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M50 Manifold Install

Author : John Doby Posted on : 28/10/2004
Model : BMW, 3 - Series (E36) 1991-99 Category : Engine - Intake
Source : http://www.team-bar.com/
 
Intro: The 1996 model year introduced a new family of emission compliant engines-the M52 and S52. Evolved from the previous M50TU and S50 engines, these new motor had a host of changed, one being a more restrictive intake manifold. While this addressed the issue of low end torque delivery it was at the expense of top end breathing. Where the old M50 engine continued making power at top end of the rev band, the new engines ran out of breath. One popular modification for OBDII owners is to swap in the M50/S50 manifolds. With the bigger displacements of the 328 and M3, this can really help to wake up the car and allow it breathe at higher rpms. To truly optimize it, owners often get custom tuning for their cars-in this case, Dinan Stage 5 software is used. Coded to work with the Schrick Manifold, it is compatible with the less expensive M50 piece.

Warning: If you are not competent or do not feel comfortable doing any of these modifications or procedures, then please do not do so. team.BAR will not be held responsible for any damages caused by a result of your actions.

Everyone knows what the manifold looks like so there are only a couple of pictures of it here. I used a parts list given to me from Jacob (Def on BF.C) and I modified it a bit. Everyone’s designs are differ a bit, so I’ll give my parts list at the end. I followed the www.Midnightautoworks.com (MNA) instructions the best that I could, but some things were not as easy as they make it out to be. So basically, this is my take on their instructions and you can use these in conjunction with their instructions. PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE MNA INSTRUCTIONS PRIOR TO ATTEMPTING THE INSTALL.


Pulling the intake boot, and throttle body was easy, and anyone can do it. Pulling the Fuel Rail required a small crowbar to get it to pop off. I then pulled 2 injectors off of the rail so that it could sit on the valve cover easier. Then getting the first 6 nuts that hold the manifold down was easy, but that 7th is a total PITA, but obviously not impossible. There are 2 bolts that hold the intake to two brackets under it. Those weren’t as bad as the 7th nut. This is when the MNA instructions and my thick head didn’t get along. They say to take this line and that wire off of the Crank Case Vent and Idle Air Controller and pull everything out together. I found it was easier to pop them out of the manifold and just pull it by itself. Once it was out I had to peak down at the valves, but then I stuffed shop towels in the ports so that nothing would get in there. So now the engine bay looks like this:


So, here’s the “money shot” of the 2 manifolds. Notice in the bottom left, there is a hole that needs to be plugged. Well Bill found that a wheel bolt screws right in, so I cut it off to the right length, wrapped it in Teflon tape and screwed it in there:


Random picture of me and my beloved engine:


Ok, the next 2 pictures are of the plumbing and the brackets that the manifold mounts to. Now people have said that they bent them and that they just zip tied the dipstick tube to the bracket. I didn’t like that idea, so I pulled the brackets out and welded an L-Bracket to the rear one and just a flat piece to the front bracket. This allowed the dipstick tube to be bolted to the back bracket and the also for the manifold to be bolted down in the front. If you look closely at the next 2 pictures you can see ugly welds of mine…. Jesse James would not be pleased.


Here you can see the 2x 3/16” hoses that I used a 3/16” Y-adapter to connect to the back of the manifold. You can also see that I had to hang the Idle Controller thing with a zip tie… not my favorite setup, but the hoses wouldn’t sit right with it bolted to the bracket.


Here you can see the final hose configuration:


Here’s a picture of the connector that the ¾” tubing connects to, as well as the one 3/8” tube. I used a universal adapter to reduce the 3/8” tubing to 3/16” tubing so that it would fit on the connector:


3/16” connector attached, and ready to go in for final test fit:


Manifold sitting in there for a final test fit:


Connecting the ¾” connector:


Checking the ¾” connector:


I found I needed to do more then the MNA instructions say to do. I needed to grind off part of the front mounting tab, AND the one mounting clip for the O2 sensor plug. Then I had to make 2 extensions – 2 flat pieces of metal that bolt to the rail mounting tabs and bolt into the manifold. I ended up using 2 zip ties to hold the O2 plug down to the rail once it was bolted back on:


Putting the throttle body back on:


Ok, here’s putting the finishing touches on the project. Now the MNA instructions say to drill a hole in the intake elbow to mount the IAT sensor, but I didn’t like that idea. I had enough of the hack mechanics with the zip ties, so I paid $15 and bought a 95 M3 intake elbow. It has 2 holes in the bottom of it instead of 1. This way everything mounts up nice and neat:


The fuel rail cover to fit the M52/S52 manifold will bolt on to the M50 manifold, however you can tell it doesn't quite line up right and the slots are smaller than the runners.
Nice and neat:



Now the parts list:
4 – ¾” plastic elbows
1 – ¾” plastic T
1 – 3/16” plastic Y
1 – 3/8” to 3/16” plastic reducer
2 - L-Brackets
14 – ¾” hose clamps
1 – 11” Zip tie
3 – 7” Zip ties
3 – Small nuts and bolts
3 feet of ¾” hose
2 feet of 3/16” hose
Some sheet metal
95 M3 intake elbow

I think that’s it.

One thing I will say is that if I had to do it again, I'd probably just buy an install kit from Eurospeed for $200. It's not that much more money, but it would have made life a lot easier. I, however, like doing things myself, and did.
 

Pictures

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Click on the thumbnails to see larger images.

 

References

  • http://www.team-bar.com/
    •  


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