M50 Turbo Winter Project

[SirMaxximus]

Picked up a skinnier SPAL pusher. Really tight. Jumped the switch and she turned right on.





Finished Charge piping. Also routed a makeshift catch can out of an old water bottle.







FIRST START UP WILL BE SOON. just waiting on a driveshaft, needs fluids, and a few little odd's and ends back together.

[SirMaxximus]

Okay... After alot of messing around I got something that will work. Unfortunately I don't have a definite answer for anyone looking to do this in the future. I had at my disposal an entire assembly from a (ZF) 328 as well as an entire assembly from an (getrag250) 325. The honest answer is nothing works perfectly. Here's the ZF carrier:



Here's the G250:



I ended up taking a torch and bending the G250 carrier so it would sit more centered. this was surprisingly easy and worked great. but lining up the shifter was an entirely different story, slightly too far back or forward depending on the linkage rod used. also depending on the shifter and which way you flip it, any of these variations would work fine realistically, but they dont sit perfect and would have bothered me... I ended up modifying some things with a welder and got it to sit perfect. So I'm happy. Here's the end result:





Also got the intake + injectors on. Filled the tranny up with some Redline. Hoping to start up in a couple weeks



This is truly feeling like a project car now... everytime I think I have everything worked out.. I run into another issue...

Current issues:
Driveshaft adapter I bought wont work... my current driveshaft is an 1" too long to fit... I had a driveshaft shop that was going to shorten and rebalance it for me... but then they called me and told me they wouldn't do it because BMW used friction welds... didn't realize this was a thing... either way that idea went out the window... so I actually found and bought the "correct" shaft out of a 328 from someone over at bimmerforums... I have doubts it will fit, I'll believe it when I see it at this point!

2: picked up a SPAL fan on craigslist for cheap. my stock fan was dangerously close to the radiator and I thought it was time to make a switch.. I thought the SPAL I got would fit... but it doesn't, its too thick to fit. I'll have to settle on a more expensive one that pushes less air but is thinner... Frustrating, now I gotta sell this useless fan and useless driveshaft adapter!

3: Intake elbow hits the brake master if I try to angle downward... was hoping to be simple and just use one straight charge pipe on that side... not a huge deal I'll just need to pick up a couple 45 degree couplers to solve this... starting to feel pretty broke and havn't even done first startup yet....But I'm pretty well past the point of no return now tho, I left my original budget back in 2017 somewhere

[SirMaxximus]

this thread has some info on shift linkages although it doesn't really give a clear answer. I'd go with pazi on this one and try and run the 328i carrier to see if that will center your shifter up.

Yea, no definite answer.. But after looking at part numbers the carrier I have currently is definitely a 325 e36 one... So I'm gonna meet up w my local guy later this week and swap him for a 328 one and see how much closer it is!

[wworm]

this thread has some info on shift linkages although it doesn't really give a clear answer. I'd go with pazi on this one and try and run the 328i carrier to see if that will center your shifter up.

[SirMaxximus]

Hello Engine Butthole, you look nice today.



Hello new clutch and flywheel. you also look quite fine.



Oh and whats this! New ZF320!... yeah I bit the bullet and just picked up a ZF this week... that getrag probably woulda worked for a bit if I welded up the bell housing... but it just seemed like it didn't have long left for it.





Found a place that makes adapters for my current driveshaft. So should be good there. my local guy who sold me the tranny said he'd get me whatever linkage and carrier I need from his stockpile. But wasnt sure exactly what was needed so I told him I'd let him know what I need once I get it in. I'll for sure need longer linkage, this ones not even close.. the carrier is really close tho! sits about perfect front to back. but sits a bit to the passenger side.. anyone know what exact carrier I'd need to have it sit centered perfectly? It looks like it would work but might be tough to get into 5th... hard to tell without the linkage in yet.




Also Big shout out to my buddie zack. He came back out today and we finished up the exhaust. Wastegate re-routed into the mid-pipe.









My niece is pretty cute

[pazi88]

The output shaft doesn't fit.

E36 328i linkage is bolt-on to e30 with 5-speed ZF.

[SirMaxximus]

ZF from e46 330i, UUC clutch, e36 m3 auto driveshaft, modified 330i linkage. The modified linkage is meh though, I will probably buy a chassis mounted shifter sooner or later.

You also have to extend and reinforce the trans brace, not a big deal if you have a welder and know how to use it okay. I have more info in my build thread as well

Either ZF trans you use will have shorter gearing though so you'll want a longer diff if you're not already running one. I went for a 3.25 but a 2.93 might be more suitable for a turbo car like yours

Interesting... Thanks for this info mate... I'll keep my eyes open for one, if I can find it in the right price range I'd be down for this route... I think the ZF310 or 320 is more at my price point tho... I dont really need 6 gears realistically, but who doesn't like 6 gears! lol And yea I've already got a 2.93 on it for boost, so the ZF ratio should be really similar to my G250... I think its the 260 that has way different ratio's.


Does anyone know if I can use my shift linkage from my G250 on a ZF? just trying to get a grasp on what I realistically need to hunt down if I was to swap.

So far I understand I need:
-Driveshaft from 96+ 328/m3
-CSB from an e30 to mate to the new driveshaft (lets face it, the old one will get damaged if I try to remove it)
-Larger guibo for ZF
-Different Shift linkage?
-Different Clutch fork? (probably not... same throw out bearing... but if someone can confirm)

1 more thought: has anyone ever tried to swap the output shaft's in the ZF and getrag?... If they swapped, I sure feel like I'd be able to use my current driveshaft / guibo / CSB and save a buttload of money... I get that I'd be loosing the benifit of the larger guibo, but if I kept the flange I could easily swap back once I find an affordable driveshaft.. seems like people are charging silly amounts for these things

[mitchlikesbikes]

What are the details on a 6 speed? Havn't seen much info on this, what trans, shift linkage, and driveshaft did you use?

ZF from e46 330i, UUC clutch, e36 m3 auto driveshaft, modified 330i linkage. The modified linkage is meh though, I will probably buy a chassis mounted shifter sooner or later.

You also have to extend and reinforce the trans brace, not a big deal if you have a welder and know how to use it okay. I have more info in my build thread as well

Either ZF trans you use will have shorter gearing though so you'll want a longer diff if you're not already running one. I went for a 3.25 but a 2.93 might be more suitable for a turbo car like yours

[SirMaxximus]

I would definitely go ZF 310 or 320 at this point. Not really worth saving an old beat up g260 and the ZF will hold a lot more turbski power. Orrrr you could 6 speed swap it like me

What are the details on a 6 speed? Havn't seen much info on this, what trans, shift linkage, and driveshaft did you use?

[mitchlikesbikes]

I would definitely go ZF 310 or 320 at this point. Not really worth saving an old beat up g260 and the ZF will hold a lot more turbski power. Orrrr you could 6 speed swap it like me

[SirMaxximus]

Okay... So I have good news... and I have bad news.... Lets start with the good:

Finished all the wiring in the interior today! Plugged the battery in, got my power probe out and did some testing. Everything powers up and seems to be working good!








Okay.. So now for the bad news: After finishing the wiring, I decided to pull the tranny so I could put the new clutch in..



So glad I got a new clutch... Its always grabbed with no issues. But it looks pretty toasted at this point. I got the gripforce FX stage 3 kit.



Okay.... so heres the bad part... as soon as I started pulling the tranny I noticed a rather large crack in the bell housing... Its tough to see in the photo's, but I'm shining my light on the other side and its pretty obvious in person.... So here's my question, Should I bother trying to repair this or is it a lost cause? should I just suck it up and buy a ZF cause this things gonna blow as soon as I boost it anyways? or can I get a year out of it and save some money?... Its also got a little more input shaft play than I'd like... because of these two reason's I'm a little bummed on it... I don't have a dial indicator to measure the shaft play but I'd bet its out of spec.... Its always driven quite and smooth for me tho.

[SirMaxximus]

Those Bosch gauges are pretty rad.
The FX 3 clutch lasted years in my car making 320wtq, but started slipping at 400wtq upon the 15th or so dyno run after years of use and slight abuse. Just some friendly info.

Appreciate it mate, sounds good, I figure if I get years of use out of it with slight abuse I can't complain at that price!

[ak-]

Those Bosch gauges are pretty rad.
The FX 3 clutch lasted years in my car making 320wtq, but started slipping at 400wtq upon the 15th or so dyno run after years of use and slight abuse. Just some friendly info.

[SirMaxximus]

So, not alot has happened in the last few weeks. Made little progress on the exhaust.. But will get back to this soon. The wastegate will end up routed back into the exhaust. I got it all moched up with a flex pipe on it and another V-band to make things easier to remove.. It'l work nice

Otherwise. I mounted the turbo, oil drain, intercooler into their spots for good. Installed waterpump, thermostat, drive belt. Oil pressure sender and ran a bunch of wiring for gauges and things.. Got a lot of little things done basically. Bought some charge piping and got that cut to size. 2.5" on the hot side, 3" cold side

I kinda hate this green intake filter but it was dirt cheap and it will work so I cant complain




Had to trim and make some brackets for that lower piece to fit now with the intercooler + pipping in the way... all fits nice! I need to paint that piece to match now, its been the wrong color since I bought the car! but all fits and clears, lower bumper does as well! I'm going to be relying alot on airflow from the lower apron, was hoping more of the top would show through the kidneys!


Going to pick up an FX stage 3 clutch and chromoly flywheel from gripforce once I get my tax return. I also need an intake elbow, thinking the CES Stainless elbow but open to cheap suggestions that would hold boost... the Mishimoto one is like $70 and that seems crazy to me.... Otherwise I think I literally have all my other parts to get started! I've been seriously contemplating doing E85, but I already have 42lb injectors in hand and a full tank of 93.... So I'm gonna get up and running first and maybe go that route as long as this headgasket holds my 8-10 psi on pump.... Might be able to boost a bit higher on E85 without so much stock compression risk that way! We'll see, not too worried either way and getting excited to drive this thing and tired of this freakin cold. Minnesota sucks

[SirMaxximus]

Wrapped and done.. working on the midpipe and + wastegate routing... I've decided to route it back into the exhaust rather than dump pipe it!