HomemadeTurbo - DIY Turbo Forum - turbo 3 series bmw

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7808

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

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.