1995 E36: which 2L engine type M50TU ot M52?

The M52 is an OBD II compliant motor, used from 1996 and later in the USA. I'm just guessing here, but I suspect you have the M50 that was used up to (and including) 1995.

Thanks Jeff, but I've just answered my own question. I keyed the VIN number into the TIS software. Turns out it is a 1996 M52 unit after all (which is not what I wanted to seel). I was hoping the vehicle had an M50TU. Guess I'd now better do a compression test prior to handing over the cash.

JB

Why would you prefer the M52 over the M50?

The M52 has an advanced diagnostic system. The 2.5L version also makes more torque faster that peaks higher. I am not sure what the specs are of the european version are, but if I could pick one over the other, I'd take the M52 in a heartbeat.

The M52 is a later designed engine than the M50TU, but both have a single VANOS unit if that was influencing your preference. But, being a later design would suggest the M52 is the better engine. Mike.

What was influencing my choice was the fact that the M52 (in Europe) had the aluminium block (nicasil!!) unlike the iron block of the US M52.

JB

Its always nice to have the OBDI though, purely for the fact that a check engine light wont negate your emissions test. If you have a 1996 or later, it must be OBDII compliant and any error will cause you to fail emissions, whether you are out of compliance or not. with an OBDI they actaully have to hook up the monitors to your exhaust and get a real reading.

..like they do with with car that has to comply, in the UK.

..like they do with every car that has to comply, in the UK.

wish that logic would cross the pond, post 96 they just plug in the computer, thats it and thats all, I figure you could be on fire and blowing black smoke fifty feet into the air and you would pass as long as the computer gave the right reading...

On 3 Nov 2005 05:38:26 -0800, "Corey Shuman" waffled on about something:

On the bright side, I bet it's far easier to screw with the wires to the Lambda sensor (insert a resistor maybe) and improve the emissions (as far as the tester with the laptop is concerned) than it is to sort out the fog coming out the back into the face of the man with the probe!

Dodgy.

Actually - it's difficult to do. A O2 sensor puts out a voltage - which varies according to the mixture it sees. The typical crossover is 250ms (1/4 second) - and the emissions monitoring systems will trigger a fault if the response is too slow (more than 500ms or so) or if the voltages fall out of range.

While one could (and people have) make a circuit to emulate this behavior - on a modern car - it is not a good thing to do, since the emulation doesn't give the FI system feedback, so the actual mixture being burned is not going to be right - it will be rich/right/lean - and rich or lean can damage the engine.

It might be a tad easier to install a new O2 sensor.