Steven's 733i Turbo build thread

[StevenHenriksen]

Nice work, you've been making a lot of progress. Thanks for posting the info about that eBay radiator, that is good to know for future use. The new driveshaft looks great, I will probably end up getting one like that made eventually.

[BONDOSPECIAL]

I have a 3.07 ratio, limited slip 210mm (large case) differential from a previous e23 that I decided to use in the 733 (which has I think a 3.46 open medium case diff in it). I had previously replaced the axle oil seals in the 210mm diff but one side was leaking and I could see I had driven the seals in too far, exposing what was supposed to be an internal oil drain in one of the carrier bearing caps to the outside. I replaced the seals again, paying attention to the depth of the oil drain holes this time.



The medium case diff removed



The 210mm diff going in. This is the first time I got to use my under-hoist transmission jack and it came in handy. The 210mm diff is not light.



210mm limited slip diff installed. I also installed the new custom built drive shaft





I snapped a picture before I headed out to drop the car off for exhaust work today. I finally own a truck where towing isn't sketchy. The 1990s vintage rusty Uhaul rental trailer was a different story. The hydraulic brakes didn't work.

[BONDOSPECIAL]

Update, I got the bill for the all-new 2 piece 1985 735i manual 265/6 driveshaft today and I was charged $417. The original quote was for $557. The part # on the invoice is correct so I'm not sure why I got such a big discount, but I'm not complaining. The new driveshaft is part # 2792-764N. I ordered it through Gregory's Driveshaft of VA Beach. They sourced it from Powertrain Industries who also has a branch in VA beach.

[BONDOSPECIAL]

The exhaust shop started work on my down pipe today and he is going to build out the whole exhaust system so it will be done by tomorrow evening. Here are a couple pictures he sent me. Everything is 300 series stainless and it's all being tig welded. This rusty car does not really warrant such nice work.

[bigperm206]

Looking awesome

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[motohunter4]

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[8991XJ]

That 02 sensor is much closer to the head than any other period BMW, more like they do it today, which has to be good.

[BONDOSPECIAL]

I am going to pick the car up from the exhaust shop today, here are the last pics he sent me

[BONDOSPECIAL]

I borrowed a friend's car trailer to get my car back from the exhaust shop. The Uhaul rental trailer I used to get the car out to the shop had nonfunctional brakes and I wasn't going through that again. The Uhaul dealer near me has the worst condition trailers I've dealt with.

My friend's trailer had been sitting for so long it had a tree growing in the wood decking. I bleached and pressure washed everything and then sourced 2x8x16 ft pressure treated boards to replace the rotten outer boards.

An 8' bed was not quite long enough for these



The trailer in a state I was sure I wouldn't fall through it



Traffic through northern VA is always terrible, a 120 mile trip took 3.5 hours




I got the car back and was back on the road



Parking the little rig in the big rig section amused me



I ended the night by smacking the catalytic converter against the edge of the trailer while unloading. This is a metal matrix cat (not a ceramic monolith) so I don't think the impact hurt it. I will drop the V band to check it out later. I am so mad at myself that I spent so much on this exhaust and it turned out so nicely and then I was too impatient to wait until it was daylight and not raining to unload the car.





I guess I gave it a little extra clearance. You can see where I scraped the floor pan too. The exhaust is tucked up so tightly it barely hangs below the floor pans, but I still found a way to hit it.

[BONDOSPECIAL]

Video of the car running w/ the new exhaust. It's quiet, which is what I wanted. This is still running on a wild guess MSPNP tune, it's not dyno tuned yet.

https://youtu.be/1_940qjHXww

[DevInAz]

Video of the car running w/ the new exhaust. It's quiet, which is what I wanted. This is still running on a wild guess MSPNP tune, it's not dyno tuned yet.

https://youtu.be/1_940qjHXww

Great work! Your car is coming along nicely, I love it. Seeing your car running makes me want to get my ass in gear.

[yert315]

Your car sounds nearly identical to mine! I’ll have to mimic your setup when I replace my system. Well done

[BONDOSPECIAL]

Jury's out as to whether you should copy anything I did here! I have been at a standstill since August finishing this car, it still needs the DME harness extended into the engine bay and the intercooler heat exchanger plumbed and wired. I have been unmotivated to work on it lately.

[gixxerboy]

Looking great!
Sorry to hear about the oil pan. I have 2 or 3 and would've taken care of ya.
Good to know on the radiator! Looks like it will work with an auto trans which is a plus.
Any data logs to see IAT under boost?

[BONDOSPECIAL]

The car hasn’t been dyno tuned yet so I haven’t driven it out of the neighborhood. The rough tune on it isn’t close enough to run it hard under boost, just enough to drive it gently. I am moving this month so I moved the car to a storage facility. Here are a couple photos I took as I was headed out. I finally put the euro front bumper on. It isn't painted to match the car yet, although I did buy paint, but haven't gotten around to using it.

[BONDOSPECIAL]

I sold the turbo 733i project on Saturday to a friend who is a BMW tech and who has a purpose built turbo M30 powered E28 race car. He used to work with Peter Florance of PF Tuning, who dyno tunes a lot of turbo BMW builds, and who my friend will probably collaborate with to tune my old car. My friend has already started rewiring the functional but ugly wiring job I did installing the Megasquirt.

I decided to buy a 1960's ranch home on a lot of land in Connecticut and it is going to need renovation, so I decided to focus on that and not car projects for the time being. I figured it was better to have someone capable complete my car than have it sit around for a while getting nothing done to it. I will let everyone know what the dyno results are once my friend gets it dyno'd. He thinks the old Cartech intercooler is going to be a huge bottleneck for power and that it will limit the car to 300-350 rear wheel HP before heat soak becomes a major problem. He has tuned M30 turbo builds that were water to air before.

[gixxerboy]

Sad to see it go, but good to see it go to capable hands that can carry the torch. All the work you put into this is beyond commendable & I tip my hat to you.

[espoe]

Hate to see it go as well but congrats on the new house. Having moved more time than I would like I know any house comes with a project list. You said this one needs renovation and just going by the way you approach things, I am sure your time will be more than spoken for. Are you going to be posting that work up someplace? It would be fun to follow.

Anyway best wishes on the new home and please stay involved on the board, your knowledge and participation is appreciated.

[DevInAz]

Good luck with everything!

[BONDOSPECIAL]

Thanks guys. I am not planning on posting a house build thread, Eddie. It won't be anything anyone hasn't done before. I am going to have over 6 mow-able acres of land, so you will more likely find me on a farm tractor message board.

My friend is waiting on my move to get the rest of the parts he needs to get the 733 dyno ready. I moved in four 16' shipping containers and my closing was held up by Covid related delays. All that stuff is still in storage until July 1 - I was supposed to move in by now based on the initial timeline. My friend only got the car and limited parts from me, all the spares are in my containers.

[TheCoffin901]

Hey Steve, My name is Mackenzie and I live on the East Coast of Canada, I recently acquired a 1983 733i and started working on it yesterday. I have a couple of questions about the car though, if you are able to contact me that would be great! My email is Mackenziepetercoffin@gmail.com! Thanks!

[BONDOSPECIAL]

There isn't anything I could tell you about these cars that Eric (Hitman) and others on this board couldn't tell you more about. I am good at starting and not finishing projects, but I would not consider myself an encyclopedia about these cars. I would start your own thread with any questions you have and you will get capable help on here.

[BONDOSPECIAL]

Well, I bought this car back yesterday. My friend whom I sold the car to last year has since re-wired the Motronic 1.3 / Megasquirt PNP swap from scratch so the DIY Autotune DME is in the cabin in the stock location, finished plumbing the intercooler heat exchanger and set up its cooling fan, and tuned the car. The car is running at around 15 psi right now and it rips pretty good. I was not really looking to buy this car back but now I at least get to enjoy the work I did.

I also own an e38 750iL that I recently bought and did head gaskets on. I'm becoming a 7 series collector it seems.









A few pics of the e38

[BeLiQ]

Funny! I haven't kept up with your thread, so I just read the "latest" update which was you showing it hauled away. And then i noticed that date was early 2020. To only scroll down back to see it rebought. Well done. Looking forward to more of your work

[BONDOSPECIAL]

Thanks. Here is a short late night test drive video. This is the first time I've driven the car since my friend finished my build. The video isn't much to look at but you can hear cool turbo sounds. The car delivers all its power in one lump when the turbo kicks in, which makes it amusing to drive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_THSwdlb7o