M30 turbo rebuild thread

[JoeMadoo]

I have this e30 in my garage. It's swapped, boosted, and illegal. It just sits. It's really sad. I've decided that this is going to change this year. I'm creating this thread for a few reasons.

• It will force me not to procrastinate.
• Hopefully it will educate others.
• I want to (continue to) learn as much as I can from the best e30 community I know of.
• I need boost in my life.

I started this thread in 2007 when I was in college. Did the M30 swap, did the turbo in 2008, loved my life. Then came smog time, which meant going to the BAR to get the my motor certified (looking back I should have gotten a fake smog). Since turbo's are illegal in CA, I pretty much hit a wall, and decided to focus on school instead of my car. Was one of the better choices I've made.

Now that I am slightly older and wiser, I want to take another shot at making my e30 legal to drive in CA. My plan is to take off my turbo setup including the megasquirt and use the stock harness and ecu. Buy a CA cat, stock exhaust system, and go back to the BAR and get the magical sticker. Once I'm registered, I'll put my turbo setup back on, and put some money into my motor at the same time for added boost and enjoyment. For 2 years

The car still runs great, I drive it once a month or so around the block.

Has anyone in California found them selves in a similar predicament as I have? Is there a way I could go about this in a better way? I'm open to it. Otherwise, this is going to be an M30 removal, rebuild, and boost-adding thread.

*EDIT: My pictures in this thread have moved and can only be seen here.

[CorvallisBMW]

Awesome, sub'd!

[kylelauffer]

i am kinda in the same exact way of feeling about my car. but the way i am going about it now. is i want to focus more on making the car as comfortable as possible is what i am trying to do now. so its not only enjoying going fast but also at stock like feeling nice and smooth. am i somewhat close or way off??

[1987E30project]

OK I want to see how this turns out. I was wandering why no threads about a California legal turbo M30 swap. I got a swapped car and keep wandering if the next step is turbocharging.

[ak-]

It's because there is no such thing as a legal turbo setup in CA lol.
Only cars that came turbo (wrx) can be replaced with certified stuff with stickers of proof blah blah.

So OP, are you red flagged on computers or something for your smog?
How did you end up needing to go straight to BAR unless I'm misunderstanding.
I'm due for a "friendly" smog December.

[JoeMadoo]

So OP, are you red flagged on computers or something for your smog?
How did you end up needing to go straight to BAR unless I'm misunderstanding.

Well when I first did the M30 swap, I figured I would do the "legal" thing and go to the BAR to get the sticker. This was pre-turbo. In those days you needed a visual inspection and a smog test to get certified. I passed the visual without a doubt, but failed miserably on the smog. Twice.

So in my 19 year old head I figured, since I can't get it to pass, I will try and get a special smog. Might as well turbo it while I do that. Had a friend that said he could smog it for me. Once he put my info in the computer, he said there was no way he could do it because my car was flagged by the state. After that, I bought a few months of temporary registration from AAA and drove it around. Never had a single incident with the police and my car was a rocket. But eventually AAA stops handing those out. So now that I am a little more experienced, I am going to pull the turbo and all my goodies and go back to the BAR for the visual (they don't do the smog test anymore), get better cat's and hopefully pass the smog with my new legal m30.

OK I want to see how this turns out. I was wandering why no threads about a California legal turbo M30 swap. I got a swapped car and keep wandering if the next step is turbocharging.

Yes there's no such thing as a legal aftermarket turbo in CA. I even thought of running the stock m102/108 setup and trying to pass with that, but you can't swap an older motor.

For your next step, if you have a friend, get a smog and you'll be ok unless you get pulled over by a cop that is well-trained in smogging, they're out there.

i am kinda in the same exact way of feeling about my car. but the way i am going about it now. is i want to focus more on making the car as comfortable as possible is what i am trying to do now. so its not only enjoying going fast but also at stock like feeling nice and smooth. am i somewhat close or way off??

Well temporarily I'm going to be running the stock M30, probably for a month or so. I really miss the feel of a turbo'd m30 though. My car is somewhat smooth right now, I have bilsteins, b+g springs, offset c/a bushings, and 225/50r15 wheels. It's a nice compromise but more boost = less comfort

[1987E30project]

What about getting it BARd as a normal M30 swap then get it turbocharged but then have a friend smog it. By then you already have the BAR sticker so you shouldn't be flagged.

[JoeMadoo]

What about getting it BARd as a normal M30 swap then get it turbocharged but then have a friend smog it. By then you already have the BAR sticker so you shouldn't be flagged.

This is exactly what I am going to try to do.

[JoeMadoo]

Today I began to remove the turbo stuff. It was a happy/sad/fun time.

Things I removed today:
Modified engine harness
Megasquirt ECU
3" turbo-back exhaust
about 7 feet of intercooler piping
same side intercooler
turbo + oil lines
Things I still need to remove:
turbo manifold
wastegate
36lb injectors

Here are some pictures.

Here's the current set-up. I see lot's of room for improvement, don't you?





View of the turbo, nice and snug in-between the motor mount bracket and engine block. Wasn't the most fun thing to remove.




3" Turbo back exhaust. I will be replacing this with a more stock-like dual setup.




Soon I will have this m102 exhaust manifolds off and some e34 manifolds on. The extra long studs will make this nearly impossible to remove while the engines in the car.

[JoeMadoo]

Here are the parts I already have to bring her back to stock form:
Late model M30 Harness
M30 AFM
E34 exhaust manifolds

Still need to gather these parts:
19" mustang injectors
M30 M1.3 ECU
Stock "is" exhaust system
o2 sensor
M30 TPS (3 pin)
16" Electric Fan

[ak-]

Yay keep going.
Pretty awesome bottom mount though. I'm willing to bet if you stay bottom mount, clean up the piping, an officer wouldn't be able to tell what kind of shenanigans are going on in there.

Anyways, do you plan on keeping the same charge pipe setup? Ever see people put a block off plate on the throttle body piece and attach the throttle body on the other side of the intake manifold like a traditional motor setup?

[JoeMadoo]

I am interested in moving the TB to the opposite side. I don't like the same-side intercooler that I am using now. I do like the bottom mount turbo, but some higher-flowing tubular manifolds will most likely be in my future.

[kylelauffer]

lol its never that much fun working on a m30 turbod e30. looked pretty good man.

[dashboardmonkey]

Boosted m30 in an e30 is like a blown big block chevy in a vega.

[JoeMadoo]

Made a little progress today. All the turbo stuff is off and it's about time to add some quality OEM parts back on :hitler:.

I ordered an M30 harness and ECU from Jean a few years ago, finally pulled it out of the box today. Lucky for the me he included the TPS. Also had the stock manifolds hidden away in storage. I ordered some new exhaust studs (m8x40), nuts, and springs on pelican today to replace the long m102 ones. Also found some 19# mustang injectors on ebay for 45 bucks to use while my 36 pounders sit patiently in a box.

Went to the junkyard the other day and got an M30 AFM for $40 and some extra sensors. Found a set of Zender side skirts for 20 each on an e30 that was headed for the crusher. Also came across a vert and snagged a 21mm sway to replace my stock e one. $100 bucks for all that, cant beat it.

So far I've spent about $140, not including fun parts. Still need to get an "i" exhaust, m30 downpipes, o2 sensor, intake boot(s), stock plugs, and the e-fan.

Here are some pictures from today.

Bare M30. Took off the harness, injectors, turbo manifold and wastegate, and 4" exhaust studs. Notice how I slipped a couple washers inbetween the motor mount bracket and the block. This was so the turbo would clear the engine mount-sub frame bolt. Also cut some of the strut housing support to make room for the wastegate. I realize this wasn't the best idea, I am going to have a buddy weld this back up come turbo time.


Here's my patented m30 turbo kit. We're lookin' at, from the top left, the m102 turbo with gt35r wheel, 7psi wategate, log style manifold, MS1, 36lb injectors, oil feed line, wideband o2, custom harness, 4" filter, pcv lines, ebay boost controller, offbrand intercooler, SSQV blow off, and about 9" of 2.5-3" pipe, silicon connectors and t-clamps. CA doesn't like any of this stuff.


Parts that are going on. Stock M30 ECU, late model harness, stock e32/e34 manifold and M30 AFM.