E30 Zone

A customers car

Has a T3 turbo, running only 0.4bar boost or so now,

Needs a working TPS for proper idle control and cold starting, which is on its way.

Should see about 300/300 hp/lbs or so at higher boost, we´ll see what the turbo can do.

The AFM is still there as it´s what holds the air filter on.
It´s also running 95octane at this boost level. I´ll most likely go to higher octane fuel for a final push above 300hp and good amount of torque.

VEMS ecu,
440cc injectors
Ebay turbo manifold
"2.5 downpipe

Nice job there.

Gunni you should do some plug and play kits....

Your work is stunning mate..

There is no use in making pnp kits for M20´s.

They lack to many things to work well with a VEMS ecu.

I have gotten the wiring changes down to a minimum though these days. Only 4 new wires fitted to the loom to make it work with the ecu.

Very nice

What T3 did you use?

I don´t know the details of the turbo, but I am going to measure it when I go finish the tuning.

So I wound out the boost controller to the max, could have taken it off actually.

It now makes 290lbs torque and 282hp.
The boost reaches 1.2bar but I had to pull timing alot and then it drops down to .8bar where it then makes 282hp.

What sorta money you looking at gunni for a drive in drive out conversion to the same spec as this?

I´m not 100% sure.

Drive in / Drive out situations are complicated cause I need to be 100% sure the engine used is in TOP condition and isn´t going to fail a little while later, thats why a full engine rebuild is the only option when we do turn key setups. This of course adds to the cost but is the best way.


I only quote people turn key setups for 400-450hp M20 setups.
That´s about 10k as a full turn key setup with EVERYTHING needed and a full engine rebuild

Gunni wrote:I´m not 100% sure.

Drive in / Drive out situations are complicated cause I need to be 100% sure the engine used is in TOP condition and isn´t going to fail a little while later, thats why a full engine rebuild is the only option when we do turn key setups. This of course adds to the cost but is the best way.


I only quote people turn key setups for 400-450hp M20 setups.
That´s about 10k as a full turn key setup with EVERYTHING needed and a full engine rebuild

10k fook me

Realistic it would have to be diy for me then get some one like yourself to fit and map standalone management.

Cheers for the reply

Well 10k is alot of cash obviously.

But to do a turbo conversion with warranty of work you need to buy the good bits and get any machining done by a reputable company. So we decided that if we take on these types of jobs for higher power engines then they will have to be built to a known condition and then turbocharged.

Trevor a happy boy then

Nice !

Mate awesome work you do there! Shame I dont have 10k kicking about or would def come pay you a visit lol.

very nice.. i was always under the impression a T3 may be a bit on the small side for higher RPM's. do u think thats the case since the torque peaks higher than HP? i know this is a characteristic of the M20 tho which is why im asking.. i can get similar results (higher TQ than HP, not similar numbers lol) with my N/A M20 depending on how i set the ignition timing in the mid range.

wondering if its the T3 making less peak HP or if the mid range ignition timing is fairly aggressive and just makes it look like the T3 may be running out of steam higher up.

really want to boost my M20 sometime.. think if i do i will build a rear mount setup tho.

The ignition is extremely mild in the mid range actually to prevent detonation occuring.

The compressor is 50mm on this one which is good for 400hp. but requires great boost control which this setup at the time didn´t have or at least having problems with.

The boost was going to 1.2bar almost but dropping to 0.8bar where it made maximum power.
Thats why the torque was the way it was. It would have been around 350-360hp at 1.2bar if the boost had been holding.

The owner is coming back soon with a bigger turbo for more power.

forgive my ignorance on turbos.. never had a turbo car in my life bar a turbo diesel once and i never played with it.

is there a common size for T3, T4 etc? like if i wanted to turbo my M20 would any T3 do or would i need to look for specific sizes on the compressor and exhaust wheels? if/when i boost my M20 i would like to run a safe level of boost for a basically stock engine.. maybe 10psi or up to 1 bar.. id start at maybe 7-8psi and tune it thenincrease boost and keep tuning as i go until i reach 10psi or a little more. ive already got 315cc (30lb) injectors which should handle up to or around 10psi going by some turbo setups running 24lb injectors and seeing 8psi of boost.

i would like to boost my M20 at some point just getting the money together to buy the parts needed is the sticking point for me.

also has there been any problems with the ebay turbo manifold? at around £130 it seems quite cheap so if it works i could pinch pennies and buy one then hunt down a suitable turbo and collect necessary parts, etc, etc. i have actually been thinking more along the lines of a rear mount turbo setup as it would be cheaper to build myself and easier to remove at a later date.

I believe you will need remote oil filter housing kit to the e-bay item.

shouldnt be a big deal relocating the filter, just wondering if welds are prone to cracking or anything.

You do not need the relocate the filter if it´s a 325i oil cooler housing.

I know of a couple of these ebay ones in use and nobody is having issues.

interesting.. did they need any tweaking to fit or anything? heard stories of welds cracking or the flange not lining up totally and requiring cutting between each of the 6 pipes.

whats the easiest method of sorting out an oil feed for a turbo ontop of an ebay manifold? pissible to take the feed from the oil filter/cooler sandwich plate and returning it back there or returning it thru the oil cooler? would not be into pulling the sump or trying to weld in a return line bung in the side of the sump on the car tbh.

I drilled into the bolt that holds the oil cooler thing to the block

Like so.



No tweaking needed to fit the manifold

The sump is the only return you use.

what exactly did u do to the bolt? drill all the way thru it and thread the top to fit the return line or drill patrially down the bolt and then drill out the side somewhere?

also if the sump is the only suitable return can the return be done with the sump on the car?

lastly.. how much boost would i be able to run before risking cracking the head around the water jackets?

It´s a hollow bolt so drilled into it and tapped it.

The return can be done with the sump on the car but you risk getting metal shavings in the sump.

You can run any amount of boost you want.
Latest stock block record for M20 is 600whp+ with non welded head.

brian_s wrote:

Gunni wrote:I´m not 100% sure.

Drive in / Drive out situations are complicated cause I need to be 100% sure the engine used is in TOP condition and isn´t going to fail a little while later, thats why a full engine rebuild is the only option when we do turn key setups. This of course adds to the cost but is the best way.


I only quote people turn key setups for 400-450hp M20 setups.
That´s about 10k as a full turn key setup with EVERYTHING needed and a full engine rebuild

10k fook me

Realistic it would have to be diy for me then get some one like yourself to fit and map standalone management.

Cheers for the reply

I would say 10K for a 400-450hp M20 fully rebuilt by Gunni is a bit of a bargain!

Nice work again Gunni

Gunni wrote:It´s a hollow bolt so drilled into it and tapped it.

The return can be done with the sump on the car but you risk getting metal shavings in the sump.

You can run any amount of boost you want.
Latest stock block record for M20 is 600whp+ with non welded head.

wow

whats all the fuss over welding the water jackets then? just a handful of people running bad tunes and detonating/cracking the water jacket and blaming the design rather than the tuner?

do you need a restrictor in the oil feed line from the tapped bolt?

also have you had any experience with that HTS-2000 alloy brazing stuff? from what ive seen it looks like a good job so i bought some but havent used any of it yet. could carefully drill the sump and then try and flush any shavings out of the drain hole then get an alloy nipple and attach it to the sump with HTS-2000.. where is the best location for the return into the sump?

The heads do crack, thats just how they are. But they don´t crack from pressure but by design, some crack , some just dont.

Your restrictor needs are all based on the turbo you plan on running, generally no for journal bearings.

Nope no experience.

Welding a ally pipe on to the sump is my favorite way, the sump comes of easy enough anyway.
Besides if your fitting ARP´s and MLS gasket then you might as well just take the thing out , it´s only 2 hours to remove a M20