Panici's '87 325is E30 - Boosted In Bronze

[Panici]

December 2023 Sitrep


Managed to squeeze way too much into the garage for the winter season. Two cars, three motorcycles, and two spare engines.
Just enough room to walk sideways between the two cars.


I finally got the larger clutch slave cyl in the mail this week, had to order from schmiedmann. Would have been expensive either way.
The local BMW dealer wanted proof of ownership for an E39 M5 RHD to order the 21522282056 slave.
Excited that this should give me a better clutch pedal then the on/off that I've had for the past two years.

Also, got my hands on some interior bits like the front tweeters, seatbelt bolt cover, and door handle trim from a local gent.

Other jobs on the E30 To-Do list:

• Move wideband grounds & 0.1uF 50v ceramic cap between wideband signal wire & ground (close to ECU)
• Verify EVAP purge valve operation RPM<4000 and TPS<1
• BOV spring to be properly sized.
• Intake manifold removed, additional vacuum/boost sources to be installed, various tee's removed.
• Doors:
  • Tighten key lock (Driver's side)
  • Replace vapor barrier
  • Sound deadening
  • Tweeter install
• Radio install under dash?
• Move exhaust hanger from rear subframe (necessary?)
• Finish front airdam support fabrication
• Install front airdam foglight delete panels
• Remove turbo and trim corner for clearance to wheel well.
• Install replacement sunroof motor
• Change fuel rail fittings on front, install longer hose for strain relief to FPR.

But first, Miata needs a gas tank, and you have to drop the rear subframe to get it down. Might as well refresh while I'm there.
Still waiting on surgery, so I'm going to try a slow & steady approach all winter long and test my luck.





In other news (you may have seen on my other thread) I finally bought one of my realistic dream cars!
1999 E36 M3
It's in decent shape, but obviously isn't perfect.
Not sure how far from stock I want to go with this one, but that's To Be Continued in the spring time.

[Panici]

Got two, first is a '94 600ss that I did a resto on, currently halfway through an injected Monster 900 swap. Other is a '93 build 888 superbike. It's a bit ratty now after being stolen and recovered, but fast as shit for its age. Once the little bike is finished I'll pull the big one apart. I find they are a very good companion for an E30, simple and easy to work on but very fun and devastatingly fast in the right hands (not that mine are)

To me the 90s Ducati is an acquired taste visually. Squared off headlights give them a unique shape IMO. The more I see them, the more I like them.

Even my FI Monster feels very raw by modern standards, which is exactly what I like about old cars & bikes.
The torque of the big V-Twin feels opposite to my revvy R6 engine.

I can imagine the older carbed bikes have even more character!

[econti]

Haha yep. 2000 Monster 900ie.
What is your Ducati?

Rode mine for just under 1000km since buying early august. I put new timing belts on and had some new tires mounted.


It's actually all taken apart as of last weekend for a fuel system refresh. 😂
Suspect leaking fuel injectors, as oil level is going up magically. Also making the garage stink like gas.

Got two, first is a '94 600ss that I did a resto on, currently halfway through an injected Monster 900 swap. Other is a '93 build 888 superbike. It's a bit ratty now after being stolen and recovered, but fast as shit for its age. Once the little bike is finished I'll pull the big one apart. I find they are a very good companion for an E30, simple and easy to work on but very fun and devastatingly fast in the right hands (not that mine are)

[Panici]

A fellow Ducati owner. My condolences. 900?

Haha yep. 2000 Monster 900ie.
What is your Ducati?

Rode mine for just under 1000km since buying early august. I put new timing belts on and had some new tires mounted.


It's actually all taken apart as of last weekend for a fuel system refresh. 😂
Suspect leaking fuel injectors, as oil level is going up magically. Also making the garage stink like gas.

[econti]

A fellow Ducati owner. My condolences. 900?

[Panici]

No updates since last post.
More pictures, some with AI processing.

[Panici]

July 2023 Update

Have been driving the car just about once a week.
Back on the R6 as well for some light street riding, which is a huge win all things considered. I recently installed a blue tail section from eBay and further modified the exhaust system.


The E30 has a vibration in the front end around 100km/h (60mph). Worse under braking, but still present when driving normally at that speed.

I have a new set of four tires on-hand (205/55R15 Yokohama Advan Fleva V701) which will be my first step towards resolving the issue. May not happen this season, so tires are tucked away in the basement until I am able.

I have reassembled the trunk which was apart for additional sound deadening installation.

I installed a manual boost controller (Turbosmart Boost Tee TS-0101-1102).
A little fine dremel work and it's tucked nicely between the intake runners. I'll flip that mounting nut/bolt over next time I have the intake manifold apart.

I went for one test run on the weekend. Due to the ball-and-spring design, the MBC alters the boost curve a bit. I have it turned all the way down to start.

So far I can hear it keeping the gates closed longer, which results in the occasional overshoot to 7psi (when getting into the throttle quickly while the engine is spinning above the boost threshold).

The rest of the curve averages 5-6psi, tapering off towards the top end. I'll get some screenshots next weekend.

I do have a MAC valve on-hand for more sophisticated boost control in the future.
It would be nice to tailor the boost curve for the whole rev range, could get a pretty flat torque curve by feeding in more boost above the normal torque peak. Could also do boost-by-gear.

That said, there is something about turning a mechanical knob to control boost that I enjoy. From a psychological standpoint, this requires a physical deliberate action to make changes (more tangible then keys on a laptop).
Hopefully that is a deterrent to "turning it up" too much and risking the engine in the future.

[Panici]

I remember the first time my friend Mitch showed me his custom launch control in his turbo'ed 318. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Temporarily set r3vlimiter to 3,500 rpm and then type 7k in the appropriate field. As soon as he dropped the clutch I'd mash the Enter button to get us back up to 7k. So much fun.

Haha that is certainly one way to do it! 😆

On my car I hijacked the ebrake switch, so I just have to pull it up one click and launch control is activated. Turns off automatically with wheel speed after I drop the clutch.

I also repurposed the dash light for the ebrake, in addition to the check engine light. Have both configured in the standalone ECU to indicate knock sensing/timing pull, AFR safety, and coolant overtemp.

[MR E30 325is]

Sorry to hear about the injury Panici. Hope all goes well.

I remember the first time my friend Mitch showed me his custom launch control in his turbo'ed 318. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Temporarily set r3vlimiter to 3,500 rpm and then type 7k in the appropriate field. As soon as he dropped the clutch I'd mash the Enter button to get us back up to 7k. So much fun.

[Panici]

Very sorry to hear man, while that is a blow to the self-esteem, like you said, now is the time to heal and get checked out so you can do what you enjoy after you're sure you have healed.
Gotta look out for number one (your physical and mental health) first.

Thanks. Yeah this is a double-wammy, because wrenching is a big mental health thing for me.
I have parts piled up for multiple projects on various cars and can't physically do anything. 😑

because you can't enjoy the toys when you're compromised... take care of yourself, dude!

Bikes are out of the question for now. (Maybe if I had cruiser-style instead of sportbikes I would have a chance?)
I have been taking it really easy to not make things worse. I was able to get credit for next year on all the preordered track events, which was lucky. New sets of tires should be fine if I store them somewhere warm and dark.

On the bright side, I can at least drive the E30 now without pain.
I did go for a nice drive on Saturday, and got a little tuning in as well.

Speaking of which ...

I tested the 2-Step launch control for the first time with the turbo setup.
Builds 3psi @ 3000rpm set on "Random Progressive" with -3° timing (same settings as when it was N/A). Still have the green Tial 4.35psi springs in the wastegates so I thought that was a decent result.

I didn't get to WOT as it started to pop and bang, so it may have built more boost.
I'm trying to keep this turbo alive for the long-term so need to experiment building boost with less aggressive 2-step settings.

Also, since I have my knock sensing dialed-in, I sprinkled in some timing after peak torque to try and flatten out the power delivery. Nothing crazy, think I added an additional 1.5deg at most. Will see if I can feel a difference next weekend.

I haven't been able to find many boosted M52 timing maps online, but from what I can tell I'm still quite conservative.

[DEV0 E30]

Very sorry to hear man, while that is a blow to the self-esteem, like you said, now is the time to heal and get checked out so you can do what you enjoy after you're sure you have healed.

Gotta look out for number one (your physical and mental health) first.

[craz azn]

Crap, that sucks, sorry to hear! I can relate to that too, pushing to hard on a project while not being in the best of shape physically in the past... I learned it makes you find a boundary of how far to push, because you can't enjoy the toys when you're compromised... take care of yourself, dude!

[Panici]

Hey dude, I saw the other day you were registered for lapping at Mosport during the Vintage Festival weekend. Are you bringing this car out for that? Come and hang out, we'll have a few BMWs in our space in the paddock area!

I was registered to come with my turbo miata, and unfortunately had to cancel.
Really sucks as I attended last year as a spectator and was psyched to get on the big track for myself.

Without going into details; I managed to hurt myself about a month ago. I've made the injury worse since then by trying to do more then I should. On the bright side, I'm still able to do my day job, but my season of planned trackdays (both car and motorcycle) is likely done.
Seeing my doctor next week to discuss surgery (who knows how long the wait times are for that.)

Hoping I am at least able to get some wrenching done before summer's end. I have a replacement gas tank for the Miata ready to go. And my E36 needs a bunch of front end work before the winter hits. I really hate all this sitting around.

Would be nice to get back on an R6 even if it's just street riding, but I'm not holding my breath.

[craz azn]

Hey dude, I saw the other day you were registered for lapping at Mosport during the Vintage Festival weekend. Are you bringing this car out for that? Come and hang out, we'll have a few BMWs in our space in the paddock area!

[DEV0 E30]

When I'm ready for some extra bass, I'm going to get a set of subs from e30dreamin/john_e_a on instagram. He makes boxes which tuck in the rear quarter panels (empty spaces under the rear popout windows).

Invisible when everything is together and doesn't take any trunk space.


For now I don't even have a head unit installed in the car. Only music comes from the turbo 😅

Very much like that idea!