SNAFU; high performance 318is build that lives up to the name, Turbo M42 ➞ Turbo M20

[varg]

No it's pretty much the same as a 325i radiator, it just has a thicker core, the small hose at the top left of the pictures goes to the 325i expansion tank.

As for its performance, my idle is definitely significantly cooler, and it is a couple of degrees cooler than it was before while on the road. But unfortunately with the AC on the temperature still rises, just more slowly than before and not to the same degree.

[econti]

Z3M still has integrated expansion tank yeah? Think I can see it on the side?

Good find though, I'll have to get one for mine. Aus heat with turbo engine and i/c in front of rad will be nasty, so that should do the trick

[varg]

It has been a busy summer for my E30, I've been putting a lot of miles on it. As soon as the summer heat started to kick in, my coolant temp started climbing too. It was fine (185-195°) when I'm moving, but once I encountered traffic it would climb past 200°, which I do not like. The fan clutch passed the magazine test, but my fan looked wrong (9 slightly undersized blades instead of 11 broad ones) so I replaced it with a new 11 blade unit, it made only a small difference. While I waited for the new fan I drove around hoodless to beat the heat, but I quickly tired of that.







Then I flushed the radiator and got a bunch of crap out of it, that made barely any difference. So I finally dropped some cash and ordered a new Z3M radiator, which is a direct fit upgrade for an E30 and is a little thicker than the stock radiator. Between the thicker core and it being brand new and not coated in filth inside and out, I think this should do the trick.

New


Old


It drops right in, but the fan shroud doesn't fit between the fan and the radiator now.


Will it solve the problem? I sure hope so. I'm going to have to get creative and figure out a shroud.

While I'm at it, time for an AC update. It works well while driving, not so much in traffic, and it has trouble cooling the car down when it has been sitting in the sun for a while. My car is like an oven in the summer heat with this worn out black paint. There's no room for a condenser fan with the big intercooler, so there isn't much I can do to improve the AC performance at idle. I'm exploring other options.

[varg]

I was feeling quite sold on ITB's so I could also run AC here in Texas...

Stop swaying my build goals damn it...

Well, now you know it can be done. There's a lot to consider when making those decisions but I never considered ITBs for a second because I want cheap power :devil:

[zwill23]

I was feeling quite sold on ITB's so I could also run AC here in Texas...

Stop swaying my build goals damn it...

[varg]

A/C is must down here. I just did a 134 retrofit on my 84, new condenser, expansion valve, O-rings and rebuild compressor. Blows nice and cold.
Congrats on the garage.!

Gotta have it. The lack of condenser fan is going to hamper its performance at idle though. I'm considering buying an expensive 16" curved blade Spal to replace the clutched fan. Should move a good bit more air at idle than the stock clutch fan and help the condenser out. Shame my powerful Volvo 960 fan won't fit with the M20.

I ile your progress.. Have you considered R152 refrigerant? My friend swears by it as a cheap alternative. He has a tool to extract it from those air duster cans.

I've considered propane based on other people's experiences but never though of that. Propane makes a good refrigerant (see this and this) and is cheap and easy to get. You can't get those canned air dusters without a bittering agent in them, I'd be concerned about the reactivity of that compound in the system. If this system can't handle the heat with R134a I very well might vac it down and put propane in its place.

Nice work! Having a garage is a godsend.

Thanks, sure is! :up:

[CorvallisBMW]

Having air conditioning in your turbo E30 requires some tight squeezes. But I'm not playing make believe race car driver here, this is a street car.

Tell me about it

Nice work! Having a garage is a godsend.

[Bearmw]

I ile your progress.. Have you considered R152 refrigerant? My friend swears by it as a cheap alternative. He has a tool to extract it from those air duster cans.

[Good & Tight]

A/C is must down here. I just did a 134 retrofit on my 84, new condenser, expansion valve, O-rings and rebuild compressor. Blows nice and cold.
Congrats on the garage.!

[varg]

BIG
Update.
I've been very busy. I moved, and now have a garage! A dream come true.




I ripped an engine mount apart launching the car.




Temporarily "repaired" it with a ratchet strap.




And replaced my old junk with what are essentially 95a skateboard wheels with a bolt through them. (not really but that's what I thought of them when I received them)



But what I've really been looking forward to doing in my garage was reinstalling the air conditioning system in my car. Because of my intercooler placement, this required removing the front end to get at the AC lines, which were seized on the condenser quite badly.






Here's my homemade "flush gun" which I used to blast a proprietary flush fluid I sprayed into the lines through the system.




Having air conditioning in your turbo E30 requires some tight squeezes. But I'm not playing make believe race car driver here, this is a street car.




Busted out my old friend the free kludge vacuum pump for this, it did a great job as always.



No thorough testing of the AC system has been done yet, it has been cool here for the past couple of days so I have been enjoying the last good riding days of spring on my motorcycle. We'll see how things shape up when the temperature hits the 90s later this week.

Also,

working on your car on a rainy day and not getting wet and angry is such a nice feeling, and I'm lucky to now know it after paying my dues doing this car guy stuff for a decade in the brutal sun and pouring rain.

[ThatM20Guy]

Black intercooler for super stealth :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sam_]

lookin gooood

[ForcedFirebird]

Couple squirts of flat black on the exposed pipes and those pipes will blend right in. Looking good tho.

[varg]

[varg]

I'm always wondering why you put inlet pipes like that?
Especially this left one - it's very low. And you got quite long route from turbo to throttle body. Short one will get some spool improvements and quicker throttle response.

There's no other way to mount my intercooler. Some people mount them upright and run the pipes under the headlights; I can't do this because it is too large and the end tanks interfere with the AC lines. The one on the driver's side is like that because it's what I could do with the off-the-shelf couplers and pipes I had. I'm not equipped to weld aluminum so I can't really fab up a custom pipe which doesn't hang down like that, getting one welded up by someone else? Money I don't want to spend yet, maybe when it bothers me more... You'd have to see under the front end to see why it wound up like that. As for it affecting response, it's unlikely that it has a significant effect. The pipes are not oversized, and long runs are common in OEM setups, ever seen the piping on a Z32 300ZX? something like 12' of piping between the turbos and the throttle body, and not known to be an excessively laggy car.