Chain Tensioner - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

TBrown · 14th February 2004, 09:33

Regarding the chain tensioner from the S52, does it work in the 3.6? I had one when I changed my cam gears but it was very different and I didn't have time to verify it would work, so i didn't put it in. But now the reservoir on mine is leaking and I figured if it works I'll put that one in instead.

AlexA · 14th February 2004, 11:43

It should work just fine on the 3.6. A lot of 3.6 owners in the US have done the swap. I fitted it to my 3.8 without problems. Make sure you remove all of the old tensionsioner before you try to fit the new one. The new tensionser is a bit smaller. You will need a deep 32 mm socket (I used an impact socket, but a thinner walled socket would be better) to remove and fit the tensioners.
The new tensioner should look like the one in the link:
http://www.m3bmw.com/tech/tensioner.html

Alex
92 M5 Touring

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBrown

Regarding the chain tensioner from the S52, does it work in the 3.6? I had one when I changed my cam gears but it was very different and I didn't have time to verify it would work, so i didn't put it in. But now the reservoir on mine is leaking and I figured if it works I'll put that one in instead.

Marek · 15th February 2004, 00:28

Lots of owners are doing the tensioner conversion. Is the chain tensioner from the S52 engine that much better than the original M5 E34 tensioner? Is it more durable or is it just less expensive?
Marek

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexA

It should work just fine on the 3.6. A lot of 3.6 owners in the US have done the swap. I fitted it to my 3.8 without problems. Make sure you remove all of the old tensionsioner before you try to fit the new one. The new tensionser is a bit smaller. You will need a deep 32 mm socket (I used an impact socket, but a thinner walled socket would be better) to remove and fit the tensioners.
The new tensioner should look like the one in the link:
http://www.m3bmw.com/tech/tensioner.html

Alex
92 M5 Touring

AlexA · 15th February 2004, 12:26

I don't know the price of the old tensioner, but the new one is supposed to be a lot better and also very much easier to fit.

Alex

de Witt · 15th February 2004, 12:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marek

Lots of owners are doing the tensioner conversion. Is the chain tensioner from the S52 engine that much better than the original M5 E34 tensioner? Is it more durable or is it just less expensive?
Marek

I do not know about price comparisons, but the S52 chain tensioner is a superior design over the S38 tensioner. It would most likely be the same price if not cheaper than the S38 unit, due to time and part availibility. The S52 unit basically has a stronger spring and is a load-dependent (RPM) tensioner.

The link below explains the use of the S52 tensioner on an S14, but the exact same thing can be applied to the S38 100%

S52 Chain Tensioner