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RHD N52 in NZ

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    RHD N52 in NZ

    I'm new here - hello from New Zealand!

    Long story short, I blew the headgasket in the m20 and applying perfect logic thought the n52 swap would be easier? cheaper? more betterer? than fixing it so I bought a wrecked E60. Then I bought a house which stalled progress (moving garages sucks), then decided dairy farming could be fun and moved to the other end of the country which seperated me from my car for a few months.

    So two years after the m20 blew I've got the car, engine, and a GS6-37dz gearbox from a 525d which I hope to combine into a fun road car. I made some temporary engine mounts and a sump blanking plate for shipping (and did you know a getrag 220 bolts right up to the n52?), and in doing so noticed there was very little room between the chassis rail and the block for the exhaust and the steering column/rack. I plan on doing a purple tag swap and getting some Z4 engine mounts as others have done, but I'm wondering if anyone has done the swap on a right hand drive car without modifying the subframe as Saturnblau did?

    I really miss driving this thing so keen to start making progress again.
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    #2
    That's going to be so nice!
    sigpic84 325e

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      #3
      Welcome to the forum!

      Sounds like you've had your hands busy the last couple of years.

      I know what it's like to put a project on the back burner.
      Coming up on two years of E28 ownership for me and I've done very little to it. Still need to weld in floors.

      Looking forward to your updates.

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        #4
        wow nice project. interested in seeing the n52 swaps, they weren't the most loved bmw engine here. i'm glad folk have worked out a way to use them.


        Originally posted by Panici View Post
        Welcome to the forum!

        I know what it's like to put a project on the back burner.
        Coming up on two years of E28 ownership for me and I've done very little to it. Still need to weld in floors.
        don't feel bad. i just stuffed my m20 back into the car after a decade of it off the road.

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          #5
          Cool. Message me your email address and I'll send you oil pan CAD. It will work with the stock subframe.

          Comment


            #6
            ​​Well, after nearly a year I've made a little progress and have many questions. I've also learned a lot about cows.

            Appologies in advance for a rambling post:

            Firstly, a massive thanks to hoveringuy for his sump flat pack files, aside from one part which the shop bent backwards it went together really well and has been good welding practice. I've still got to add baffles and the various holes for drains/dipstick etc. but otherwise all done. I warped the flange slightly but mostly got by with it clamped to a 30mm block of aluminium. The pickup I made from old stainless tube/bends from the cowshed which came up well.

            I bought the revshift 24V swap mounts and was initially very happy, until I worked out they put the crankshaft ~25mm off centre towards the intake side. Perhaps someone could confirm, is this how it should be (does the M20 sit centrally)? Otherwise, since I am making my own gearbox mount anyway (to go with the 37DZ box I bought that I probably shouldn't have) I might have a go at making some polyurathane engine mounts too. This would let me move the engine back 10mm and down a little to fit properly under the bonnet. I've mocked up some spacers with the geometry I think I'll use to hold the engine for now. On that note, the driveshaft centre bearing is off centre, as is the diff input shaft, does that mean the gearbox output should also be off centre? I find it odd as the 24V swap mounts moved the front of the engine in the opposite direction and my understanding is that the rubber guibo is not designed to handle angular misalignment, which would require the whole engine to be slightly rotated in the the car. I can't figure out where I've gone wrong here.

            With the crankshaft centred in the car, there is VERY little room for the exhaust. I'm planning on using the stock manifold to save time (I'm on a bit of a deadline now). I cut the cats off and trimmed what I could, but I'm not sure I'll be able to meet the New Zealand rule that requires 25mm clearance to the steering joint. I've got a Z3 rack coming and I'll make up a column to suit without the rubber coupler which should give more room to work. Has anyone else working on a RHD swap gotten any further in this area?

            Looking ahead, can anyone shed some light on the process for flashing the DME? It looks like it's more than I can do myself although I'd be very keen to learn, it looks like nando has done a lot of work on this but he hasn't been around here for a while? I've worked a little with Motec and Link in a previous life (formula student cars at uni, quite a different application) but I've no experience with the OEM stuff. There are a few shops here in NZ that I think can do tunes but I'm not sure they'd be able to do everything I need to get this going.



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              #7
              Super-cool to see another pan come to life, good work!

              I know Striker01 had the same finding on using those Revshift mounts, so it's not just you...

              Originally posted by Striker01 View Post
              I would recommend using the AKG 24v mounts with this swap. I don't know what other brands may work but I know for sure that the Revshift ones do not, they will shift the front of the engine too far towards the driver's side.

              Here are the measurements after installing them.
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              The crank is much closer to the driver's frame rail and I had to pry the transmission quite a bit to get it mounted.


              AKG poly mounts are not available for about 6 weeks so I ordered aluminum ones to use for mocking exhaust stuff up. AKG told me that the geometry is the same between the two.

              They are symmetrical, the revshift ones are not.

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              Here is the driver's side revshift compared to the AKG.

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              Here is the passenger side comparison.

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                #8
                Yes, as hoveringuy​ posted, I had the same problem with the revshift mounts. Luckily my brother was around to suggest test fitting the booster and intake, ended up having to rework my exhaust but could've been much more. Too bad you didn't get a chance to see my post before ordering those.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Striker01 View Post
                  Yes, as hoveringuy​ posted, I had the same problem with the revshift mounts. Luckily my brother was around to suggest test fitting the booster and intake, ended up having to rework my exhaust but could've been much more. Too bad you didn't get a chance to see my post before ordering those.
                  Unfotunately I bought the mounts about a year ago and I didn't notice the offset until I was trying to line up the engine to mock up the gearbox mounts about 6 moths later. I found your post while I was trying to work out what was going on. I still think I'll try to make my own mounts but failing that, have the AKG mounts been working well for you?

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by hedgehog33 View Post

                    Unfotunately I bought the mounts about a year ago and I didn't notice the offset until I was trying to line up the engine to mock up the gearbox mounts about 6 moths later. I found your post while I was trying to work out what was going on. I still think I'll try to make my own mounts but failing that, have the AKG mounts been working well for you?

                    The AKG mounts centered the engine in the car and gave me plenty of room for flanges from the headers I modified. I don’t have the engine back in and running yet but they are working for hoveringuy.

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