The 15 Y/O Turbo M42 Build Thread (Now Holley EFI Terminator X Controlled)

[ccsdo5]

Very nice dude, super clean as usual too. GET THAT THING ON A DYNO ASAP! Also how's the car sound with the new manifold's?

[lambo]

neat

[Dj Buttchug]

Everything buttoned back up. Nice black accents now looks much better than raw metal imo.


With the new manifold I was having a hard time finding a new throttle cable that would be long enough to reach the TB and still retain OEM mounting and position. I ended up going with an e34 540i cable. It was a tad bit longer than I needed but the pedal feels just as it was before I made all these changes.

[Dj Buttchug]

Exhaust gaskets kept blowing out on me every couple hundred miles. No before pics but the ports for the exhaust made by good N tight were just a tad too small for my ported head. Opened them up and matched to the gasket profile so we shouldn't have this problem anymore. Not perfect but decent.You can see here the blackened areas where the exhaust burned through the gasket.

[DEV0 E30]

Damnnnn chuggz.

[krisu]

The gangs all here. Bone stock vs not so stock

very nice

[wazzu70]

Very nice build.

I'm working on a M42 Turbo that is going into 2002 build. I'm having a hard time finding part numbers for ARP main studs for the M42. I'm interested in what others were buying ?

Thanks for any help.

Ken

The stud kits for the M5x motors should be the same. ARP can probably sell the kit with a few less studs. Some people use the S54 main studs instead as they are longer. With the M5x studs you can't bottom them out in the block or there are not enough threads after the cap to get good clamping.

[zwill23]

Very strong work, love this build! This should be an inspiration to all M42 owners :bow:

[Balleristic31]

Hell yeah man! You still owe me that ride 8) ;)

[KenH]

Very nice build.

I'm working on a M42 Turbo that is going into 2002 build. I'm having a hard time finding part numbers for ARP main studs for the M42. I'm interested in what others were buying ?

Thanks for any help.

Ken

[ccsdo5]

Nice work on that intake manifold man! I think it'll look pretty good if you powder coat it wrinkle black. I'm curious to see how much this will improve your car along with the manifold from Otis, and the new down pipe. So definitely dyno.

[MF DOOM]

Dyno. Definitely dyno.

[CorvallisBMW]

Dyno. Definitely dyno.

[Dj Buttchug]

Heres some changes I did recently. When I created the intake manifold I had not accounted for the Dblias adapter angle properly and ended up with problems. I wanted the plenum to sit level in the engine bay. After some quick adjustments and some more welding the issue was solved. Here are some close up shots of the end result. We have two vacuum ports installed underneath the plenum for a sleeker look (factory Dblias vacuum port is used to support my vacuum station you can see mounted near the fusebox)

Using stock M42 fuel rail (for now) with slightly modified inlet and outlet fittings to clear my intake mounting hardware. M50 throttle body assembly and E34 540i Throttle cable to operate it.






Surprisingly this build is still going after all these years. I believe I am at the point now where I have the proper setup to meet the turbos demand. It just wasn't right with the factory intake and throttle body.

I need to make slight adjustments to the tune in order to clear up a few hiccups. For some reason with the new intake my AFRs have dropped from close to 14 down into 11s even at full temp.

Here is the new intercooler piping mock up. The only thing missing here is the turbo intake pipe but its nothing special. The cone will be mounted completely outside the bay utilizing the receiver dryer hole in the chassis. Should look really clean.

Planning for wrinkle black manifold and charge pipes.



Moved away from full 3inch down to 2.5 charge pipe size. Its easier to work with and its not overkill like before. Should have some final engine bay pics after some wiring is cleaned up and a few items are routed differently. After than I guess dyno

[MouseRat]

I think it was hydro-dipped and clear coated.

Ahh, thank you! It's certainly unique - I love it :p