What's up guys? I can't believe I've been on this forum for such a long time and I'm still lurking the FI pages after so many years. Well, the time has come for me to build another Turbo M3. Many, many, many years ago I had a T2 TSI turbo'd M3 , that was short lived and moved on to build a top mount GT35R M3. Since those days, I moved onto different BMW's and found my way back to a little old gem 95 M3 that I bought last year. I swapped in a S52 a few months ago and started collecting many turbo parts. I also have a 335d which has been a great car.
On to my build:
Borg Warner S366 ($550)
RSI Top Mount Manifold ($550)
TiAL 44 mm WG ($175)
TiAl 50mm BOV (already had)
Siemen Deka 80lb Injectors ($260)
Walbro 450 LPFP (already had)
TR 1245 IC ($650)
CES Cutring Gasket ($180)
ARP Studs ($175)
Custom 3.5" Exhaust ($500)
AA Catback Muffler (already had)
Vader Solution Turbo Snout ($115)
3.5" Downpipe and intercooler pipe w/powdercoat ($900)
22RPD Tune ($900)
Innovate LC1 AFR ($125)
Stage 3 FX Clutch ($400)
Miscellaneous fittings ($100)
My total build cost so far has been about $5000, I used some parts from my old 700 whp 335i that ended up being totaled .
There are a few things I have questions on as the last E36 M3 I decided to Turbo was back in 2007 . I've searched a few threads about the TR1245 Intercooler and I'm wondering if anyone has pictures of where they mounted and what they trimmed to make it fit. The plan is to run AC and bend the AC lines a bit to make it fit since I live in AZ. I have easy access to E85 so I'm not lowering the compression and just running the cutring gasket with ARP Studs. I'm hoping I can hit about 500-550whp safely without bending any rods .
Here are some pics of my past M3's as well as my current 95 Cosmos M3. I'll add more pics as I continue this is somewhat of a slow process.
A couple of updates on the build, I had a few hiccups along the way, one of the biggest PITA was the oil drain line. I bought a line from boost monkey and it was too short. I ended up running a scavenge pump because there was just no way. I even bought a cummins diesel ss line and that was still too short. The orientation of the RSI manifold along with the TiAL WG made it impossible to route appropriately. I just gave up and ended up buying a scavenge pump. Another thing about fitting the downpipe with this turbo is ensuring you take a mallet and massage the shock tower a bit. It takes time but is necessary with the manifold and BW turbo.
If you source a Walbro LPFP please ensure you buy new fuel hose lines as the stock ones are just not good enough. Those are just some of the biggest issues I ran into, other than fab shops taking longer than expected.
Last edited by Darth Maul; 09-27-2018 at 06:44 PM.
1997 BMW ///M3 - Estoril Sedan 5MT - M-Rain Interior (1 of 1)
2001 BMW ///M3 - Laguna Seca Blue 6MT
YouTube: (///Motorsport Throttle) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUM...pYSmibzy5YmUvQ
WHY would you want to convert to OBD1? Its 2018, not 2008.
Where you getting your e85? I thought they resrticted it in AZ to e64 or something like that.
It was already obd1, it’s a 95. If you’re asking why I didn’t convert it to obd2, financial cost. Plus, there are several obd1 guys doing just fine on stock dme tuning.
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There’s a gas station on Val vista and Broadway in Mesa that has consistently had E85 and the owner has said he is going to continue because he gets a lot of business from car guys looking for corn.
[QUOTE=There’s a gas station on Val vista and Broadway in Mesa that has consistently had E85 and the owner has said he is going to continue because he gets a lot of business from car guys looking for corn.[/QUOTE]
Cool, know of anything in N.Phx?
She's built like a steakhouse but handles like a bistro
The ones in Phoenix that I know of are E54 unfortunately.
Not bad really. That should be 100 octane.
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how are all of you fitting downpipes down the firewall, there's very little room back here?
1997 BMW ///M3 - Estoril Sedan 5MT - M-Rain Interior (1 of 1)
2001 BMW ///M3 - Laguna Seca Blue 6MT
YouTube: (///Motorsport Throttle) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUM...pYSmibzy5YmUvQ
Fitment is going to be tight you may have to cut or bang some stuff. You can go to 3" on the downpipe and go larger after that and won't make too much differnce, but for this power i would stick with 3" all the way and it may help control boost creep.
M3 is getting towed to the fabrication shop for the downpipe, dump tube, and charge pipe
1997 BMW ///M3 - Estoril Sedan 5MT - M-Rain Interior (1 of 1)
2001 BMW ///M3 - Laguna Seca Blue 6MT
YouTube: (///Motorsport Throttle) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUM...pYSmibzy5YmUvQ
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It's been a long month, and I'm waiting anxiously to get my car back from them. I think I should get it back this weekend. Everything was mocked up and fit well, I'll add more pics to my next post. I haven't updated this thread in a bit but working on that now.
1997 BMW ///M3 - Estoril Sedan 5MT - M-Rain Interior (1 of 1)
2001 BMW ///M3 - Laguna Seca Blue 6MT
YouTube: (///Motorsport Throttle) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUM...pYSmibzy5YmUvQ
Moar pix! Also added one of my Twin Turbo Diesel BMW!
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1997 BMW ///M3 - Estoril Sedan 5MT - M-Rain Interior (1 of 1)
2001 BMW ///M3 - Laguna Seca Blue 6MT
YouTube: (///Motorsport Throttle) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUM...pYSmibzy5YmUvQ
Decided to powdercoat the housing to give it a different look
1997 BMW ///M3 - Estoril Sedan 5MT - M-Rain Interior (1 of 1)
2001 BMW ///M3 - Laguna Seca Blue 6MT
YouTube: (///Motorsport Throttle) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUM...pYSmibzy5YmUvQ
Almost ready to come home
1997 BMW ///M3 - Estoril Sedan 5MT - M-Rain Interior (1 of 1)
2001 BMW ///M3 - Laguna Seca Blue 6MT
YouTube: (///Motorsport Throttle) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUM...pYSmibzy5YmUvQ
Dude... those stainless welds on the charge pipe. That is absolutely cooked beyond belief... I can only imagine what the inside looks like with the sugaring that likely happened...
Yea, or why you'd really use stainless on charge pipes unless you're just some stainless welding beast with a nice backpurge setup and want to do it for looks. Aluminum is easier to weld (no backpurge), lighter, and not as sensitive to technique like the SS where you have to keep your heat input very low (which actually means moderately high amps and motoring out with a fast travel speed).
I always do stainless on charge pipes. Stainless welds like butter unless your a moron and it doesn’t get all scratched and dented up like aluminum does. You do need a seperate regulator to back purge but it does not take any special skill or technique. A regulator, hose, aluminum foil, and #8 gas lens and your good to go. If your burning stainless, your also burning mild steel, you just didn’t know it.
whoever welded that though was obviously a double amputee using their feet so cudos to them.
The low thermal conductivity of stainless makes it a little less forgiving than mild steel IMO. Mild steel is ~4x more thermally conductive than stainless, so you can be just a tad slow on mild but still be ok, but it'll go nasty grey on stainless.
I agree whoever did those charge pipes likely couldn't TIG anything without turning it into dog poo.
I don't have anything against properly done stainless charge pipes though I do prefer aluminum. I actually would like to build an aluminum exhaust for my car next time
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Alright, the car is running pretty good and breaking the clutch in at the moment. Only about 100 miles before I go full WOT all the time haha. Added a new VS Turbo Snout and got my bumper back on
1997 BMW ///M3 - Estoril Sedan 5MT - M-Rain Interior (1 of 1)
2001 BMW ///M3 - Laguna Seca Blue 6MT
YouTube: (///Motorsport Throttle) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUM...pYSmibzy5YmUvQ
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