E36 engine and model guide

So I did this for E30 and E34 as it is on the stickies… and since the E36 has many of the engine options of both cars I thought, well let us do this here, too. So let us getting started with the model range.
The E36 hit the market in August 1990 with the limousine, in Febuary 1992 the coupe came along. The E30 cabrio retired in April 1993 and the E36 droptop entered. Well and in 1994 BMW gave birth to the down syndrome compact, which looks like last step of production was to reverse the coupe into a wall… The last E30 retired in 12/1994, the touring, so since January 1995 there is the E36 Touring available. So for the top BMW M Models they are around since 10/1992 with the coupe, 01/1994 cabrio (who ever thought of introducing a drop top in January of the marketing department should have been fired immediately), the limousine hit market in august the same year. I am not gonna go for each Facelift here, because, well there were many changes until the E36 retired entirely in 2000.

M40 B16/ M40 B18

So now the engines: the M40 was the base engine and well, if you buy a BMW you should not go base because they tend to fck up doing cheap things. This engine is a prime example of a BMW fck up, it is in my opinion the worst BMW engine ever made, and unless you pick one up for a few hundred bucks as a winterbeater/drift missle do not take that car with that engine. Better save a few more bucks and get a M50, because they are worth spending money and time, these are not. The two main reasons for that are the timing belt and that the camshafts get ruined in a while, because the cam follower rides directly on the camshaft. This engine was produced from 1987 in the E30 until April 1994. So now to the upgrade the M43, and well, that one changed everything that was bad to good. if you want an entry level E36 take one with the M43. While the power was only upped by 1 or 2 horsepower literally, the cam followers were upgraded to roller cam follower, so camshaft is not ruined anymore. And well that problem with the timing belt…. well it got a timing chain and that engine is a tough MF! My mom has one of these in her 1995 E34 518i, and well it works most of the time even though she does not care for the car as much as I do with mine…. If you follow me you might have noticed one picture where the car has to get towed by my buddy to his workshop because of cooling system failure…she did not pay attention to the gauge… =/.
And well there was the M42 B18…. 4 valves per cylinder DOHC timing chain, M-Genes in the head….if you want a fun good sounding four pot this is the one to buy. It is also extremely reliable if taken care of and you can find examples up to 500.000km in the internet of that engine right now. This is the Eco engine to buy if you want to have fun, too. (A little hint here, if you get an E30 318is for a good price buy it, it will gain you more money even when you drive it, than any bank nowadays, except if you crash it).
The latest Version of this engine was M44B19 for Z3 and 318ti. Not much difference between M42 and M44. Biggest difference was that manufactureing was cheaper for BMW because the crankshaft did not Need to be forged like for the M42. Also torque figure is upped by 5 Nm (not that you will notice that).
BMW bought the really early Models back, because their quality sucked that much that they wanted to prevent this to have an Impact on brand value (take this as an example VW).
There was a Diesel Version of the M41and even M47 from 1999 on. This engines shared a wide variety of 86% with the M51D25. So this was a cheap developement for BMW and for a Diesel engine it could compete with what other Brands offered at that time in Terms of power and fuel consumption. The rest was down to the fact that you just do not buy a Diesel BMW……So do not buy this one unless you Need spare parts.

M50B20; M50B25; M52B20; M52 B25; M52B28

So the engine to choose for a not M3 is that one. At least if you want to have the best value for money in terms of fun. A M50B20 is reliable and will not make you poor in terms of running costs. It will be cheap to get at least in the EU and with Basic maintenance it will run until the chasis will crack. Timing chain, 4 Valves per cylinder, of which 6 are in the engine bay, and hydraulic valve lifter so checking the clearence is not longer neccessary. Chain tensioners are tough enough for a life or two. It is an awesome smooth engine (Balance of an inline six-what else) and will make you happy. Only downside is maybe fuel consumption. Even with the M50B20 you need way more than most 4 cylinder counterparts of 2.0l 4-or even 6 pots. It is one of the most commonly used BMW engines, so finding one is not the toughest Task and most E30 engine swaps use an M50 because of similar size and better Performance. Even Turboprojects are working wih M50 swaps. So a winwin engine. M50: gray iron, M52 Aluminium engine - one way to tell the difference between the Generations.
Now the Little differences:
M50B20: Well I own this engine in my E34 520i, and besides working nicely and does everything I expect it to do, it will run forever, but if you put your foot down…. well 150hp at work on a 1.7t car does not work as put your foot down. You really Need to rev the engine and from 5500rpm onwards to 6500 (well into red area) power works for overtaking, beneath that you better stay behind the lorry. But on Long roadtrips, the reason why I have this engine, it is a well all over one.
M50B25: Basícally same as the above one, with the small difference that the 192hp work very well in an E36 or E34 aswell. One of the real choices engine wise. When I get my hands on one of These it will end up in my E30 =).
M52B20: Updated version, flattened tourque curve and better emission Standards. And for all M52, the engine itself was no longer an iron block it now was a aluminum complete engine The engine itself stripped weight, which was most important for fuel efficiency and well we all know the enemy of racecars- weight! Total weight loss was 36kg which is around 19% - awesome for just changing materials. This was basically the reason why it was so much better in fuel economy.
M52B25: A false friend here in BMW terretory is that the 323ti or 323i has 2.3l. In reality it has 2.5l. And you get a few more horses if you Change the intake to a M50 one. It fits and gives you back 20 horses on the cheap. The little bit more of fuel use is not that bad, you might even not notice that. (well you definitely won`t)
M52B28 the small M3 for the regular guy to buy in his late teens and early 20s. A 2.8l rocket with 193hp and a few more if you Change the intake again.

Now the king and queen of E36 heaven---the S Version of the M50 used in M3 and Z4M

Well 2 Version of the M3-the one with the S50B30 and S52B32. The S50 had the most power per litre for a short time. A final update for the S50 can be seen in the legendary E46 M3. So the concept of the S50 survived the car by a few years, but that also means that the S52 is not the most advanced version of an engine type….So for me it would be kind of a really really small bad taste among having a fully sized beef under the bonnet. So S50 has 286hp (295hp in the GT Version) and the S52 has 321hp, first time over 100hp per litre for BMW…yes they rock solid and the car is quite dependable besides small side stuff that now can be watched on youtube….Alex Kersten will basically change all the other parts on his E36 M3 over the next couple of months. So we can have a good look what happens to his wallet and possible yours while owning an E36 =)
Have an awesome day and drive safe!

This content was originally posted by a Car Throttle user on our Community platform and was not commissioned or created by the CT editorial team.