'88 325is M30 street car-->S54 -->S50 -->M54 Enduro Race car

[Jb325is]

Awesome, thanks for all the help with parts so far! Looks like I'll be getting a lot of parts this week, so hopefully this coming weekend will be go-time! Mechanically at least. Still have a lot of wiring to do

[Jb325is]

Made some pretty good progress today. Motor is in and headers clear everything.

Started out doing rod bearings, not fun on the later s54's with 3 stage, triple repeated torque sequences



Torque angle gauge I got from Amazon, pretty decent actually, much nicer than autozone/napa/local whatever




Back together



This stuff showed up right after I finished the rod bearings. Thanks to Tyler/ The Arc Asylum for the amazing craftsmanship and getting the parts to me on time!





Everything was going great and then I ran into a snag. I ordered a new e34 m5 clutch kit and s52 flywheel because I'd always seen e36 m3 guys run those clutches and I assumed they mounted up to the stock flywheel. Well they don't, I guess everyone that runs an e34 m5 clutch in an e36 upgrades to the UUC flywheel, which has the bolt pattern that matches the m5 pressure plate. So now I have to buy a new pressure plate or flywheel. My friend has a UUC 8.5 lb that I might try, but I really wanted to keep the dual mass flywheel to help with harmonics. Hopefully tomorrow I can track something down locally and get the transmission in and mounted.

Good news is we dropped the motor in and the headers clear then engine mounts and subframe, I don't think I'm going to have to modify them at all!

[Jb325is]

Picked this guy up from a friend locally today. It's a 8.5lb UUC flywheel, has the correct dowel-pin/hole alignment for my e34 m5 pressure plate. You also have to use shorter bolts and I used a nut plate off of an automatic flex plate, the last person that had this flywheel used washers or something and it galled up the aluminum pretty bad



So for future reference, I'm sure some people know this but I sure never did- You cannot use an m5 clutch/pp with a stock s5x flywheel. Has to be the UUC lightweight flywheel with m5 clutch or e36 m3 clutch/flywheel

[LJ851]

Bummer about the flywheel, are you going to work on a dual mass solution to add later?

S54 looks wicked in the engine bay!

[Jb325is]

Bummer about the flywheel, are you going to work on a dual mass solution to add later?

S54 looks wicked in the engine bay!

Possibly.. I've read so many conflicting reports by s54 people, I'm going to try it and see what happens. Most people complain about the chattering, which I don't care about. Some people say that it causes a noticeable harmonic vibration, which I would care about, and others say they've tracked their cars for years with no issues and the car revs so much faster with the light flywheel. I have 1200 miles (yeah right) of break in to feel it out, so we'll see

[LJ851]

I have 1200 miles (yeah right) of break in to feel it out, so we'll see

Break what in ? The clutch?

[Jb325is]

Break what in ? The clutch?

Rod bearings. I've never broken in a clutch before, never had any problems

[nando]

rod bearings don't break in - ideally they should never touch, but obviously the S54 uses them like an old dirty sock.

the break in period for an engine is to seat the rings. and it's really closer to 120 miles than 1200, unless it's a new car and you've got a black box recorder and 10 year warranty to worry about..

[Jb325is]

rod bearings don't break in - ideally they should never touch, but obviously the S54 uses them like an old dirty sock.

I was wondering about that. I read through a thread about the bearing recall on m3forum though and BMW recommends 1200 miles, but they are supposed to be oiled so I don't get what would be "breaking in." Dudes on the forum were all sending their oil to Blackstone after break in period and seeing elevated levels of lead and copper (residual from previously bad bearing?) and saying that was normal because of break in. e46 m3 owner must be a large percentage of the business that Blackstone does, its amazing how many oil analysis threads there are on those forums.

[LJ851]

I agree with nando, plain bearings do not break in since they are a non contact surface (theoretically). I like to run an new engine through a couple or few lower stress heat cycles before wide open full throttle runs but that is mainly for the rings.


Race motorcycles typically see 1-2 laps at maybe half pace on a new engine and then let it eat.

[Jb325is]

I agree with nando, plain bearings do not break in since they are a non contact surface (theoretically). I like to run an new engine through a couple or few lower stress heat cycles before wide open full throttle runs but that is mainly for the rings.


Race motorcycles typically see 1-2 laps at maybe half pace on a new engine and then let it eat.

Ok cool, thanks for the info. On the Miata's we usually do a practice session of break in on a new motor and that's all, I didn't know it was just for the rings though. I guess the stuff I read was just typical bmw weenie stuff.


Also, just put the trans in a few minutes ago. It was a bitch with the car slanted forwards but I got it after a while. AKG shifter lines up pretty well and the used trans I got has 5 gears, so that's good. A note for people using condors engine mounts or any others with offset studs, mine likes the centered stud down and the offset stud towards the middle of the subframe. Again, I'm sure a lot of people know this already but I tried a few different orientations before everything fit nicely.

[The Dark Side of Will]

I guess the stuff I read was just typical bmw weenie stuff.

There's an amazing amount of that out there... Guys on M5Board actually believe that the S62 VANOS incurs 24 HP of parasitic drag, AND that you can gain power by eliminating it.
If you said that on an S54 forum, you'd be laughed off the internet.

[gills]

Another question I've been meaning to ask, deleting power steering I see?

[nando]

There's an amazing amount of that out there... Guys on M5Board actually believe that the S62 VANOS incurs 24 HP of parasitic drag, AND that you can gain power by eliminating it.
If you said that on an S54 forum, you'd be laughed off the internet.

ugh. lol.

[Jb325is]

Another question I've been meaning to ask, deleting power steering I see?

Yeah, didn't feel like messing with it. I've driven the car without power steering before a couple times and it's not bad at all, passes the girlfriend test even. I usually keep the camber around 3.5 or so in the front and I think that helps.

I haven't done a ton to the car over the last week or so, I've been pretty busy, but I did mount the radiator, fan, and oil cooler. I also had to grind down that big tab on the side of the bellhousing on the passenger side for the headers, after I did that, they clear everything with ease.