Jeff, the M50 design was used in 2.0 to 2.5 L motors. The M52 design was used for engines with 2.0 to 2.8 L displacement. I suspect your E36 was a 2.5 L model. IMO, it's one of BMW's best engines.
But you're right though. This is moot to Fred.
What may be more relevant, at least to Fred, is the comparison of M52 and M62 engines. He is trying to point out an error in my previous gut-feel ballpark assertion that the M62 engine would be putting out at least twice the torque of an engine in any regular E36 in a hill start
- just a technical point, not really at the core of our debate.
Here's my answer:
I looked up the torque curves for the latest M52 engine - the one in the E39 528i - so it is likely identical to the one in the latest E36. I also looked up the M62 engine's torque curve. I'm not sure if it's the one with VANOS - it shouldn't be because that engine is the M62 TU. Anyway, here's what I found:
ENGINE Nm @ 1,000 rpm @ 2000 rpm @3000 rpm
---------------------------------------------------------------- M52B28 ~125 215 260 M62VB44LEV ~295 ~390 ~420
RATIO 2.36 x 1.81 x 1.62 x
Fred seems to have quoted maximum engine performance figures for the respective engines. That's not relevant to our debate because neither of us would use our engines at that level for starting on a hill.
What is relevant is each engine's performance between 0 to 3000 RPM, the figures I actually suggested in my earlier message. As you see, the torque curve differences of the two engines between 1,000 RPM and
3,000 RPM are between 2.38 times to 1.62 times. In fact, if you average the two numbers, the result is exactly 2.0 times. I didn't cook the numbers - you can fetch the information off the AC Schnitzer website. Here is the URL for engine specs:
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So I think the point I made was a fair one, don't you? The idea was simply that when you drive a much heavier car with so much more torque the resulting moving mass is more difficult to control if you do not blunt the momentum with some sort of gradual braking force. That is why I use the handbrake in the E39 - it makes the car behave in a smooth and predictable manner and reduces wear on my clutch / flywheel.