to turbo or not to turbo?

[fr4nk_1]

I have a 1998 e36 318is, the clock has literally just passed the 100,000 mark, i was toying with the idea of just upgrading to a newer reg 330, however the amount of money i have already poured into the car and my sheer love of the e36 shape i have now been thinking about putting a turbo in it to get the increased power i long for, so i have 2 main questions i was hoping you could help me with and just any general info you want to pass my way i will be more than happy to learn, so....

Firstly: is fitting a turbo to the engine, just going to give it a huge range of problems and massive upkeep, can engine that old even handle a turbo?

And Secondly: if a turbo was not the right path to take is theere anyhting else i can do to get a big power increase out of the car?

Thanks everyone

[chrisr29]

Unless you like projects then flog it and buy a faster car. Costs a lot of money to do properly - circa 4k upwards. Fast cars are cheap as chips these days, if you do it then do it because you enjoy mucking around with engines and learning new stuff.

I have an old 325 I've been turboing and it's been a loooooooooooong process, though worth it when you get it right.

[Robert060379]

Planning to turbo my £999 project car but I'd sell the four pot and get a six.

[aeropilot]

fr4nk_1 said:

Firstly: is fitting a turbo to the engine, just going to give it a huge range of problems and massive upkeep, can engine that old even handle a turbo?

You'll be effectively having to get the engine rebuilt to do this, as a change of pistons would be required amongst other things.....as has been pointed out....it will far from a cheap 'bolt-on' solution to your requirement.

fr4nk_1 said:

And Secondly: if a turbo was not the right path to take is theere anyhting else i can do to get a big power increase out of the car?

Supercharger would be a better solution

......or just sell and buy an M3.

[fergus91]

i dont have any personal expereance of the specific engine your talking about however turbo conversions in genral..... you would be looking at:
low compresion pistons
upgraded gaskets (std ones could blow out with incresed pressures)
upgraded head bolts (std may stretch)
balenced crank
upgraded conrods (depending on how strong the std ones are?)
upgraded cooling (posibly)
a good amount of time on a dyno to get it dialed in right and to remap
plus the turbo kit, if there is an off the shelf kit, if not then a manifoldand downpipe would need to be fabricated, hoses for air, oil lines and cooler if its an oil cooled turbo
all of this takes up allot of time and money, im not saying dont do it, but sit down with a bit of paper and write out everything that would need to be done to complete the project and the costs and decide what to do

[NickXX]

There is a supercharger kit for the 318iS made in the US by Downing Atlanta. It is now discontinued but should be a few kits kicking about 2nd hand.

Everyone will tell you to buy a 6 pot, and they are right. FI'ing a 318iS will be a labour of love and cost more than you expect, but it will create something pretty awesome. 200bhp should be achievable, but it will certainly be an interesting creation when it's made.

If I had a bit of spare cash floating about, I'd love to SC my 318iS.

[fr4nk_1]

Thanks for the responses, I am new to the modifying of cars so maybe the turbo is an unachievable idea at this stage, the idea of super chargers could be more likely, though I would just like to know, if the super charger was a go, would the engine handle that, or would there still need to be work done on other parts to handle it? And do you have any ball park figures of cost for a super charger? And nick is that the only super charger available, or just the best one?
Thanks again everyone

[fr4nk_1]

Oh and yea, it's a love thing, me and the car have been through thick and thin!!

[chrisr29]

With decent fuel and spark control you can run std engine internals as long as you keep the boost lowish......well, at least below 1bar.

Mines std apart from tougher head bolts and the only real issue I had was a blown head gasket caused by detonation due to trying to run the thing on std ignition.....but to do is to learn ;o)

If you are particularly creative you could always go down the scrap-yard route and use 2nd hand parts. Was in my local scrappers the other day and noticed an old style Supra turbo with all its turbo bits still in situ. The turbo was a pretty large looking affair....may be going back with me tool kit in the near future....

[Robert060379]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Decompression-BMW-E36-318-ti...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TURBO-KIT-BMW-E36-4-CYLINDER...


Enjoy.

[fergus91]

fr4nk_1 said:

Thanks for the responses, I am new to the modifying of cars so maybe the turbo is an unachievable idea at this stage, the idea of super chargers could be more likely, though I would just like to know, if the super charger was a go, would the engine handle that, or would there still need to be work done on other parts to handle it? And do you have any ball park figures of cost for a super charger? And nick is that the only super charger available, or just the best one?
Thanks again everyone

all depends on the boost levels realy, a turbo would be fine aswell at low boost without internal work, however to get the best out of forced induction you need to go internal
i honestly dont know how strong the stock internals are on those engines, i know that the e46 330 engine could handle 3 Bar of boost quite easily as it was a AC schnitzer / factory option (supercharger)

[christer]

You could check if CA Automotive in the UK do anything for your car. I assume they still exist and had a good reputation a couple of years back when I had my old 540 and was looking for some options. Having said that, I bought an E60 550 instead and my advice would be that you just upgrade the car itself to a standard faster model unless you have very deep pockets - not only for the work required but for insurance and all that