S52 Brilliantrot 318is from Australia

[jsta1109]

No fuel pump turned out to be dead relay, i had everything pulled apart fearing the harness had a fault, turned out to be the easier thing. Lesson learnt I guess. Motivation to put everything back together was lacking, so it took me 3x longer than it normally does.

I had to do the starter on mine also. I agree, theres a few things that really should get done when you are doing the swap. I skipped the VANOs rebuild on mine. Not sure I intentionally did it, it just slipped my mind. Well, sure enough it started getting noisy and eventually I had to deal with it.

have you gotten a tune yet?

I guess we all learn, I am sure if I ever did the swap again there would be many things I'd do differently.

I haven't got a "tune" per say, but I've been doing my best to learn the ins-and-outs of MS41 from the RomRaider forums. Aside from some small changes to accommodate M50 manifold, RHD Flywheel and being in a different, there hasn't been much "tuning".

I have managed to get a happy medium with rev hang, did my own EWS delete, raised rev limiter etc. I have managed to score a set of S52 cams, so ill have some fun tuning for those when the time comes.

[2mAn]

I had to do the starter on mine also. I agree, theres a few things that really should get done when you are doing the swap. I skipped the VANOs rebuild on mine. Not sure I intentionally did it, it just slipped my mind. Well, sure enough it started getting noisy and eventually I had to deal with it.

have you gotten a tune yet?

[jsta1109]

Finally got around to getting myself a new starter motor. Refusing to heed the advice of others, and in an effort to save $100 I decided against buying a brand new one when I originally swapped the motor.

I will state it for those planning to do a swap, please... for the love of god put a reman or new starter in BEFORE you put the engine in place. I think I found every extension I had, ones I wasn't aware I had and every single uni-joint and adapter I could lay my hands on. I also had to get help to hold the nut on the other end. It was an absolute shit job, totally avoidable if I was smart.





Previous starter took many a hits, the case looked very beat up, good riddance.




Worth noting, also installed a medium case 3.73 temporarily while I source an LSD Center. Well worth the effort, makes highway driving much nicer. Also installed one o2 sensor, currently got the dme only using single back, one of my bungs had a stripped block off in it. Will have to drill it out or make a new one.

[jsta1109]

Hi Hi,

Lil' update, ended up trading aforementioned diff for a ZF 320z, over here they sell for $1500-$2000 ($1000usd - $1500usd roughly). I also got a 3.15 open that'll be going in, but no rear cover as of yet... I will find one eventually.



Got a minty rolling shot

Still cleaning up certain aspects of the swap, still plenty to do, somewhat enjoying it yada yada.

[jsta1109]

First. Congrats. The aloomineum (thats how you guys say it, right?) M52 is probably the best motor for the E30, but Im obviously bias. Get the M3 cams in there, a tune and an OBD1 intake and you will have a different opinion about the power.

so, now what do you do? post a pic of said GF :popcorn:

Manifold is sorted already (the cam sensor issue at first glance seemed like a vacuum issue, decided to swap back to M52 manifold in an effort to curb any potential issues, wasn't it)


As requested, a picture of my girlfriend


I don't think it made a huge difference, and yes it has been tuned to suit, albeit a road tune at that (ignition timing, a bit of fuel here and there, monitor knock sensors and raise rev limiter). It definitely wakes the top end up a bit, but not an apparent difference.

I have a friend over here with the shitty (US) M3 motor, S52. Once he moves over to turbo setup was planning on running alternative cams, I've lined his up.

I am planning on sorting differential out, I currently have an LSD center that has no bearings, standard 2 clutch that is showing some wear and a medium case 3.64. In two minds about how I approach the install, do I just risk the diff as is and install new bearings and seals, or replace the 2 clutches, flip dog ears and or pay to have the center machined for 4 clutches.

[2mAn]

Absolutely stoked with how it turned out, not as fast as I expected but it is only 180-190hp worth.

And girlfriend hooooooning it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9PEgVAWQIo&feature=em-upload_owner

Now what do I do?

First. Congrats. The aloomineum (thats how you guys say it, right?) M52 is probably the best motor for the E30, but Im obviously bias. Get the M3 cams in there, a tune and an OBD1 intake and you will have a different opinion about the power.

so, now what do you do? post a pic of said GF :popcorn:

[jsta1109]

Cars running well, ended up replacing cam sensor 4 times before one sensor worked. No more codes (beyond emissions stuff)

Exhaust video below, consists of modified E39 328i headers to clear steering shaft (barina linkage), full 2.5inch with one 12" hot dog and a magnaflow dual 3inch muffler. Pretty loud, thinking of toning it down a tad.

Zorsty by Josh Stacey, on Flickr

[lukeADE335i]

Nice - if my M30 ever dies, I'll switch over to an M52/54 and look him up.

When my wife drives my car she drives it like she stole it! Has a fair bit more grunt that her Hyundai does, and she makes the most of it. I tend to drive like a grandpa unless I'm enjoying some "spirited" driving as per the BMW owners manual :D

So much for young males being the "Hoons" :D

[jsta1109]

Nice work on the swap!

Who did you get to modify your cross member so that you could run the rear sump? Looks a little like the arc asylum one, but did you get it done locally?

Your GF looks to have treated the car with a lot of respect (rather than hooning as your video title suggests!) I was expecting some skids, and her wringing the motor's neck out to redline :D Sounds nice in the video.

A bloke in Melbourne by the name of Footwork, best approach is via Facebook. The workmanship is quite good, I myself have no complaints with how it turned out, I just had a long turn around. As far as I know it is a copy of the Arc Asylum one, just means you aren't struck with astronomical shipping charges. No comment on how the two might differ or which one is better or worse as I've only seen and used one.

Also, can assure you skids happened, but recording those wasn't really a priority ;) This was her first drive too

[lukeADE335i]

Nice work on the swap!

Who did you get to modify your cross member so that you could run the rear sump? Looks a little like the arc asylum one, but did you get it done locally?

Your GF looks to have treated the car with a lot of respect (rather than hooning as your video title suggests!) I was expecting some skids, and her wringing the motor's neck out to redline :D Sounds nice in the video.

[jsta1109]

So... A lot has happened since the last update. I am officially engine swapped, I'm sure you've all seen a 24v swap, so I'll save you the same read but share the problems encountered along the way.



Engine Fully Dressed awaiting its new home inside my bay, Alloy Block M52B28



We will skip the removal of the M42, had that done in half a day and honestly was the easiest part of the entire swap (maybe I was motivated to get rid of that lump)

Removed old subframe, thankfully that sheered bolt was barely finger tight and ended spinning out. Prior to me trying to remove it I produce a large brown stain the nether regions.



Here she is, empty and all



Glad I opted for a replacement subframe for rear sump conversion. Yikes!



Clio Booster mounted, new subframe in, barina linkage attached and mocked up with Purple Tag E46 Rack. (Might I add, this setup feels super stout, but I am getting ahead of myself here)



The new lump about to be dropped in, about to experience the worst pain and frustration I had ever gone through.... here's why!



Getting this lump over that subframe, whilst trying to have enough angle on the trans ended up taking 4 hours, dropped the subframe entirely and then bolted everything up in situ.



ANNNNNNDDDDD she's in.... wooo



Minor hurdle, had what I thought was a 320i shift linkage, turns out only the shifter assembly was, the rod was a 318i. Ended up phoning a friend and having something that was about right sorted.



New end crimped for power steering pump, bent E30 lines for E46 rack, pretty simple.



Temporary exhaust situation, we eyeballed the flange at friends shop and it's crooked. Magnaflow dual 3", many rice.



Front sway sorted

You might be thinking, "wow, this guy carefully planned this entire thing and orchestrated 100% flawless execution of this swap, had it running and driving in a weekend ready for work Monday"

I breezed over a lot of the hiccups a long the way but let me list what actually unfolded.

I started the swap on a Friday and had the engine in Sunday. This was three weeks ago, car still isn't driving 100%

The starter motor didn't match the flywheel, so I ran to a workshop which supposedly had m20 starter and it ended up being an m40. In the end traced one down.

I had a failed Crank Sensor, a broken cam sensor and an unflashable MS41 ECU.

I put the motor in and filled it full of oil, the oil pan weeps. I didn't RTV the four corners like you should, that was overlooked in the mad rush to get this all finished. Unfortunately the subframe had to come out again.

The shift linkage didn't work... luckily a friend with a bucket of old E28 parts managed to sort it.

Adjusting the booster I broke the locking plate inside for the clevis, had to pull the entire thing apart to fix it.

So I replaced all those sensors as stated above, I was able to get a VDO Crank Sensor which fixed the issue and a non-genuine cam sensor. I also had to buy a new to me flashable MS41, while waiting on shipping borrowed a friends and flashed it for him.

The replacement aftermarket cam sensor was expensive and didn't work. This is giving a maxed reading in INPA and throwing a 65 / p0304 code. Waiting on an OEM Replacement.



All those problems aside I had the car driving in less than a week, mostly solved in two weeks and currently about to tick onto my third week of it sitting in the garage with a suspected cam sensor failure (new aftermarket). If new sensor resolves it's off to the exhaust shop to get hangers sorted and muffler straightened.

Absolutely stoked with how it turned out, not as fast as I expected but it is only 180-190hp worth.

Here's a first start video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQbL...m-upload_owner

[jsta1109]

Any particular reason for the rear sump?

Purely peace of mind for ground clearance, there are a lot of rough roads out where I am. E34 setups fetch $300-$400aud here, this set me back $750aud + shipping.

[Haystack]

Any particular reason for the rear sump?

[efficient]

Nice thread.

[JeLani]

That wheel & tire combo looks good!


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