Build thread - taking the road less traveled by

[Greenday694]

My G Plus all aluminum radiator from eBay has been holding up great. Just a cheap option

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[NOTORIOUS VR]

Love my China/no name 3-row Z3M rad... zero issues even with a motor pumping compression past the HG into the cooling system and rock hard coolant lines.

[mechanicalzen]

I looked at the chinese ones, but Koyos are fairly cheap now too... about $50 more.

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[NOTORIOUS VR]

I looked at the chinese ones, but Koyos are fairly cheap now too... about $50 more.

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Koyo doesn't seem to make a 3-row unit (Z3M) Not saying you need it... however even just an E36 Koyo is about $250 USD... I got my 3 row for $110 USD. YYMV of course and there IS a risk with off-brand failing and you have no support really for it.

[mechanicalzen]

Koyo doesn't seem to make a 3-row unit (Z3M) Not saying you need it... however even just an E36 Koyo is about $250 USD... I got my 3 row for $110 USD. YYMV of course and there IS a risk with off-brand failing and you have no support really for it.

It's a high quality piece, good cooling efficiency. My average summer temp is about 75 here, and my hood is now vented, so I don't foresee any issues, except maybe having to take a cool down lap in the middle of a track session.

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[mechanicalzen]

It's all starting to come together now! New radiator is installed and doing its job. One of the MAF sensors I bought was flaky, but the other one is working well in blow through configuration in the stock housing with a 1K resistor. The idle is streetable at 900 rpm with a few tweaks, I found that the 60 lb injectors are not linear enough below 1.5 milliseconds to go any lower.

I got the fuel table 90% tuned this afternoon, the new belt is delivering between 10-11 psi max. Now I need to add in some timing where I can, and there should be 400+ ft-lbs on tap over a broad rpm range.

[M3poseur]

Awesome! I am glad everything works out. Thanks for the update.

[mechanicalzen]

I took an action cam video, just a quick onramp pull. Unfortunately, you can't hear the blower whine over the exhaust and wind noise from this position. I may have a boost leak, only saw 8 psi in 3rd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8kEFkMa_zw

[mechanicalzen]

Took a couple more vids, with the windows down this time. It's too bad you can't really hear the blower, I like all the little sounds it makes. Besides the whine, you can hear the bypass hissing as it's opening and closing, and the whoosh through the intake. So it goes hiss, whine, whoosh, hiss. 0-60 time was 5.8 seconds because my clutch won't launch the car properly, from a roll in third gear it will do 20-80 in 6.1 or so, which is a lot more satisfying. It makes 7.5 psi in second and 9.7 in third.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvLCSIsiOBc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmElX5kvHq0

What I need is an underhood microphone. Also, a track day so I can see how fast it gets to the top of 4th gear, which is about 130ish if I remember correctly.

[mechanicalzen]

Having some belt issues with the RPM belts - the outer edge of the belt is getting chewed up, causing some vibrations. The outermost cord has stripped off the edge of the belt. I think this belt is more sensitive to pulley alignment.

[mechanicalzen]

Well, I think I'll finish off this thread with a few pics. There are only minor issues left to work out, the car is a lot of fun, and I'm happy with it overall.

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[ardaBMW]

Having some belt issues with the RPM belts - the outer edge of the belt is getting chewed up, causing some vibrations. The outermost cord has stripped off the edge of the belt. I think this belt is more sensitive to pulley alignment.

Hey 👋🏻 glad to see another of one these kits on the road and working.

I’m having similar issues. I’m using the K060825 belt on mine. Are you guys using mechanical or hydraulic tensioner on these kits?

I went for a test drive today and the belt ripped!

[mechanicalzen]

My car has the hydraulic tensioner. I just replaced it with a new one. I would go with the Gates RPM belt for sure, otherwise it will slip and get damaged. Check pulleys for alignment, damage and wobble. Going to an 8 rib setup would be the ultimate solution, but custom pulleys are $$$.

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[ardaBMW]

Tried the rpm belt and it worked perfectly. Was able to get the car on a dyno. It made 320hp and torque at the wheels on e85 at 10psi!

[mechanicalzen]

Tried the rpm belt and it worked perfectly. Was able to get the car on a dyno. It made 320hp and torque at the wheels on e85 at 10psi!

cool, which engine do you have?

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[ardaBMW]

S50 from a 1995 m3. It’s installed in my e30. Your posts helped a lot with install. Thank you

[mechanicalzen]

I'm still chewing up belts on mine sometimes, need to space the alternator pulley with a washer, I think.

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[ardaBMW]

What I ended up doing was space the supercharger 5mm backward and it aligned perfectly.

[mechanicalzen]

so you added some washers between the blower plate and the pulley bracket? that could be an option. Although, I can see that my alt pulley is lined up behind the PS pulley by about 1 rib as it sits. It's too bad BMW made multiple revisions to the belt drive system through the model years for E36s, makes it hard to compare setups.

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[Greenday694]

so you added some washers between the blower plate and the pulley bracket? that could be an option.

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He is right. Most of them do need a 5 mm spacer between the front mounting bracket and the discharge pan to shift the supercharger back 5 mm.
Currently working on a revised version to address some of the problems that has come up out of the first batch. Including bypass valve diaphragm relocation kit.

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[mechanicalzen]

I installed spacers, pretty easy job. hopefully that solves the belt issue, getting the alt out would be a bigger pain.

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[mechanicalzen]

arda, did you lower compression? what did use for tuning?

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[ardaBMW]

so you added some washers between the blower plate and the pulley bracket? that could be an option. Although, I can see that my alt pulley is lined up behind the PS pulley by about 1 rib as it sits. It's too bad BMW made multiple revisions to the belt drive system through the model years for E36s, makes it hard to compare setups.

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He is right. Most of them do need a 5 mm spacer between the front mounting bracket and the discharge pan to shift the supercharger back 5 mm.
Currently working on a revised version to address some of the problems that has come up out of the first batch. Including bypass valve diaphragm relocation kit.

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What Greenday694 said! Also spaced the PS back 5mm like the instructions suggested.

Can that relocation kit be used on the first batch?

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I did not, just arp studs and OEM Bmw head gasket.
I’m on Megasquirt 3 pro pnp

[Greenday694]

Yes. It's very close to the brake pedal travel sensor, but it does clear and works good.
First prototype

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[Greenday694]

Recent picture of my setup

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