Fitting An M52 Engine Into A BMW E30 [E36 24v M50 Swap] 047

In this E30 build episode, we reach an exciting milestone and finally get the M52 24v engine swap fitted.

Wezmoto Braided Clutch Line for RHD E30: https://ebay.us/yJ7IBQ

@CondorSpeedShop M50/M52/S52 Engine Mounts: https://www.condorspeedshop.com/produ...

Getting this motor fitted has been a very long time coming, and it couldn't have gone better really.

I start out the episode by fitting the clutch slave cylinder to the Getrag 240 gearbox along with a new Wezmoto braided line. Following that I fit the starter motor which is just two torx bolts. Its important to use an M20 flywheel compatible starter from an E30.

After this I moved on to more engine fitting related tasks, in particular fitting the engine arms back onto the M5X engine and getting them torqued up to spec. By good luck, the engine arms you need for an M52 engine conversion for an E30 are the same ones as found in a BMW E36 328i, so the engine arms I use with my M52B28 are actually original to it.

I managed to get a set of E28 engine mounts free with some other parts, but these are an old-school way to do the swap on the cheap. I was tempted to have a go with them but from reading online you will end up with the E28 rubber engine mounts failing prematurely simply because the angle of the subframe mounting point and the engine arms are not compatible with it, putting it under a lot more stress than it was designed for.

Further to this, these engine mounts make an M50 or M52 engine sit particularly low in an E30, adding to the problem of hitting the sump on speed humps.

I opted to import a set of polyurethane engine mounts made specifically for M50 M52 S52 engine swaps made by Condor Speedshop.

The quality of the Condor engine mounts seems to be very high. After a quick test fit on the subframe, I hung them loosely from the engine mounts as per the instructions.

With the engine and gearbox suspended on an engine crane via some heavy-duty straps (seatbelts), we shuffled the E30 into a better position and got it lifted up on blocks.

With that done, it was time for my E30 removable front core support mod to come in clutch. I unbolted it and set the core support aside. At this point, the M52 engine was staring its new home in the E30's engine bay directly in the face.

With some shuffling back and forth with the old man, and even some use of a trolley jack to raise the gearbox to align the engine mounts better, we managed to get the Condor engine mounts located on the subframe and tightened up to spec.

Fitting the 24v M52 engine into an E30 was surprisingly easy thanks to all of the work done leading up to this point. Putting this 6-pot engine in was actually far easier than removing the old M40 4-pot was. Mostly thanks to that removable core support!

With the engine mounts buttoned up, I crawled underneath the car to add the gearbox supports. Luckily on an E30 the gearbox mounting studs are adjustable, but captive in a slider. With these moved, I could simply tighten up the gearbox support in place.

With this done, I could bolt my front core support back on and drop the car back down onto its feet to admire our achievement. Who'd have thought 24v swapping an E30 could be so easy!?

Sadly there are a lot more fiddly parts to figure out yet, including the wiring for an engine swap, the exhaust, the intake, and even silly things like the prop shaft and gear selector. But that's all to come.

For more helpful how-to guides and restorations: https://www.spannerrash.com/

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