N52 Swap Discussion

[moatilliatta]

I'm guessing expansion tank hose size determines the flow of water filling system minus the amount of air that can bleed back to it?

Other than that no effect on cooling, I suppose it could be 3/8 or even 5/16 hose could be used in theory?

I've thought about downsizing expansion tank hose size on some builds for packaging.


Were those oil temps in the pan or at the Oil Filter Housing?

[hoveringuy]

A coupla small updates in progress....

My oil temps without any cooling was running 265F at the track which is not horrible but I really need a cooler, so fitting the integrated oil/coolant heat exchanger to see how much it comes down. I'd be happy with anything below 230 and I can change to a dedicated oil cooler if I need to in the future (N54 style). Still almost an inch of clearance between the cooler neck and the radiator.

Also, to make room for a potential revised intake I'm moving the coolant reservoir to the battery tray. I HAVE THE CAD FOR THIS if anybody wants it.. It will now tee in at the heater core, need to move radiator bleed nipple to the right side as well. It will be more-better.

I also changed the VANOS solenoid O-rings while the radiator is out. Impossible to do with the radiator in. Very easy job and the old O-rings were pretty hard.

[Donkeyshins]

I'm planning on upgrading my N52 in my 128i to include the oil / coolant heat exchanger (have all the parts in a Rubbermaid bin in the garage, just need to get my son's car running again first so he isn't borrowing my E82 all the time) as it is a relatively simple job (other than messy because oil+coolant).

[Donkeyshins]

The oil temp comes from the sump module that also does the oil condition and oil level analysis. I deleted that and just have the dipstick so I have no other way of getting oul temp.

My goal is to ensure that it's Ok under the worst conditions and then not worry about it...

Good to know. Thank you for clarifying (wasn't aware that it was doing temp on top of condition / level).

[hoveringuy]

If you are using the stock N52 sensors, you should be able to pull oil temp (for example, I was able to pull oil temp in my 128i simply by the addition of a 135i cluster) from the DME. Not sure what would be needed to translate this to a gauge, though.

The oil temp comes from the sump module that also does the oil condition and oil level analysis. I deleted that and just have the dipstick so I have no other way of getting oul temp.

My goal is to ensure that it's Ok under the worst conditions and then not worry about it...

[Donkeyshins]

For the record, here's my oil temp at 75F ambient after a good 10 lap flogging. No oil cooler, just the steel pan. Temp taken by running a thermocouple down the dipstick tube.

I have an oil cooler in the wings and I'll see what the difference is...

If you are using the stock N52 sensors, you should be able to pull oil temp (for example, I was able to pull oil temp in my 128i simply by the addition of a 135i cluster) from the DME. Not sure what would be needed to translate this to a gauge, though.

[hoveringuy]

The temps are not horrible for synthetic oil. How much clearance do you have off the front of the oil filter housing? The oil to coolant cooler is the easiest to plum & heats up the oil quicker. There are top & bottom outlet adapters for oil to air coolers used on n54/5 that are a bit thinner & just need an adapters.

Lots of room and I've collected all the pieces to do the coolant-oil heat exchanger.

I'll repeat this exercise in the next several months to see what the actual difference is. Data!

[Caperix]

The temps are not horrible for synthetic oil. How much clearance do you have off the front of the oil filter housing? The oil to coolant cooler is the easiest to plum & heats up the oil quicker. There are top & bottom outlet adapters for oil to air coolers used on n54/5 that are a bit thinner & just need an adapters.

[hoveringuy]

For the record, here's my oil temp at 75F ambient after a good 10 lap flogging. No oil cooler, just the steel pan. Temp taken by running a thermocouple down the dipstick tube.

I have an oil cooler in the wings and I'll see what the difference is...

[hoveringuy]

Great track day yesterday, Turn 2 "late apexing" at the Ridge. $300 for a few 30 minute sessions followed by OPEN TRACK from 5-8pm, it was an all-you-can-eat buffet of driving!

I'm getting used to the Mk60E5 ABS and it is amazing; it's the German hand of God.

I had also added a Derale heatsink power steering cooler and I was really pleased with how well it works. With the stock E90 power steering pump and pulley, back in the day, I was exceeding 300F at my first track events with the N52, plus the steering was overboosted. A reduction in pressure with a 100bar Cayman regulator got the temps down to 270F which is still hot.

I never saw anything over 200F yesterday and I will call this "sorted". My other option was to run a small radiator in front but I don't necessarily want the extra plumbing. Dunno, but this seems fine mounted on the frame rail and it's pretty out of the way.

https://youtu.be/WGVeor9n8lY

[hoveringuy]

I figured it would be closer to 52/48 F/R.

Id measure out 1/2 tank with driver weight to get closest scaled setup.

Probably disconnect the swaybars incase they are preloading.

I couldn't sit in the seat without maxing the scale, so I put 100lbs in the seat in addition to each empty corner reading, then I doubled the difference to come up with the attached.

Error is probably +/-5lbs per wheel, but it's pretty close. I mean, when I do a home alignment and then get it professionally done I'm usually within a tenth of a degree.

As far as the 54%, while I've taken a lot of weight off the nose, I've taken even more out of the back. Trunk tar, tools and battery alone is probably 80lbs. A CF hood will get me closer to 53%.

In any case, Nissan says 54% is "perfect", so there ya go.... https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/commen...erfect_weight/

[moatilliatta]

I figured it would be closer to 52/48 F/R.

Id measure out 1/2 tank with driver weight to get closest scaled setup.

Probably disconnect the swaybars incase they are preloading.

[DEV0 E30]

Very nice, when my car runs (I need to stop saying that) I look forward to borrowing some scales so I can get a real weight for mine too.

[hoveringuy]

I've been trying to do a proper corner weight of my car for a while now, all I've known is that I cross the big scales at 2700# and that my car is around 2470#

Short of proper corner scales, I bought a $50 Amazon 700# scale and leveled the car. I rolled it back and forth each time I moved the scale to unbind the suspension, measuring 1 wheel at a time. (the other 3 wheels were on lumber to match the scale height)

N52 (obviously), no A/C, no sunroof, 2 Sparco seats, no radio or speakers. no tar. rear seat delete.

Full carpet, full tank of gas, spare.

Power steering moved to trunk, 38# lead battery replaced by 6# lithium.

If I remove the spare my full-up track weight is 2400 with a full tank.

[Rev Run D]

That's good to know. I must have missed it somehow if it was mentioned here. I spent most of my morning reading through all 53 pages / 791 posts on this thread. I've tried numerous times before to read through all of it but never did until today. Now that I have an N52 sitting in my garage, I'm a bit more motivated to read thoroughly. There's a few posts specific to wiring, but it was mentioned it was trivial in comparison to mocking up the oil pan and arms.




LOL that would be hilarious if that happened here. Typically for engine swaps in California they can either be dirty smogged or legitimately done through a BAR Referee. From what I read, they go through your swap with a fine tooth comb, looking for anything out of place, non-OEM, aftermarket, non CARB approved items. All emissions related equipment must be fully functional.

On top of the emissions portion, they require that the DME be verified by a BMW dealership to confirm nothing has been altered. I'm reading some will waive the EWS delete, as they understand it is not emissions related. This is copy from another thread on here: "I received your letter and forwarded it to BAR. They requested that the info be put on a dealer invoice. They want verification that the PCM is for a 1999 BMW M3 CA cert. The BAR would like the dealer to list the Calibration ID (CAL ID) and Calibration verification number (CVN) as well."

Full discussion of here on another thread. I posted the question a few months ago regarding getting a swapped N52/4/5 BAR'd, but no one responded. I'm assuming no one on here has done so yet?

I'm opting to do it correctly, as this would be my daily driver.

This is also my first engine swap, so I have plenty to learn here. I'm grateful for this platform and all that have contributed to the discussion, it's really given me a lot of confidence to try something new.

Pretty sure no one has - the biggest challenge will be all the gas tank related modifications.