My car is F#$&*(#&$ slow.

[trackjunkie21]

SO...how are they gonna tell what engine it is? Unless you take it to some BMW guru, I doubt Joe Shmlo down the street will know the difference in M50 vs M52, unless he is very observant at year changes correlating to oil fill cap locations.

You think I give a hoot? I hate CA

[slammin.e28]

You think I give a hoot? I hate CA

Heh heh....this is the only good thing about Va (other than NOVa)....no emissions. I do what the fuck I want.

[Jafxod]

SO...how are they gonna tell what engine it is? Unless you take it to some BMW guru, I doubt Joe Shmlo down the street will know the difference in M50 vs M52, unless he is very observant at year changes correlating to oil fill cap locations.

Any cop that has ever looked under my hood asks if its swapped haha.

[Sagaris]

Spence, post your 30-70mph acceleration time (in whatever gears can get you there as quick as possible) and I can tell you if there is something wrong with your engine.

[slammin.e28]

Any cop that has ever looked under my hood asks if its swapped haha.

But this is M50 vs M52. Just run OBD1 on a M52 and roll with it. Nobody will know unless they are a BMW guru.

[lolcantturn]

M20's suck waffleswaffleswaffles.



buy a non vanos M50 for like $400

Then turbo it.
You'll save $1000 from going S5x and you'll make much more power ;)

plus you get the PSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH when you get off da accelorraterz!!!!!!

[ak-]

If you just wanna go FAST FAST FAST, I don't think it's too smart to turbo your car since you live in California.
Your car has a cage, no rear interior, noticeable wheels, yellow beams.
You're already asking to get your hood popped open without the turbo. Now, having a "flashy" turbo'd car mixed with the wanting to go foreverfast doesn't sit well in Cali.

They pull you over for having an air-freshened hanging and move on to investigating you.

My friend just got done with his ref ticket and it's not fun

[Suspence]

My clutch needs a rebuild... which will cost a ton, and then I'm going to do the swap... but in all honesty if I do the swap should I just do a new transmission as well?

[kalib0y]

I am assuming that straight N/A will eventually get boring for you so get an M50 non-vanos and build it with a big turbo.

[Jafxod]

My clutch needs a rebuild... which will cost a ton, and then I'm going to do the swap... but in all honesty if I do the swap should I just do a new transmission as well?

Cost a ton. For my swap I just used my stock trans, then a clutch is like 200. Doing a clutch job on a motor and trans out of the car takes about 20 minutes haha.

[Suspence]

Spence, post your 30-70mph acceleration time (in whatever gears can get you there as quick as possible) and I can tell you if there is something wrong with your engine.

M20's suck waffleswaffleswaffles.



buy a non vanos M50 for like $400

Then turbo it.
You'll save $1000 from going S5x and you'll make much more power ;)

plus you get the PSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH when you get off da accelorraterz!!!!!!

Haha, yeah I'd prefer to go that route to be honest.

If you just wanna go FAST FAST FAST, I don't think it's too smart to turbo your car since you live in California.
Your car has a cage, no rear interior, noticeable wheels, yellow beams.
You're already asking to get your hood popped open without the turbo. Now, having a "flashy" turbo'd car mixed with the wanting to go foreverfast doesn't sit well in Cali.

My friend just got done with his ref ticket and it's not fun

Yeah very true, I think that I'd do a major cosmetic makeover as well once I did a turbo. (If I did) to be a little more low key, but with a swap I feel a little safer as long as I get a nice clean motor that's reliable. I have problems with my m20 almost every few weeks, with an m50 I feel like I'd be a little safer. My mom has an e46 3 series and the engine hasn't had a single problem yet... so that's making me way more motivated to buy an m50 and swap it all.

I'm not really sure on what else I need besides the motor, I have some buddies that built my motor for me and helped me a ton so I'll go to them definitely. From day 1 with this car I have learned more about BMW motors than I have anything else LOL.

But thanks to REV for all the help so far, you guys are awesome.

[blefevre]

Just buy an E46 M3.

[evandael]

Jafxod, i'm interested in how you manage to pull together an M50 swap for under a grand. NV or Vanos? stock headers? do you make your own harness?


OP, swap in m50 w/ s50 cams and a tune.

[Sagaris]

something as simple as the WOT switch not working, or the ECU not running closed loop due to a prior o2 fault (even without the CEL illuminated) can put you down on power quite a bit.


Do a stomp test to check for any codes, reset the ecu by disconnecting the battery and check the WOT switch to make sure it is engaging.

still curious what your 30-70 time is to gauge your definition of "slow".
You should certainly be faster than 6 seconds 30-70 if not closer to 5.5

oh, and perhaps get a job at a dealership that sells slow cars .

[Pantless Spency]

tarbo ls1 swap,
than if your still dissatisfied, talk to the people at your work and get a Bugatti hhaha