can some explane to me why vanos is better?

[gregslow318i]

just wondering in regards to e30 m50 swaps...
....ps pleas keep this in mind this is in regards to e30 m50 swaps not m52 or s50 or s50 but only 2.5l m50's

Ill start Ive done both m50nv and m50tu conversions and between the 2 I like the nv better, especially when using a g260 and a s3.73 or a s4.10 because the more r3v happy nv seams to pulls harder (than the tu) on the top end
granted the m50tu has more lowend tq but will the above gearing it seams like a wash

[Danny]

Vanos is an off-on-off system. It gives the car more midrange, making it easier to drive on the street.

[justin_l_]

IDK, I've always liked my non vanos car more than any of the vanos m50's I have driven.

[87e30]

Vanos is an off-on-off system. It gives the car more midrange, making it easier to drive on the street.

I'm pretty fucking sure greg knows what vanos is. And could explain it better than you can.

I love the tq of the m52. But I get your point greg... but then why not just go for the rev happy m20b25? God that thing is fun to wind out.

[Danny]

I'm pretty fucking sure greg knows what vanos is. And could explain it better than you can.

I love the tq of the m52. But I get your point greg... but then why not just go for the rev happy m20b25? God that thing is fun to wind out.

Oh? Then why did he ask?

[87e30]

Oh? Then why did he ask?

Reads more like a semi-rant to me. But it's funny, because greg is all about that tq and v8s. So I'm sorta confused as to why he doesn't like the vanos better. But greg, I'll bet that the vanos motor pulls just as hard up top it just doesn't feel it relative to the low end like the nan vanos does. It's relative, I bet a dyno would prove that they pull equally up top, if not better for the vanos since it gets two cam profiles essentially. But that is speculation.

[Danny]

Shut up Gayton.

[FredK]

Finding factual information on the internet is difficult. However, it would seem that the NV has hotter cams with more duration and more intake-side lift, which would certainly account for a stronger top end.

M50: 240°, 9.7mm Intake / 240°, 9.0mm Exhaust
M50TU: 228°, 9.0mm Intake / 228°, 9.0mm Exhaust

Feel free to make corrections to my information if you have a decent source.

[Atreus]

vanos, the bmw vtec, lol.

[CorvallisBMW]

VANOS is NOT an on/off system. It continuously varies the intake timing for optimum power/torque/efficiency/etc. The M50TU does indeed have less aggressive cams than the NV version. In fact the NV cams are very similar to S50 cams, nearly identical IIRC. The motor also takes even more aggressive cams very well. A popular upgrade is to swap the intake cam to the exhaust side, advance it 1-4 degrees, than have a spare intake reground to be more aggressive and put it back on the intake side (advanced or not). There is a NV performance thread on bf.c with lots of great info.

The NV motor also has stronger (and therefor heavier) internals which lends itself well to FI. It can handle a lot more boost on stock internals than the TU version. That being said the TU motor has a flatter torque curve and better fuel efficiency, if only by a little. Having driven identical e34s with the two motors back-to-back, I could barely tell the difference (though both were autotragics) Personally I love the M50NV in my e34, it feels great above 5K :)

[FredK]

No, the NV cams are not nearly identical to S50US/S52 cams. The S50US and S52 cams have more lift and longer duration. 256/240 or so, around 10.2mm lift at least on the intake. I am not sure what you mean by the NV taking more aggressive cams. The pistons have very shallow valve pockets.

Single Vanos is an on/off triphase VVT system. Low rpm it's not advanced. Mid to mid-high rpm it's advanced. Mid high to redline it's no longer advanced.

[briansjacobs]

the thread is a little misleading, for a race car you dont want vanos, for a street car you want vanos as it is in the end going to give you the best overall power to fuel economy ratio. So to the OP, what do you want?

[gregslow318i]

the thread is a little misleading, for a race car you dont want vanos, for a street car you want vanos as it is in the end going to give you the best overall power to fuel economy ratio. So to the OP, what do you want?

well to be honest my mind is made up....
but i am wondering what is the best in a e30 something that sees a little bit of both street and track driving

[McGyver]

just go s85 and call it a day

/thread.

[AndrewBird]

So here is a bit of a noob question. NV=Non Vanos, correct? But what does TU stand for?