E34 540i/6 Turbo Build

[absolutezero273]

Soon, might end up changing up a few things for this build.
I'm hoping to resume work on this project soon.

Yes. Looking forward to how things are progressing for you.

[DUDMD]

Well, now that winter is here, I've decided to roll the car up on my 4 post lift here in the shop and not take it off until it's done. Hoping to have it running by new years, tons of parts are being changed and some of my original plan has changed as well.
My DTA S80 is for sale ($900 if anyone wants it), which is getting replaced by the MaxxECU

Anyways, here's pictures of new updates:

Harness removed, intake manifold removed for PCV delete and new gaskets. Not pictured, but valve cover gaskets and timing cover gaskets are also being replace and cleaner, valve covers we just painted today with wrinkle black finish.





Bank 2 to Bank 1 crossover pipe has finally been finished. I used a flex pipe to compensate for flex and temperature differences, connected the manifold to crossover pipe with a small v-band.



Front side view of the cross over pipe



Bottom view of the cross over pipe, runs along the steering linkage. It will be wrapped with exhaust wrap to keep heat away from ball joints/bushings. The sway bar bracket will get some love too after the turbo build is done, car will get a new suspension overhaul.


Added EGT bung to the manifold and crossover pipe, starter on the wastegate addition to the manifold.



Both gates tacked on, space here is very tight for these huge tial 44mm. Would love to buy the new 38mm mvs gates, but dont want to wait longer and these still fit in the A/C compressor space.



Turbo manifold is completely done, other than a brace I will still add to help it support the big heavy turbo.



Manifold picture with the cross over pipe.



Modified the factory traction elbow. Removed the entire throttle plate and guts from it, cut off all brackets and unnecessary casting.
Welded on a 1" barb bung and used 90 degree silicone hose to plumb to the ICV.
Welded on the Tial Q 50mm BOV right onto it as well.



New ecu has arrived from Steve Nichols (Dyno Dynamics owner and my technical support guy for my dyno, that also uses and resells these unit)
Everything I wanted is built right into this bad boy. Lambda closed loop, traction control, boost by gear/speed, egt support, and bluetooth output to any android device for all gauge and switches. No need to install real switches or gauges, all digital on to a tablet I'll mount to the dash.
Software interface is nice and very easy to use. I will be reusing my factory coil packs, just have to wire up 2 of 4 channel ignition modules, used by 4 cyl audi, part number: 138055 That is all that is needed to use the factory coil packs with pretty much any standalone.

Unit is very small and compact, should fit into the factory ebox no problem, which DTA would not, and I didn't want to run the DTA from inside the globebox.


- - - Updated - - -

Good stopping point for this weekend.
Injectors are in, turbo manifold 100% done with a reinforcement bracket, waste gates installed and dump tubes are done.

Next week need to install radiator, turbo lines and start on the charge pipe. Maybe standalone wiring if time permits



Even after sitting for over 3 years, engine is still spotless. The same engine I had oil pump gear come off the oil pump a long time ago, where it stalled due to lack of oil pressure. All cam lobes look perfect still, and I drove 10k miles after the oil pump gear came off the oil pump.


Valve covers painted in wrinkle black finish, my favorite valve cover finish.


Added a 3/8" metal rod, to help support the turbo a bit.


Welded it to to Cyl 1 head flange.


Rear PCV delete plate is finally installed and fittings are installed.
1. Extra port capped. 2&3 - 1/4" Quick release for BOV and one for extra boost source for the dyno. 4. Barb output to FPR 5. Quick connect output to map sensor for MaxxECU


Bosch EV14 1000cc Injectors installed. Factory retaining clips wont work with these injectors, but the perfect height is the key. They can't go anywhere.


Dump tube weld, best weld of the day. I rarely ever TIG weld anything, so I'd say not bad after years of not tig welding anything.


Bottom shot of the dump tubes.


Front view of the dump tube. (My other beast in the background, 05 SL65 AMG - doing a single turbo conversion with a Precision 7675 after this 540i6 turbo build is done)


Bottom wastegate clearance to upper oil pan, it's tight, but clears.


Top wastegate clearance to AC bracket, tight but clears as well.


Top view of the front ends of the manifold with both gates and dump tubes.


Stopping point for the day. Starting to look like an engine again.

[dburt86]

Looks great man. Any reason you cant ditch the AC bracket? Ive done enough m62 stuff where i should know but i cant remember if it does something else.

[DUDMD]

It's part of the engine mount bracket. I might hack off the unnecessary parts of it that stick out, but if everything clears, I'll just leave it alone for now. Maybe if I pop this motor, I'll clean it up with the engine out of the car.

[Def]

Looks like your front covers are starting to leak - very common on M62 (or any BMW V8 for that matter). I'd probably replace the gaskets while you've got the front end accessible.

[DUDMD]

Looks like your front covers are starting to leak - very common on M62 (or any BMW V8 for that matter). I'd probably replace the gaskets while you've got the front end accessible.

Just did the timing cover gaskets and valve covers

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[dburt86]

Any reason your not using the stock DME? I know the m62 DME's are right up your wheelhouse

Beleive me, im not trying to talk you out of standalone, not by any means.lol.

[someguy2800]

Cool project. Its suprizing to me the V8 cars don't get any attention. I have always wanted to sleeve an M62 and try to get it up in the 1000-1200 whp range.

[DUDMD]

Any reason your not using the stock DME? I know the m62 DME's are right up your wheelhouse

Beleive me, im not trying to talk you out of standalone, not by any means.lol.

This is a 95, so it's an obd1 m60. Factory DME is very limited on what maps I can find to tune for boost. Standalone just going to be so much easier, built in map/boost/traction/lambda control and tons of safety features. Easy datalogging and easy to tune.
Not worth the headache of tuning with factory DME.

If it were OBD2 M62 DME, I'd have a lot more flexibility in tuning it, as I have access to all maps/adjustments on that factory DME, but still limited to the MAF and no safety features/boost and crappy dataloggnig.

- - - Updated - - -

Cool project. Its suprizing to me the V8 cars don't get any attention. I have always wanted to sleeve an M62 and try to get it up in the 1000-1200 whp range.

Maybe one day, but I have other toys I'd rather spend that money on than sleeving this car.

I have an SL65 AMG I want to push close to 1000hp on with stock internals, just a single turbo conversion and a built transmission.

[Def]

Cool project. Its suprizing to me the V8 cars don't get any attention. I have always wanted to sleeve an M62 and try to get it up in the 1000-1200 whp range.

They're absolute maintenance hogs in stock form. Add an aftermarket turbo kit and you're talking about a lot of TLC to keep it going in decent shape. Not many DIYers would be up for that task.

This is a cool build tho' - good you got all the gaskets out of the way - it was probably just some residual leakage I was seeing from before the job. I'm guessing you've also gone over the timing guides?

[DUDMD]

They're absolute maintenance hogs in stock form. Add an aftermarket turbo kit and you're talking about a lot of TLC to keep it going in decent shape. Not many DIYers would be up for that task.

This is a cool build tho' - good you got all the gaskets out of the way - it was probably just some residual leakage I was seeing from before the job. I'm guessing you've also gone over the timing guides?

M62 is not bad for maintenance wise if you do everything right away in one go. A lot of people just fix it one part at a time.

This is an m60 engine, double chains and no U-guide. It does not suffer the timing chain guide failure like the newer M62 engine.

[White94RX]

That's good to know! I was counting the days until the chains/guides on my mother's 95 540i/6 with 230k miles were going to finally bite the dust. I just figured her car was a unicorn and would last forever. Maybe it is! Hellrot, '95 model, 6 speed, sport package and seats, etc.

[DUDMD]

Spent a few hours today taking apart the DME connector. Going to install/wire the standalone tomorrow hopefully.
Should easily fit in the ebox, hence I didn't want to make an adapter to convert from stock 88pin connector to standalone, as that would take up a lot of room.
So I decided to just hardwired it straight into the original harness. Also gives me a time to clean up the harness a little and remove most of the unnecessary wires. Some I'll keep in there and repurpose those wires for other functions.

[DUDMD]

Wired up the injector wires directly, ignition modules and coil pack wires to Bosch 4 pin and 5 pin connectors. Used a new crimper I bought and installed new pins/connectorfor ignition modules, actually fairly easy and fun crimping those pins.

[Kenny1958]

I'm watching this thread with interest and may use the max ecu for my supercharged installation.

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[DUDMD]

Finished wiring up the maxxecu today, minus extra options for boost solenoid and traction control, ill do those later

Very few unnecessary wires left in the original harness, just need to clean them up and tuck them out of the way, just in case I need to reuse some them later.

Had to rewire the main relay a bit (flip the activation wire from ground to 12v on from ignition terminal 15), and used an oem fuse holder from a spare Bmw engine harness to protect the ecu with a 15amp fuse.

Maxxecu sent me a basemap from a turbo m60 Volvo on e85, so I had to change a few settings around to get the tach to properly work, select my injectors and set the timing map for pump gas.

Harness pretty much completed.


Unnecessary wires remaining


Removed a no longer functioning knock sensor connector and replaced it with an ev1 injector connector. Tapped it into injector #1. Makes it super easy to connect my Dyno into it for a perfect reliable RPM source.


First time connecting, asked for a firmware update automatically. I guess wiring went well since it powered up no problem.


Tablet successfully connected and gauges/diagnostics work perfect. This is just a simple quick gauge setup. Will customize for my preference later

[dburt86]

Nice progress!!! That's great stuff man

[philly98540]

Such a cool and not typical build here. Nice work. In for updates.

[DUDMD]

Such a cool and not typical build here. Nice work. In for updates.

Thanks, typical is not my style.
I'll have updates almost daily, as I want to get it as close to done by new years as possible. Only thing slowing me down a bit is the freezing temps.

[DUDMD]

Minor updates today.

Finally got the exhaust housing loose off the center cartridge, soaking in pb blaster helped for a few days. I can now clock the center oil cartridge into proper position.

My 518i radiator mount arrived from Latvia. No one states side could get it, but I needed it to be able to use the e36 m3 radiator as a bolt on. Just need to modify the lower radiator hose to make up for the shorter distance

My P2M aluminum coupler clamps also showed up. No more need for t-bolts, no long stud sticking out, and they're in my choice of color.











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[DUDMD]

Mounted the intercooler by welding in brackets.

Notched one corner for better clearance. Cut off the outlet and welded on a 90* elbow. Did not want to run more than one 90* coupler per connection.

Also welded the 3" vband outlet to my exhaust housing.

[adeaie]

Nice plan and build so far!

[DUDMD]

Very small update:
Received the radiator hose coupler, to connect my lower radiator halves together. Since no other hose I can buy will easily fit, I removed a few inches from the center of the straight section of my original lower radiator hose.
This is a 35mm Pegasus Pro Design hose joiner. Should seal up really and not have the hose pop off. Looks awesome, too bad it will never be visible again.

[DUDMD]

Almost ready for a first start up.
Just need to tidy up a few things, install the power steering pump and radiator back in.

Ran the oil lines today, mounted the turbo for it's final time, shouldn't have to come off again unless there's an issue with it.
Built the downpipe as well, ran my best weld ever actually while building it.
Might also have to remove the turbonetics oil filter from the turbo, since the oil feed line sits kinda high, might not clear the hood. Removing this filter will drop the oil feed line down enough to be same height as the compressor cover or lower.


Used my 7/8" holesaw I bought to drill for o2 bungs, and it was the perfect size for the 10an bulkhead fitting.



Bulkhead installed through the upper oil pan, hoping it doesn't leak. If it does, I'll ditch it and weld one on instead.


M12x1.5 oil press sender spacer with a 1/8" NPT outlet for the oil feed line.


4an feed line
10an drain line


Routing of the oil lines to and from the turbo.


One last shot of the manifold from underneath, before mounting the downpipe/crossover pipe.


Downpipe and turbo blanket


Downpipe routing and o2 sensor location. 3" is about the max that would safely fit between valvecover/head and the fram rail. Leaves just enough room there to use exhaust wrap to keep the heat down around wires/hoses/gaskets in that area.


Turned out to be the best weld bead I ever put down


A little bit of gold heat protection, so many contours that wrinkle free is practically impossible.


Final shot for now, will be ready to test start it soon.

[Kenny1958]

Great progress looking forward to seeing how this runs with the new ecu.