turbo m52 advice

[Tsm91]

Okay so I need some people to possibly talk some sense into me.

I recently got an nice swapped m52 its awesome, torque on it is great. I've been thinking about putting a turbo on it though, i wanna be able to contend with my friend, the bastard is getting an STI. Plus i just really want to.

I'm wondering if the vanos complicates things a lot or not.. Also i was told that i could do the whole thing for around a grand, maybe a little more. My friend said that as long as i find a turbo manifold, a NICE turbo (NOT ebay, but used is fine), and an intercooler piping kit (ebay would be fine he said) that i would be good to go. When you pay for a kit already put together you spend way more than if you find all the components yourself and get someone to do the welding, which i have, is that true...??

I guess i'm just wondering that if i do end up getting myself into this project is it going to be a total bitch, or cost much much more than about a grand or 1,500.

All feedback is welcome!

[jaywood]

Just research, research, research! There is TONS of information about every facet of turbo setup and fuel management. Make yourself a list of what parts you'll need as you do your research. Come up with a "game plan" before you begin buying things and it will save you time, money, and frustration in the long run. Make yourself a budget as you price out the parts, and then add some for mistakes/problems/fixes along the way. It also helps if you car is not your daily driver. I've had my car torn apart all winter just so I can "do it right" and finally had it running on Megasquirt last week.

This stuff takes time, money, and brain power. You don't necessarily have to be smart to build a good setup, but you need the ability to learn from other people's mistakes, and reason your way through tough problems.

(quote from e30tech)

[The Humjet]

Im pretty sure your aware of this, But there is more to a turbo system than buying a turbo, intercooler and a manifold. These are the more obvious things. Tuning is probably the most important IMO.
Is your car running obd1? if not I'd look into do that before you start getting bits for a turbo.
Once you get that done then it'll be a good time to start getting parts.
Good'n'tight makes good manifolds for the price.
The Garrett gt35 is a nice turbo for a 24v motor, holset Hx40 if your on a budget.
An MLS head gasket and arp head studs is a good safety precaution you don't want to be blowing head gaskets. Tuning wise I'd talk to trm or miller especially when tuning vanos. Oh you'll also need a heavy duty clutch. That's the basics you'll need to know.
Check out bimmerforums.com in the FI section they're very familiar with 24v turbos and e30tech are good with turbos and e30's.
I don't think you could get it all done with $1500 budget if your using quality parts. But don't let that put you off m52 turbos are insane and can handle power very easily. Have fun with it and keep researching. :)

[einstein57]

If you read and take lots of notes it can be done.

[ahriley91]

1500 really isn't a big enough budget for a turbo 24v. All I have gotten for mine so far is the manifold and the intercooler piping and I am already to 600 just about.

And like they said, you need to do a lot of reading.

[1st Attempt]

How much did it cost you to do your M52 swap?(labor/parts) Did you do it, or someone else (shop,specialist,etc..)?

I'm really interested in doing a m52 swap because I can get a hold of one for about $500

[einstein57]

All I'm going to say is it can be done. With all new brand name parts if your patient. I'm speaking from experience. As a matter of fact I have enough spare turbos, manifolds, plumbing, etc to build a couple kits.

[Tsm91]

I bought the car in June, the previous owner built hot rods and had a plenty of nice cars so it wasn't hard for him to give it up, but the owner before that had the swap done in a shop in Portland. I had been looking for a swapped e30 for about 6 months, I thought about doing it myself with some help from my friend which would have been awesome, but getting one as cleanly and professionally swapped as mine now isn't too bad either ;-) If you can get ahold of the engine you definitely should give it a try though.

And I thought that 1500 to go turbo might be a little on the cheap side. I will take your guy's advice and research more.

[Tsm91]

All I'm going to say is it can be done. With all new brand name parts if your patient. I'm speaking from experience. As a matter of fact I have enough spare turbos, manifolds, plumbing, etc to build a couple kits.

If you could put together a kit for me let me know that would be great.

[Good & Tight]

Building a $1500 turbo 24V is a little optimistic IMO. I can fabricate everything myself but still don't think I can do it for $1500.
You have a good base though to start with, the M52 with a MLS, ARP's can make 400rwhp easily on pump gas.

[shiboujin]

I'm like $6k into my build lol.

[Wanganstyle]

I'm like $6k into my build lol.

this man is correct.

I'd probably spend about 3K on just re-building the M52 before it ever went into the car or was ready :P
then I'd probably spend 4K on turbo stuff and tuning, and then 1-2k on dyno time.

- this my proven method of slow madness, do things 1x, don't again.

turbocharging a NA motor will result in bringing forth Every Single weakness of a used setup; this is a proven path of madness.


IF you are trying to be faster (or as fast as ) your friend you may be better off just removing the M52 and installing a S52, that should contend with a GDB Sti just fine for most things. Plug and play affair!

a stock Sti is 235 awhp on my friends dyno, bolt ons+ tunes usually go to ~ 270awhp on pump gas. any more and they start blowing up FAST.

stock S52 in healthy form should dyno 230-245rwhp depending on the dyno, with a ~ 2700lb e30 (compared to 3300 lb Sti)

s52 e30 basically = sti speed. no need for turbo, stay away from the destruction if possible lol; you don't have enough budget to stay in the game at 1.5K. Sell M52, pocket cash, buy and install S52. DONE.


e36M3's with bolt on modifications will run with GDB sti's to 130's if geared well. Been on both sides of the fence (former STi and EVO owner)
It is not faster by any means though.

Turbo awd 4 cyl power is great for 0-90mph spikes, obviously they have AWD traction too. Pointless for a RWD to get its ass handled from 0-90 unless you have a LOT of power (400+)

a Sti/evo from 0-100 is about as fast as street cars with 4 wheels can be. No equally built Street 2wd E30 can match (due to traction).

My STi-RA was a 12.6 car, full AC+ps+interior with only 240 awhp/235 torque. Do it all day; 0-100 street fighter.

Good thing your friend is not buying an EVO, you would have 0 chances keeping up in brute force with that one... a M52 setup with piece meal turbo will not keep up in straight lines/wangan/or track/autox with a plug and play bolt on modded evo.

a really nice high end professionally tuned M52 turbo kit e30 with full driveline/chassis tune might, but any evo owner can just bolt on a pnp GT30-35R and open source the stock ecu, it just never stops with evo's :P You would have to make a full racing weapon to keep up with the jdm rally weapon.

concerning EVO's the stock 4g63 Longmotors can do 4 digits @ the wheels; pick whatever turbo you wish lol

evo power is just ridiculous.

[Tsm91]

Wow.. well I had a feeling that it was optimistic, but this sounds like a bit much. Maybe I should just throw some s52 cams on it, get a good tune, and call it good. My car weighs under 2300 so it is already quick, just severely lacking when in comparison to those savage japanese 4 cylinder turbos. Kinda pisses me off actually, but you are totally right they are made to just take shits on other cars in the 0-100 mph range. If I had access to an s52 I would go for it but I just don't.. 3k is out of my price range right now

[Wanganstyle]

Yeah, if the powerplant is healthy Just leave it to bolt on's and let it be the kind of car it's designed to be; light, balanced, fun. Lower power is just fine-

Not going to beat fireball shooting sti's without some similar sillyness :)

[mo diesil]

built my freinds e36 24v turbo for about 1500, but we did all the fab work ourselves almost ever part was second hand, required lots of modification.(if his family didnt own a shop there would be no way) only boost 6psi and possibly makes 250whp on a stock injectors and maf,
that being said i got like 4.5k in my setup and the bill is growing with the new motor and so on,
expect around 3k,