How To M50 Manifold Swap an M52 Engine | M50B25 Intake Conversion Guide for M52B28 Swapped E30 | 053

How To M50 Manifold Swap an M52 Engine | M50B25 Intake Conversion Guide for M52B28 Swapped E30 | 053
Here are links to things I used in this video:
Creation Motorsport M50 Inlet Swap Kit: ebay.us/qGpx5S
Correct Long E34 Throttle Cable for E30 Swaps: ebay.us/UJ1xq8
Normal M50 Inlet Swap Kit (No Chopping): ebay.us/TV4O6Y
An M50 2.5 Intake Manifold: ebay.us/PL11lT or ebay.us/K3uxPI
M50B25 Intake Manifold Gasket Set: ebay.us/5eH7xI
Brass Fuel Line Adapters: ebay.us/YyJBbB
Full Replacement PCV Valve Kit: ebay.us/gODNrS
In this video, I take on the challenge of converting my M52B28 motor to use an M50B25 intake manifold.
In my case, this just so happens to be in my M52 swapped E30, but this guide still applies to you if you are trying to fit an M50 intake to an E36 328i or an E39 528i, or E38 728i.
The intake manifold you want to swap your standard M52 one for is most commonly found on an M50-engined BMW E34 525i.
Let's start with the why, it seems counterintuitive to want to fit a 2.5L engine's intake manifold to your larger 2.8L motor. However, the runners on the M50 manifold are approx 60% larger than the M52 manifold so flow more air.
Why did BMW not just use the m50B25 manifold on the 328i M52 in the first place? Good question, likely down to things like emissions and fuel economy, plus the type of car the M52B28 was mostly fitted to.
Bear in mind, those who chose to purchase a 328i, 528i or 728i were not trying to buy the flagship sports model of BMW, they'd opted away from a serious M car to something more daily driver-friendly, but still with grunt.
Using the narrower runners on the 2.8L 6-pot changes the characteristics, with increased air velocity at lower RPMs, the M52 engine produced more low-end torque which makes wafting around feel more effortless. Some of this low-end torque will be lost by fitting the M50 manifold, especially without a good remap to optimise it, but in its place people report peak power gains of beyond 20bhp which is remarkable for a bolt-on mod to a naturally aspirated engine.
As with everything, there are pros and cons, and that makes fitting the M50 inlet a fairly controversial decision. Some love it, some hate it. But as I am a lover of revving an engine out to extract its performance, I think it will suit me perfectly.
So let's get on with the how. Sadly one cannot simply swap an M50 manifold onto an M52. Unfortunately, there's a bit more to it than that. I have been very lucky in being able to purchase an M50 manifold that was already modified to have the port plate from an M52.
This was done by blocking of the single hose connector and chopping a window into it, glueing on an aftermarket plate that allows the M52's plate to screw on. This means normal M52 ports and bracketry for things like PCV, ICV and vacuum lines on your M50 intake.
This method seems old-fashioned now as it involves chopping a very expensive part, thus these plate kits seem to be NLA, so I can't find one to link. Luckily the alternative way is still popular, it involves getting a hose that goes into a T-piece to allow for both ICV and PCV fitment. I've linked it above.
I opted to buy a completely new PCV, which was actually quite cheap to do, linked. You will also want to take a minute to make sure your ICV isn't gummed up, if you shake it in a rotating motion it should clack back and forth. Be aware that the ICV pipe is a common pain point as prone to splitting. I glued mine successfully.
Once that's been solved, you still have the issue with the throttle body. The M50 and M52 throttle bodies are very similar in design, and have the same bore so nothing to gain by swapping.
As you're more likely to use your original throttle M52 throttle body you will encounter an issue with the throttle body gasket. The M50 manifold has the seal mounted directly on it, but the M52 mani does not - it's on the body itself.
Unfortunately, two seals don't make a seal in this case, so you will need a plate linked in the Creation Motorsport kit which effectively sandwiches between to give a sealing surface for both gaskets.
In my case, with my car being an M52 swapped E30, I have to also switch to an E34 Bowden cable to make it work, linked too. I also used brass adapters to connect the chopped fuel rail lines to the E30's stock fuel lines.
Sadly, the M52 fuel rail will not be a direct fit to an M50 intake manifold, so again you need the linked adapters to do this, along with a minor fuel rail bracket chop.
For more helpful how-to guides and restorations: www.spannerras...
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#bmwe30 #e30build #m52 #m50 #m50manifold

[@pierremorrow4627]

"unfortunatly , two seals don't make a seal" Said with such a serious voice, you made my day 😅

[@SPANNERRASH]

Haha! I couldn't think of a better way to put it. 🤣

[@pierremorrow4627]

@@SPANNERRASH you simply could not , i agree 😂

[@theseanzboy1267]

The audio is ASMR. I dig it.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@mattbyrne7943]

Just looked at the prices of M50 manifolds now! I did mine many years ago on an E36 track car, manifold was about £30 & some fittings & pipe were about £20. It’s a great conversion for the track & very noticeable, if you enjoy revving an engine you’ll love it. It did lose torque in the mid range but wasn’t an issue. Think I only had one support bracket also.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Awesome thanks Matt, I absolutely do love to rev so that's a great sign. They've been going up and up for as long as I can remember sadly, sounds like they were cheap as chips back in the day. 😆

[@InsipidProgrammer]

Seems people are getting greedy with their 30 year old plastic indeed with ebay prices approaching $400! And these conversion kits around $300 for a bracket, hose and screws. Might as well get a metal turbo manifold.

[@mattbyrne7943]

Absolutely, there were no kits when I did mine & I managed to get nearly all the bits from a local hardware store & bits I already had. Marketplace is a bit more realistic with prices but still getting crazy. Better to go to the scrapyard.

[@Z3greg]

I like how the intake matches the car color. Happy coincidence. Thanks for documenting your work for us 🙏

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks Greg, hope the vids are useful for you!

[@tombomb1884]

Been building my e30 with a 24v swap alongside these videos. You've saved me a few headaches to say the least.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Great to hear! Glad they're proving helpful for you mate. I'm trying to make the videos I wish I'd been able to find. 😆

[@benfidar]

I think that is right. When I did mine, I decided on the stock manifold since I was nearly never going to be at the limits, rather, I was going to be spending much of my time in the 3-5000 rpm range. People reflexively do these and I think they miss out on that low torque, I knew I would. The juice was not worth the squeeze, as they say. If you are going to drive hard, worth it I think.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Yeah I can absolutely see both the logic of both sides to this. But I'm intending to be drive this E30 for enjoyment only, so why not. I'm sure I'd have been very happy with the standard M52 manifold, but I couldn't resist. I'm tinkering with it before it even runs! 😆 I can always experiment and go back in the future. Hopefully it's as good as they say!

[@mariosnikolaou5212]

Heeeell yeah! Can't wait to hear it roar! Greetings from Greece.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks Marios! Really excited too, I hope I figure out the issue soon, guaranteed to be something minor I messed up. 😆 Next update will be figuring that out, and hopefully hearing it run for the first time!

[@xxdoobysanxx1234]

Quick tip, you can put the fuel rail brackets on top of the line, meaning you don’t have to cut them

[@SPANNERRASH]

Interesting, thanks for sharing that one!

[@ricardonunes7595]

Im doing an e36 m42 swap, I had the crank sensor covered in goo for some reason and it did the exact same. It wouldn't fire the fuel pump nor the sparkplugs. If I were you I would start in the crank and cam sensor and see if they're either working properly or if the wiring is messed up somehow. I'm loving the series, keep up with the good work

[@SPANNERRASH]

Awesome thank you for that suggestion! The crank position sensor is new, but who is to say it isn't faulty. I will run some tests on that and we will see. I'm feeling confident I will sort it out and we'll hear the M52 running very soon!

[@polloloci21]

Always so informative- thanks man. Your car is coming along nicely.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers pal, getting there now :)

[@mcjjordan]

Thats same as my manifold! Apparently done by a guy on a forum & was quite costly . Mine also had the throttle body machined out to use a larger butterfly . On mine i worked out that Dipstick 49cm tip to base 43cm low 44cm high Remove 5cm from m52 stick

[@SPANNERRASH]

Nice! I was looking for a kit to link to, to do this yourself, but I can't find it anywhere. Like it's discontinued. Shame because it's a really nice way to convert it. My throttle body is standard, do you know if that makes much difference? Thanks for the info on the dipstick tube, I guess I will need to do just that. My only worry is the shortened sump and whether the stick will hit the bottom. I guess I will have to measure depth.

[@Abigailrp]

superb work, check the pump fuse and relay connections. thanks for the video, loved it

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers Abigail! I will check those over first! I just bet it's something silly like that, next update video she'll be a runner. I'm feeling confident! 🙏

[@VincePipifein.]

Cool Content… i like the way you explain everything, keep it up like this … i also rebulid an m52 … Great Engine!🤘🏼🙂 greetings from Germany

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks Vince! I am doing my best to make the videos I wish I could have found when researching these jobs myself. 😃 M52 is "God's Engine" I believe they say. 😆 I hope your rebuild works out well, good luck!

[@shanechiddy4303]

Beautiful work mate. Love watching. Going to be fantastic when done. Shane, Australia.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers Shane! Can't wait to hear this engine roar now!

[@ytbb123]

Again very helpfull !! good video

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks, I tried to give as much detail as possible. This is the M50 manifold video I wish I'd found when researching. 😆

[@e30_318is_project]

Haha such an anti climax!! But understandable. Great work. Cant wait to hear the engine roarr. 🎉

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks mate! I am still confident she will run - time to start the process of working through everything to see what's wrong. It usually ends up being something silly I messed up or forgot. All will be revealed when I figure it out. Keep your eyes peeled for that. 😃

[@MaXpeedingRods_Coop]

keep your work !

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thank you! 😃

[@cmack4life]

check fuse 11 to see if its blown or jump the fuel pump relay pin 87 and pin 30

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks for those suggestions Craig, I will check that out. Jumping the pins at the C101 runs the fuel pump now. I've definitely got relay problems which I'm sorting out currently. I'm confident we'll see the car run next vid!

[@cmack4life]

if you want more room for the m50 manifold you should relocate the power steering bote to the motor arm

[@SPANNERRASH]

Absolutely, I moved it there and its spot on now. Out of sight out of mind. 😆

[@retrorust3395]

Hi pal retrorust hear , good vid as usual:) as for no fuel pump priming , check crank sensor , I can see no rpm moving on the dash so I’m assuming there’s no crank signal hense no fuel pump prime , thanks :)

[@SPANNERRASH]

Great shout, thank you for that suggestion mate. I'll start with that and hopefully we'll get her running in no time. 😁

[@TylorSwain12]

Was wondering if you were going to do a rear battery relocation down the line at some point?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi Tylor, it was definitely in my original plan, but in the interest of getting the car as a runner/driver ASAP I've decided to kick that down the road and do it in the future. It would be better for weight distribution, that's for sure. When I do it, you can be sure I will make a vid. :D

[@JJSBuilds192]

Hello Taylor I’m doing this build to a e36 how hard is it to run the battery to the back of vehicle ?

[@kieranbonnie7729]

Sorry if I missed it but did you end up not linking the manifold kit that requires cutting the manifold or have I been completely blind?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi mate, really sorry but that kit where you chop the M50 manifold simply doesn't seem to exist anymore. Sad because I though that was the most elegant solution. However, there are still kits which convert it with no chopping available. Check this one out: ebay.us/TV4O6Y At least you wont have to butcher an expensive manifold this way. :)

[@hamzaamara2854]

Does the throttle cable works for both right ana Left driving position ?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi, good question. I am pretty certain you will need a different throttle cable for a LHD E30, the throttle pedal should be way closer to the throttle body. 😄 As for which one you need, I'm not certain to be honest, never looked into it. Hopefully someone who knows can chime in with the answer for you!

[@АлександрПономарев-п7в]

Привет! Большое спасибо за видео!! Подскажи пожалуйста, где покупал переходник для пластиковой детали от m52

[@SPANNERRASH]

Привет друг, к сожалению, я больше не могу найти эту деталь, которая преобразует коллектор M50 в стиль M52. Я не думаю, что они больше доступны. Я думаю, что большинство людей больше не хотят измельчать дорогой коллектор M50, поэтому предпочитают модифицировать его менее навязчивым способом. Посмотрите видеоописание этого комплекта.

[@hanskiii99]

Is the longer throttle cable only for the right hand drive swap?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Great question! I should have clarified that in the vid for viewers across the pond. I suspect the long E34 bowden cable is for RHD car's only, necessary because it needs to go around the back of the engine in the engine bay. Probably way too long for a LHD car. Maybe someone else with knowledge of M5X swapping a LHD E30 can chime in and confirm that for us. 👍

[@Flordeh]

LH could just use the 600mm e34 m50 throttle cable. Worked on my setup with out traction control parts

[@crossiecars]

I believe your wrong with the e30 doesn't prime - mine has primed with both engines (5 second or so on turn of the key) - but its had a e36 and e46 engine fitted - don't know if it the same for an e30 engine

[@SPANNERRASH]

Interesting! Much earlier in this series when I refitted the fuel system and the car was still M40 powered, I was unable to get the fuel pump to prime so thought I had a problem. In testing, I found that the fuel pump did indeed run but only when the car was turning over. So no prime. Subsequently, someone informed me that M40 cars initiate the pump from the crankshaft sensor signal which seemed to add up. You can check that out in this previous video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJDPkGOng9xkq9ksi=WSH4bUTtwWVcwf58&t=1291 I just had to check that to make sure I wasn't going mad. 😆

[@Hughzywok1]

P,leaseeee tell me you didn't forget to take the rags out the inlet ports! I 😢

[@SPANNERRASH]

27:12 blink and you'll miss it. 😂

[@Hughzywok1]

How did I miss that!@@SPANNERRASH felt wrong even suggesting it, your videos are brilliant.

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@Hughzywok1 Haha! Thank you mate, and thanks for having my back. I do miss things regularly. 😀

[@EliasRizk53]

Why you need a power steering? 11:55

[@SPANNERRASH]

I definitely prefer to keep power steering on the car. 😃

[@Ginokhu]

Will this work on a E39M52B28 singel vanos?

[@SPANNERRASH]

I believe so, M52B28 single vanos engine is what this one is.

[@fourseven6202]

same engine

[@zoltantakacs807]

Smaller manifolds real reason was to keep the cars under 200hp, so they could stay in a lower tax zone in germany, so they would be cheaper to own

[@SPANNERRASH]

Nice, not heard of that before, but an interesting theory that would make sense.

[@JOJO-bs1tx]

Hey guys, it is correct that the manifolds are installed to make the engine go below 200hp but it has nothing to do with the Tax System here in Germany. The amount of tax is calculated on the basis of engine capacity, so it wouldn't have been a good idea to build a larger 2.8-liter engine than before in the first place. The idea behind it was just to keep the power at the same level although you had a much better response at the bottom and generally used less fuel. Greets from Germany

[@qwertyuiasdfghj6560]

Инженер канша аттын кушин беред осы ранер аитып жиберсен Рахмет Kz.салам

[@SPANNERRASH]

Мотор картасы 227 кубат үчүн жакшы болушу керек, бирок мен чындыгында андан азыраак деп ойлойм. 200 - 220 ортосунда деп айталы

[@michaelzajac2967]

just use m50b20 manifold and u got more hp and the same elastic low rpm

[@SPANNERRASH]

There are a few schools of thought about it, but I like to rev my car out as its just a fun weekend car, so increasing peak power at high RPMs sounded good. Also the ECU I have is pre-tuned for M50B25 manifold. :D Some people say the M50B20 manifold gives no increase anywhere in the rev range versus standard M52B28 manifold.

[@Deep-sinai]

B M W be my wife. Hello, how does PCV work on Manafo?🙏

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi, I show that in the vid, it connects to the M50 manifold great with the way it has been converted.

[@speedtrapchannel7326]

nice content but wayyy to many ads🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️ every 5min ... really?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks, and the ads are placed by YT fully automatically. That does sound a bit intense, but it's all going that way, it's not specifically our vids. YT is a business at the end of the day, and the business is built on ads. No such thing as a free lunch these days.

[@speedtrapchannel7326]

Its the first time i see so many ad in a video .. at least your content is good 😅

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@speedtrapchannel7326 I'm glad you enjoyed it anyway. How many ads did you see in this vid? I'm concerned.

[@speedtrapchannel7326]

@@SPANNERRASH every 4 minutes some time more :/ some vids are pretty long so every 4 min makes a lots of ads 😅

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@speedtrapchannel7326 That seems crazy! I will look into that, thanks for raising it. I have noticed there are a lot more ads when I am watching anything recently too, but not that many. 😆