1989 325i- S50 Swap Project

[KIRIEIW]

Progress has been rather slow lately compared to my other builds but I'm still pushing on! My machine shop guy has been out of town but returns sometime next week, I plan to drop off the S50 cylinder head for new valve stem seals, pressure testing and a light resurface. Other then that my Dad and me will be installing the new rod bearings at his house (I bought all the new rod bearing bolts/ fasteners already from the BMW dealership aka my work).


Today I decided to tackle installing the last of the 325iS bits.. the leather rear seats and rear premium sound speakers. Thankfully BMW was smart and has a "dotted line" drawn out on the backside of the rear shelf to make this a easy DIY for anyone thinking of upgrading to premium sound speakers. Simply cut along the "dotted line" and screw the new speakers in place. Even better, it has holes already drilled for screwing the new premium sound speakers into the rear shelf. It's almost like they expected people to do this upgrade at some point.

I also got my new wheels in the mail.. plus I have Ground Control Coilovers in the backyard I've been saving for a build.. Stay Tuned.


Pics speak for themselves.

[KIRIEIW]

Oh ya I found a pair of front OE BMW mat's in the trash at work the other day, well actually the detailer at work did and he thought of me. He was even nice enough to scrub them clean for me! Not a perfect fit but hey, they were free. They came originally from a Z3 M convertible.


Not a huge fan of the ///M but these are OEM mat's, I guess I'll keep these for a few months till I cough up the money and buy a set of 1 series mats after the winter months are over.



(Don't judge the filthy carpets, I'll have the detailer scrub them once she's running )

[KIRIEIW]

Well good news, machine shop dude is back in town. He texted me today while I was at work saying he just landed into SFO and was going into the shop to work a few hours.. Crazy dude! I told him I'll drop it off tomorrow because I still had the cam's installed.. so after I got off work/ finished dinner I went to town and removed the cams. I'm still looking for a front timing cover so if anyone has one laying around send a PM..

Nothing major but he's going to
-Hot tank the head clean
-Check for cracks/ pressure test the head
-Replace all the valve stem seals
-Give the head a light resurface

[ZekeTheSneak]

What's the plan for the bottom end?

[KIRIEIW]

What's the plan for the bottom end?

I bought brand new main and rod bearings along with new hardware at work (since the rods/ mains are stretch bolts and can't be reused). I actually just got started on the bottom end, we removed the pistons today after work and I plan on dropping the block off tomorrow to my machine shop.

[KIRIEIW]

Got my cylinder head back today from the machine shop . He sent me the pic bellow and figured I'd post it here. Also I got off work a bit early today so my Dad and I removed the pistons from the block and properly labeled them in order. I plan to drop the block off at the machine shop tomorrow, when I picked up the head today we talked a bit about the engine build and figured I might as well hot tank the block, so it looks like I'll be dropping the block off tomorrow afternoon. He plan's to hot tank the engine block clean plus giving the cylinder walls a light hone.


Once I get the block back we'll re install the new bearings, cylinder head, and re seal the rest of the engine. Soon after that she'll be living a comfortable life in a 89' 325i coupe.

[KIRIEIW]

Engine block off to the machine shop!

[KIRIEIW]

Got the block back from the machine shop, everything's really clean now . The cylinder walls were re honed, he inspected the crankshaft, and hot tanked the pistons clean as can be, and I had him stamp the connecting rods/ main caps. He also hot tanked the engine block. BMW doesn't mark the connecting rods or main's so make sure you mark them before removal! I marked them with a sharpie but once I got everything into his shop he stamped/ numbered them permanently.


I have to order new rings now (I wasn't sure if I was going to replace them at first but being this deep into the build, why the hell not). Once I have them ordered my machinist was nice enough to offer a hand measuring the ring gap at my house in the garage. This has basically turned into a full engine rebuild at this point, all over a stupid facebook marketplace deal gone wrong. I guess the good news is once it's done this should be a fun little car.


Onto the pics;















You can see this connecting rod cap is now stamped "5" indicating piston #5

[mike.bmw]

I'm loving the frequent updates! Thanks for sharing!

[KIRIEIW]

WOW you guys won't understand the struggle I had getting a hold of piston rings for this S50.. OEM rings cost $240 per piston (total would be $1440 plus tax... would you also like that installed?). BMW used Mahle rings in S50's from the factory, so Mahle rings and OEM rings are the same. I know this because the pistons I removed from the engine are stamped "MAHLE". The trouble comes with finding a seller who still has these ultra rare 86mm Mahle rings in the year 2020..

After roughly 3 hours of fooling around online, I finally found a seller in the UK who was happy to ship them to me. Total was still over $411 bucks shipped..


Obviously the price is totally marked up but I don't blame him, he's the only seller who still has these rings and I'm sure he's down to only a few last sets. Literally everywhere is out of stock when you look online, and you send them an email and the response is something along the lines of "sorry, we can't get them anymore". Total shame MAHLE hasn't made another batch of rings for these engines.. All I have to say is S52 rings are a hell of a lot cheaper and have aftermarket support unlike S50!





BMW part number: 11-25-1-403-809

MAHLE part number: 081 12 N0







IMG_9315 by Kevin O'Brien, on Flickr


IMG_9316 by Kevin O'Brien, on Flickr

[jeenyus]

those little things will get you. glad you got it sorted!

[KIRIEIW]

Well it's been a while since I updated this but the build is going pretty well. So far I got the M20 pulled along with the trans/ driveshaft out, I also got the open differential removed so I can bolt in the new 3.25LSD.


The S50 is also going pretty smoothly, I had my machinist swing by the house and he gave me a hand gaping the piston rings to make sure they're in spec. I ended up ordering new oil "squirters" (go underneath the main bearings) so once those to come in from work I plan on install all those along with the new bearings/ continue with re sealing the engine. I also re painted the block while its out of the car.

Lastly I had my Dad mess with this e83 brake booster which I plan on installing. It's pretty similar to the e90 booster swap for 24v swap (as far as my understanding goes) except for the fact the brake lines enter on the left side of the brake master cylinder (like the stock e30 set up). Using a tap/ die kit the stock e30 clevis now fits onto the e83 booster.

[KIRIEIW]

I'm struggling to update this unlike all my other past builds on here.. Engine is finally assembled/ rebuilt and ready to be installed! I also just got the front subframe back in the car, I had my Dad weld on the sway bar reinforcement tabs along with the engine mount reinforcement's from AKG motorsport. Brand new Lemforder control arms, AKG motorsport polly control arm bushings, and e36 steering rack. She's coming along. I hope to get the engine installed this week and if I'm lucky enough, running/ driving by next weekend..

What else did I get done..? I got the GC coilovers installed along with the e83 brake booster, 318i oil cooler valance delete plate (not sure if I'm a fan of it yet, you can see it in the last picture).

I took two weeks off from work due to this Mexican beer virus going around. The shop's been slow, so I figured I'd take some time off and focus on the project.


Oh ya, and the kid I sold that 325is parts car above earlier in this thread for $1100.. He's trying to "flip it" for $4000. Try to do people favors but they still take advantage of you. Go figure.

[benwalsh91]

really enjoyed reading this, going to go check out your other threads now.

if you ever need a hand getting bits from the UK drop me a message, may still have to come from the same seller but the markup may be lower if they are dealing with someone this side of the pond. that goes for any parts, not just e30 related. I have an early model USA 325e car over here in London!

[KIRIEIW]

really enjoyed reading this, going to go check out your other threads now.

if you ever need a hand getting bits from the UK drop me a message, may still have to come from the same seller but the markup may be lower if they are dealing with someone this side of the pond. that goes for any parts, not just e30 related. I have an early model USA 325e car over here in London!

It's a real cool story I've read your thread a few times, and thanks for the offer.