AC Schnitzer UK e46 Supercharged.

[joe_90]

Part 1

Before I begin:

Its not a real ACS car, its a std 330 wagon as the start point.

1) I personally do not get the point of spending truck loads on ACS parts for a 10 year old BMW (or at all)
2) Yes I argued to death he should get the M3 instead, (he wants an estate)
3) Its not mine, but its his money..
4) Hes convinced it will be fuel efficient.. I am not..

So, my friend Charlie, has a 330, with 170K (i know..i know) miles but looked after 330. He has spend a crazy amount on carbon fiber bits and other bits..

So power..
Its expected to easily get 320-340, and with a cooler about 400+ easy..

So all the below is ACS (which I swear has cost 4 times the cars worth)
Wheels
Suspension
Brakes
Roll Bars,
spoilers,
bumpers
side skirts
wing mirrors
strut brace.
Stupid uprated paddle clutch.. (which I told him would be too hard x100)
Full ACS exhaust system.
Quafi LSD already fitted.
ACS crap all over the inside

So.. here it is before we started with it this weekend:





And this is an ESS twin screw supercharger..




So the plans for the weekend were:

Oil change
Coolant change
Fix a leak on oil filter thing
Replace some other bits
Install the supercharger.

So off we go, some steps along the way..(I will not bore you with all the millions of little things that need to be done.

Air intake off..


Injector rail off, and attempting to get the pain in the ass last intake bolt from under the intake, its feeling around until you get it.


Yay, after a few hours the intake was off.


Blocking up the ports.


The leaking oil problem, caused by garages not taking off the oil filer correctly


The pain in the ass bolt mount, this was hidden well under the intake in the depths of bmw hell


Super charger pics



Other super charger bits




Will carry on in a while...

Edited by joe_90 on Monday 16th May 09:31

[Another Fluffer]

This is going to be one hell of a thread

[Mastodon2]

Your mate might love them, but those wheels look way to big for the car, and the style does not suit the rather plain BMW styling.

I agree, if he was prepared to drop so much money, he could have gotten an M3 and probably saved a huge pile of cash.

Alas, the destination is not always the point of the journey.

[C2james]

this could be very interesting.

[muckymotor]

I have a new found interest in supercharging due to a friend fitting one to his VX220. The sound is epic under full load with the performance to match.

[joe_90]

Part 2

So...

Old intake, still need to get some bits off this.


Alternator removed, before getting the oil thing off..


Just labeling everthing, even things that will only be unplugged for a few minutes..


Oil filter housing remove, and cleaned up.. All the old brittle gasket was removed and cleaned.


Back on, with new oil feed pipe etc..


New belt (supercharger belt)guide roller on, (as they replace the Alternator bolts)


Need to check tensioner, but the bugger had a Trox bolt, they are supposed to have Hex bolts, never mind, Halfords to the rescue.


The old box of wires that were attached to the intake is removed, the pipe split to get the MAF sensor extra inches to reach somewhere later. So all the wires needed to taped up.. A long and careful painful job. A couple of sensors will not be used, so they were covered and attached out the way.


More wiring..


Removed dipstick and put new ring seal on.


All wired up.. note the fuel line lifted up at the back.


New injectors, 4 jets instead of 2. mpg savings right there..


New injectors on the cleaned up rail, and the fuel pipe bent to shape.. this was a slow careful job.


back of the old intake, need to remove the throttle body etc..


Some old pipes and new put onto the charger.




More bits moved across.. yes.. it does seem quite phallic.

[joe_90]

Part Three

One of the last stages of cleaning up the bloody intakes, then got the hoover out.


Putting some loctite sealant stuff on the gasket


Then the whole charger slides on (just like that)




Injectors put in, temperature monitor moved along the rail (so it reaches where the new temp sensor is), and the plastic rail attached to the injectors.

And dip stick put back in, which we forgot to do, and was a royal pain in the arse now.


Injector rail


This is a 100% overpriced carbon fiber ACS intake, that was designed for the 14K !!! (ffs) ACS supercharger.. Which doesn't fit on the car.. doh.



Belts back on


New supplied water pipe on.. spot the issue..


Which is sorted with the metal guide that holds the pipe out. The new power steering pot sits on top this.


Fan assembly back on.


MAF installed, and top pipe wired/plumbed in.


Airbox back on, and supercharger oiled up..


And DONE....




So all installed, just waiting for the new pot to arrive, and reprogrammed ECU.

Oil was changed, and all the coolant changed too.

[rix]

Brilliant effort, all in an afternoon?

Fitment aside, looks like a nice bit of kit

[joe_90]

rix said:

Brilliant effort, all in an afternoon?

Fitment aside, looks like a nice bit of kit

2 lazy days to do all of it, checking and double checking as we went along.

[wackojacko]

[stuart-b]

How will the engine cope with that? 170k miles? Surely in need of a refresh before that sort of power-increase?

Best of luck, hope he enjoys it before it pops

[joe_90]

stuart-b said:

How will the engine cope with that? 170k miles? Surely in need of a refresh before that sort of power-increase?

Best of luck, hope he enjoys it before it pops

I know.. I know.. I know.. believe me I tried..

[Truckosaurus]

Utterly crazy thing to do, when the sensible option would be just to trade it in for a 335i estate.

I whole heartedly approve.

[Chunkychucky]

How much did the supercharger kit cost? I don't see the point in any of the ACS choice (suppose you pays your money you takes your choice), but a sleeper 330i touring with supposedly 340bhp could be good fun! I'd need an lsd too...

Looks like it'll be fun that while it hangs together!

[Truckosaurus]

stuart-b said:

Best of luck, hope he enjoys it before it pops

Although, when it goes pop you can then rebuild it with lower compression and then up the boost a bit more.

[stuart-b]

Truckosaurus said:

Although, when it goes pop you can then rebuild it with lower compression and then up the boost a bit more.

Unless he blows a hole in the block, game over. If he pops that, I doubt much will be re-usable. New engine.

[joe_90]

Truckosaurus said:

Although, when it goes pop you can then rebuild it with lower compression and then up the boost a bit more.

Well he already has this in his garage:

[gareth.e]

Mad! But I like it

Although if it was mine I'd get rid of shizter stickers and change the wheels.

[em177]

Wounderfully daft :P

[fishman]

Hi all I am the car owner of this motor, just to give you some background which Joe has not mentioned. I was keen to have a quick practical car which is a on par with an m3 performance wise. I do love the Ac schnitzer detailing for the e46's they have true motorsports pedigree which is a little more bespoke than the Everyman and their dogs m-sport models. Yes i have wasted a fair bit of cash on this project but it's been fun and I am looking forward to giving those m3s a good run for there money. I am confident that this install will deliver good fuel economy when required but also that raw power and fun when needed. A big Thanks to Joe for all his help here as I would have never have done it without him. Scream if you wanna go faster!!!!!