best way to go about boosting a 325e?

[The Humjet]

A standalone is a must have imo. That's means getting rid of your stock ecu and AFM and upgrading to a plug and play ems such as megasquirt which a couple members here sell. Talk to blueapplesoda he has a good range of megasquirt boxes.
Many guys here and e30tech especially are willing to help whenever your stuck tuning since it is the most popular standalone ems for us e30 turbo owners. Also there's a lot of the info on how to tune can be found on the megasquirt website through the magamanual which you'll have to read.
As for the hg since your getting your head machined ask him if he could cut o rings while he's at it you'll never blow a headgasket with that. Just be careful when tuning if your tune is bad you won't be blowing head gaskets anymore you'll be melting pistons instead.

[euro2fast4u]

a stock head gasket is cheaper, the oring is a good idea, but you can always do that when you start lifting the head (which is what im waiting for next.) however oringing the block is much cheaper from when i went and researched it.

diy will be selling a pnp ms with a turbo tune ready in about a few months im assuming there finishing up the tune as we speak so that would be another good option. i have heard only great things from whodwho and he has also personally fixed me ms and helped me when it was broken alot. he also sells a pnp with a good base tune but also needs some slight fine tuning.

[The Humjet]

That's what I also was thinking get your tune right. Incase you lift the head in the process you only a beginner tuning is not easy, even professionals screw up sometimes. Once your know your tune is solid then maybe you could pull of the head and o ring it.
I'd prefer to o-ring the head if the bottom end isn't getting touched just so the is less risk of metal filings left in the block. It's always easier to clean a head than a fully assembled block.
I'm o-ringing the block mainly because my block is stripped bare with only the crankshaft and man caps being kept. I don't know how it would be any less or more expensive than eachother we cut the our o rings on the mill so both have very similar processes involved.

[sofargone561]

so im keeping the block stock but if i can il get it o-ringed, im keeping the head stock just getting some machine work done and upgrading the rocker arms and getting that o-ringed as well sound good? and for a stand alone i should get rid of all the stuck ECU components and should get megasquirt? I will be spending the most time and attention to the tune thats why i wanted to get all the motor questions out of the way. thanks for the help guys!

[euro2fast4u]

if your staying less then 400whp then you dont need to oring anything

you either oring the head or the block not both. (unless you pyramid but this is real life)

oringing is usally cheaper bc its just a simple tool that you or i can do by our selfs. the head you gotta take it to a machine shop, and mine said it would be alone 400 bc hes gotta make tools to hold the head in place.

if you wanna be able to control a good amount of things then yes megasquirt will help with that.

[sofargone561]

if your staying less then 400whp then you dont need to oring anything

you either oring the head or the block not both. (unless you pyramid but this is real life)

oringing is usally cheaper bc its just a simple tool that you or i can do by our selfs. the head you gotta take it to a machine shop, and mine said it would be alone 400 bc hes gotta make tools to hold the head in place.

if you wanna be able to control a good amount of things then yes megasquirt will help with that.

ok so im not going oring anything until i decide i want to make more then 400wp if that day ever comes, okay so megasquirt sounds like the way to go.

[euro2fast4u]

yea oringing is a good process but if you oring you have a higher chance of serious damage during tuning. if your to the point where the stock gasket and bolts dont work then yes youll want to go to a stock gasket and arp studs, if then you need more power like when you go more then 450 youll need som extra clamping power on the metal part of the HG, the oring puts more i direct pressure on this area allowing for more power!!

[Paukert11]

power = money. But going cheap is twice as much as doing it right the first time. If you want anything around 400, you need to be tuned on a dyno.

[euro2fast4u]

power = money. But going cheap is twice as much as doing it right the first time. If you want anything around 400, you need to be tuned on a dyno.

if a stock block is capable, proven to make 400whp then why change it?

example with rocker arms and springs, unless your gonna raise the rev limiter to 7500 or something then yea i can see the point. but if your not then i dont see the point.

as for dyno tuned yes that is a must to keep parts from breaking.

[sofargone561]

yea oringing is a good process but if you oring you have a higher chance of serious damage during tuning. if your to the point where the stock gasket and bolts dont work then yes youll want to go to a stock gasket and arp studs, if then you need more power like when you go more then 450 youll need som extra clamping power on the metal part of the HG, the oring puts more i direct pressure on this area allowing for more power!!

great thanks for explain that. i think ill be more then happy with the 300whp im shooting for though i just wanted to make sure im able to go higher if i want.

power = money. But going cheap is twice as much as doing it right the first time. If you want anything around 400, you need to be tuned on a dyno.

i dont mind spend the money im asking to make sure i spend the money right.
ill dyno tune it though that shouldnt be a problem either

[sofargone561]

does anyone have an idea about what the compression would be with the new head? i no it lowers from a 9.0:1 but how much? also what megasquirt unit should i buy? I, II, or III?

[euro2fast4u]

i think it moves it closer to 8.8:1 as long as the head hasnt been shaved too much

[sofargone561]

cool thanks.
what version of mega squirt should i get? dont let price be a factor ill pay more money for one version over another if its better

[euro2fast4u]

wait the month or so and get the pnp ms2 form mat crammer or whodwho (fixed mine and helped me alot ) was making a pnp with his custom board.

pm him for pricing, but he makes a MS2

[sofargone561]

wait the month or so and get the pnp ms2 form mat crammer or whodwho (fixed mine and helped me alot ) was making a pnp with his custom board.

pm him for pricing, but he makes a MS2

whats the difference between theres and just buying one of a website? im forced to wait a month anyway. I have to swap heads refrecsh the motor and fix the electrical problem and shit before anything so waiting a month will not be hard lol