M30 OEM Turbo project

[robrez]

Maximum OEMness. Gotta love it.

[CorvallisBMW]

I had one or two last minute things to handle, and it's supposed to be 90F+ this weekend so I decided to tackle them yesterday. First off, replace the old Fram fuel filter that was last done in 2007...


Next up, I need a boost gauge. I really want one of those Econoboost gauges, but I've been waiting months for the guy to make them and he always keeps saying "next couple of weeks.... Next couple of weeks..." I can't wait any longer, so I went out and bought a matching VDO gauge from Summit: http://www.jegs.com/i/VDO/918/150-1011/10002/-1

First step was to route a boost line from the engine bay to the cabin. Seeing as how there are no good OEM routes, I had to make my own. After pulling the grills around the wipers, I scouted a route.

First step, remove cluster. Turns out this had never been done before!




Once the cluster was out, I removed the plastic air handling tubes, peeled back some insulation, located a good spot, and drilled.


The firewall here is actually 2 layers, separated by about 1" of airspace. I installed rubber grommets to prevent chafing. Here's the inner panel:


And the outer panel, seen through the wiper grill. The hole ended up being off-round but the grommet fit fine:


A third hole was also drilled in the firewall just next to the fuse box, allowing the tube to pass from the engine bay in to the wiper motor cowl.

Next I tee'd in to the boost controller line with a tee and a 1/8" to 1/16" reducer (the controller used a 1/8" line, the gauge uses 1/16")


Then ran it in to the cowl:


Once inside the cowl I needed to keep the line firmly secured out of the path of the moving wiper arms/linkages, so I picked up these little stick-on wire clips from the local hardware store


Here it is going through in to the cabin (the yellow goop is contact cement to hold the grommet in place)


And finally coming in behind the cluster


I don't want to permanently mount the gauge yet, just in case I can actually get an Econoboost gauge sometime between now and when I die, so zip-ties came to the rescue


If I have to, I'll relocate the boost gauge to my 3-gauge cluster above the ashtray and then replace my factory engine temp gauge with the VDO water temp. But that's for another day.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Why not delete the obc and put the boost gauge there?

[CorvallisBMW]

Because I like my OBC :)

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Because I like my OBC :)

true, The one in my late model is nice. The euro car one was just the clock and it didnt work so out it went.

[CorvallisBMW]

The last crucial part (exhaust gasket ring) should be hitting blunt in Minnesota today. Hopefully he can overnight it to me and the car can make it to the exhaust shop tomorrow.

I had hoped to have the exhaust long done by now and be doing some shakedown testing by this point... :/

[CorvallisBMW]

No gasket in Minnesota yesterday, so more delays on my end. Damn you BMW shipping! :curse:

[CorvallisBMW]

I have to give kudos to USPS, this is amazing:

Blunt dropped the package off at his local post office at 15:11 Eastern time yesterday. We chose 1-day shipping (not overnight) since it was about $30 instead of $65 (considering this part is the size of a kid's bracelet and weighs about 2 ounces, $65 seemed a bit ridiculous). It left Minnesota at 19:59 and arrived in Portland at 6:47 pacific time (+3 hours) and was on my doorstep by 9:07. Less than 21 hours from the time it was dropped off to the time it hit my door, using shipping that wasn't even supposed to be next-day. I am amazed.

The car goes to exhaust tonight!

[CorvallisBMW]

Yay exhaust time! Should be done in 5-ish days

[MR 325]

Hell yeah. I'm excited to see this thing!

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Awesome!

[TimeMachinE30]

Another super powered vert. Geesh. This will be silly.

[efficient]

Never noticed how clean the car looked

[cypriotgeeza]

That's the money shot right there!

Firstly I would like to say :bow:!! Amazing thread! Enjoyed every page!

I love to see a build done right! I hate seeing people just throwing in an engine without taking time to get it all both functional and appealing to the eye!

Amazing attention to detail! I'm really looking forward to whats coming next!

:up:

[CorvallisBMW]

Thank you very much! I've really tried to "do it right the first time" in hopes of increasing reliability and performance. It also means I won't have to go back in and tear out half the stuff to fix something I overlooked (or at least that's what I'm hoping for!)

I'm going to EDC in Vegas this weekend, leaving on Friday morning. Hopefully I'll have it back from the exhaust shop before then, but if not, I'll have to get it next Tuesday... which leaves me exactly 2.5 days to do some shakedown driving before I have to drive 90 miles to Tacoma