There are plenty of threads on the web "explaining" how to go about the M50 intake manifold conversion. No doubt you can gain a lot of useful information from them on how to prepare yourself before you start the task. Unfortunately, most of the M50 manifold installation related threads are posted by US users of E36's and you have to consider some slight differences if you have a Euro E36 (or RHD E36). The reason a larger amount of posts come from the other side of the pond is that they convert not only the M52B28 and M52B25 engines (328i and 323i respectively) but also their '96 onwards M3's, as the US spec M3's are reworked M52 engines (S52B32) which have standard, restricted M52 intake manifold rather than the 'high flowing' Euro setup: bigger intake manifold and individual throttle bodies. Unfortunately none of the install write-ups are complete enough to be easy to follow. On top of that different authors took slightly different approaches to the swap and there you go... some people get confused as to whether they want to carry on with the upgrade or not, and sometimes even worse... they give up on the idea completely.

Shame, because the swap is really worth both your time and effort.
          We wanted to gather in one place as much information as possible regarding the M50 intake upgrade for those who decided to go ahead with the conversion themselves (either without buying any of the conversion kits or taking the car to a garage). Please go to the manifold install in our LINKS section.

As you will find out later, we strongly recommend to go for one of the kits available on the web if you are don't feel confident about your mechanical skills. This will save you a lot of hassle as the conversion kits are designed to be more less a bolt on replacement for the M52 manifold. There are a few slightly different conversion kits available. If you are US based try the kit available through M50manifold.com. It received a positive feedback amongst buyers and it comes with a very handy feature, 24/7 phone support. You might also want to check    Turner Motorsport   and    Eurosport.   Due to the lack of conversion kit available in Europe we have recently developped our own conversion kit. Please visit our M50 conversion products section

If you do, however prefer to perform the swap yourself without any of the available kits, please be aware that you need to research thoroughly before carrying out the work. This is important as otherwise you could find yourself without the parts you need and with your car in pieces, as some parts of the swap can get more involved without prior preparation. You also need to be quite patient, as some of the stages of the installation can be frustrating. It would also be ideal to have easy access to a hose/fittings shop and another car (or a mate with a car) to give you a lift there, but please do not use ordinary plumbing materials as they may not withstand the temperatures and either melt and collapse or worse, become brittle, brake and get sucked into the engine.

Before I started the swap on my car, I thought I had everything prepared. I went the don't-buy-any-kit route. Sourcing the parts was a bit of a nightmare, as I did not know what exactly was needed. Believe me, I read plenty of DIY's and posts. I must admit they were hugely informative but still there were quite a few things that had been either missed out or not properly explained.
          So, as it turned out the conversion without having a decent what-goes-where manual wasn't as easy as one would think. The pictures did not point out all the details, there were differences between swaps performed by different people etc. It was do-able, but even though I had every online installation manual available with all the pictures it still took me best part whole day to put everything together.
          I would definitely go get-the-bloody-kit route if I had to do it again. If you have a garage, tools, metal sheets for making the brackets, all the necessary will and patience and a spare car I would say do it yourself. If you don't... well, you decide.

WHY change ?!?

Since you have landed on this page you are probably informed as to the reason of putting an older version of the inlet manifold into the newer engine (M50B25 manifold mated with M52B25, M52B28 or S52B32 engine).
          For those however who don't know what this mod exactly offers or simply want to find out a bit more please read our MORE DETAILS section.

Our LINKS page is a "must have" for every BMW E36 owner. It consists of a selection of the most useful and informative links you can find on the web. If you have a problem or you are just looking for some info regarding your car, these are the links you need to follow:   E36 DIY     M50 manifold swap   E36 info.

We hope you find the information above usefull. We would appreciate you making a small donation. Please feel free to donate any amount you wish. No amount is too small and any contribution will be highly valuable. This would help us cover the server and domain costs and further develop informative part of the site. Many thanks to all contributors.