M50 manifold installation - 56k grab a snickers

[PrivateDonut]

Morning all

I spent all of Saturday (11 am - 11pm) working in the M50 mani - HUGE thanks to Eric for writing up such a thorough and detailed install guide WITH PICTURES! Those were amazing when it came time to assemble everything back together. I did it with a couple friends (who aren't E36 guys), but who were both majorly helpful and without whom I wouldn't have been able to pull it off in one day.


All in all, I think it went very smoothly. This was the most technically demanding install I have ever done on a car, but thankfully nothing went horribly wrong. We did have fits trying to get that 7th nut on the stud (just like everyone else). We ended up pulling all the injectors to spread the fuel rail apart from its wiring harness, and using a small 1/4" socket driver we were able to get that damn 7th nut in place and tightened. When putting the injectors back in afterward, we found it to be a total pain in the ass to put all the little clips back in, especially those of the wiring harness, and especially those of the 6th injector - they really make it impossible to work in that area. On the upside, I was very pleased to find that all bolts, except those nuts holding the manifold to the head, were 10 mm, so we did not waste time hunting for sockets and swapping them around.

On to the pics:

Before - took pics of the engine bay and all of the components I could see relating to the IM:








Found these guys chillin in the yard twitching their noses at me as I was taking my before pics.


During the teardown: S52 mani is out




Everything was meticulously labeled:


Comparison shot of the two manifolds:


Obligatory hairy arm shot while modifying the mounting bracket


My friend doing his thing


...and goofing off


Everything in place and ready for the test fit


While test fitting:


It fits:



After everything was back in and put back together


Like I said, everything was carefully labeled


(That's still taped on there, btw)


At the end, when it came time to bleed the fuel rail, we took off the screw cap on the front, thinking that was the bleed valve. Little did we know that the bleed valve was actually inside of that little space inside the screw. I spent 10 minutes turning the key on/off trying to bleed the fuel rail, with myf riend standing there with a catch container. Eventually I got out of the car, suspecting there was more to this - so he grabbed a screwdriver and poked the valve we discovered inside of the screw and got blasted with ~.10 or more liter of fuel (sorry, no pics). Luckily I was spared.

Then came the moment of truth - starting the car for the first time. It started on the first attempt! We celebrated a moment of triumph, cleaned up the garage, then took it out for a drive cycle. I didn't have a scan tool to check the tests afterward, but I picked one up from "GEt in the Zone" Auto Zone on Sunday and ran the test - everything checked out OK.

So ...on to the review.

Prior to the Manifold, I could always feel a definite peak between 3500 and 5500, with a definite drop off after that. Going up to redline, the car would make more noise but wouldn't move much faster.

After the new manifold went in, I can feel that the "peak" that was previously there has been smoothed out - instead of that midrange "push", there is now a smooth pull all the way to redline with NO drop-off like there was before. Definitely worth it, and probably the best bang-for buck engine mod you can do for this car. I think with Eric's instruction guide and install kit anyone can pull this off, even if they have never done it before.

Unfortunately, this marks the limit of what I can do for reasonable money on this car - no more performance can be had without spending large sums that I can't currently justify. At the same time, I think I now have the car in its ideal form as I see it. Next up is a full detail in the next couple weeks...will poast pics when that happens


Thanks for reading!

[99MPower]

good stuff... Eric's instructions are INCREDIBLE....

congrats

[KnudsonM3]

how do you like the gains?

and it took you 12 hours, with help?

[PrivateDonut]

Thanks guys - took about 12 hours, including time we spent eating lunch and dinner (probably ~1 hr total)

[KnudsonM3]

11 hours is still a long time.

[99MPower]

no kidding.. I'm down to the 6 hour range I think for the M50 conversion

I think my first time with beer breaks and dinner was around 8ish

[KnudsonM3]

Originally Posted by 99MPower

no kidding.. I'm down to the 6 hour range I think for the M50 conversion

I think my first time with beer breaks and dinner was around 8ish

too me 6hrs wen i did it alone

[PrivateDonut]

We spent alot of time on annoying lttle things like re-assembling the fuel rail (damn clips). That 11 hrs also includes time spend running the drive cycle and some amount of dicking around

[BadGTho]

Originally Posted by PrivateDonut

We spent alot of time on annoying lttle things like re-assembling the fuel rail (damn clips). That 11 hrs also includes time spend running the drive cycle and some amount of dicking around

don't let leif (aka teh blockbuster bandit) or anyone else give you crap about the time it took

it's a complex and complicated job. you completed is successfully. that's what counts.

[99MPower]

Originally Posted by BadGTho

don't let leif (aka teh blockbuster bandit) or anyone else give you crap about the time it took

it's a complex and complicated job. you completed is successfully. that's what counts.

100% correct.. I was just giving him a reference point

and congrats on finishing it, with ZERO issues afterwords

[AlpinweissM3]

Nice writeup. M50 is probably one of the best performance mods. 12 hours is a bit long but as BadGTho said you did it yourself that's all that counts.

[Roland H]

The M50 is awesome without a doubt, but you're truly missing out on it's potential without appropriate software/custom tune.

[PrivateDonut]

Originally Posted by Roland H

The M50 is awesome without a doubt, but you're truly missing out on it's potential without appropriate software/custom tune.

It's on the "possible (distant) future mods" list - not something I can really do right now. Not to mention there is a marked lack of BMW specialty shops and tuning shops in my area. I already have a Shark Injector, so that will do for now, I think.

Originally Posted by 99MPower

100% correct.. I was just giving him a reference point

and congrats on finishing it, with ZERO issues afterwords

Thx mate . The sheer number of "installed M50, now car wont start" threads on M3F had me a little worried.

[jwbavalon]

Way to go. Great pictures and hints.

[mikem]

Well, I think about all that can be said here has. You've done a fine job. Just one more thing to add, in the spirit of your handle: Mmmmmmm.... Hellrot.... *drool*