M30 OEM Turbo project

[robrez]

Maximum OEMness. Gotta love it.

[stanhayward]

$1000 total is really reasonable given all of the supplies. Before I learned to weld (this experience is what motivated me to learn) I had a set of mid-pipes with a cat made to join my IE headers and exhaust and while they installed the headers and exhaust at the same time, that was $1100. Now that I weld though, I've built cat-backs with a centre and a rear muffler for $250 plus the welding materials ;) Much better.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Well it's kind of complicated...



Things I already have:

OEM downpipes

2-1 merge

cat

resonator

muffler

sensor bungs



Things he's supplying material for:

v-band (x1)

SS 2.5" bends

SS 2.5" straights

Aluminum 2" bends (for the charge piping)

Aluminum 2" straights (also for charge piping)



He says his total on material is right around $400, which is exactly what I priced it out at through Vibrant Performance. So that checks out. I'm budgeting another $600 for labor @ $50/hr. Hopefully it doesn't come to more than that.

That's not to bad. Cheaper then I've gotten anyone here to quote me. I'm glad I can just got from down pipe to muffler here.

[CorvallisBMW]

If I may ask. How much is he wanting for exhaust work?

Well it's kind of complicated...

Things I already have:
OEM downpipes
2-1 merge
cat
resonator
muffler
sensor bungs

Things he's supplying material for:
v-band (x1)
SS 2.5" bends
SS 2.5" straights
Aluminum 2" bends (for the charge piping)
Aluminum 2" straights (also for charge piping)

He says his total on material is right around $400, which is exactly what I priced it out at through Vibrant Performance. So that checks out. I'm budgeting another $600 for labor @ $50/hr. Hopefully it doesn't come to more than that.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

If I may ask. How much is he wanting for exhaust work?

[CorvallisBMW]

Well, hit a bit of a delay in the exhaust. I had planned to take it to the guy this weekend, but he called me last night and informed me he forgot that this weekend was his anniversary, and that his wife would not appreciate him cancelling their plans to work on a car :eeek:

Being married, I totally understand this. So the start of the exhaust work is getting pushed from Friday to Monday...

[CorvallisBMW]

It's not an easy solution, but a more permanent solution to your clearance issue might be having the exhaust turbo flange machined down thinner. That would raise the turbo up a bit. 1/4" might be enough.

Either that or a custom motor mount arm for that side. I've got a welder.

The arm is already custom from Otis, and it fits well. There's just no room in there.

I think what I'll do is pull out the arm and bust out the Dremel on the parts of the housing that are interfering. It won't be too bad.

[2mAn]

how do you mount these things? It didn't come with and fasteners, and zip ties won't cut it.

hit up Ireland Engineering and Im sure you can get the parts to secure it from them since they have the same type of fasteners

[AndrewBird]

It's not an easy solution, but a more permanent solution to your clearance issue might be having the exhaust turbo flange machined down thinner. That would raise the turbo up a bit. 1/4" might be enough.

Either that or a custom motor mount arm for that side. I've got a welder.

[TimeMachinE30]

I would say like the ACS emblems get mounted... or how I would think the M/Alpina/Hartge badges..

A bolt through the holes with a wide piece to thread on.. so a fender washer. Thing is finding a gold headed stud/bolt to use so as to not disturb that good looking badge. Then again gold plating kits are sometime at a local craft store.. or use your fancy gold racecar wrap to cover up a fastener's head if it is a good match.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

I also picked up this gem off eBay.de. My grandpa was born in Hamburg, and I walkways thought it would be cool to have some kind of tribute to him on my car. So I found this original grill badge from 1967 from a BMW Club rally in Hamburg. Should looks pretty cool mounted. But how do you mount these things? It didn't come with and fasteners, and zip ties won't cut it.

Maybe make your own metal clips?

[CorvallisBMW]

I also picked up this gem off eBay.de. My grandpa was born in Hamburg, and I walkways thought it would be cool to have some kind of tribute to him on my car. So I found this original grill badge from 1967 from a BMW Club rally in Hamburg. Should looks pretty cool mounted. But how do you mount these things? It didn't come with and fasteners, and zip ties won't cut it.

[CorvallisBMW]

I found the source of the ATF leak, I didn't have the larger feed hose in to the rack tightened down all the way. A quick wrench turn and it's dry as a bone. The oil leak however was more difficult to spot. There was already oil on the side of the block from when I removed the oil filter housing, so that didn't help.

I noticed some oil on the brass fitting I installed to carry the oil pressure sender. But I am confused as to how there could even be oil in that part of the engine, as it was totally empty until I filled it through the valve cover a couple weeks ago. That oil would have drained straight to the pan, and would not have ended up in the filter housing, correct? Anyway, I'll have to keep a close eye on it.

But being under the car did give me a chance to take care of a couple last-minute things. First, I hand-threaded the nuts on to the turbo and waste gate exhaust studs so that the exhaust shop would have them ready to go. And I attached the last manifold bolt that I couldn't reach from above. Then I set about making a heat shield for the passenger side motors mount since it sits so close to the turbo. So, leftover 16ga SS:


Add gold foil, because racecar


And install


You may be able to see in that last photo that the compressor housing is actually touching the motor mount arm... :eeek:
There's roughly 2" between the compressor housing and the subframe when the motor is properly positioned. So the mount arm and mount have to squeeze in to that 2" space, since the housing and subframe are fixed positions and cannot move. The only way to add clearance is to shave the arm (already done, you can kind of see the slope), or go with a shorter motor mount, which would angle the engine ever so slightly. My hope is that since the housing is aluminum, it will sort of just "self clearance" as things warm up and move around a bit. The interference isn't much (there's not a lot of force or pressure between the contact points) but there's no gap whatsoever. Maybe I'm being too casual about this?? I'd have to pull the motor mount arm out and grind on the housing a bit to get any more clearance, which I'm not super excited to do. Am I risking anything by leaving it this way?

[HennaE30]

M30 OEM Turbo project

looks much smaller in the picture because of the angle

Yea yea... That's what every guy says. Lol

Looks awesome dude.. Keep it up. I'm excited to see it finished and all.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Where at under the car is it?