[Bmw M52 into 77 280z]

Remaining items are getting the speedo to read correctly and getting a higher gearing to lower engine rpm at highway speeds plus raise the top speed.

When I ran the car at Road Atlanta last weekend I was hitting about 110mph at about 5500 rpm (per a datalogger) before I was halfway down the straght. The car did not seem very stable at that speed so I never pushed it much past that.

 

I have an electronic speedometer hooked up to the BMW sensor mounted on the left half shaft. Unfortunately it does not read steady long enough for me to do a proper calibration. I installed a shielded cable and shielded the sensor, but it still has problems.

Here is a picture before I shielded the sensor.

 

 

Another problem is the coolant temperature gauge. The BMW sensor for the 1996 engine is a dual sensor. the part that sends to the computer has resistance readings identical to the Z sensor, but the part going to the gaqge reads with a much higher resistance which to the gage means a cooler temperature. As a result, at normal operating temperature the gage needle never moves. I guess I will need to put a sensor somewhere else.

[Bmw M52 into 77 280z]

I swapped in an engine and transmission from a 1996 325I with the wiring and EWS1 computer and intake manifold from a 1993 325I. I did not lower the front cross memeber. The oil pan clears the steering rack clamp by about 1/4". I was trying for 1/2", but did not adequately account for the compression of the engine mounts. Since the engine torques the oposite direction, that tight clearance has not been a problem.

 

The drive shaft is made up of the front half of the BMW drive shaft and the back half of the Z shaft. One slipped into the other snuggly. It was a little loose after I took the paint off. It is fine since I had it balanced. I got the length correct by bolting everything up and tack welding the two pieces together under the car.

 

I raised the tail of the transmission until it clears the top of the tunnel about 1/8". The shift lever was modified as shown itn one of the photos. The aluminum part was spliced with JB weld. The lower steel part was welded.

 

 

 

 

 

Rear Wheel Hp – 197-202 (3 runs)

Torque – 210+/-

 

 

Car weight

No driver – 2603 maybe 4 gals short of full

LF 648 RF 651

LR 636 RR 668

 

No driver - 2755

LF 701 RF 653

LR 699 RR 704

[Bmw M52 into 77 280z]

For the drive shaft I used the front part of the BMW drive shaft and the back part of the Z drive shaft. One slid inside of the other for a snug fit! When I sanded the paint off it was a little looser, but still fine. I attached the drive shaft in place and tack welded it and took it off and took it to a friend who can weld.

Before welding

 

 

after welding

 

 

And here is my shifter extension, For the upper aluminum part I JB welded it using some threaded rod and some flat aluminum for splicing. For the lower part I welded a threaded rod in one end and a nut on the other. Now I can adjust the angle of my shift lever easily be removing a clip and turning the link in or out to change the length.

 

 

More tomorrow.

[Bmw M52 into 77 280z]

I am about 90% done swapping a 2.8L 96 BMW328i engine in my 77 280z. I decided on the straight six M52 engine after reading RTz's thread. I liked the idea of retaining the straight six. I loved the sound of my Z engine. I chose the M52 over the S52 (M series engine) as it is considerably cheaper. I figure swapping a M50 manifold with the easier to deal with EWS1 computer system onto the M52 engine would give me close to 220hp which is about 60-70 hp more than my Z engine was making. Plenty for me. That will get me in enough trouble on track days.

 

I fabricated my engine mounts out of 1/4" plate and 2" square tubing. It worked out fine except my welding is extremely ugly. It got a little better when I switched to gas shielded solid wire instead of the flux core. I only show these as examples as a way to fab engine mounts. Ignore the welds if you can.

 

 

and here is the transmission mount. I used the ears off of the Z mount.

 

 

I left the front suspension crossmember in the original location instead of lowering it like RTz. I did not want to mess up the steering geometry any more after lowering the car with shorter springs. With the engine sitting on a piece of 1/2" plywood on the steering rack and raising the transmission until the shirt mechanism cleared the tunnel by about 1/4", I measured the angle of inclination of the transmission output and the angle of the diff input and it read the same on my cheap Harbor Freight angle finder. Of course I stupidly fabbed the engine mounts with the engine in that position and when the plywood block wsa removed the enginee sank about 1/4". You would think a structural engineer wuld have anticipated that. I solved that with a3'8" thick, 2" diameter aluminum washers between the top of the rubber and the metal mount.

[rt260, BMW M Powered]

I looked at using a BMW diff, but it is wider than the Z diff and looked like a lot of trouble to swap.

 

Summit has an adapter for the tach for $78.95. Not cheap, but cheaper than a new tach and much cheaper than the speedo converter.

 

I may try a dash from pull-a-part. If I am lucky, I could even put replace the guts of the Z speedo with the BMW speedo. Fat chance.

[rt260, BMW M Powered]

So. I guess I need a new tach as well as a new speedo. For the speedometer am going to make a notched wheel bolted to one of the half axle flanges and use the BMW VSS to send the signal to an aftermarket electronic speedometer. I was hoping the Z tach could be run off of a signal from the BMW computer, but probably not. What tach did you use?

[rt260, BMW M Powered]

Since the engine runs off individual coils, where do you connect the tach?

[S50B32 Euro M Powered 240]

That shift opening repair is beautiful work for something nobody is ever going to see! I did however paint my gas lines and brackets yesterday after I took them out. I am putting a M52 w/ M50 intake and electronics in my 77 280z. Since the fuel lines on the M52 are on the left side of the engine, I decided to move the fuel lines to the left side of the car so I would not have to cross the exahaust pipe.

 

My engine is in without the wiring. I have completed the engine, transmission and shifter mounts and am working on rerouting gas lines and the exhaust. Then I will pull the engine and clean the engine bay and wire the engine up before putting it back in. It won't be a show car, but will be used on the road and for track days.

 

Thanks to you and Ron (RTZ) for the inspiration. I won't have the hp you guys have, but with the M50 intake I figure I should be around 220 which is a big improvement over the 150hp of my 280z engine. It should be plenty for track days given my skill level.