The Ecobeamer

[rzerob]

Congratulations. Did you get the turn signal switch flipped?

[hkv]

Congratulations. Did you get the turn signal switch flipped?

Thank you man... nah it isn't something I care about that much but I will orient it the right way eventually, just have to flip it the opposite way you would think. it still works.

[hkv]

I spent allot of time today driving the car. it was a good day. the car works good. put between 50-100 miles on her(speedo not calibrated yet). I went to an autoparts store to have them double check the computer with a scan and their scanner confirmed I have zero DTCs, nice. I parked out front of the door and the car stopped a couple people in their tracks as they left, no hood so they were checking out the motor. one old guy said "that looks like a ford!" hahah I told him yep, 2.3l ecoboost. another guy stopped me as I was pulling out and said his friend just wrecked his e30 at sebring and then briefly talked to me about the car and asked about the swap and how often people do it. told him this was the first and the only ecoboost swapped bmw. he took some pics and then I left. no one has given me shit about the paint... YET. lol.


when I first took the car out halfway to town I blew a charge pipe so I had to turn around to fix that lol

https://youtu.be/sEaZjA28PKs

after that no real issues to speak of. the car/motor is really confidence inspiring. I did have a couple alarming noises over the course of the day, maybe a socket falling out of the car or something, idk lol.
heres my little review of the car so far.

-suspension feels absolutely great for a street application, for track use it could definitely be much firmer.

-motor starts up like nothing, behaves pretty good, has great throttle response and decent power(will definitely need a tune, 300hp/ ft/lbs aint enough. I gotta do more than that) hits about 20 psi max, 15 continuously. pulls 30 in hg vacuum on decel and 20 at idle.

-voltage holds steady at 15v when the car is running, that's good. fuel gauge works now and is accurate. fuel pressure holds steady at 55psi. coolant temp stays around 180-190. rpm gauge isn't accurate(setting must be wrong) speedo needs to be calibrated

-the transmission is FANTASTIC, god I love the tko. thing shifts so easy like its already been broken in yet its brand spanking new. the shift throws are so short and tight. the tranny is just perfect. very happy with my gear ratios too(wide ratio)

-the car(not just the exhaust) is very loud, it hurts my ears to be honest. also to be honest the exhaust doesn't sound that great from inside the car from the outside it probably sounds much better. what does sound amazing is the turbo whistle, like a freaking jet engine

-what else is there to say, its a car, a really rattly vibraty race type car but I drive it around like its nothing. went and ate dinner with a friend of mine and get it in it to go home and it starts right up and drives off like a normal car but louder. shifts really great.



heres a vid of me cruising around... ignore the remarks about slipping the tires, I think I was mistaking another sound for slippage becauase I went WOT later that night 1st through 4th and it surprisingly didn't really slip the tires much or at all from what I could tell. the thing freaking rips though but I could definitely go for another 100 ft/lbs of torque.

https://youtu.be/VdYjHqybKXU

I didn't got full throttle in that vid I need to get another one of ripping through the gears because she rully pulls hard when you open her up.


anyways ive invested a lot of time and money into this project. id guess and say I have atleast 300 probably close to 500 hours of work in this thing so to finally get to see things come together to a working result feels good! Cheers boys!!

[hkv]

And I managed to get her going before 2020 hit!!! good foundation for the new year, woot woot!

[mike.bmw]

Congrats on getting it done and driving it before 2020!

[hkv]

Congrats on getting it done and driving it before 2020!

Thank you very much!!

[hkv]

post drive update:


Did a checkup on the car.

first thing that caught my eye before I even got her up on jackstands was this:


Glad I caught it before it got any worse and came off!! I removed that fastener and the one for the other side gave em a good dose of thread locker and the reinstalled.

then I saw one of my exhaust hanger bushings was getting squeezed so I removed the bolt and added a washer, problem solved. while under there I smelled gas and discovered that I have a slight fuel leak/weep at the fuel cell to fuel pump fittings, I hope everything's ok because the fuel pump is kinda pushing up on the fittings, I tightened them up best I could and am hoping that will fix that well see. other than that there is not a single fuel, brake/clutch fluid, oil, coolant, diff or tranny leak to speak of. cant see any carbon that would indicate an exhaust leak, all good stuff!!

I fairly thoroughly inspected the underside of the car for loose, damaged, cracked, parts. no issues!

I was even pleasantly surprised to discover my oil pan in fact did not get scraped on that dip in the road I was talking about. maybe an exhaust vband or something made the noise.



very pleasantly surprised how good everything's doing after putting a couple hours of driving through her!

Cheers!

[LowR3V'in]

i probably missed it but is this going to be drifter or just like a weekend street racer or what.

[hkv]

i probably missed it but is this going to be drifter or just like a weekend street racer or what.

anything goes. I just wanna have fun with it. I would love to try out some drifting(at a closed course location). planning to go to car meets, do some road course racing at the firm( florida international rally and motorsports park), autocross. my friend invited me to go drag racing in a few days so im planning for that, just a little worried about how rough drag racing is on vehicle, I would probably take it real easy at first. edit: although on second thought my tko tranny is more than up to the task of drag racing, very robust tranny

[moatilliatta]

Good to see it got going, Esp before 2020! Congrats!

I use these for quick changes
http://www.longacreracing.com/products.aspx?itemid=2445&prodid=10270&pag etitle=Toe-Plates-with-Magnets-(pair)

If you want to attempt an alignment in your garage you can use these

https://www.smartracingproducts.com/smartstrings

[rjmcdermott81]

Dude. This build rocks. If you take it drag racing let us know how well it does.

[hkv]

Good to see it got going, Esp before 2020! Congrats!

I use these for quick changes
http://www.longacreracing.com/products.aspx?itemid=2445&prodid=10270&pag etitle=Toe-Plates-with-Magnets-(pair)

If you want to attempt an alignment in your garage you can use these
https://www.smartracingproducts.com/smartstrings

thankyou man! I used the plates to set my alignment and I think it worked out pretty good

[hkv]

Dude. This build rocks. If you take it drag racing let us know how well it does.

Thanks so much man!! im not sure if ill go this weekend anymore but I will absolutely let you guys know what time I pull off whenever I do give it a go.

[hkv]

Happy New Years Everyone!!!

https://youtu.be/K4B-95nPwH8

[formyhealth]

First off!






Secondly, that sounds really nice! Way to go man, happy you pulled it off.