination of grinding off some block material (not much!) and slightly crushing the pipe.

Double gaskets can help, too.

I feel your pain.

[Doni]

This will be step one. #6 pokes the firewall and either the firewall needs to be "adjusted" or the runner re-routed.

I will re-route (maybe a little firewall massaging).

Nice project. I really like when people put some effort on details!

Would you like to share some more details about the S50 header fitment. I'm working on a E36 M54 track car and planning to use S50 headers. The problem is that cylinder #1 pipe hits the engine block even though I tried a 0.4" spacer between header flange and cylinder head. Did you bend the pipes or how did you solve the problem?

[Dozyproductions]

Perhaps repost but found this while imagining this swap happening in my car.

http://www.e46fanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=833891

Looks like member offers a reinforced pump where the shaft won't shear off?