Official M50 Manifold Swap Thread

[TheJordanWhitte]

He's pretty good about it, send him an email, he's a stand up guy

This, it might even already be in the mail he just hasn't told you.

I really like his kit and he was really great to talk to you when I had a technical issue

[Tomas328]

This, it might even alread, pretty fasty be in the mail he just hasn't told you.

I really like his kit and he was really great to talk to you when I had a technical issue

Yes eric is a good guy, and he usually replies

[Apexer]

I got my kit Saturday. Installed it yesterday. Great kit and instructions. I would have been screwed doing it without the kit. I also change the oil filter gasket, plugged the leaking plugs on the oil filter housing, cleaned the ICV, fixed a leak on my heater valve, delted the fan clutch, replaced the water pump pulley, and deleted the ASC. Seems to have better throttle response and pulls past 5000 rpm's now like everybody says. Horsepower? Who knows.

Eric gave me some technical support during the install. I probably put in 12 hours for all the work but I'm a newb. The guy who complained about flipping back and forth for pictures is ridiculous. The instructions are much clearer and accurate than just about anything you could buy.

[Chapel]

anyone still making their own kit? The DIY instructions in the first post are 404d.

[Tomas328]

Buy a kit and avoid the struggle

[Chapel]

Sounds like a plan

[Chapel]

Is it better to install an M50 fuel rail to get it to work? I'm sort of confused about what needs to be done to get the M52 fuel rail to work. Something about spacers and filing down the manifold mounting points?

[E36M3E]

The mods to the m/s 52 fuel rail and fuel rail mounts on the manifold are super easy and very minor. Probably 95% of people retain the 52 fuel rail. It's simply one less part to find.

You can use an m/s 50 fuel rail. They are pretty easy to find, not too expensive, and don't require any modification to the manifold for mounting or the fuel rail cover to make it look right. Fyi you will need the fuel lines as well if you use the m50 fuel rail.

-E

[Chapel]

sounds good. I'll stick with the regular rail. ordered my kit last night

[mickey1984]

Have you done the swap?

[mpathic]

The fuel lines don't take the same paths between the ms50/ ms52 fuel rails.
If you use an adjustable fuel pressure regulator with 24# injectors, as I highly urge anyone going with an M50 manifold to do,
you will need to consider where you are placing your fpr and how you will run the fuel lines from the rail to the fpr.

[AirborneFF]

I just installed the swap with the kit from eric. I must say I sent him an email on a couple questions I figured out after calming down and grabbing a beer and when I made it back to the car I had an email waiting from eric. Couldn't have been 20 minutes so +1 for him on that. The swap went without a flaw. I did it myself with no help. The only pita was the last mani nut by the firewall. Had to use some extentions with a swivel tip. Here is a big ass tip for you guys..... if your having issues keeping that nut on the end of your socket get a small peice, a tiny strip of tape and put it on the backside of the nut. Then put into the socket end. It will stay and only leave once it has been threaded. The only other thing is once I started up my car I had an asc light on that was not there before. I believe I leaned on it during the install and damaged it. Overall I am happy. The mods I already have on my 97M3 are shielded cai, catback, uuc pulleys. Can't wait to tune. Car felt great after the install.

[duckling]

Has anyone ever tried swapping m50b25 manifold on m52b20? How does it improve the power?

[mpathic]

Your 2 liter would be peaky and lose torque with the big M50. the manifold from the 2.8/3.2 S-M52 would be about right for your displacement.

[duckling]

Aren't 2.0-2.8 manifolds on m52 the same?

[mpathic]

Use S52 US M3 manifold. There wasn't a US 2.0 liter, 2.5, 2.8, an 3.2. The US 3.23i E36 was a 2.5, iirc correctly.

[ultimatetester]

The m52b20 has smaller inlet ports. Even if you use the manifold from the m50 then the inlet ports will still restrict flow!! Do not spend money on this unless you want to modify your block by having the inlet ports increased

[mpathic]

Modify the block? I'm sure there's a factual basis behind your statement, but it isn't making sense to me.
Do you intend to say that the b20 head has smaller ports, which should be ported out if an M50 manifold is used?
If the 2 liter ports are smaller, then swapping up to the larger displacement head would be an effective way to go.
But.... if you want to go much faster, with all this time and money you're considering, why not just swap in a used 3.0 or 3.2 liter? Plenty of software option for these when controlled by OBDI systems. If I had a 2.0 I would tweak it into a fuel economy special. That would be with silicon intake boots, a cleaner flowing air filter box such as a Pipercross Viper, slightly higher fuel pressure but not so much that the fuel correction values go out of range, an exhaust that merges at a Y from two pipes to one single 3"pipe behind the cats, and then a Flowmaster series 50 or E39 540i muffler out the back. You would increase both power and fuel economy ~5 - 10%.

[ultimatetester]

Modify the block? I'm sure there's a factual basis behind your statement, but it isn't making sense to me.
Do you intend to say that the b20 head has smaller ports, which should be ported out if an M50 manifold is used?
If the 2 liter ports are smaller, then swapping up to the larger displacement head would be an effective way to go.
But.... if you want to go much faster, with all this time and money you're considering, why not just swap in a used 3.0 or 3.2 liter? Plenty of software option for these when controlled by OBDI systems. If I had a 2.0 I would tweak it into a fuel economy special. That would be with silicon intake boots, a cleaner flowing air filter box such as a Pipercross Viper, slightly higher fuel pressure but not so much that the fuel correction values go out of range, an exhaust that merges at a Y from two pipes to one single 3"pipe behind the cats, and then a Flowmaster series 50 or E39 540i muffler out the back. You would increase both power and fuel economy ~5 - 10%.

Yes it has smaller ports which should be ported out

[Stantons27]

So this swap will not work with the m52tu in the e46 because of the double vanos? Is it something physical that doesn't match up or is it an electrical issue?

[mpathic]

That's not the droid you're looking for...
You want to convert to an M54 3.0 liter intake and throttle body. Get the 3.0 intake cam too if you can. Also get a West Coast Riots big bore throttle body for the 3.0 manifold. The Turner website has reliable info on this. Lots of internet postings about it of varying accuracy. Open up your exhaust too to help the increased intake breathing. You have a single pipe to the muffler. Switch to a 2.5" X-pipe behind the cats where the resonators were, and a dual 2.25 inlet single 3" outlet Flowmaster Series 50. Great sound quality at a much lower volume than you would expect for that kind of low pitch grunt/growl. hth, MPathic

QUOTE=Stantons27;29575870]So this swap will not work with the m52tu in the e46 because of the double vanos? Is it something physical that doesn't match up or is it an electrical issue?[/QUOTE]

[deayge]

OK, So what TB are you s52 drivin guys running?

[TheJordanWhitte]

OK, So what TB are you s52 drivin guys running?

I have the riot racing BBTB, I like it and RK added it to my tune easy.

[deayge]

I have the riot racing BBTB, I like it and RK added it to my tune easy.

Which one do you buy? The one that fits the 95 or the 96+ cars. Seems to me the 96+ cars would not for the pre 96 manifold?

[TheJordanWhitte]

Which one do you buy? The one that fits the 95 or the 96+ cars. Seems to me the 96+ cars would not for the pre 96 manifold?

96+ it fits great just make sure you get the right gasket for the right manifold.

It's in OEM unit that's been bored out so it should fit just as well as stock.