Alien Engineering solid lifter shims for BMW M52

[@Moshforthekill91]

I’ve never set the lash on lifters, or worked on motors to this degree. But after watching this, I feel like I could 1000% do it. Tearing into my m50b25 for the first time to learn and rebuild my engine.

[@drewdavis239]

First video I've seen on this channel, instantly a subscriber. Thank you for your time and effort.

[@GTRliffe]

if you have no access too shims, cutting a drill bit (accurately) make good shims, if you know your size

[@cecilclark252]

Explains everything i was going to ask. Much appreciated 🙏🙏

[@robertfontaine3650]

Very nice. Are you still playing with the M50 On a daily driven occasionally abused vehicle how regularly should the lash be checked? I currently have a low mileage S52 in my M3. I am thinking about building an M50B30(32) that I won't feel bad about blowing up if it happens. High rpm, High boost, normal compression NV M50 seems much more common in Europe. Most of the US builds seem to be far more conservative. Been watching and reading for about 20 years now but still haven't built an engine. Thanks for your work.

[@someguy325es]

I have lots of customers that are daily driving solid lifter converted cars. Most cars with solid lifters like a 2jz have a valve lash interval of like 50,000 miles

[@robertfontaine3650]

@@someguy325es That is really good to hear. It's hard to seperate facts from bro science on the forums

[@z3speed4me]

Great video! Contemplating going this route soon with the dampener to have a go at 8k

[@johnmortimer7862]

Hey man, long time lurker/poster from bimmerforums here. Really appreciate all your knowledge and contributions over the years. You and Pbonsalb (sp?) have posted so much useful stuff on that forum. When I see a post from you on a thread I breath a sigh of relief because I know it is good info, instead of the usual armchair quarterbacks bickering with each other. I've have issues with my hydraulic lifters at the track and have decided to install solid. How did you choose the size for valve lash on these heads? Is there a rule of thumb that just works for most engines? and do you know if S52 valve springs can handle 8000 rpm if I run solid lifters?

[@weedshoes5089]

Ayyy. Bf.c for life.

[@bernardwarr4187]

Brilliant engineering solution , good job

[@blakeminson6518]

Great video! How often do you typically have to check/readjust the clearance with this setup?

[@someguy325es]

There is no spec for this since these motors never came with solid lifters, but most cars that did come from the factory with solid lifters usually recommend something like 40,000-60,000 miles

[@FirstLast-tx3yj]

@@someguy325es if you use an m50b20 crank and balance it and lighten it to the max with solid lifters... should be able to do 10,000rpm right??

[@someguy325es]

First Last I don’t see any reason why you would need to use an m50b20 crank. I’m already running 9000 on an m52b28tu crank which is the heaviest of al the M5x cranks. I don’t see any reason why any of the stock cranks except for possibly the M54B30 crank would have any issue at 10000. Lightening the crank will not help anything as you would just be removing counterweight which will put more radial load on the main bearings. The cranks are already balanced to within about 2 or 3 grams from the factory.

[@FirstLast-tx3yj]

@@someguy325es just for reliability... b25 crank would do then... What cams do you recommend?

[@HANDLERofKNIFE]

​@@someguy325es I read on the internet and talked with a guy who runs b30 crank that the extra stroke in b30 has vibration problems and with start to "sing" at high rpm but with b25-b28 cranks there is no such problem

[@Stiley86]

Hi Some Guy, is there not a small amount of hydraulic jack out even with the check valve removed ? At high rpm particularly ? Thanks. great video by the way.

[@someguy325es]

No it just pushes the fluid back out the inlet port

[@TolandTheShattered]

So I’ve got a 97 E36 M3 with an S52 and I’m looking at trying to boost it, and see about a reasonable redline to reduce the need for crazy cylinder pressure. Any issues with this system? Where did you get the shims? And if you know anything about the S5X series engines, any recommendations on reducing the nasty harmonics this engine produces? Thanks! Great video!

[@someguy325es]

I have the shims manufactured and sell them as a kit. You can email me at [e-mail] or I have them on my eBay store. Need a good damper for the crank harmonics. I have a good relationship with GDM engineering and use their race damper on my car. Beyond that the only thing you can do is reduce the stroke with an S50 or M52 crank. If you want it to keep making power much above 7000 it will take bigger cams and a different intake manifold. The stock plastic intakes are tuned for like 6500 rpm

[@tomwolniewicz]

which cam are you running?

[@haywagonbmwe46touring54]

Very interesting. I have an M54 build coming up. Have a guess what safe rpm would be with the converted lifters? Most recommended not to go above 7-7.2k on the stock m54 valve train. I'd likely be running the oem B30 hydraulic cams. (found your forum post)

[@someguy325es]

The stock M54 springs are pretty weak. 7200 is probably about it. For what it’s worth I’m running 9000 rpms with this setup.

[@haywagonbmwe46touring54]

@@someguy325es thanks! If I go as far as uprated springs, I'll keep that number in mind.

[@joelpaal4699]

@@someguy325es you have a IG page ?

[@levanmotsonelidze6676]

@@someguy325es what springs do you use?

[@p61111]

i have a 7.5k limiter on a completely stock m50b25 single vanos but i am planning to convert to solid lifters to reach 8k safely

[@someguy325es]

At some point you will also need a valve spring upgrade. I’m running 9000 rpm on this motor

[@esdar66g95]

hello, i dont know if this has been asked before but would you mind telling me why the other type of lifter cant be used? i dissasembled one of them and theres room inside for the shims, thank you

[@someguy325es]

The other lifters have a larger internal diameter so the shims will not stay in place correctly as there is too much room for them to move around. You will destroy the shims if you use them in the wrong lifters.

[@frontspring1]

what's the benefit of a solid lifter conversion

[@someguy325es]

If you are running high rpms or an aggressive cam with stiff valve springs the hydraulic lifters will collapse which causes a loss of valve lift and "lifter tick". Lifter tick is actually the sound of the valves pounding into the seats because the lifter is collapsed so the deceleration ramp on the cam is not being used. Eventually this can lead to the valve stem or keepers failing and the valve dropping into the cylinder.

[@matt6925]

This is such a cool piece of information. Thanks for your time on this tech stuff. I’m curious if you know about this solution being used in the n62 4.4 v8? Any chance the lifter bore is the same?

[@god5192]

hey man, quick question i got a m54b30. i just installed supertech valvesprings, shrick 272* 256* cam, im thinking of using the hydraulic lifters but buy new genuine instead of solid lifters because i dont really know how they work tbh and im no expert so dont wanna mess around too much in the numbers. but im asking if you would tell me that this is a bad idea or a okay idea and a rough estimate of how much i could rev my engine. oil pumpnut is secured with the steelstring and loctite. and also running the m50b25 intake and i got highflow headers.

[@tiitsaul9036]

Interesting. How much rpm does stock m52 bottom take? I’ve got m52b28 and s52 cams, 11.6CR otherwise stock. Currently rev limiter set at 7K. At what rpm does solid lifter starting to make a difference? Do m52 beehive springs keep the valve train together past 7K rpm?

[@MachoMostacho]

I know I'm quite late, but stock top end on m52 would stop doing it's job @7200 RPMish. Dual springs from M50NV is a must for high RPM aplications (or just get supertech stuff).

[@tiitsaul9036]

@@MachoMostacho thanks. What prevents revving safely past 7200rpm? Harmonic balancer?

[@MachoMostacho]

@@tiitsaul9036 Well the valve spring upgrade should get you to about 8000RPM. but at that point you will have accelerated wear in Rod bearings, as well as more stress being applied to the rods themselves. Also Crankshaft harmonics are an issue past 7k6 apparently. (Don't quote me on that) These are big engines, and do not like revs. Also all the timing components start to wear our quicker and could lead to some nasty damage. Of course revving an engine that high without camshafts/other upgrades would be useless, since stock cams don't make power past 6K. In short, to rev to 7k2 you need valve springs and camshafts. To rev to 8k (and make power), some headwork, harmonic balancer, as well as some light pistons (that's what I did at least). Source: I have a 280hp/34,5kgm NA M52b28 which revs to 7k5.

[@tiitsaul9036]

@@MachoMostacho mine has 240degree cams in it at the moment, but I have s52 cams on the shelf ready to be installed. These are around 250degrees from memory. Not huge, but a good upgrade compared to stock.

[@MachoMostacho]

@@tiitsaul9036 Sorry. I went on vacation. Another thing to keep in mind is cam timing. That's a whole other can of worms, but an important one.

[@That1ne92]

How do you work out the lash with whatever cam your running? I have a set of 280/280 10.5/10.0 cams for my m54 is it always a certain lash spec no matter the cam or how do I figure it out?

[@someguy325es]

It is specific to how the cams are ground. If they are solid lifter cams they should come with a lash spec from the cam grinder. If they are hydraulic lifter cams you need to set the lash very tight like .003”. If you can’t get the specs from the manufacturer you can send them to me to profile and I can figure out the lash and lobe center angles and make timing blocks for them

[@That1ne92]

@@someguy325es would be a good idea but I’m in uk, also can you turn a hydraulic cam into a solid cam? And what’s the difference, if not your basically saying to use 0.003” what does the lash mean also, I’m not familiar with lash or solid lifters

[@That1ne92]

@@someguy325es and also I have an m54b30 can I use this kit on m54 hydraulic lifters ?

[@yannickhabeth6522]

What cams do you drive with this setup

[@HANDLERofKNIFE]

Hey man what do you think are the biggest weakpoints on these bmw engines m50/m42 for high revs im dreaming up a build and have come to the conclusion that hydraulic lifters are the biggest problem am i wrong?

[@HANDLERofKNIFE]

Im thinking of doing a high rpm turbo build m50 and a NA m42 with a top end of 9-10k rpms, definitely an insane idea but im kinda going insane doing research for this😂🤷

[@someguy325es]

@@HANDLERofKNIFE I run mine to 9200 rpm. Solid lifters will 100% be needed for that rpm

[@HANDLERofKNIFE]

@@someguy325es anything else that you wanna add? Do you run forged internals and such for this?

[@chadzillars488]

Do you still make these? Found a forum post from 2020 with this link

[@someguy325es]

www.alien-engineering.com/product-page/alien-engineering-bmw-m50-m52-m54-s50-s52-solid-lifter-conversion-shims

[@someguy325es]

www.alien-engineering.com/product-page/alien-engineering-bmw-m50-m52-m54-s50-s52-solid-lifter-conversion-shims

[@adamkuczerowski7773]

Jaki ustawiasz luz?

[@someguy325es]

It depends on what cams you are using

[@adamkuczerowski7773]

@@someguy325es silnik n52b25 oryginalne cam, chce poprpstu zmodyfikować silnik żeby go wyleczyć z nawracającego pukania popychacze

[@someguy325es]

I don’t know what lash will work in an N52 since they have rocker arms instead of lifters

[@elyassyukri2082]

Hey, can i run this on my M54? Planning to run 272 or 264 intake and 256 exhaust and what do you think the ideal lash for the lifters

[@someguy325es]

Sorry for the late reply, yes this will work in an M54. The lash will depend on if the cams are dedicated solid lifter cams or hydraulic lifter cams. They should be lashed tighter on a hydraulic lifter cam, like .004-.005" intake and .005-.006" exhaust. Most solid lifter cams are designed for about .010" lash.

[@scottclark95]

Hey I’m looking to buy your shims. Your email didn’t work, how else can I get a hold of you?

[@someguy325es]

I typed the address wrong, it is [e-mail]

[@ViralRaceVideos]

hi, please check ebay orders, thanks