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BMW M50 non-vanos 3.0 tuning ?

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nonvanos
6K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  mistreku 
#1 ·
Evening peeps,

I have been doing a bit of research into this and i quite like the idea of a non vanos m50 3.0, give the old girl something to scare M3's:hihi

From what i gather its m54 3.0 crank, rod and pistons and thats bout it? :confused Its seems to easy, what else do i need?

While the engine was apart it can much be done with head flowing?

Cams - would schrik or us M3 cams be best?

Alpha N maps/ chips - can they bes used with the ecu for itb's and a huge airbox?

I know some of the more sensible would say drop in a S50 3.0 or 3.2 but the engine i have is in very good condtion, and i fancy something a little different.

Any advice is as always appreciated.

Thanks:thumbsup
 
#2 ·
If you get lucky you can just slot the rotating assembly in. Chuck a new headgasket set on and it's doneish
Are there alpha-n chips for m50's? even if there are ones for single throttle m50's they shouldn't be suitable for 6 throttles because the cross sectional area of the throttle will be different.
If your not tuning it yourself it's best to talk the person doing the tune to find out what to use
Being that your using a non vanos head the us m3 cams don't fit.
For vanos it depends what you want out of the cam. Schricks should give you more power.
You can port the head but it's not hard to mess it up if you don't know what your doing. Flow bench and maybe a spare sacrificial head would help.
You can also put in larger valves if your that way inclined

Things that could be wrong that will cost you include:
-If your bore is worn your either looking at finding a new block or getting forged pistons and rings (i've found the stuff from je and wiseco to be cheaper then factory oversize pistons)
-If the rings from the m54b30 pistons are stuffed then they are quite a pricey part
-If the crank is worn you'll be looking for oversize bearings and a crank regrind.

How much money do you have, how much of the work can you do yourself and how much time do you have to do it all?

I've got most of the parts sitting in the garage ready to go. Mistreku might be the person to talk to. He'll probably get it done before me haha
 
#3 ·
Cheers Kiwi,

If i will have to check the condtion of the block before i do it if i was to go ahead.

Do the non vanos ones (which mine is) really limit the options that much? I was looking at a set of Dilbas throttle bodies, but they needed cams for full potential. So no alpha N or cams avalible? Bum:frown

I would do most of the easy stuff but i have a friend at an engine shop for the techy bits.

Money wise i have 2.5k but thinking with my sensible head on, and can get an s54 engine for that....

Which would be very fast in the e36:thumbsup

Cheers
 
#7 ·
Have a look at this, seems pretty straight forward. Cams wise, this guy has been able to use a M54 intake cam apparently, albeit it had to grind 4mm out of it. Supposedly, more aggressive profile than the M50B25.

Regarding the block wear, worse case scenario, you'll have to buy an M50B20 block from a 320i and bore it to 84mm. Shouldn't be that expensive and at the end of the day, you'll have just as new cylinders. :thumbsup

Dbilas ITB's are way to expensive IMO, for what they are. I'd rather break my knuckles in retrofitting some M3 ITB's. Probably not as efficient but still good enough and for less than half the price.. If not, BBTB is always a fairly cheap and good alternative.

Cams will be expensive as well, a BNIB pair will set you back around 800 pounds from CatCams.
 
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