M30 Turbo update thread ****RUNNING

[will325is]

I think 2.5 (the whole way) is good for about 350-400bhp then you want 3 this is true for m20 not sure about m30 guess it should be similar really.

[glenn]

i'm watching this thread with great intrest toby, as i can see myself doing this at some point.
and you deserve a medal the size of a dustbin lid for working outside on a project in this weather.
that m30 looks awesome with that turbo hanging on its side.
keep up the good work mate, and give us more pics please

[will325is]

what turbo to be used will be bloody revealed when the ebay seller bothers to send it

Should try setup a group buy on some HX40's , i know proturbo do new condidtioned ones for about Ԛ£600 but that meant to be expensive need to look for some other places in europ and could probly get it down to Ԛ£300-400 for new condition HX40 which is a great turbo for these engines.

Ive phoned some turbo places in UK that specialise in petrol turbos and had some crazy prices like 1k for a HX40 and Ԛ£950 for a GT37 from turbo dynamics, tried some truck turbo supplies for the holset but they cant ever help you without a engine code or exchange recon.

If anyone knows somewhere in UK let me know where or I think ill be ordering from europe. Ive tried all the suppliers on holset distributers list in UK and some turbo places in auto trader.

[lentec]

When you weld your pipes to the cast i found that bolting/clamping
the flange to a thick steel plate to stop it warping and heating the part of the manifold you intend to weld untill its just glowing then weld from the manifold onto the pipe so you dont blow throu the pipe!
Not sure if this is how its ment to be done but it worked great for my six branch

Might be worth bracing the turbo flange to the top of the front manifold to make sure no nasty cracking.

Looking good

[craigieeb]

you must love working in the shittyest weather known to man, your allway's doing stuff in the freekin snow,
you nutta,

but it does look good, and should shift a bit like
good work

cant wait to race you fella,

[Jon_Bmw]

been wondering about the downpipe. need someone to tell me what to use really, suspected using too small tube might lead to problems. 3" seems pretty big? what i've used here is the same diameter as the outlet on the volvo turbo, about 2.25"

what turbo to be used will be bloody revealed when the ebay seller bothers to send it

nah. a cheap american T3/T4, brand new for about Ԛ£150 (the seller presumably ordered it from the USA then changed his mind)

going to have to make a trip to birmingham to see him if it isn't here in a week, i have his address

and yes i have frostbite, wish i had a bloody garage

I am by no means an expert on downpipes but going by logic the standard 3.5 one must be about 2 inch +? Bearing in mind you will end up with another 1/3 of the power i would think about a bigger downpipe. I'm on 2.5 inches and thats with the tiny turbo, but to be fair i haven't had chance or inclination to manufacture a smaller downpipe to check its performance.

Was that on ebay?, if so i must have missed it. I usually have half an eye on turbos on there. Some people need arses kicking to get stuff delivered, there happy once they've got the money then to lazy to post the bloody thing quickly.

[Jon_Bmw]

Just found this little link for you Toby:

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15509

Its basically saying use 3 inch or bigger for the whole exhaust

2.5 is too small, but as i always say the Americans do like there "big is brilliant" These are for m20's so i think with anything less then 3 inch on your m30 you're gonna hit problems.

Something you'll find when you get your hands on 3 inch diameter pipe, is how bloody big it is, probably shock you.

Something worth bearing in mind is that the bigger you go the less sharp corners you'll be able to buy mandrel bent.

[Toby_Unna]

cool, cheers Jon will have a think. u gotta watch these people though, as you say they can get a bit excited. i've had some funny things suggested as 'absolute minimum specification' for this project

only 1 thing - what does 'buy' mean?

entire manifold and downpipe is from the scrapyard so far

3" will make clearances a bit tighter - but it's gone a bit too easy for my liking so far...

the turbo only came from brum which is less than an hour away from me, and i have an address which the bloke managed to get the cheque through... so when i get fed up i'm going over there in a battered m535i with a lot of mates inside

Glenn Craig etc cheers for the comments they're appreciated. was starting to feel a little inadequate against the new competition but hopefully this will redress the balance! Craig i have been welding and grinding like mad which keeps you surprisingly warm! have already killed 1 angle grinder due to using it a bit hard

[Batch]

Some questions: isn't the turbo on m106 engined e23 745 supported on the bodywork?
And what have you done to the engine itself - bottom end, head? What is the compression?
Looking 4ward to building a 335Ti when 335i is finished.

[Toby_Unna]

Some questions: isn't the turbo on m106 engined e23 745 supported on the bodywork?
And what have you done to the engine itself - bottom end, head? What is the compression?
Looking 4ward to building a 335Ti when 335i is finished.

no idea about the 745i mate look on an e23 board. i have done nothing to the engine whatsoever, standard compression is 9:1 as i remember which is relatively low, i'm not going for silly boost levels and this engine can cope well with moderate boost on standard internals.

probably get a better response on a 5-series board?

[Batch]

Wasn't the compression 10:1?

[Andy335Touring]

Wasn't the compression 10:1?

The later E34/2 M30 was 9.0:1 , fine for low to medium boost i think ?

You can get uprated head studs and head gaskets for an extra margin of durability.

If you want mid to high boost use the M106 bottom end, low comp 8.0:1 pistons and piston oil squirters.



Toby, are you going to use an oil cooler ?

[Batch]

I recently found out that there were also e28 535 with cat and compression 8:1 and 185Hp. I suppose its the right thing to get a plug-and-play turbo on it

[Andy335Touring]

Heres a use full M30 referance to have on your HD

[jonmsm]

Toby - what can I say. This is the mother of all idea's. Not sure I want to know where the idea originated from but its an awesome one never the less. Glad to hear the M535 is back on the road, mine is now off the road awaitng its pump, diff, tank and as and when I can afford... new exhaust.

Also, I think I found a nice Audi for my bro... so the 320 might be mine again... and seen as it suffers from a problem i like to call m20... it could once again be the basis for considering a project like yours lthought possibly a bit extreme!

Seems the turbo build is coming along well thought, you sure dont mess about getting things sorted. just out of interest - the exhaust manifolds.. are they just upturned standard ones so the pipe faces up not down?

Looking forward to seeing some more photos soon as the project has made for some interesting discussions whiling away bored time at halfords avaoiding putting stock away! haha

Jon

[Toby_Unna]

jon, will call u, been busy but welding now no probs dude.

...Have now got my turbo!!

how small does the old volvo T3 look!

[Andy335Touring]

Looks a big bugger mate !

I'm glad it finally turned up for you.

Have you eyed it up in the engine bay to see how it might match up to your manifolds ?

And will the bonnet still shut !

[Toby_Unna]

gawd knows

didn't realise it was this big tbh. the turbine A/R ratio is 0.84

haven't had a chance to do a trial fit yet, due to snow

next on shopping list are some flanges and a wastegate...

[Andy335Touring]

haven't had a chance to do a trial fit yet, due to snow

LOL, that didn't stop you taking your old engine out last crimbo

Now you know what size it is have you tried to use one of those flow chart things to see how much boost you can get out of it ?

[Toby_Unna]

um no not yet those boost charts give me a headache!

will have to do so though. and yes if it's snowing tomorrow i'm outside anyway

will come round for that diff sometime if ok mate. poor 335 is in a state at the moment, no diff, no exhaust, and the m535 wouldn't bloody start the other day because the fuel pump fcuked up so that's nicked of the e30 too. will it ever run again?!

[Jon_Bmw]

Thats only about 4 times the size of my turbo

Does it not say the A/R ratio is .50 on the casting or am i being stupid?

External wastegate-----SWEET

[craigieeb]

GO ON FELLA

[Toby_Unna]

good and big innit!

do have another question though. is there any need to have my downpipe/exhaust system a bigger diameter than the exit flange diameter on the turbo?

currently have 2.25" downpipe mocked up, and was going to make a bigger one, but do i need it?

[Toby_Unna]

also have a few questions about manifold and flange. is this a t3 or t4 flange? guess i'd better measure it.
and as it's twin entry, do i keep the two 3-1 collectors separate and feed one into each entry, or mix them? and if keep separate then does wastegate go on only one or both?

sorry if hard to understand, not totally sober

[Ant]

twin entry is designed for a split pulse manifold dude, twin pipes into twin flange into twin entry.

I'd say T4 flange, if in doubt order a base gasket 1st to make sure, then get that cut outa some 12mm steel

have to say , done two long trips inthe SE'T now, its superb mate, just in case you need more encouragement,

[Toby_Unna]

Does it not say the A/R ratio is .50 on the casting or am i being stupid?

think that's the comp A/R ratio mate or am i missing something

exhaust turbine a/r is 0.84

[Toby_Unna]

came with a gasket dude!
but was thinking you can buy weldable flanges on ebay.com or maybe can get one frrom a turbo place in the uk?

any idea what i can do about the wastegate plumbing?

[Jon_Bmw]

It says its a t04e on the turbo, or am i too drunk to read properly. Is that the flange or am i going mental, does look like a t4 to me

[Turbo-Brown]

Wow that's massive!

Think if it were me, I'd rig it so that cyls 1-3 exit into one half and 4-6 go into the other half, with a nice smooth Vee shaped takeoff for the wastegate being fed from them both.

I'd have thought that having the bore of the pipe the same as the exducer would do fine.

Thinking that this will be the biggest restriction, and that the diameter of the exhaust piping can afford to reduce the further away from the engine it gets as the gas gets colder and denser from there on down.

[glenn]

that blower looks like it has come off a train
what are you doing about a wastegate toby?
i've got a janspeed twin turbo set-up here for a rover v8, and the wastegates are on the manifold's.
let me know if you need a pic and i'll go dig them out

[Batch]

Any ideas which parts (pistons, etc) to use to modify the engine for running high boosts?

[lentec]

came with a gasket dude!
but was thinking you can buy weldable flanges on ebay.com or maybe can get one frrom a turbo place in the uk?

any idea what i can do about the wastegate plumbing?

Think ive got t4 flange leftover from a type-r turbo project last year!
Will have a hunt when its not so bloody cold

As far as wastegates your obviously going external how about a lengh of 1.1/2" stainless pipe comin out the side nr front wheel
That way your downpipe dosnt have to be so big as it dosent have flow the wastegate! oh yea they sound too!

[Jhonno]

Nice work Toby!!

Wish i could get off my ass n get my conversion done asap

[Toby_Unna]

cheers all!

i'm thinking the exhaust inlet's a T3 flange actually, it's the same dimensions as the small volvo T3 one (stud pattern 86x45mm), but twin entry. plenty of single entry T3 flanges on ebay.com but haven't seen a twin yet

no idea about the exhaust exit flange, it's a circular 6-bolt with studs at 90mm pcd and 61mm exducer bore.

as far as the wastegate goes, I'm looking for one! seem to have to change the spring to adjust boost level on the ones i've seen on ebay.com, is this the only way? so should i get one with lots of different springs?

so much to learn!

[Jon_Bmw]

Just been having a little read and you right Toby it is a T3 flange but basically divided. Hence they call it a to4e, which is what is written on your turbo.