Can You Spin a BMW S52 to 9,200rpm? Edward Graff Did. [FEATURED BUILD]

“Up until High Performance Academy, I had never taken an automotive course in my life… With all the information out there you can learn how to do anything with a car.”

Our latest featured build comes from Edward Graff — an experienced automotive service manager who wanted to try his hand at modifying his own car.

The car in question is called “Big Blue” and it started life as a BMW E36 M3 that Edward bought eight years ago as a rolling shell. The initial plan was to use it as a tool to learn how to build a good street car that was also capable of autocross and track days.

As happens with many of us (we can’t help ourselves 😅), the car’s development morphed and it became a much more serious build as Edward and his friends learned more about what was possible with the inline-six engine. “In the past, these engines were only good stock or with boost, but the reality is they can have amazing performance and reliability N/A without a lot of modifications," he explains.

Taking the HPA Engine Building Courses gave Edward the knowledge and confidence to undertake the project and push the naturally aspirated S52 engine platform to a new level. Knowing that a lot of power comes from having a good head design, he started at the top of the engine. 

The head was ported, and 298/290-duration Cat cams, Ferrea valves, Supertech valve springs, solid lifters, S54 stepped headers, and S54 ITBs were fitted. The package runs on a Haltech Nexus R3 VCU with an AEM dash to keep an eye on vitals.

The engine achieved 365hp at the wheels using a standard bottom end, all while spinning to a stratospheric 9,200rpm redline!

Still not content, Edward and a few others continued working on ways to push the engine’s performance to the next level. At the time of writing, a new bottom end has been built with a 3.4-litre BC stroker crank, custom rods and high-compression Wiseco pistons. The expected performance is over 400whp and retaining the 9,000rpm+ redline.

The goal for the project is to perfect the engine package and turn the E36 into a GT3-style street/track vehicle, while also pushing the engine package further than anyone else has achieved so far with an N/A application.

We’re big fans of this commitment to the high RPM naturally aspirated dream. Keep up the great work Edward, it’s going to be fun watching the car’s continued development!

Which courses should you take to build a car like this? Edward has used all of the Engine Building Courses, before moving on to Motorsport Wiring and Suspension & Car Setup. 

Have you built a car you would like to share? Send me an email - info@hpacademy.com

Build specs:

• 1995 BMW M3 
• S54 Engine 
• 3.4L BC Stroker Crank, custom rods, high compression Wiseco pistons, ported head with oversized Ferrea valves, Supertech 92lb valve springs, solid lifter conversion, 298/290 Cat cams, S54 stepped headers with adapter to fit S52 head, S54 ITBs using Rabid Racing adapter plate, ATI damper
• Carbon air box
• Upgraded fuel pumps and injectors
• Flex fuel
• S54 6-speed gearbox
• Custom LSD
• Ground control sway bars
• AST coilovers
• Haltech Nexus R3 VCU
• AEM Dash
• Carbon Sunroof Delete
• 365 wheel horsepower on the standard bottom end, hoping for 400+ with the built bottom end