turbo 3 series bmw
 

anyone have experience turboing there bmw ? im looking at a few, but i miss boost, but i dont want to get the same old honda ---- this time, i know its not gona be as easy as turboing my civic, but how hard will it be? i mean engine managment, turbo placement, engine reliability etc. not lookin to go crazy, probly shoot low like 250hp or so

im lookin at 95ish 325i 5 speeds, 2.5L inline 6, 180 somthin HP stock i think
or i know someone sellin a 99 (e46 body style) 323i 5 spd also 2.5L but 170ish hp i think and vanos

ive been told the 2.5 in the 325 if a very strong motor, a thicker walled version of the 2.8L, factory forged internals? maybe wrong but i think there strong either way. no idea what to do for fuel/spark, top or bottom mount turbo?

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

i think ssac sells manifolds for those, and for management megasquirt

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

i think the main issue would be engine management unit. few years back, 2 of my frens whom drove E30 and E34 tried to turbocharged thier ride. Wasnt very successfull as there isnt any piggyback compatible with the ecu. but i think nowdays apexi do have safc that compatible with bmw ecu use hence shld have solve the problem. Of course something like emanage would be much more better but not sure can it works on bmw ecu

on the most recent case, there is a guy in my town tried to TC his E46 but fried everything up with using unichip

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

gay.

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

There was this guys on here some time ago, i cant remember his name, he turboed a 92 325 if i remember correctly. His charge piping was one piece. He was using a fmu, and a top mount if im not mistaken. Search for it.

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

search function seems to be sucking.. even if i just quik search bmw it shows nothing, not even this thread

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

do a google search of just homemadeturbo.com

my buddy said those motors are fragile like Honda;s, and your gonna break it....good luck...

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

You´re wrong.
The M50 and 52 engines are turboed with very good results all the time over here.
Most seem to opt for the Hx35 route.

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

There are a couple BMW forums I've seen that have Forced Induction sections. They're mostly about people spending like 6k on name brand setups... not many HMT BMW setups :(

From what I hear, people slap on a thicker HG and boost 10 psi daily. The rods are forged and quite strong... usually the first thing to go is the HG (from what I hear). There aren't many engine management options, but I know megasquirt is one of them... let me know if you come up with any more info about this. I have a '95 325i and it's fun and all, but I am addicted to boost... been looking for a fix since my turbo ls was stolen.

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

LS1 turbo Kenny...... You know you wanna :6

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

You're right, but my wallet doesn't. That TT "Volvette" is pretty inspring, though.

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

TT LT1 then :y

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

are you good at soldering? because we turbo'd a '87 jetta running a megasquirt system. I think older BMW's had they're computers made by the same company, i.e. the sensor resistance values should be similar, probably have to change them anyway.
Megasquirt FTW

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

ya i belive they have motronic? engine managment like some vw's. ya megasquirt looks like one of the few options.

and whoevers friend that said the motors are fragile like hondas, i dont know, sounds like guy doesnt know what hes talking about. the 2.5l I6 is a thicker walled version of the 2.8, with strong factory pistons, so ive been told by a man that specializes in boosting german autos. (mostly vw), and the engines are known to go for a long time, he actually said the 2.5l (M52?) is a great motor for boost. ive also been told to avoid newer motors with VANOS, i think its some type of variable valve timing thing, i guess they sell kits to remove it.

i know what you mean about people spending 6k on turbo kits, thats mostly what my searches end in, or just as spendy super charger kits. its a differnt crowd mostly that owns bmws, if every other kid had one there would probly be way more boosted ones and cheap parts

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

how

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en

in the part that says Domain put in "homemadeturbo.com" its pretty simple ;)

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

whats up with this

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

might have to give one of these bad boys a test http://cgi.ebay.com/BMW-E36-323i-325...QQcmdZViewItem

they cant possibly have sold to many.. i wouldnt think


http://www.xs-power.co.uk/assets/active/3/241_small.jpg

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/92-99...spagenameZWD1V
looks like same ---- no ssauto badge

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/index.php

Start reading. The BMW scene is interesting, the amount of low buck gangsta set ups is growing but most people will still drop 6K on a kit. Pretty much everyone puts in a new HG and ARP studs. I don't think anyone has run a SSAC manifold long enough to know if it lasts but there out there. Depending on the stock exhaust manifold the car has, people have been making oem topmounts w/some sch40. And for managment, mega squirt is you best option unless you wanna spend the $$ on emanage/aem/ect.

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

I agree. Nothin wrong with gansta setups...You dont need a ton of money to make it right. I am thinking of doing a gansta setup on my is300. I have not seen too many people doing that with this car or bmws but some are catching the feva.

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

Don't listen to people who think BMW motors are weak. My motor ('92 M50 non vanos 2.5L) has factory forged rods, dished pistons, spheroidal iron crankshaft, and double valve springs. The motor is crazy strong. The M52 2.8L has forged rods and crank. A guy made 635whp on it before bending a rod at 704 whp.

Link to my Turbo 5 Series I just posted on here.

https://www.homemadeturbo.com/forum/...?topic=72190.0


You want a non vanos motor so you dont have to worry about variable timing control. However, I have built about 6 megasquirts for M50 series motors and M30 series motors. I am building one currently to handle VANOS but am still going to be going thru testing. I am using the Nitrous output of MSNS-E firmware to control VANOS. Since VANOS comes on at X rpm and goes off at Y rpm, and thats the only variable, it's just like a nitrous switch that turns on at X rpm and off at Y rpm. We'll be tryign to control the VANOS solenoid with that output.

HOWEVER.

The vanos motor has 228 cams while the NON VANOS has 244 cams, more ideal for boost. Also, VANOS motor has 6mm valve stems with single valve springs while the NON VANOS has 7mm valve stems and double valve springs - my motor rev's out to 7800 rpm on stock valvetrain. Why did BMW make retardedly sturdy motors only for 1992? No idea, but they did. And I have two of them :)


Edit:

Don't bother with a 318is. The motors are agonizingly slow even with boost they only see max of 300 whp with a very very very ideal setup and high boost. 325/525 can see upwards of 600hp+ on stock blocks. Also, iX cars only happen in E30 (M20 motors, SOHC, up to 1990) and E46 (2000+) cars. The IX drivetrain can't handle even 10% more power before they break. Not ideal at all.

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

i sent u an email urinemachine

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

I got it - will reply in the morning

Re: turbo 3 series bmw
 

I used to have an E30, for turbo set-ups most people get little adapters that bolt on to the headers and then up to the turbo. For engine manegement you can get either FMU, or a piggyback. Chip editing is not too popular, but possible, the software is called Motronic Code, it is not fully developed though (yet).
Injectors you can use from a for Thunderbird (supercharged), most of the piping will have to be custom though.
Good luck, boosted BMW I6 is nasty. Those E36 M3 (S50 engine I think) can handle around 600whp on stock internals.