E30 Zone

just out of intrest / curiosity has anyone done a proper and reliable turbo conversion to one of these motors? how is it done?
which rods/ pistons are used to lower the compression ratio?
is the m50 inlet manifold used?

Loads of people have turbo'd them, respond to it very well and make good power on standard internals.

Will apparently handle 500hp with just arp's and a mls head gasket.

if you are serious about the conversion ask gunni on here im sure thats how you spell it his done a few turbo conversions and can also get good deals on turbos aswell or search his name and have a look through some threads of his

Is it worth chucking a turbo on an M52 tho??

Cant see the ally block lasting long...


If you have to use ARP bolts in most cases, that means taking the old bolts out, and putting these in, which can be a brow sweating moment in it's self,
and the reason people use ARP bolts.....

is to stop the head lifting on a normal block, the bolt threads on these M52's are a hell of a lot weaker than a normal block...

M50's take very well to turboing I've been in an M50 turbo bolted to a standard engine and went well. Lasted a couple of drift days until the water pump went.

M52 is probably a not a good idea due to alloy block.

There were pictures somewhere of an M52 turbo destruction, the cylinder liners were broke up and smashed into the head, messy

ross_jsy wrote:Loads of people have turbo'd them, respond to it very well and make good power on standard internals.

Will apparently handle 500hp with just arp's and a mls head gasket.

500hp?? that's a lot ,I think and depends a lot with a lot of things.... I'll try to turbo mine with STD too

DanThe wrote:There were pictures somewhere of an M52 turbo destruction, the cylinder liners were broke up and smashed into the head, messy

Nice.

ross_jsy wrote:Loads of people have turbo'd them, respond to it very well and make good power on standard internals.

Will apparently handle 500hp with just arp's and a mls head gasket.

so...I'll use 660cc injectors,VEMS, HX40 , everything to low down temperatures like e28 528i water radiator,huge Intercooler,oil radiator...do you think I can get 400bhp with these? I was thinkin' on forged pistons but if you're saying that we can get 500bhp with STD internals, that's a good new (to me ) ... I've a M52B28 I'll mount into m50block, his crankshaft,pistons and rods... about the MLS head gasket, what's the measure that you thinks it's needed? thanks

400bhp is possible with a standard m50 internals.
Are you hoping to run more power by using the m52b28 stuff?

Johnny_324td wrote:

ross_jsy wrote:Loads of people have turbo'd them, respond to it very well and make good power on standard internals.

Will apparently handle 500hp with just arp's and a mls head gasket.

so...I'll use 660cc injectors,VEMS, HX40 , everything to low down temperatures like e28 528i water radiator,huge Intercooler,oil radiator...do you think I can get 400bhp with these? I was thinkin' on forged pistons but if you're saying that we can get 500bhp with STD internals, that's a good new (to me ) ... I've a M52B28 I'll mount into m50block, his crankshaft,pistons and rods... about the MLS head gasket, what's the measure that you thinks it's needed? thanks

Buy a 0.140 gasket

It´ll definitely work to 500hp.

redcar wrote:400bhp is possible with a standard m50 internals.
Are you hoping to run more power by using the m52b28 stuff?

my idea is to get the full boost easier, the difference between 2.5 and 2.8 are in the torque about 50Nm (in engines without mods ), so I think it's a mod that I'll think about

Gunni wrote:

Johnny_324td wrote:

ross_jsy wrote:Loads of people have turbo'd them, respond to it very well and make good power on standard internals.

Will apparently handle 500hp with just arp's and a mls head gasket.

so...I'll use 660cc injectors,VEMS, HX40 , everything to low down temperatures like e28 528i water radiator,huge Intercooler,oil radiator...do you think I can get 400bhp with these? I was thinkin' on forged pistons but if you're saying that we can get 500bhp with STD internals, that's a good new (to me ) ... I've a M52B28 I'll mount into m50block, his crankshaft,pistons and rods... about the MLS head gasket, what's the measure that you thinks it's needed? thanks

Buy a 0.140 gasket

It´ll definitely work to 500hp.

thanks pal ,how much costs that gasket? I think I'll import one from there 'cause in Portugal that gasket don't exist, for sure

what engine management has everyone chosen?
megasquirt is the budget way i assume?
does the entry level dta stuff work?

Gunni does a plug and play VEMS system at a good price.

Sounds like you have covered most the bases, best advice is to do plenty of research

ross_jsy wrote:Gunni does a plug and play VEMS system at a good price.

Sounds like you have covered most the bases, best advice is to do plenty of research

yeah i will be, its only an idea at the moment, i have a spare m50 block hanging about so thought it could be used for something if my m52 goes tits up

oh really! well thats nice and easy!

is there a standard turbo to use? did i read someone using a 324d turbo? is that from an e34 right?

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=193194

Im thinking about one of these

The ones that Gunni's selling look decent, or if you are on a budget, a Holset HX35/40 will do depending on power needs.

Not the 324td turbo, it's the manifold some people use.

ross_jsy wrote:The ones that Gunni's selling look decent, or if you are on a budget, a Holset HX35/40 will do depending on power needs.

Not the 324td turbo, it's the manifold some people use.

I've plenty of those manifolds in my home , I don't believe they're plug & play in m50's... and with a HX30, I'm pretty sure that will not fit

Sorry, I meant the 324td manifold is what some people use turboing the m20.

the 324td turbo would be massively undersized for either an m20 or an m50.

Out of curiosity, does Gunni offer more than just advice on turboing the M50?
Does he "do" various levels of option?
He makes it sound so easy its a very tempting idea.

PM him, always been helpful with queries I have had. This is his website for the VEMS:

http://www.gstuning.net//e_xodus_frett.aspx?id=48

N00b wrote:Out of curiosity, does Gunni offer more than just advice on turboing the M50?
Does he "do" various levels of option?
He makes it sound so easy its a very tempting idea.

Anything you want, can be done.

gunni while every on is on the subject and my curiosity and probably others , i know you do a turbo kit for m20 on your site but do you offer a kit for m50b25 ,with intercooler and managment and if so what sort of region would you be looking at for 400-500 bhp (turn it down to 400 for pussy cruising lol jokes )

BATTS91 wrote:gunni while every on is on the subject and my curiosity and probably others , i know you do a turbo kit for m20 on your site but do you offer a kit for m50b25 ,with intercooler and managment and if so what sort of region would you be looking at for 400-500 bhp (turn it down to 400 for pussy cruising lol jokes )

If I can add something to this, what would a kit designed to produce 500bhp drive like if you turned it down to 400bhp?
I've driven cars like the RS500 that were designed with big bhp in mind but in standard trim they were laggy and a little sluggish.

BATTS91 wrote:gunni while every on is on the subject and my curiosity and probably others , i know you do a turbo kit for m20 on your site but do you offer a kit for m50b25 ,with intercooler and managment and if so what sort of region would you be looking at for 400-500 bhp (turn it down to 400 for pussy cruising lol jokes )

For a full drive in service for a M50 powered car the ticket is 7500pounds. Thats all inclusive.

ECU, Turbo, Exhaust, Wastegate, Intercooler, hoses, injectors, pipes, fitting, tuning, wiring, clutch, mls gasket, arp studs for the head.

This will give 500hp and 420lbs of torque before 4000rpm.

If you turn it down, it´ll drive the same just not make the same amount of top end power. The way these drive without boost is just like normal M50 cars, but they are always going to be more powerful even with low and part throttle.

dont want to ask too probing of a question, but where does the 7500 go? i can only see 3500-4000 there?

not trying to be rude btw, feel free to not answer that

ouch yes that is alot of money but id say that extra price is the fitting and tuning , i think the 4k mark would be heres all the parts ect and a base map on ecu fit it yaself jobby ive heard alot about gunnis work and its superb but spend 7.5k plus bigger brakes better suspension that alone gna cost ya another 1.5ish k its alot of money spesh in my case wen i want a respray aswell and complete overhaul lol think id use a diffrent shell lol

randomspeedfreak wrote:dont want to ask too probing of a question, but where does the 7500 go? i can only see 3500-4000 there?

not trying to be rude btw, feel free to not answer that

Thats totally a fair question.

Labour in creating a good turbo kit and a problem free installation takes time and money. A turbo manifold takes a very long time to make when it´s supposed to be good. It aint no 200quid like some ebay prices.

There are no available m50 turbo manifolds for any RHD car that allows me to use the Borg warner turbos I want to use. Making this costs plenty of cash. Stainless steel exhaust aren´t cheap to make either and no stainless steel ones are available in "3 diameter in the UK either.

Remember that this is a full drive in /pickup service.

Meaning you drop off your 192hp M50 vehicle and drive away with 500hp with warranty on workmanship.

500hp is not just a number out of the blue, when it comes down to it 500hp is a crap load of power, I sat in a 500hp Supra today after mapping it and we did 170mph rather easily. People see these numbers picked off the internet from here and there and think 500hp is not alot, people have alot more then that.
Well the fact is 500hp in a 1200-1300kg car is ALOT
Let alone with 420lbs torque as well.

what would a bov be including and what make are all these parts like intercooler ect , and what brake setup would you reccommend for this sort of power , using 16" rims ? top man

50mm Tial BOV.

I don´t even remember all the brand names right now, but let me get a list together and I´ll post it.

have you got a little list of parts/brands yet gunni interested inseeing this and for some possible future business as long as the following 6 months or so go well for me

Sorry been really busy everyday and every night to 11pm. I´m just clearing up a few tuning projects right now.

no worrys fella not in any rush here love the look of your work from pics do you have any videos of your m50 turbo conversions pal ?

Nothing ready yet.

Pics coming up soon of some work in progress.