2023 M30 Turbo Engine Build

[M. Holtmeier]

All that and still using torpedo fuses? I switched to a Holy Grail Labs kit to deal with some rough idle problems.

 

 

Haha, I swear social media has trained people to point out any fault they can find.

I purchased one of the first HGL fuse panels years ago. The stock fuse panel hasn't given me any issues for nearly two decades. Since Megasquirt controls the a/c and condensor fans, the power for those is not from the fuse box. But, the aux fan fuse is not melted, nor are any other fuse holders. 

As far as updates with the car; I decided to go with an auto transmission. The G265 and entire Tilton setup is gone. The new auto requires DBW, so the MS3 is coming out for a different ecu. I'll post pics when the car is back in the shop. 

[tig]

The coolant overflow tank is still my fave.


 

 

[M. Holtmeier]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[M. Holtmeier]

This new photo uploader is amazing! 

Over the summer I knocked a few maintenance items off the list.
- New plug wires and loom
- New hood pad and seal
- Zinc plate the hood latches 
- Powder coat the condensor cover  
- Repair the rust hole on the inner fender 
- Install knock sensors and module in MS3
- Install an Emap sensor pre-turbine 
- Replace exh gaskets yet again with three layers of 0.010" SS. 
- Reseal, powder and plate rear SF and diff
- Dyno tune the knock and aquire emap data. Also set up closed loop EGO, fuel and boost safeties. Posted a dyno pull at max boost (28psi) 
 

[turbodan]

I'm still on the stock fusebox. If I ever need to screw with it, I will. Never burned one up though. Had a few of em.

The car community has become far more appearance oriented. I don't see sleeper builds anymore. I do see a lot of 50k+ builds chock full of pimped out polished shit that doesn’t make the car go any faster. It seems like the point is to impress people who don't know what they're looking at. 

[M. Holtmeier]

The coolant overflow tank is still my fave.








 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks. It's been rock solid for nearly a decade. I hope it finds its way into more future builds. 





I forgot to mention I also went back to stock radiator and mech fan. (Plastic tank replacement for now) When I set up the serpentine kit, I miscalculated the water pump drive. I found a power steering pulley in the correct diameter and rib count, then just machined out the center and made a new drive flange to my specifications. 

 

 
 
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[vandiesel]

This has me so fired up.  Amazing work.  My car is sitting under cover done with paint and proper euro bumper conversion.  The turbo motor from dinan ready to be cleaned up and go in.  Can I just bring it over?  I have a car trailer! 

[BDKawey]

you make the over flow strut bar correct?

love this thing, I reference it frequently as I'm starting my turbo m30b35 using a flipped LS1 throttle body and hoping to retain AC

[M. Holtmeier]

you make the over flow strut bar correct?
 

I used to make them. There may be a new version of this strut bar in the future. 

[Hffvdbl]

Lots of great progress man!! I hope to own another HTurbo someday

[BDKawey]

are you going to attempt to use cruise control with the GM thorttle body? I see it still installed and only one cable. I am hoping to do this on my build

[szacsi72]

I have two questions.

One:
I see that you have used a different (?) throttle body than the OEM, or at least, it's missing the 'complicated' throttle linkage mechanism that we get on the M30, M50 etc TBs. How was throttle feel with a "direct pull", 1 degree = 1 degree system? I need to get a new TB but I'm unsure if the OEM style makes a difference in drivabilty, perhabs it's more progressive than "straight pulls"?

Two:

I forgot to mention I also went back to stock radiator and mech fan. (Plastic tank replacement for now) When I set up the serpentine kit, I miscalculated the water pump drive. I found a power steering pulley in the correct diameter and rib count, then just machined out the center and made a new drive flange to my specifications. 

What exactly do you mean by miscalculating? Was it too big, or too small? I believe M30s also had two different sizes to begin with, were yours bigger (slower)?

Thanks.
Nice build.

[iamcreepingdeath]

So was that posted dyno graph of ~300 bhp with 28 psi of boost?  That power output seems low for that boost level.  I haven't dynoed my E28, but I am running around 14 psi of boost right now, and 245 rear tires (that are pretty sticky), and it feels like a heck of a lot more than 300 hp on the butt dyno, or maybe my butt dyno is just seriously out of calibration?

[M. Holtmeier]

The LS style throttle is great, and there is another car I built with the factory cruise cable connected and working. But, I am definitely looking forward to a programmable ramp rate with the e-throttle. Low speed driveability meant delicate input. Hopefully with the 8hp trans, I can incorporate a comfort/sport button that will change throttle ramp rate along with shift firmness. 

The water pump pulley was too small, resulting in over driving the water pump. After a hard pull, I noticed coolant temps dropping so much, the warm up enrichment was turning back on. 

As for the dyno graph; we weren't doing power pulls and definitely was not at 28psi, haha. (I was curious if anyone was going to comment on that) At this point, the plugs were fouled from idling for about 3 hours. We were setting up closed loop afr, boost and afr safeties, trying to figure out knock control and basically having a field day with the MS3. After a plug change, it was back to normal operation. Unfortunately, everything we setup didn't play nice on the street. The closed loop repeatedly got "stuck" during over run fuel cut. This left me with 10% of fuel being pulled as I came to a stop. The system would not move until I cycled the ignition switch. Changes to the tables and turning off fuel cut felt like band aid tuning, but "cured" the buggy EGO issue. Not sure if its MS or me, but I'm moving on to another platform regardless. 

[turbodan]

I think it only takes 8-10 psi to make 300 rear wheel with an M30. 28 psi would be enough to destroy everything other than the belt driven accessories. 

[BDKawey]

I'd be really interested in seeing your intercooler set up if you have photos to share. I want to use my zender front valance/euro bumper with fog lights in the future but was planning to set my intercooler inlet/outlet between the bumper mounts and the tow hook and I'm realizing that will be problematic. 

[turbodan]

I'd be really interested in seeing your intercooler set up if you have photos to share. I want to use my zender front valance/euro bumper with fog lights in the future but was planning to set my intercooler inlet/outlet between the bumper mounts and the tow hook and I'm realizing that will be problematic. 

Youre doing air to air?

[BDKawey]

I'd be really interested in seeing your intercooler set up if you have photos to share. I want to use my zender front valance/euro bumper with fog lights in the future but was planning to set my intercooler inlet/outlet between the bumper mounts and the tow hook and I'm realizing that will be problematic. 

Youre doing air to air?

yeah. i found a brand new cheap treadstone for sale locally and I'm going to grab it this week to see if i can get it angled and run the outlets under the tow hooks rather than the center exit treadstone between the bumper tow hooks from my original plan

[M. Holtmeier]

I'd be really interested in seeing your intercooler set up if you have photos to share. I want to use my zender front valance/euro bumper with fog lights in the future but was planning to set my intercooler inlet/outlet between the bumper mounts and the tow hook and I'm realizing that will be problematic. 

 

 

I don't have pics of the intercooler install. I do remember I cut a ton of sheet metal out to make it work. The US bumper shock mounts, tow hook, and the euro valance were ruint. Then I welded in mounting tabs and bracing to tie it all back together. The Pfeba air dam hides it all. Back in the day this stuff was less expensive, and I'm not building museum art. I did just remove the intercooler to vapor hone it. The entire unit slides right out the bottom. I surprise myself sometimes. 

[BDKawey]

 

I don't have pics of the intercooler install. I do remember I cut a ton of sheet metal out to make it work. The US bumper shock mounts, tow hook, and the euro valance were ruint. Then I welded in mounting tabs and bracing to tie it all back together. The Pfeba air dam hides it all. Back in the day this stuff was less expensive, and I'm not building museum art. I did just remove the intercooler to vapor hone it. The entire unit slides right out the bottom. I surprise myself sometimes. 

yeah theres so much to be cut out anyway, i think revising the tow hooks lower and cutting out the bumper mount in order to mount the inlet and outlet low enough may net me what i need. dropping the intercooler out without removing the valance is definitely impressive haha. I know the valance is bound to get cut up at minimum. but when you're already butchering one to mount euro turns and fog light then whats it matter. then hide it with a front spoiler.

[turbodan]

This is what I did. It does fit within the US spec front bodywork. The valance fits right over the intercooler and plumbing. 

[BDKawey]

This is what I did. It does fit within the US spec front bodywork. The valance fits right over the intercooler and plumbing. 

 

 

i saw that in your build, I'm hesitant if i can get charge pipe by when euro fog lights get moved. I'm picking up one of these this evening for only a hundred bucks https://www.treadstoneperformance.com/t ... hp/p104367 otherwise i was eying their same sized core but with center exit 3" outlets. its cheap enough to pick up and try. I figure worse case i can rebuild the tow hooks to move them down or remove entirely. I'm also trying to retain my AC solutions kit. so I have to dodge the condenser and get a smaller fan. I really need to just make my own FI board thread lol. Sorry Mike 

[M. Holtmeier]

The ZF8 fits the e28 tunnel nicely. Very little work to make it fit. A low profile oil sump that isn't plastic would be nice. The F15 shifter is the initial phase to get the car driving. The GWS is the quickest way to get an electronic shifter with full manual and sport modes. It also is an easy way to use the Lamik's launch control and bump/staging feature. Future evolutions will have a stock appearing shift lever and all functions going to the OBC. There's a guy who is reproducing OBCs with canbus capability, his IG is 80sengineering. Pretty cool ideas. 

Getting an e-throttle setup on the car meant going all in a new intake manifold. I had PPF draw up a modified version of their m30 ITB adapter flange. When that arrives I'll post some pictures. With the Maxx ecu I'll be able to drive a stock bmw F15 throttle and use the factory cruise switch as an encoder to retain cruise control. 

  


 


 


 


 

 

[turbodan]

That is awesome. I believe I have that transmission in our '14 X3 3.5. A very good gearbox. They have come a very long way from the 3 speed boat anchors of the early 80s.

While I will always prefer the getrag 5 speed box, I can't deny how efficiently those put the power down. The top gear ratios are excellent for highway cruising as well.

[M. Holtmeier]

That is awesome. I believe I have that transmission in our '14 X3 3.5. A very good gearbox. They have come a very long way from the 3 speed boat anchors of the early 80s.

While I will always prefer the getrag 5 speed box, I can't deny how efficiently those put the power down. The top gear ratios are excellent for highway cruising as well.

We have the same 8hp in our '14 X5 S-drive. I was working at the dealership when these came out. Didn't pay much attention at the time. After getting a reliable clutch in my car, the next two issues were getting the power down and shifting through the gears. I guess I'm in the group of people that just can't shift. The biggest thing for me is the street car aspect of driving. Dallas usually means heavy traffic, and if I want to go anywhere there's definitely stop and go traffic. The 5 speed, turbo, and tilton clutch took the fun out of it. 

[BDKawey]

Turner just came out with a cast aluminum pan for the 8HP

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-1002 ... B4EALw_wcB

[M. Holtmeier]

https://www.domi-works.com/products/8hp ... ow-profile

It would have to be this pan from Domiworks. Their regular billet pan is $700, plus import fees. I'll probably just make a belly pan for the car and keep the stock sump. 

[turbodan]

That is an unfortunate matter of fact with high performance clutches. It is easy enough to make big power but it requires more and more tradeoffs in engagement and driveability beyond a certain point. I've never run a ceramic puck clutch and probably never will. The chatter and shudder just ruins the fun of driving.

I've had good results with the clutchmasters segmented kevlar up to about 400rwtq. Its not far off of stock in terms of engagement and overall driveability. I don't know what it will hold at the absolute limit, 400ish rwhp and rwtq has always been plenty for me.

[M. Holtmeier]

 


 

The PPF intake flanges are here. I'm already regretting this. I think I'll make half a dozen of these before getting something that I like. Feel free to chime in with plenum ideas.