1995 E34 BMW 525i Sport

[Big Pimp]

This car honestly just gets better every time I see it.

I was having a good nosey at it in titanic dubs and I don’t honestly know what you need to do to tidy it up

It looked flawless to me man

 

[cauld1]

Where did you get the secondary air pump blank from ? Why r u blanking it?

From Hack Engineering.

Blanking it as it's more stuff cluttering the engine bay I don't need from the S54, just have to get it coded out of the ECU.

 

[big_pete]

From Hack Engineering.

Blanking it as it's more stuff cluttering the engine bay I don't need from the S54, just have to get it coded out of the ECU.

 

[cauld1]

Back to this nonsense again...

 

[natogreen16v]

I love how much more impressive this thing is gona get

 

[cauld1]

I love how much more impressive this thing is gona get

Fingers crossed it goes smoothly

Hopefully have the engine and box out this weekend. Also have everything sitting to do the big end on the S54, so will try to get to that soon. Then need to whip the sump and oil pump off the M50 and onto the S54, barring some seals that should be the bottom end done then.

Have a collection of bits to get cerakoted. Just need to save a bit of money for that and give them a bit of a clean. Everything on the new engine is filthy.

Whilst taking the front end apart I noticed the standard power steering cooler was bit crap looking, so bought a Chase Bays cooler instead. Seems a nice bit of kit. Just the wait for it to arrive, but looks like this:

Will allow me to redo the power steering lines and hopefully tidy them a bit too.

 

[cauld1]

Quite unproductive this weekend unfortunately, but have the following left to do to take the engine and box out:

- undo downpipe from manifold
- drain and disconnect clutch hydraulics
- disconnect wiring
- undo gearbox and engine mounts

The lift it out with the crane.

Looking pretty sorry for itself now

 

[EF Ian]

Nice. It looks quite easy to work on, loads of space around the engine. I see they even gave you a tool holder.

 

[cauld1]

Nice. It looks quite easy to work on, loads of space around the engine. I see they even gave you a tool holder.

Cheers. Yea, it's a gift to work on in fairness, the amount of space when you have all the clutter out of the way is great. Tool holder is great isnt it

 

[cauld1]

My phone threw up this 'great' reminder of similar photos today. Never ending cycle

Top - June 2020
Middle - a few weeks ago
Bottom - June 2018

 

[cauld1]

Yesterday @jayme came up and we finally got the engine out. Wasn't the most productive of days but it's a step forward.

Put the M50 onto a nice wee stand I bought from Hack Engineering, for the money I don't think it could be made, so we'll happy with it.

I've got the sump off the M50 and just need to clean and paint it to have it ready to go onto the S54, but before I do that I need to pull the oil pick up and pump (possibly buy a new oil pump at this point) for putting on the S54. Will also need to change the rod bearings which really shouldn't be that difficult with the engine on a stand.

Thankfully minimal welding needed on the engine bay, but to do what I want to do I need to pull a lot of the interior out, handy enough just a pain in the arse to keep it out of the car and in good condition.

 

[Nicky]

Are you keeping the S54 as is, or are you going to add boost?

I see you have an R-Tech 180amp mig too. They’re a great bit of kit, and dial in nicely for light work around cars. I was that impressed with it that I opted for their AC/DC tig welder too so that I can continue practicing with it when I get a chance.

 

[cauld1]

I'll keep it as is aside from a carbon 'csl style' airbox. I don't see the need to go any further than that with it for now.

Aye, have barely used the welder but the adjustability drew us to going for it Vs what we had been working with previously.

 

[cauld1]

One thing that had been annoying me a bit was the thought of doing rod bolts on the S54. Shouldn't have worried, was all mostly dead handy.

Biggest difficulty was one of the oil pump bolts, some hallion has been here before and 2 of the 3 allen bolts were not in great shape. One took a bit of perseverance to get out, but got there in the end. All the bearings looked pretty good so have likely been done before (hence the state of the oil pump bolts), number 3 pair were the worst. I'll grab photos of them during the week and upload. ACL bearings and ARP rod bolts should future proof this aspect a bit (provided I've not made a balls of the fitment).

Also got the M50 sump fired through the parts washer, really did come up nicely.

And on the S54, moves the main oil pan to the front rather than the rear to work with the e34 subframe. All lines up perfectly.

 

[natogreen16v]

Great work Conor!

 

[jayme]

Great work Conor!

Great work Clifford...

I used to make that mistake also.

 

[Coog]

What’s the S54 for those of us that don’t speak in BMW?

 

[cauld1]

What’s the S54 for those of us that don’t speak in BMW?

It's an E46 M3 engine

 

[Coog]

It's an E46 M3 engine

Class!!

 

[pablo]

hold up what? s54 will be epic

 

[cauld1]

Great work Clifford...

I used to make that mistake also.

Aye right enough, was just missing you there giving great 'advice' too

 

[jayme]

Aye right enough, was just missing you there giving great 'advice' too

 

[KevM]

What’s the S54 for those of us that don’t speak in BMW?

Shame on you....

 

[cauld1]

Got out to the garage for a bit this evening.

That's the oil pump off the M50 (E34 525i engine) on the S54 (E46 M3 engine), with the sprocket for the S54 attached. All fits perfectly. Wanted to try this before going for a new/reconditioned oil pump.

Top tip, the nut on the sprocket is a reverse thread. Glad to have checked before doing this

And here's what some of the rod bearings looked like.

Not brilliant, but glad to do them and happy that the crank looks good with no scores etc.

 

[Gaz86]

Good job you changed those!! Looks like they weren't too far off failing in a big way. I'm amazed the crank isn't scored given there's a fair bit of material missing on one of those