1989 M50 Turbo Build

[Nutzy]

Great condensed build! I can’t imagine convincing my wife to allow me to spend the time and effort you have on this car. Looks amazing! Thanks for contributing. I will be taking my inspiration from you and rehashing my 7 year project here soon.

Thanks for the kind words. I am finding a bit more inspiration to actually get out there and get some stuff done!

[ba114]

its been 1.5 months Pete. Time to make a progress update!

[Nutzy]

Due to global shipping BS at the moment, the cam timing blocks that Perry sent went missing, so he sent me some more via registered courier and this time the blocks finally made it to my door.

The cams are:

M54B30 on the intake side (240 duration, 9.7mm lift)
M50NV on the exhaust side (240 duration, 9.7mm lift)

The exhaust cam is set to zero, and the intake is advanced 4 degrees (Perry suggested these settings).



After getting the timing all nice, I snapped an M6 that bolts the VANOS to the head, so it all comes off again. Then once it was all set up in round 2, I borked one of the special intake cam studs. Around this time, I realised that 15nm is NOT the TQ value for an M6... Anyway, all good, I found some spares and it's all OK now.

Other things:

I found a buyer for the DCT box, so it'll be good to get that off my limited floor space in the garage.

I need to make a low profile scissor lift for the ZF8. The porky b@stard weighs 90kgs and I can't imagine any safe way of getting this thing up in the trans tunnel that doesn't put me at risk of serious injury or death!

I have an internal monologue going on debating the pro's and con's of baffling the sump. Oil surge under hard braking was dropping pressure to zero, but it is hard to imagine 6 litres of oil surging up the front of the motor. So how to stop that?

Need to get an ABS ring laser cut to replace the OEM E46 hub ring. Hall sensors can't pick up the OEM ring; it needs bigger deeper teeth. This will just slip onto the hub as per the OEM item. This is for TCU and ECU speed sensing for traction control and gear control.

[Nutzy]

[Nutzy]

Way back in 2013, I rebuilt this Bosch alternator when I was building the M50. I used to do this sort of thing for a paltry wage after I left school for good. New SKF bearings, new slip rings, new reg. The rotor and rectifier seemed OK, so they stayed. A bit of sandblasting, some Kill Rust silver, a lick of black paint, we have the pretty!



31 years have passed since the days I built starters, alternators, and generators, so I guess I forgot a few things... One week away from my first ever motorsport event and the alternator starts whining like a bitch. A second hand unit that looked like it spent a few years washed up on a beach was put in place and served duty until now, but the grotty old thing was a stain in the engine bay! I pulled the shiny one apart the other day to see if I could find what was wrong. Straight up I can see one of the stator wire connection was loose and had been arcing. Clean it up, flux, and re-flow that solder with some heat this time!

To test it I connected some cables to the car, put the lights on, and spun it as fast as the lathe would go. We have charge!



By the way, if anyone is interested, this is a 1730580 / 0120485048 90 amp Bosch unit. The 0124515050 / BXA4033 is a 120 amp unit from an E46. The mountings are identical, the only difference is the plug connection in the back for the charge light. Makes for a good upgrade.

[SilburE36]

Nice project and great documentation.

I recently picked up a non-running 1984 318i with the M10 B18, and once I get the OE motor running and all things working right, I’m going the same route as you.

Ive got a spare block and head from an M52 that will be going in along with an M54 crank. Plan is to run a 4L60 trans so the wife can drive it too.


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[Nutzy]

Nice project and great documentation.
I recently picked up a non-running 1984 318i with the M10 B18, and once I get the OE motor running and all things working right, I’m going the same route as you.
Ive got a spare block and head from an M52 that will be going in along with an M54 crank. Plan is to run a 4L60 trans so the wife can drive it too.

Sounds like a plan!

Someguy2800 (Perry) can help you out with the 4l60 trans adaptor.

[Johnbennett103]

31 years?? Good to see that I'm not the only old guy into building German cars! Enjoy!

[Nutzy]

31 years?? Good to see that I'm not the only old guy into building German cars! Enjoy!

Haha, yeah, punching out number 51 next month.

In 2006 I sold my previous e30 and sold my motorbike because I told myself it was time to grow up, but that only lasted until 2007 when I found myself seeking out another e30 to mod.

I'd be a wealthy man if I had put all the coin of the last 30 years into a bank instead of a car!

[Nutzy]

Long time no post!

I've been busy lately, trying to get this pile of metal ready for the BMW Nats early March. Not sure that it will make it, but I'm giving it a shot.

Looking at the engine bay condition, I just knew I couldn't put the motor back in there without addressing it. I welded up some holes and smoothed back, removed superfluous brackets and smoothed back. Body filler, primed, and painted with Alpine White II. It looks a TON better and I'm glad I went to the trouble. I wasn't going for a show engine bay, just neatened up.

[Nutzy]

Next up was addressing the OEM wiring. Taking a look a the loom, there were a heap of wires that I didn't need, some big old plugs that appeared to just loop back into the loom, and fabric wrap that had rotted and fallen apart. Snip, tuck, solder, wrapped with new fabric and inserted into split convoluted tube. It looks heaps neater. I need to source new plastic housings for the headlights, horn, and blinkers as the old ones have had their day. You can buy them though and the actual plugs inside just get clipped into the new plug housing.




Clean parts reinstalled...



PMC ZF8HP adaptor installed.



M54B30 E-Throttle.



F82 M shifter. Stainless M6 bolts with their heads TIG welded to an SS baseplate which is bolted to the tunnel and sealed. Nice and solid. This will communicate with the HTG controller via canbus.

[Nutzy]

I am still yet to craft a new loom for the EMU Black and the HTG controller, but I'm just biding my time, planning it, and not rushing into the job. Like I did years ago for the Autronic SM4, I have made a spreadsheet to help plan out the things I need. It isn't all there yet though.



I am back and forth on using a bulkhead fitting or not. There is the cost of it versus the elegance and the extra time required to order it and PIN it out. Why the hell are they so expensive?

Another issue I have just discovered is that the EMU Black can't do peak & hold for low-z injectors! WTF? Is that just because there is a notion that P&H are simply not needed anymore? That high-z injectors are every bit as fast or something? The really odd part is that the injectors I have are right there in the pre-defined list.



Yet the literature says that if using low-z injectors, you must install a 3.3ohm 50W resistor inline with them. Maybe that works OK, maybe it doesn't, but it seems like a good way to turn a fast P&H injector into a slow POS!

So, brains trust, if I were to change to a high-z injector, what is the recommendation?

[NOTORIOUS VR]

no one uses low-z anymore (unless the injectors are HUGE)... if you want an amazing injector with proper data and flow rates out of the box from 1050-2650 cc bite the bullet and purchase a set of ID's. Trust me you will never have an issue with a set and their service is top notch.

Otherwise anything from the Bosch EV14 line up is a good bet - just be warned not all modified injectors are the same and many don't come with CORRECT (or even any) flow/slope/offset values. So if you're good with "close enough" fueling then more the power to you.

If you do want to for some reason use your low-z injectors you can put resistors inline (works fine) or buy a driver box (which is a fancier way of doing it but essentially the same thing).

[Nutzy]

Good info, thanks. I figured that if ECUmaster didn't provide for low-z injectors there had to be a reason, and it was most likely because "no one uses low-z anymore"!

I went and bought a set of unmodified Bosch 1000cc 0280158040. Bosch statically matches these and colour codes them accordingly. The shop that I am buying from is local and they do a dynamic flow matching of the sets and provide the charts for it.

[ba114]

I went and bought a set of unmodified Bosch 1000cc 0280158040. Bosch statically matches these and colour codes them accordingly. The shop that I am buying from is local and they do a dynamic flow matching of the sets and provide the charts for it.

Oh dear....i've had nothing but issues with those particular injectors on 3 separate cars now.

[Nutzy]

8HP fitted up in the tunnel, no bashing needed!




I went and bought a loom for the 8HP from Domiworks. Super nice, concentric twisted, but $$$.

[Nutzy]

Last night I opened up the 8HP to remove the mechatronics so that I could pull out the OEM TCU. The TCU needs to be sliced open with a little Dremel cutting disk to expose the tiny TCU PCB which is about 25x50mm and made of some sort of damned ceramic! One little chip at a time is what it took to remove it and half the time a chip would release a spark as it would break. Anyway, this is done so that you can solder in the RYU Tech PCB to enable the use of an external TCU - in this case, HTG.



I've been looking at what I can pot this with and have decided that Permatex Red RTV with a 350C rating should do the job. It is non-corrosive, air moisture cure, so won't attack the PCB.

[wgknestrick]

Awesome stuff so far.

Please download as much 8HP, HTG information that you can. The more we share, the more we learn. I really, really want to do this swap when either my clutch or 5sp goes, but I'm weary of falling into an endless pit of hard to solve problems. I'm mainly interested in how this would work with a remapped DME and E36 throttle cable setup, but understand why you went with a DBW throttle body. How responsive is HTG's support and their English? Are you using paddles?

[Nutzy]

Please download as much 8HP, HTG information that you can. The more we share, the more we learn. I really, really want to do this swap when either my clutch or 5sp goes, but I'm weary of falling into an endless pit of hard to solve problems. I'm mainly interested in how this would work with a remapped DME and E36 throttle cable setup, but understand why you went with a DBW throttle body. How responsive is HTG's support and their English? Are you using paddles?

Hey! Yep I'll keep as much info in here as I can. I haven't decided on how to do the paddles just yet. If it involves any sort of modification to the M-Tech II wheel, then that is out of the question. I'll have to consider another OEM wheel that might give me that option.

[Nutzy]

Another month goes by and it feels like little has been done. Tinkering at the edges, spinning my wheel, or at least that's what it seems to be.

I got the ignition and injector loom done. I decided to isolate 'noisy' things into their own loom with a separate 15A Deutsch plug and keep the other ECU things on their own 47 pin Deutsch.




I got a Mako dash which is customised for the Powertune digi dash. Add in some SAAS digi gauges and it looks pretty trick.




The tedious engine loom work continues. Waiting on more Deutsch plugs to arrive...

[darknezz7]

Wow really beautiful and amazing work, your car is slow clean!! Now I wish I would have taken more time on my engine bay prep.

Cant wait to see more

[JOMARO]

I ve watched your threads from e30 tech (sorry to lose it )
my car also started as a M40b16 :-)
now being m50b30 turbo its a long way
been super interested in the 8hp70 conversion

Your attention to details kills me

[Nutzy]

Wow really beautiful and amazing work, your car is slow clean!! Now I wish I would have taken more time on my engine bay prep.

Cant wait to see more

Thanks! I'm working on it but pace is slow.

I ve watched your threads from e30 tech (sorry to lose it )
been super interested in the 8hp70 conversion
Your attention to details kills me

E30Tech was a big loss, but then that seems to be the way with forums these days. BFC used to have 10 times as many posts as it is getting today, and that doesn't seem that long ago.

[Nutzy]

Hey all. So, I'm searching for one of these output flanges from a ZF6 auto - PN: 24007588769 - which supersedes PN: 24207588760 and 24207522974

The only dude selling them on ebay wont ship to Australia. Does anyone have any leads for me please?
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[5mall5nail5]

Awesome awesome build. I am revisiting my E30 as well (now with more ASA supercharger).

I know its lame and behind you but any details on opening the housings from the Bosch alternators? Both my cars have ratty looking alternators and I was thinking of simply refinishing the casing.