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View Full Version : m52 swap with m50 head, some questions



green325ibimmer
03-17-2007, 09:39 PM
I wrecked my motor about a week ago and I've been looking for a suitable replacement. I've found a few m50 non vanos for fairly cheap but they generally have pretty high mileage. I've also found several m50 vanos motors for a decent price but the mileage is still a bit high.

The m52's are a bit pricier but the mileage is more to my liking.

So here's my question(s)

If i swap the m52 into my car, replace the obdII head with my obdI head off my m50 non vanos do i need the m52 wiring harness and ecu? or do i retain my current m50 non vanos wiring and ecu?

also will the m52 bolt up to my m50 auto tranny? or am i going to have to get an m52 tranny, driveshaft and dif? I'd like to retain the auto for a couple reasons, 1, being price, and 2nd being my girlfriend drives my car once and a while and she doesn't know how to drive a stick and I don't want her to have to deal with learning how to drive a stick with a crying screaming baby in the back seat.

my other option is to buy a wrecked 325i or 328i (more likely a 325 because of the price) and swap the motor, wiring harnesses, and tranny (if i go this route i'm gonna opt for the manual tranny and tell my gf to either learn or not drive my car).

how much is a reasonal price for an engine rebuild because the car that i'm looking at for a donor (5-speed tranny and motor) has 175k on it?

any help would be great, i need to find out what's the best way to proceed about this.

Corky325
03-18-2007, 03:07 AM
You can keep the m50 harness with the m52 head still on. You just need to do a coolant temp sensor mod.

I would deffinatley go with the manual.

Im going to be puting in a 2.8 soon and i think it will be easy. I will prolly do a write up on it, cuz i wish i had one to look at.