Turbo BMW E30 Build

Hey guys, just thought I'd bring my build thread over here since TW is my home.

I bought this super clean 1987 325es a few months ago and decided the stock 2.7L inline 6 was a pig, so the parts grabbing began.

Parts list
M20b27
Bimmerheads head with welded coolant jackets
280/274 dual pattern cam
Oring'd block
Good n tight turbo manifold
38mm turbosmart waste gate with 7lb Spring
50mm tial q BOV
eBay intercooler
3" turbo back exhaust will be custom
60lb injectors
Mega squirt 2
Innovate lc1 wideband
Crank scrapers crank scraper
Condor motor mounts
E21 trans mounts
TD06SL2-20G from Kinugawa






Painted the spoiler black. It was body color which looked terrible.







I bought this 1988 SETA motor from a local doing an LS swap for $200. The SETA is a rare combo that had the big 2.7l bottom end and the good 2.5i head. The plan is new bearings, seals, rings, oring'd block with stainless wire, elring Head gasket, bimmerheads head with welded coolant jackets,280/274 dual pattern regrind cam, I intake manifold, 60lb injectors and kinugawa TD06SL2-20G on a goodntight manifold.
I don't have any pics of it all together but anyway...
Head off:

Head was trash



Valve ding on piston number 1

Anyway I got the motor torn down

Looking good!

Why bmw? Why? Slotted screws have no place in this world.


Block ready for the machine shop

Cleaning the Pistons was an incredible amount of work. I drove out the wrist pins and soaked the Pistons overnight in some Autozone chem dip stuff, then used a piece of old ring to clean the carbon out.



Took care of that valve ding



While waiting on the machine shop I got the intercooler installed


And wired up the wasted spark gm module

Then this baby showed up. Awwwww yeeaaahhh!!!

Finally got the block back

Fresh hone and he also cut the oring grooves with the boring bar. They're beautiful.



Mains were a bit on the loose side but in spec...




And that's where I'm at now. Waiting on a piston ring compressor to wrap up the rotating assembly. Also waiting on the head and crank scraper.
Stay tuned.

 

Got the rotating assembly all wrapped up. All the bearings measured .0018"ish.
Ring compressor was a PITA but it works.




Now the waiting game. Head should hopefully get here within a couple weeks.

 

So I just got this in the mail.



Also just ordered a MSPNP from kamotors that'll be pre wired for wasted spark and have a tune that should get the car started.

 

small victory today, got the stainless wire laid in the block, what a PITA that was.



Also got some artsy fartsy pics off my DSLR









Also picked up my long time dream tool, a TIG welder. So excited to put it to use on the exhaust and intercooler piping.

 

Ok that's where I'm at today. Still waiting on the crank scraper and head. Once those come in things will move fast. I'm hoping to have the motor swapped into the car and running well before spring time. I'm planning on about 15psi which should yield about 350whp.

 

nice progress

 

Small progress today, still waiting on the head so I can't do any of the fun stuff yet.
Anyway I practiced a whole bunch of aluminum tig trying to get myself up to a level where I can weld up my intercooler piping. After a bunch of frustration I think I'm getting the hang of it. It's not pretty but it'll work.
Some of my practice:


First actual pipe that's going on the car

I don't have a bead roller for the end so I improvised by laying a hideous weld down instead


Also got the freeze plugs installed. I used "the right stuff" to seal them.


And got my turbo oil feed/oil pressure gauge stuff figured out.
It's an M12x1.5 to -4an converter attached to a special fitting made to install a fuel pressure gauge but it so happens to be perfect for this. It's got -4an connections on each side with a hole tapped to 1/8npt in the side.


That's it for now. Head should be here this week so the fun should begin shortly.

 

You pick up a gto yet Ben?

 

Haha no I knew you had that beast. Just figured you'd be itching for four more cylinders by now.

 

Just doing small things while I wait for the head.

Tried torquing the crank bolt but my weaksauce tool only held 220 ftlb so I'll have to beef it up.



And got the fuel rail/deka 60lb injectors all in.


I need to do some research on Fuel pressure regulators to see if I can run the seta unit. Also planning on drilling and tapping that intake manifold plate where the fpr vacuum source is so I can provide vacuum sources for the MS, waste gate, and BOV.

I know lame update, much more to come next weekend once I get the head.

 

Well I finally go back from my business trip today and came home to a big box!



Welded jackets


So I got to work cleaning the faces of the block and head, sprayed the gasket with some copper spray and torqued it down to 70ftlbs in 3 even steps per the arp instructions.







Then I started putting the little things on







Ended up here at the end of the day



I still need to torque that crank bolt the remaining 70ftlbs and get started on oil and water lines for the turbo. It's getting close though!

Oh I also got a new mishimoti e36 radiator and a kamotors mspnp to give me a good starting point on the tune.

 

You got mad skills! Impressive - European rally monster.

 

You sir really get excited for some wiring.

 

Thanks man. I actually have no idea what I'm doing, this thing will most likely explode which should be exciting.

Haha I got the same comment on the e30 forum. It was some random rtv stuff I found at work.

Never gets old

 

Got the crank bolt torqued down today, I thought my harbor freight engine stand was going to fold in half. I ended up jamming a piece of 2x4 wrapped in a clean rag between the block and a counter weight. I used some aluminum plate to disperse the load so as not to split the wood. It worked great!



Gouged it up pretty good



My torque wrench maxes at 250ftlb so I resorted to the body weight times distance method and used my cheater bar.



And some more cooling system stuff on.



Ended up here at the end of the day. The distributor cap is temporary until I can find a plate to replace it. For those of you that don't know I'm converting to wasted spark ignition so I no longer need the distributor at all.




I also checked the valve clearance just for the heck of it and they were ridiculously tight after torquing the head down. Bimmerheads ships their heads at .01" clearance and they were at about .04 after torquing. Is that normal? I reset them to .01" and called it good.

 

Went hard in this car this week. Pulled the tired old motor out and separated the trans from the old engine.











Then started getting the e36 rack swapped in, the column u joints are being a pain.



And finally got the bottom end all wrapped up. First was the crank scraper, it required some clearancing as it was hitting the crank and oil pump.



Sealed it to the block with gasket maker and let that set up before bolting the pan up.



Pan on

 

It's all fun and games until it immediately explodes upon first startup lol.

 

Made some progress this weekend so far.

Got the flywheel, clutch, and transmission installed on the engine.



And welded up the subframe reinforcements.



Finally got the motor dropped in its final resting place (until inevitable blowing up of course). It was a bit of a pain getting everything lined up but we finally got it.





That's how she sits now. Now I need to run through and hook everything back up. Then it's exhaust and charge pipe time. It's so close I can taste it!

 

Well I got the downpipe fab'd up today including a nice flex pipe. All 3". I still need to add the bottom v band and an O2 sensor bung.







Not sure about this fusion weld on a down pipe, I might go back over it with some filler.