mslevin's S52 build

[mslevin]

Hey everyone. I'm in the process of building a new motor for my E36 and I thought I'd share some of my progress, difficulties, etc. There will be lots of pictures in this thread, and probably a lot of rambling by me. Very happy to have constructive criticism and feedback, and yes I WILL be sharing the many mistakes I've made already and any I make in the future. We're all learning here.

If there is interest, I can share a total parts and price list for the rebuild and swap, and please feel free to ask any questions you have.

Background Info:
I've been relatively active on Bimmerforums for a few years so many of you may know of my car already. I own a 1993 325is, which at this point has been pretty extensively modified for track use. Coilovers, rollbar, weight reduction, etc etc etc. You can find info on the car in my other posts and threads, or find me on instagram @michael_slevin.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

I've been pretty happy with the car as it is, but it has always felt a little underpowered. Last year I installed a 3.91 LSD (with an added clutch pack) and I love it. Really livens up the car, though now it isn't great for long drives on the street. That being said, I drove it to LA and back in December for Radwood (radwood.org). I always wanted to put an S54 in the car, but could never justify the cost. Currently halfway through the build, I kind of wish I had just done it BUT....I figure all the $$ I'm spending here would also be spent on an S54, so it'd basically just add $3000-4000 to my final cost. Whatever. Moving on.


The Engine

November 22, 2017: I bought an S50 (not S52! Details later) from my friend Ian. The motor had been in his E30, but he replaced it with an S52. The S50 had been having some issues: compression was OK but there was bad blowby and leakdown. We both assumed it was bad piston rings and valve guide seals, and I figured it was a perfect candidate for my car, as both of those things would be replaced anyway! I paid $500 for the complete motor, no accessories. Also got a Miller WAR Chip, which I probably will just end up selling. I don't remember the mileage on the S50, I want to say 150-170k. AFAIK it had a headgasket done at some point.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Starting the teardown. I had the whole thing torn down in an evening pretty much, it went a lot faster than I thought it would.

Also yes my garage is messy. Sue me.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Lifehack: screw a piece of board onto your HF engine stand so you can put a big bucket under the motor

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr
Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Head is off. Dirty, but no real signs of damage.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


The cams on the other hand...not great. I think this was the first time that I:
1) decided that a fully stock S50 is boring
2) realized that this was going to be expensive.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

I ended up giving my stock S50 cams to some friends of mine. They're currently in their M52-stroker-turbo-swapped-Infinity Q45. Its wild.


Yuck! Really wish I had a parts washer for this kind of stuff.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

BIG MISTAKE #1! The oil pump nut is reverse threaded. It even says LOOSEN on the sprocket and points to the right. Don't be an idiot like me and use an impact driver to remove the nut, not realizing its reverse thread. Long story short, I ruined the oil pump shaft. FORESHADOWING: this will happen again. :|

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr



Removing the crank bolt (the 'jesus bolt' as some people lovingly call it) was tough. When the motor is in the car, you can really crank on it with a big breaker bar, and you can lock the flywheel in place- I didn't have those luxuries! Some people online recommended building some kind of lock that would bolt to the rear of the crank, but none of those solutions appealed to me. Didn't have the parts, didn't want to get the grinder out, etc. I decided to use a few blocks of wood. Sounds wacky but it works. Wood blocks between the crank and the side of the block. Little bit of heat around the bolt, and my DEWALT 20V MAX* XR(TM) HIGH TORQUE 1/2" IMPACT WRENCH got it off in a minute.

Got all the pistons out, timing cover off.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Another spot where I found an issue, one piston and two piston bores had some light scoring. The bore scratches looked bad but couldn't be felt with a fingernail. From what I remember, the scoring was on cyl 5 & 6.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Pistons and crank are out! All the bearings looked good.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


And that's basically it. Tore everything down, got it all labeled and organized and cleaned up a bunch of parts.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


You'll notice that I bought this motor in November of 2017, and I had it torn down the same day. What came after wasn't great. As always, life got in the way and the engine sat, basically untouched for over a year. I kept it wrapped up and oiled and safe and cozy, but didn't do anything with it.


Coming up next: Time to actually build this thing...


Update Links:
UPDATE #1
UPDATE #2


Machine shop costs:

Includes cost for all machine work- even the block that I'm not using. Basically remove the first subtotal to get the 'actual' machine shop cost.

Quantity	Item	Description	Price Each	Amount	Detail
1	Labor	Boil Block	$80.00	$80.00	S50 block
1	Labor	Check Piston Clearance. .0035"-.0045" and found one cracked piston.	$30.00	$30.00	S50
1	Labor	Check out cylinder head, check guides (OK), Vaccuum test (OK), Install new seals.	$150.00	$150.00	S50 head
1	Labor	Boil, mike, and polish crank. Crank measures good and is std rods and std mains.	$60.00	$60.00	S50
			Subtotal	$320.00
1	Labor	Disassemble and assemble short block	$400.00	$400.00
1	Labor	Boil block	$80.00	$80.00	S52
1	Labor	Boil, mike, polish crank	$60.00	$60.00	S52
1	Labor	Boil pan and front cover	$75.00	$75.00	S52
1	Labor	Basic valve job	$380.00	$380.00	S50 head
1	Labor	Remove and reinstall intake guides and size	$144.00	$144.00	S50 head
1	Labor	Bore and hone 6 cylinders	$240.00	$240.00	S50 block
1	Part	Rings Std 11-25-1-405-783	$360.00	$360.00	S52
1	Part	Freight	$20.00	$20.00
24	Part	Valve stem seals 12-31306-05	$2.00	$48.00	S50 head
12	Part	Intake guide B657	$10.00	$120.00	S50 head
12	Part	Rod Bolt 11-24-1-739-729	$6.60	$79.20	S52
1	Labor	Clean 6 pistons	$42.00	$42.00	S52
		CA Sales Tax 9.0%		$56.45
			Subtotal	$2,104.65
			TOTAL	$2,424.65

[gdavid]

Thanks for sharing. There is very little engine build stuff in this area of the forum (probably because the rotating assembly rarely dies without harsh mistreatment). There are a ton of little decisions to be made along the way as you balance budget, value and performance goals.

[mslevin]

Thanks for sharing. There is very little engine build stuff in this area of the forum (probably because the rotating assembly rarely dies without harsh mistreatment). There are a ton of little decisions to be made along the way as you balance budget, value and performance goals.

I thought about putting it in the track cars section, but thought it would be more helpful (for myself and others) to post it here.

Definitely dealing with that balance right now. So, SO many things are "might as well while its open" and "well it isn't much more...". It never ends. Looking forward to having the motor in the car soon.

[gdavid]

One decision I struggled with and so far I'm happy with the results is new ebay lifters. I did not want to hear tapping lifters on a newly build engine and I wasn't going to pay for new OEM so I took a chance on lifters off of ebay and so far so good.

[mslevin]

One decision I struggled with and so far I'm happy with the results is new ebay lifters. I did not want to hear tapping lifters on a newly build engine and I wasn't going to pay for new OEM so I took a chance on lifters off of ebay and so far so good.

I'm struggling with this right now. My old ones are in decent shape and I've been soaking them in oil. OEM are $30-40 each which....sucks. I'll check out the eBay ones.

[FiberFast]

I'm struggling with this right now. My old ones are in decent shape and I've been soaking them in oil. OEM are $30-40 each which....sucks. I'll check out the eBay ones.

Someone should make stainless steel aftermarket hydraulic lash caps for sure. Also I feel you on the parts list, What I have found to be ultimately helpful is to gather parts into a pile and think through the "While I am in there" this prevents you from spending money on shit you don't really need to "While you are in there". For instance, my latest pile consists of koni street struts, solid rear trailing arm bushings, new rear end links, adjustable control arms. I could put new diff as well but its not in the budget. This allows me to address what I need then go in and get it done and buttoned up. I have found that as soon as you become comfortable with the car being apart and not being used, it tends to stay that way.

[gdavid]

Mine were pretty gunked up. The were very smooth in the bores of the cam trays but we're heavily varnished underneath. I attempted to disassemble one after watching a video but failed miserably. I was going to replace a cam anyway and wanted a new surface for the cam to mate with. It is an old school practice to avoid reusing flat tappets with different came and perhaps it is outdated. I get the impression that when these engines get cam upgrades, they rarely are getting new lifters and I haven't heard of any problems. I soaked my news ones in oil but did not vacuum bleed them like I have seen others do (which seems like a good idea). The first couple times I started the car, the exhaust manifold weren't connected to the midpipes so if there was any lifter tick I probably couldn't have heard it anyway.

[pbonsalb]

What is wrong with ina for $13 each?

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...em-11321748884

[gdavid]

What is wrong with ina for $13 each?

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...em-11321748884

The fact that there are 24 of them and that my wife occasionally notices how much I am spending on my 23 year old car I bought for $4k

- edit, apologies for oversharing, this is not my build thread and I wasn't building a race engine. My point is that managing the balance of "while I'm in there" to budget goals is probably the biggest challenge of any engine build. After thinking about this thread yesterday, I watched most of a 9 part youtube series where the guy rebuilt a m52b28 with a new aftermarket head, new BMW trays and cams, custom pistons and a fair amount of machine work, probably a $3-4K build to end up with basically stock performance. Goes to prove that everyone has different goals and budgets.

[pbonsalb]

If you are on a tight budget, then you must reuse as many parts as possible and accept the risks. Fully rebuilding a head costs as much as a block. I know a broken valve spring can ruin an engine, but I am not sure a collapsed lifter is as much risk. Lifters are also pretty easy to replace later, Springs are a pain, and valves require pulling the head.

[gdavid]

I'm sure mslevin will let us know what he ends up doing. This was one of the decisions I spend the most time thinking about and I found little discussion on the topic so I mentioned it. So far I'm happy with the $136 set of lifters from ebay, but the engine only has about 500 miles on it so far, I believe most of the lifter noise people experience with these engines is a result of poor oil quality or inadequate oil change intervals at some point during the engine's history.

On the engine rebuilds I've read, it appears that the head is either rebuild with no expense spared or it gets a quick cleaning and valve stem seals replaced. I agree that it would be silly to risk the life of a newly rebuilt engine over a petty expense. I have heard of very few broken springs on these engines, generally just a risk of valve float. I also suspect the adage of always replacing flat lifters is based on older cam metallurgy and not as significant on modern overhead cam engines but would love to hear other's thoughts.

Hopefully mslevin doesn't mind the discussion on his thread. I'm sure we'll learn when it became a s52 vs s50 engine and what else got upgraded.

[mslevin]

What is wrong with ina for $13 each?

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...em-11321748884

$13 each definitely isn't bad. Interested to hear some inputs on whether I should replace them or not. As mentioned, there are a different set of cams going into the motor. Not new, but great condition.

I'm sure mslevin will let us know what he ends up doing. This was one of the decisions I spend the most time thinking about and I found little discussion on the topic so I mentioned it. So far I'm happy with the $136 set of lifters from ebay, but the engine only has about 500 miles on it so far, I believe most of the lifter noise people experience with these engines is a result of poor oil quality or inadequate oil change intervals at some point during the engine's history.

On the engine rebuilds I've read, it appears that the head is either rebuild with no expense spared or it gets a quick cleaning and valve stem seals replaced. I agree that it would be silly to risk the life of a newly rebuilt engine over a petty expense. I have heard of very few broken springs on these engines, generally just a risk of valve float. I also suspect the adage of always replacing flat lifters is based on older cam metallurgy and not as significant on modern overhead cam engines but would love to hear other's thoughts.

Hopefully mslevin doesn't mind the discussion on his thread. I'm sure we'll learn when it became a s52 vs s50 engine and what else got upgraded.

Happy to see all kinds of discussion, I don't mind at all. Lots to come, I'll probably post a second set of pictures today.

[pbonsalb]

I ran stock S52 cams, Schricks, different stock S52 cams, and am now running different Schricks all on the same lifters,

[mslevin]

Part 2: The Build Begins

As mentioned, the motor sat for a year. Lots of other stuff happened; I bought and sold a few cars, changed jobs, tracked the E36 a little, and generally kept myself busy while always having the motor in the back of my mind. The motor sat outside on the stand, covered, and my garage was filled with various parts in boxes or just scattered around. Part of the reason that I had been putting it off so for long was because I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with the build. High compression race-gas only? Turbo? S54? Totally stock? I knew I wanted new cams for the motor (and needed them, I had given away the old ones), and finding those is what really kickstarted the build.

In early December 2018, I found a set for sale in the E36 Track Cars group on Facebook (great group, great people) and decided to just go for it.


Schrick 264/256. Enough cam to make a difference, but not too crazy. The S50 would need limited VANOS travel, but no solid lifters.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


These were in great condition and I feel like I got a good deal on them from my buddy AJ. He had some other parts for sale and long story short, I ended up with a set of SuperSprint longtube headers and a 3.5" MAF. I'll most likely send these out to JetHot when I have time to get them packed up.


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


To the machine shop!

I took this picture on December 23, 2018, so I'm saying that is when this build actually started.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Loaded up the engine block and head into the wagon. In my experience there's nothing this wagon can't hold. The plan was to get the block boiled/cleaned, break the glaze on the cylinders, get the valve guide seals replaced, and have the shop assemble the bottom end. It was only $300 extra to assemble the bottom end, and I figured that was worth it to save me from messing it up.



Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr



This is where things, unfortunately, started to go downhill. The machine shop called me a few days later to tell me three things:

• The head was flat and straight, and had new seals in it. All good!
• One of the pistons was cracked pretty badly. Not good!
• The bores were out of spec on the block. Really not good!

Cracked piston

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


The clearance reported by the machine shop was .0035-.0045" across all 6 cylinders, and BMW spec is 0.113mm (0.0044"). Would it run? Yes. Would it be silly to build a full new motor and have the bore spec at the very top end of the allowed range? Yes. This was a big bummer, because I knew right away this was about to cost a lot more. I talked to a bunch of friends and professionals about options. I seriously considered buying new rods/pistons and going with higher compression, but the numbers I saw weren't promising (horsepower and dollars).



After thinking about it, I did the only sensible thing and bought an S52 short block for $400.


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


And yes I put it in the back of the wagon. It was NOT EASY.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


​MORE TO COME!

[pbonsalb]

I don’t think you need to limit vanos travel with Schrick 264/256.

[mslevin]

I don’t think you need to limit vanos travel with Schrick 264/256.

From what I could find, you (maybe) have to on an S50, but don't have to on an S52.

[pbonsalb]

Maybe due to different bore and pistons with different valve reliefs.

[th3turk]

Hi, Michael!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bjsbrandon]

Keep it up! Looking forward to hearing more!

[mslevin]

Maybe due to different bore and pistons with different valve reliefs.

Exactly

Hi, Michael!

What up my dude

Keep it up! Looking forward to hearing more!

Thanks!! Will post more pics later today or tomorrow.

[mslevin]

YES THAT'S RIGHT- ANOTHER PLOT TWIST


I tore down the S52 and everything looked pretty good! The motor had been pulled from a parted out 97 M3, and someone else had bought the head, which later turned out to be cracked. The motor was running but overheating when it was parted out, so I assumed the block was okay.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Dropped the motor off to the machine shop and was now VERY excited! 3.2L baby!!! I had been wishing I had bought an S52, but figured the S50 was good enough and it was cheap. Of course, you're all just here for the drama, so here we go: the machine shop called a few days later and said there was a bad piston. One of the ringlands was damaged somehow, and was only noticeable once the the motor was apart. Unfortunately I don't have a pic of the piston, though I might get one later. Its sitting in a box at home somewhere.

Well, no big deal! Found someone local selling some pistons, and I bought a good condition S52 piston for $40. Annoying, but an easy enough resolution. The next day the machine shop called me back. The block was cracked.

Yep.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr

Yellow mark can be seen in the top left corner of the block.

Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


That was a fucking bummer. No idea how that happens. The crack is between two water ports, and its actually hollow beneath the crack (its kind of a "bridge" between the two ports). I think...technically...kinda...maybe....it would be okay? At least for a while? I didn't want to risk it. So yet another setback. I let everything sit at the machine shop for a few days while I figured things out. Do I give up? Do I buy another shortblock? Do I just buy a whole running engine and drop it in? Then I remembered what I had read on this very forum hundreds of times: an S52 is just a bored and stroked S50. And I had an S50 that needed new bores!

Zip zap zoop long story short I had the machine shop bore out my S50 block to match the S52 pistons. Fresh bores and perfectly to spec! Excellent!! By this time I had bought an '03 Yukon XL, which was much better at hauling parts than the wagon.


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr


Of course, I haven't mentioned the head yet. I had the valve guide seals done and the head checked out okay. I did more reading on the forums, and it turns out that the '95 S50 heads have issues with soft retainers and keepers, which can lead to dropped valves and bad days. I decided to replace those while it was at the shop...which of course meant $400 in parts including ANOTHER set of valve guide seals. smh. At the same time I had them do a valve job, and it was found that the intake valve guides were worn, so those were also replaced. Exhaust guides were OK.


If anyone wants to know what happens if you leave a cracked S52 block looks like when left outside in the rain for a week or so:


Untitled by Michael Slevin, on Flickr



NEXT TIME ON 'THIS DUMBASS BUILDING AN ENGINE': THINGS START GOING BACK TOGETHER!

[xxxxxxx]

Enjoying the rollercoaster.

Any chance you'd mind sharing the cost to bore out the S50?

[FiberFast]

Its iron so you arent welding it without thermite. I would say the block would be "ok" for a some time while the crack continues to grow until eventual catastrophic failure, but the real problem is the fact that said block would continually crack cylinder heads. Bummer dude, your luck is starting to look like mine with these cars. Least yours looks better "I got the pretest driveway ornament on the block" XD

[gdavid]

Did you have to modify (notch) the s50 block to clear the timing trigger wheel on the s52 crank? I've heard conflicting reports whether it is necessary. I have only ever messed with OBD2 motors but am curious about it.

[mslevin]

Enjoying the rollercoaster.

Any chance you'd mind sharing the cost to bore out the S50?

Bore/hone to fit S52 pistons was $240. I'll detail the total machine shop cost in the next post- it was a huge amount due to all these issues I've had.

Did you have to modify (notch) the s50 block to clear the timing trigger wheel on the s52 crank? I've heard conflicting reports whether it is necessary. I have only ever messed with OBD2 motors but am curious about it.

First I've heard of this so...nope! lol. I'll be running this motor OBDI. I currently have the motor back and it turns over smoothly without issue, so I assume it wasn't necessary.