Tuning the BMW S52

"Building the best modified BMW S52 engine!"

Carref prides itself on providing the latest tips and guides to your modification project.

TorqueCars will consider S52 tuning and outline the optimum upgrades. BMW S52 are awesome to work on and with the ultimate uprated tuning mods like ECU maps, turbo improvements and camshafts you will positively improve your driving enjoyment.

We rely on our visitors to pass on tips and tell us about their projects and what worked on their car, and this article is the culmination of the feedback we have received. First let us look at the history and specs of this engine and then consider which tuning modifications work best on it.

History of the Engine

The S52 is a highly tuned variant of the M52 and ran from 1996-2000

The cast iron block of the M50 was, in most areas, replaced with an aluminium block with iron sleeves, this allowed the engine displacement to increase from 2.5 to 2.8 Liters.

The engine has a larger bore and stroke giving a 10.5:1 compression ratio. It also had camshafts mods with more lift and duration.

• 240 hp (179 kW) at 6,000 rpm and 236 lb⋅ft (320 N⋅m) of torque at 3,800 rpm

Tuning the BMW S52 and best S52 performance parts.

What are the most effective S52 upgrades

When talking about the best best for your S52 engine, we are going to concentrate on the ones that give the best power gain for you spend.

The cam profile plays a big part in the engines power output so cam upgrades make quite a large difference. The intake & exhaust durations will alter depending on the chosen cam profile, so large power band gains are on offer for cam upgrades.

Fast road cams tend to boost the bhp and torque across the rpm range, you might lose a little bottom end torque but your top end will be higher.

Competition cams, boost the top end band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

For a daily driver you need to optimize your power band to your cars usage.

I'd be shocked have ever thought a S52 Competition cam is a pleasure to live with when driving around busy urban areas.

Different S52 engines respond better to extreme cam durations check your engine on a rolling road.

The engine timing and fuelling also will make differences on the torque gains you'll get.

A longer valve duration can alter the torque band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

Modifying to STAGE 1:

Fast road camshaft, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Intake headers, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Panel air filters, Sports exhaust manifold.

Modifying to Stage 2:

Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, induction kit, high flow fuel injectors, Ported and polished head, fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam.

Modifying to Stage 3:

Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Competition cam, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Twin charging conversions.

ECU mapping should help to release the full potential of all the tuning parts you've done to your S52.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but the end result may rely on the tuning parts you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

It is vital to any engine tuning task to shove more fuel and air into each cylinder

Air Intake manifolds transmit the air from the filter and allow it to be drawn into the engine and mixed with fuel.

The size of bore and shape and flow characteristics of the Intake headers can make a noticeable effect on to fuel mixing and power on the S52.

We often see air intake manifolds are ripe for motorsport parts, although a few car makers provide well optimised air intake manifolds.

Fitting big valve kits, carrying out S52 port enlargement and head flowing will also increase torque, and more importantly will afford you raising the torque increase on other parts.

Which turbo upgrades are best?

NASP engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your S52 but we would caution against it, you'd be practically rebuilding the entire block.

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes superb power gains.

In the last 10 years the selection of turbochargers is always evolving and we are seeing variable vane turbochargers, permitting the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end power.

Twin scroll turbochargers divert the exhaust gases into 2 channels and push these at differently designed vanes in the turbo. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is common that there's a limit in the air flow sensor AFM/MAF on the when considerably more air is being sucked into the engine.

We see 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited bhp at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large performance gains, although more difficult to install. We have this guide to twinchargers if you want to read more.

Fuelling

When you boost the torque you will need to pay attention to to the fuel delivery.

More torque needs more fuel.

Most tuners we speak with say to over specify your injectors flow rate.

As a rule of thumb add 20% to the flow rate when fitting an injector, this accounts for injector deterioration and allows a bit of spare capacity should the engine require more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Choosing the right performance exhaust

One of the most common mistakes and problems we see in tuning projects is usually down to the exhaust, or rather a poorly chosen exhaust for your engine.

You may need to replace your exhaust if the current exhaust is actually creating a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you'll see the flow rate is good even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Note that with the biggest exhaust you can buy you'll slow up the exhaust flow rate - the best for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Usual exhaust restrictions can be traced to the filters installed, so adding a higher flowing high performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Weak spots Issues & problem areas on the S52

The engines are generally reliable and solid as long as they are regularly serviced and maintained.

Regular oil changes are vital on the , especially when tuned and will help extend the life and reliability of the engine.

At high mileages it is recommended to change the Double Vanos and Lambda sensor.

Thermostat housing can start to leak coolant.

High oil consumption may be due to worn piston rings where oil seeps into the cylinders.

For more information on Tuning your engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

Please help us improve these tips by sending us your feedback in the comments box below.

We love to hear what our visitors have got up to and which tuning parts work best for them on each model of car. Comments are used to improve the accuracy of these articles which are continually updated.

This article was written by Waynne Smith on TorqueCars, and I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under BMW. You can leave a response below or join TorqueCars forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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