Quote:
Originally Posted by russiankid
I know that because 325i's all came with an M50. Easy way to tell what altrnator have is by checking if you have a cooling fan on the pulley or not. If you don't, you have Bosch 140amp. If you do, you have the other brand 105amp.
M50 is just the type of engine it is. Its a DOHC with 4 valves per cylinder. It has Vanos which is variable timing. The DME, which is the computer, controls how much the intake valves open. This helps with low end torque and mid-range. Later models(E46, E39's) came with double vanos which the DME controls both intake and exhaust. Vanos is not bad, but after a while they begin to rattle and not function properly. Easy way to tell if you have Vanos or not is look at the valve cover. If you have a lump up front, you have Vanos. If yours is flat, pretty much a perfectly rectangle, it does not have Vanos.
Everything works swaps between the M50 Vanos and M50 non-vanos except for the oil filter housing and head. the oil filter housing is equiped with a special oil feed line for the Vanos unit. All of the other parts are interchangable without a problem. You also have the option of having a direct swap for an S52 or S50 motor. S52 came in the M3's, and the S50 came in the 328's. Both of these motors look alike but internally they are different.
The motors that came in the E46 require a fair bit of work to drop in. However, an E36 motor into another E36 or an E30 is a fairly simple swap so most likely you have an M50TU. TU is a reference for Vanos.
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WOW! Ummmm, let me try to digest all this craziness! LOL When it comes to the alternator alone, you're saying no matter how I look at it, I have one of two, correct? And to determine which one, I have to look to see if I have a cooling fan on the alternator pulley, correct? Ok, with that being said, how much do either of these run ($$)?
Secondly, you think I have an M50TU? What makes you think that? Can you tell by photos?
