That is the nicest S52 naturally aspirated dyno I have seen. Better than stock S54 power from a modded S52. Does the higher CR allow pump gas? Is the head worked? What cams? The low end power looks great as well.
We are getting some questionable statements in this thread, like
Turbo S52 are broken down 95% of the time
Fully built S52 are not reliable
I have a turbo S52 that is fully built and it is broken down only 5% of the time and I consider it reliable. In the last 7 years, I have broken nothing in the motor due to the extra power. I bent a few valves due to a money shift but that is my error and people make the same error on stock cars. I have fused clutches, broken trans, broken driveshafts, and broken diff output stubs but that was all from drag racing on drag radials.
95 cosmoschwartz M3/2/5 : 2012-1/1/2014 (worn rtab's and bald rear tires in the rain)
98 cosmoschwartz M3/4/5 : 2016-3/10/2017 (understeering SUV)
99 Estoril M3/2/5: 6/16/2017-current
1999 M3/2/5 - Titanium Silver - Track/Weekend Toy
That car had the mild schrick cams, Castro airbox, ebay headers mated to stock section 1/2 e46 m3 exhaust. I miss her.
Its not from my car, but yes its impressive. You won't see that tq on an s54. I'm wondering what my s50 will make with the cams now installed.
Thats mine 😊
- - - Updated - - -
87mm bore 11:5 compression
custom grind cams
BBTB
PnP Head, stock valve springs, stock size ferrea valves.
Obd I manifold
SS Euro long tube headers and full catless Euro SS midsection and axleback.
RK custom dyno tune 93 pump.
Porsche HFM
24lbs injectors
CAI
The Head was decked a couple of times so I’m assuming it’s at 11:7 compression now.
Will be changing the cylinder head soon.
The older i get, the faster i was !
What are the mods? That is the most exceptional S52 dyno I have seen. The low end torque is really an outlier. It just doesn't seem right to have that much more low end torque than stock and that much more top end power than stock. Usually there is a tradeoff.
Do you know what the specs are on the custom cams?
I imagine the 87mm bore and the completely rebuilt head (with aggressive cams) are responsible for the gains over what people more commonly see with the rest of the usual NA bolt-ons and an unrestricted exhaust (around 260whp tops in most cases).
1999 M3/2/5 - Titanium Silver - Track/Weekend Toy
But usually with heavy porting and big valves and wild cams you trade off the bottom end for the top end.
I made 297whp on my S54 with electric fan and itw flywheel only. The car was heat soaked as shit and the tune was for catless headers. At the time I was running cats. If I drop IATs and install these headers, I hope to see 320’swhp. The car is FUN to drive.
I'd love to do an S54 swap into my car. Monetarily it makes no sense compared to bolting on a blower tho...
'03 911 Turbo 6MT fun car
'18 Toyota Land Cruiser Daily driver/Ski Machine/Off Roader
'15 Cayenne Diesel Wife's DD
'17 KTM 690 "Adv" 2 wheeled Adventurer
I had no idea how soon I was going to be rebuilding mine when I posted that. My motor went about 5 months ago, and I am getting close to starting the process of rebuilding. I bought a long block that needs a rebuild since I am not sure about the damage to the original. it went bang while I was driving down the highway, so clutch in and coast to the shoulder. When I got out, there was a trail of oil behind me.
95 cosmoschwartz M3/2/5 : 2012-1/1/2014 (worn rtab's and bald rear tires in the rain)
98 cosmoschwartz M3/4/5 : 2016-3/10/2017 (understeering SUV)
99 Estoril M3/2/5: 6/16/2017-current
Currently making a little under 400whp, 300lb/ft on 8psi SC on a stock motor w/ Riot cams and the usual bolt-ons. The car is a lot of fun and very reliable (with a Vortech Sci). There is plenty of room to grow on this setup, but the car still feels fast after about a year with it set-up as it sits.
I think it really depends on what you plan on doing with the car. If you're going to drive it on the street and do an occasional track day, a properly-cooled SC S52 should be plenty reliable and have plenty of power. If you want to race motorcycles from a 60mph roll on the interstate, you're probably gonna need more power.
I honestly don't know what these guys are doing with 700 wheel horsepower on the street, but maybe I'm just old...
Dare I say bummmmmpp
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
― George Orwell
😂
Glad to revisit this!
I've been mentally debating FOR YEARS what I'll do when my engine finally lets go. I have an Escalade that I've had to pull the head on twice - almost 3 times, but I narrowly avoided that last one. But given my comfort with the LS3 I was debating between that, an S54, or just fully building the S52.
I've been ardently anti FI for a number of reasons (heat being at the top of the list given Texas), but really went down that rabbit hole since my last comment here.
This thread (among a couple others) has helped me realize I'm always going to want to tinker with the car, but I'm not power hungry - I won't "get used" to more power and perpetually be thirsty for more. In fact, I just want enough more power that my car is as fast as it is right now at roughly sea level in Austin when I go up to Idaho (5k feet) to visit my parents.
And the other thing is I'd like to keep it factory, so at least no LS. The work to make the S54 work properly with AC, the cluster, etc is enough to dissuade me, at least near term - I can keep moving happily along the bolt-on path for now at my own pace. I like driving my car too much - I don't want it to be down for months while I try to sort out all the various issues. If I feel like I've got enough information to knock it out in only a couple weeks - fully factory-style sorted - I may go down that path.
As with so many things it remains a plan in flux until I have to execute. But I remain super grateful for all the help around here - whatever I decide to do I know I can count on you guys to get me through the sticky parts!
-Josh: 1998 S54 E36 M3/4/6 with most of the easy stuff and most of the hard stuff. At least twice. 271k miles. 1994 E32 740il with nothing but some MPars. 93k miles.
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