Now that the my Vortech supercharged 3.2L S52 engine has been successfully installed in my E36, I need to address some supporting systems in order to make it perform reliably on the track. After discussing my build with a few other veteran BMW E36 racers, they really voiced their concerns about keeping the intake air …
Continue reading BMW E36 – AEM Water Methanol Injection Kit Installation – Chemical Intercooler
My new supercharged S52 requires a new clutch that can keep up with it without issue. One thing that I learned quickly when researching clutches is that there are a lot on the market for the BMW E36. The prices vary considerably and so do the reviews from those that have tried them. After reading …
Continue reading BMW E36 Clutch Installation with Pilot Bearing Replacement
I'm a planner. I like to have a full list of what I need to do in order to complete something successfully. It's just the engineer in me. Swapping an S52 engine into my E36, in place of the M50, is fairly straightforward but there are still quite a few parts that are needed to …
Continue reading BMW E36 S52 Engine Swap – Parts List and Valvetrain Selection Discussion
I just came across a deal to good to pass up and I'm now planning to swap in the 3.2 liter S52 motor (157k miles) from a 1997 BMW M3 in place of my current M50 (2.5 liter) motor! The compression numbers tested very well for this S52 with less than a 10 psi variance …
Continue reading BMW E36 S52 Engine Swap – Long Block Strip and Planning
My "to do" list has had a lightweight catback exhaust on it for quite a while now and it's finally time to check it off. After researching many different catback options on performance parts websites, Ebay, and forums, I saw that there was a huge difference in price between the top line and budget level. …
Continue reading Manzo catback exhaust install and review on my BMW E36
The Rocky Mountain SCCA Solo summer series is finally getting underway after a very long break (for me at least). It was time to get my E36 out on the track and see if all these performance improvements were really going to make a difference! I've thrown a lot of things at the car over …
Continue reading Event 1, 2019 – My BMW E36 is way faster than me now!
There's just time to address a few more things before the 2019 autocross season kicks off. Quite a bit of miscellaneous items but they will all definitely impact the car's performance. This upgrade session is focused on the following areas: Adding more braces to the E36 to further stiffen the chassis front and rear Changing …
I'm still in the process of finishing up a few projects on my BMW E36 over the winter but not quite ready to blog about them. In the absence of one of my normal posts, I thought that I would let you know of several sites that I regularly visit to look for new parts …
The sunroof cassette in a BMW E36 is an easy target for "adding lightness". It's nearly 40lbs of weight at the highest point in the car. So removing it will not only reduce overall weight in the car, it will also lower the center of gravity. Another easy addition to aid handling in autocross is …
Continue reading BMW E36 sunroof delete and larger sway bar install
As I've mentioned in a previous post, my car is feeling down on power since moving to the high altitude of Colorado. According to most reliable sites, my BMW E36 has 20% less power at my current altitude (~6000 ft) than at sea level. It left the factory with 189 hp (M50B25TU), so best case …
Continue reading More Power! Upgrading and modifying the BMW E36 engine.
Brent Ford Racing 