1994 BMW 318is M52 Swap & Turbo Build

[R.Thomas]

any idea on when it will be back? turning out awesome!

Hopefully 2-3 weeks. I have underestimated just about everything with this project so I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much.

[jszy25]

Awesome build man, just saw this now for the first time ( dont spend much time on bfc anymore ). Where on LI are you? Im in Huntington.

[R.Thomas]

Thanks for the compliments. I'm in Northport, small world!

[R.Thomas]

So nearly all of the fabrication work is complete. We went with a 3" stainless downpipe to a 3.5" stainless exhaust with a Vibrant Streetpower flat black muffler. I'm also having a straight pipe rear section made up. In addition, I decided to do a titanium charge pipe section between the throttle body and intercooler. Everything looks great and the welds are sweet. Still need to figure out the radiator fan/shroud since it was interfering with the hot side piping (I am keeping A/C and space is very limited with the compressor). In addition, there is a leak at the turbo oil return fitting on the oil pan so a first start has not yet occurred.

[M3poseur]

^^^^^^^

Nicely done! Looks amazing.

[et89]

wow! that intercooler piping is neat! quality build!

[R.Thomas]

Thanks guys! It's getting there...

[Mklock]

Nice muffler choice

[R.Thomas]

Nice muffler choice

I wasn't sure I would like it since it's all blacked out, but it actually looks great and merges well with the diffuser. Plus, Frank had one on his car and it sounded great.

[Mklock]

Yup been using the same one for years. I did add a 1320 turbo muffler this year to *tone* it down some lol. 1320 on ebay makes some good stuff cant wait too see if it lasts like the vibrant

[R.Thomas]

Well it's been a few months and things are progressing again after some drama (and delays). I ended up bringing the car to a different shop to have things finished that were beyond my skill and talent level. In particular:

> The leaking fitting on the oil pan for the turbo oil return line has been fixed.

> The motor mounts were changed to AKG units that are about 5-6 mm shorter than "stock" to correct a turbo to hood clearance issue. FYI AKG can make custom height mounts which may be helpful for others in the future.

> The Zionsville radiator fan shroud was modified to clear the charge pipe off the turbo.

Here are some progress photos.

[et89]

saw some pictures on the shops instagram, francis (E36hater's) shop i believe?
than you know you are in good hands.

car is getting together great! i'm kinda jealous

[R.Thomas]

saw some pictures on the shops instagram, francis (E36hater's) shop i believe?
than you know you are in good hands.

car is getting together great! i'm kinda jealous

Yep, it's at Frank's shop! He's been a real big help with finishing things up and is certainly knowledgeable.

[R.Thomas]

We alive.

Video to come.

[M3poseur]

Great timing, summer is just around the corner.

Speaking from experience, any critical gauge reading is best if you can mount it up high. Looking forward for the video.

[R.Thomas]

Picked up the car on Saturday. It is an absolute BLAST to drive and feels very strong. I can't stop smiling about it. The car activates all senses. Still got a few punch-list items to sort out, including a strange electrical issue where the passenger side corner light and tail light will become illuminated when the electric radiator fan goes on (the fan is controlled by the factory aux fan wiring).

Anyways, here are videos of the engine at idling and an exhaust clip with some revs! It sounds amazing in person . Also big thanks to Frank. He came up with creative and logical solutions to some issues I was having with the build. It was nice dealing with a true professional.





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Great timing, summer is just around the corner.

Speaking from experience, any critical gauge reading is best if you can mount it up high. Looking forward for the video.

I agree about the gauge location being less than ideal. Unfortunately I wanted something OEM looking. Maybe in the future I'll relocate the radio so the gauges can be higher. For now, I just want to get the car all sorted and cleaned up.

[NOTORIOUS VR]

IMO The gauge location is perfect. There is no reason to have gauges up high because you never look at them anyways when you're actually on it.

Gauges like that are not used for anything except for data (while not driving). If you have to look at gauges when you're pulling gears you're doing it wrong.

[M3poseur]

Oil pressure, A/F and boost I like mine up high. Obviously you scan it and not have fixation on those gauges.

Just speaking from experience.

[NOTORIOUS VR]

Oil pressure, A/F and boost I like mine up high. Obviously you scan it and not have fixation on those gauges.

Just speaking from experience.

Same... I can't remember one time that I was able to look at a gauge when doing a multi gear pull.

Sure for one quick pull when you have nothing going on around you to check things out I get it it can kinda be done... but really none of that stuff is important DURING the pull - either it's all working right (as it should be) or you have issues should need to sort before hammering on it. And if you're running aftermarket ECU's you can also setup protections

[R.Thomas]

I'm just not crazy that the outer LEDS on the top of the combo AFR/Boost/Ethanol gauge are cut off when you look down at the gauge. I tried to use angle rings to rotate the gauges up but the gauge bezels are too large.

[R.Thomas]

So all the apparent issues have been sorted out. Have about 30 miles on the car. It is a HOOT.

I figure I'll post the issues I had and corrective work performed in case someone in the future has similar issues or questions:

> Brakes: the Chase Bays brake booster delete was causing the rear brakes to hang up after about 15 minutes of driving. My dad and I ended up trimming about 1/4 inch off the master cylinder rod so that the pedal had some more "free travel". After researching the issue and contacting Chase Bays, it seems others had to similarly trim the rod. While the booster delete looks cool, I'm not crazy about the pedal feel. Jury is still out.

> Fuel leak: there was a fuel leak at the pump hat where I removed the original fuel pump wiring pins and inserted the new wires for the new Walbro pump. I had sealed the wire penetrations at the pins with RTV but obviously that did not work. We ended up installing an ATL model CFD504 bulkhead fitting into the pump hat to route the pump wires (see photos below). The fitting is great. We then sealed the original pin holes with fine thread machine screws and PTFE sealant. So far, no leaks.

> Lighting/fan: there was an electrical issue where the auxiliary fan circuit (which I used for the electric radiator fan) was feeding into the passenger side light circuit, causing the fuse to blow. When I was tucking the harness and re-soldering the wires I had a few connections where the heat shrink tubing didn't melt evenly, so I used liquid electrical tape. Apparently the tape was allowing enough current to jump between the bundled wires, overloading the lighting circuit. Redid the wire connections and all is good now.

All in all I'm stoked there aren't more issues considering all that was changed. Gotta put some more miles on the engine and properly break-in the clutch and LSD, then it'll be time to dyno! In the mean time I will also be changing the coilovers and wheels/tires. The car is too low even at the highest setting on the existing coils...

[R.Thomas]

Oh and here are two (2) photos of the "finished" engine bay. Gotta do some cleaning/polishing but overall I am very happy with how it looks.

[M3poseur]

Nicely done, looks great.

[R.Thomas]

Nicely done, looks great.

Thank you very much!

[E36 HateR]

Glad you are happy Rob! Almost time for some sunday supercar smackdowns