M10 turbo ideas

[Ecm10]

Hello everyone, I've got a 1985 318 that has been through hell and back more than a couple times. I've done everything imaginable to the suspension and brakes short of a roll cage and love driving it, but I want to get more out of the engine. I've played around with some nitrous on the stock m10 and it loves it but I've been slowly collecting parts for a turbo build over the past two years. I've gotten to the part that I simply can't wrap my head around. The engine management. I've been told of some ways to "fool" the stock management to support a smaller amount of boost while keeping it mostly stock, but I have decided I want to throw everything I can at the car. I've seen some custom wiring harnesses that have been built for 2002s and honestly I don't really want to manufacture a new harness. I plan on building a spare engine I've got and throwing it in once it's built so I can enjoy driving it around as much as possible. is there any suggestions/options for a plug and play standalone system? Long story short I'm looking for ideas/ inspiration for engine management so I can get the build going. Anything helps and I'd love to see some similar builds!

[McGyver]

Nothing is going to be "plug and play". Yeah, you can probably get a chip tune or do other things to use the stock ECU for low boost. However, the stock ECU can't really control boost and you'll have to either run really rich or risk blowing it up.

If you're going to do it, do it correctly. Lots of people use MegaSquirt, which is very DIY and has a steep learning curve. There are plenty of more developed ECU options out there. You may want to find out what your local tuner likes and use that system. Ultimately, there is a ton of reading, learning, and wiring to make a reliable system.

[e30m3s54turbo]

I driven a e21 320i m10 1.8 it was a Century turbo. It think was factory ecu.No intercooler that produced 125hp. The e30 318 is 103hp. The distributor was retarded back a few degrees. I think you can get 140hp maybe more. intercooler. It depends what you put into on the build.

Like McGyver said a different ecu to control the m10.

[McGyver]

I driven a e21 320i m10 1.8 it was a Century turbo. It think was factory ecu.No intercooler that produced 125hp. The e30 318 is 103hp. The distributor was retarded back a few degrees. I think you can get 140hp maybe more. intercooler. It depends what you put into on the build.

Like McGyver said a different ecu to control the m10.

I worked on an e21 with an m10 that had factory AC (big deal at the time) and a dealer installed turbo. From what I recall, the turbo was so inefficient that it was only able to make up for the losses caused by the ac. Super cool little car, but also not an efficient way of doing things.