Tchao's E30 Turbo Build thread

[Tchao]

Hey guys, not too many turbo e30's here, thought Id stop by and share my build, plus I never formally made a build thread so here it is.

My turbo project was a long and costly process, but gained a lot of knowledge in the end.
My first setup was ghetto as f*ck, BEGI with 24lb injectors and a 524TD manifold feeding an ebay turbo.
Ran OK but was very unreliable. Then I switched to MS-1 but wanted sometime more, sold that and decided to rethink my turbo plans and f*ck all the cutting corners and listening to ghetto forum stories.

Pulled and took apart my motor to redo everything.
Took my "I" head and rebuilt it. Cleaned the head, resurfaced the head flat since it was warpped, 2 angle valve job, re-grinded the valves to spec, and reseated it. All OEM, no upgraded valvetrain.
Finished product:



Replaced the Ebay turbo with a new custom Garrett T3/T4.
Turbo specs:
.63 exhaust housing machined for a P-trim wheel
A 60-1 wheel with E cover.
Big Pimp'n compressor nut





We modified the 666 adapter for a 50mm Wastegate and relocated for better access.


For the throttle ports, we turned a plug out, and pounded it in there using some loctite.
Then milled it for a clean look.







Cleaned out the block and sent it off to get hot tanked, magnaflux, bored .5mm over, and honed for the new Mahle pistons.
Turns out I also got it O ringed. Suprize buttsech in the bill.
No moar Metric Blues, got some 10mm ARPs from VAC. Dont worry, I dont make enough power to stress them like you guys do



Fully assembled block. Hanging 10ft off the ground!




For engine management, I used an EFi Technology EURO1 EMS (Italy)
Decided to go for the "cool factor" and used RayChem and Deutch Mini connectors.

[Tchao]

Now its time for the fun part...Engine dyno!

Fabbed up a bell housing for the dyno.







Videos:
Break in process:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0USqNwxx69U[/ame]

Final pulls:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu-bj-6nHeU[/ame]



Results:

Low boost (street)

275Bhp/295ft @ 6psi -91 octane

High Boost

400Bhp/400Tq @ 1.2bar - 91 octane

(Was told its one of the best dynos...MSD was there to test out their new EMS on the new LS7)


*updates since then:
New bigger intercooler is being installed, 160* intake temps suck. I can go back to 1.2bar safely on the street again with pump gas.

Now its time for some Coilovers and R componds.



Thanks for looking
San Tchao

[Karl S]

Awesome, m20 ftw

[Tchao]

The car as of right now.

[kaliE36]

Looks great your engine ... and those figures are very high for a M20 engine ...
I suppose that is a 2.7L with a 2.5 head on it + aggressive camshaft + a lot of rev's ...

[Tchao]

Yes its the 2.7i hybrid.
Everything on the motor is OE. Brand new, but none the less OE.

With a cam it should put out much more at 1.2bar. Its no S50 though Keep in mind those are crank HP numbers, not wheel.

[DADx2]

Dude, looking great. Props to you for obviously a lot of time/money/effort in this project. Definitely subscribing to see the completion of this project, and hopefully some more videos.

Thanks,

[!RocknE30!]

Great setup with some great numbers! What shop do you dyno and tune at in AZ? The BMW FI scene isn't very big down here in the dirt southwest I've wanted to turbo my 318 for a while, but EMS and tuning was always the part I got hung up on. I would teach myself and blow shit up in the process, but that doesn't really work when you're in college and the guinea pig is your daily driver.

[Tchao]

Thanks guys for the kind words.

Unfortunately the shop isnt open to the public.
We do have a few FI BMWs roaming in the valley. One e36M running a TT kit, we have Jim, the first HPF customer, and me. Soon my friend Mazur with s50 e30 turbo along with another s50 e30 m3 turbo. Its not quite NJ yet but its moving. If you need a hand, let me know.

[jszy25]

Very cool.

Suprize buttsech in the bill.

Just out of curiousity, how much $ did the o-ringing add to the bill?

[DEV0 E30]

I was wondering when you would post a build thread.

Great setup with some great numbers! What shop do you dyno and tune at in AZ? The BMW FI scene isn't very big down here in the dirt southwest I've wanted to turbo my 318 for a while, but EMS and tuning was always the part I got hung up on. I would teach myself and blow shit up in the process, but that doesn't really work when you're in college and the guinea pig is your daily driver.

You need a ride in Tchao's car John. It's dare I say bat$hit insane fast? I like turbo e30s, but then I don't want to drive mine, it always feels bat$hit slow.

I'm sure there will be a massive number of E30s outside of my house in the future, general bs days shall recommence. No HOA!

[fritzintn]

Rad.

What are you impressions of the EFI Euro1? I'm thinking of running it next.

[Keaton]

Thanks guys for the kind words.

Unfortunately the shop isnt open to the public.
We do have a few FI BMWs roaming in the valley. One e36M running a TT kit, we have Jim, the first HPF customer, and me. Soon my friend Mazur with s50 e30 turbo along with another s50 e30 m3 turbo. Its not quite NJ yet but its moving. If you need a hand, let me know.

forgot me douche bag i'd hope by now you have your exhaust done, your car is Fing loud




















so when are we doing another head gasket

[StreuB1]

People often underestimate the power of the M20 and the flow ability of the head.

Do yourself a favor and pickup a PPF tubo cam for that baby.....

.....I benched the M20 on a superflow.....youd be amazed what she flows stock.....

cam it.......

[Tchao]

Thanks Devo!

The O-ring was not intended, I originally asked the shop "how much would it be" and never agreed to it. It ended up costing about $200+ more because the deck was wavy. No big deal though, Im actually happy they did it.

What are you impressions of the EFI Euro1? I'm thinking of running it next.

To be honest, I would not recommend it.
Its a very powerful ECU and the resolution is amazing [36x32 fuel and ign sites] with one of the best self learn [autotune] features around.
The down side is the ECU cant do 6cyl sequential, you will need to do batch fire and single coil with a dizzy. This means COP is out of the question.
Another thing is, if you dont have access to an engine dyno, tuning all 30+ sites will be a nightmare. The next best thing would be an eddy current chassis dyno to hold loads and what not and thats going to be expensive time.
In addition to those, the interface to connect laptop to EMS is outrageously expensive (couple thousand). Rumors have it EFI will release a lower cost version interface sometime in the near future, how much lower? We dont know, whatever the case it will still be very expensive compared to a normal Serial-USB adapter.
If you have the access and money, I suggust looking into the Euro4. That should be more then capable of controlling a S54 .

San

[!RocknE30!]

Thanks guys for the kind words.

Unfortunately the shop isnt open to the public.
We do have a few FI BMWs roaming in the valley. One e36M running a TT kit, we have Jim, the first HPF customer, and me. Soon my friend Mazur with s50 e30 turbo along with another s50 e30 m3 turbo. Its not quite NJ yet but its moving. If you need a hand, let me know.

That's was I thinking but I figured I'd ask just to be sure. Thanks for the offer on help, we'll see how it goes in the near future. I'm not too sure what my car situation will be once this next semester starts.

I was wondering when you would post a build thread.



You need a ride in Tchao's car John. It's dare I say bat insane fast? I like turbo e30s, but then I don't want to drive mine, it always feels bat slow.

I'm sure there will be a massive number of E30s outside of my house in the future, general bs days shall recommence. No HOA!

It's got to be stupid fast. I know there's some guy with a turbo 325 that puts like 300 something to the ground running 11's. It does not take much to make God's Chariot haul ass. Hit me up if you're having any E30 get togethers at your house. I just got an IS lip on my car (first time it's had one since I have owned it) along with some other BS that needed to be fixed this morning. I got a summer job too, some more spending money for the durty thurty. If it wasn't so gutless I'd buy some nice 16's for it Hence the need for boost.

[kaliE36]

Yes its the 2.7i hybrid.
Everything on the motor is OE. Brand new, but none the less OE.

With a cam it should put out much more at 1.2bar. Its no S50 though Keep in mind those are crank HP numbers, not wheel.

Should be a perfect built your engine ... if my calculations are accurate, your engine should have a 7.9:1 CR ...
can you give us some more details about that incredible run of 400hp@1.2 ? at what rev, how the AFR readings looks like , the spark advance
i have a good friend that also use this kind of hybrid engine (2.7l, M20B25 head, 7.9:1 CR, 7.200 revs, T60-1 + T4 exhaust 1.04 AR) , he also changed the M20 electrical wires with a M50 OBD1 system (including COP, MAF, etc) - so , the software was made by us (chip tuning)
the best run for that engine was 325HP@1bar (also flywell figures)

[Tchao]

Should be a perfect built your engine ... if my calculations are accurate, your engine should have a 7.9:1 CR ...
can you give us some more details about that incredible run of 400hp@1.2 ?

We CC'd the motor and got 8.3:1 (before decking). I dont think the 7.9 calculation floating around is correct.

We were upwards of 24 degrees advance with the low compression. To be safe we dumped it with fuel, around 11:1 most of the time. After the motor was proven to run strong, we lowered the boost to 12 for reliability sake since the intercooler was at its limits. I am currently taking care of that problem. It should be back to 1.2bar with the bigger intercooler.

Here is the printout:

Low Boost:


High Boost:

[Mr Deagle]

For the person asking about the EFI ecu's, where did you hear about them?

For my m10, I am running a Euro 4 (full sequential)

[binh]

Thats gonna be a real fun car.

Goodluck with everything.

[Shuasha]

Out of curiosity, do you have any chassis dyno #'s? It would help prove an answer to the age old "is drive train loss a static # or dynamic"".

Nice build, by the way!

[Tchao]

Unfortunately no. And from the looks of things, I will be going with a different ECU in the near future. So there again is another opportunity lost for % drivetrain lost.

Im leaning towards the AEM unit, or if I can work out a deal with a SM4 unit

[diegom6]

I guess the WB sensor it's useless right there right?

Cool pics San!

[turbo325ii]

Hey, its nice to see more pictures of the build.

[Tchao]

I guess the WB sensor it's useless right there right?

Cool pics San!

How is it useless?


Thanks for the kind words.







No too FI related but finished installing the ZHP seats.