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

[ccsdo5]

V-band is the way to go, I'm getting tired of taking the 5 bolt flange on and off every time I need to pull my engine out. Do you have a tig welder buttchug? and better pictures of intake plzzzz

[Dj Buttchug]

V-band is the way to go, I'm getting tired of taking the 5 bolt flange on and off every time I need to pull my engine out. Do you have a tig welder buttchug? and better pictures of intake plzzzz

Im making some slight mods to the intake. more pics of that when finished. Ive been using a buddys tig to get my work done.

Here are some pics of the finished new down pipe. Im happy with it.





Previous exhaust and intake were so restrictive. Hoping for much better numbers now even tho it was a blast to drive. Slow pace is due to serious 60+ work weeks. Literally dont have time to do anything.

[car_gal_jenni]

Just read through the whole thread. Talk about motivating me to actually start the turbo build on my own M42!! Fantastic :D Hopefully mine turns out half as nice as yours one day.

[MF DOOM]

V-band is the way to go, I'm getting tired of taking the 5 bolt flange on and off every time I need to pull my engine out. Do you have a tig welder buttchug? and better pictures of intake plzzzz

lol I took mine off twice and thats all it took. It made a good excuse to upgrade turbos ;D

Looks good as usual. When I went home for thanksgiving break I pulled the cover off my car, sat in it for a few minutes, shed a few tears then covered her back up.. :( Hope to see you ripping around in this thing soon.

[Nader393]

I'm new here, (probably older than most of you) and have been actively educating myself on these cars by reading build threads like yours. I've read this thread from beginning to end.

I'm impressed with your progress. You started out 5 years ago as a bro with pink wheels and seemingly superficial mechanical knowledge, whose posts were humorous but hard to read. I see that you've steadily progressed into a college-educated, literate enthusiast, doing some advanced tuning and fabricating. That gives me hope for the future of car enthusiasts.

My only bit of advice is to ceramic-coat the hot parts instead of that fiberglass wrap. It's a much cleaner look, and won't corrode. Then again, you may not have the moisture issues we have here in the PNW, which reek havoc with those wraps (BTDT).

It's been a fun read, and I'm rooting for you. Keep the updates coming.

[phreshkid]

You started out 5 years ago as a bro with pink wheels and seemingly superficial mechanical knowledge, whose posts were humorous but hard to read. I see that you've steadily progressed into a college-educated, literate enthusiast, doing some advanced tuning and fabricating. That gives me hope for the future of car enthusiasts.

I hope one day someone can write this about me. This was very pleasant to read, and made me feel good inside.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

still here guys. 2/10 lame pic for now. more details to come. also new goals. 350 wheel on water meth/ 91 pump. 20 psi

Ive never seen a. M42 look so good.... Nice work chuggs

[MouseRat]

Wow. Epic thread! I've been daydreaming of a NA build up with ITB's on my M42...this makes me want boost :devil:

Also, I may have missed this, but how'd you get the wood grain finish on the valve cover?

[Schnitzer318is]

Also, I may have missed this, but how'd you get the wood grain finish on the valve cover?

I think it was hydro-dipped and clear coated.

[MouseRat]

I think it was hydro-dipped and clear coated.

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

[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

[CorvallisBMW]

Dyno. Definitely dyno.

[MF DOOM]

Dyno. Definitely dyno.

[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.

[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