Underhood pics of turbo setups?

[LarryM]

Still thinking about going the TCD route on my E24 (although living in CA may make it more difficult.) . However, after spending some time on this forum and searching the archives, it seems that some guys are complaining about the aesthetics of aftermarket turbo systems. I'd be interested in seeing some underhood pics and comparing them to, say, a Dinan or Alpina turbo system. Is it possible to achieve (or at least come close to) a "factory" type appearance?

[Jeremy]

I don't remember anyone bitching about aesthetics.

TCD s1 prototype:



Sweeney's twin turbo mongrel:



Cartech (maybe?) top mount:



Alpina:

http://www.novakweb.net/Jeremy/Bavarian ... 05-004.jpg (inline link doesn't work on that one)

That enough for you?

Jeremy

[LarryM]

Thanks for the ultra-quick response. Yes, the pics are great and all the systems shown look OK to me. The TCD S1 is what I'm most interested in, and it looks like a pretty clean installation. I'm hoping to find one at a show 'n shine this year to check it out up close.

Question: do all turbo systems, including Dinan and Alpina, use a CAI setup? I assume it's not possible to retain the factory airbox.

[Steve in No Va]

Here's my 535is TCD S2 set up.

IMG]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd99 ... ics012.jpg[/IMG]

[Steve in No Va]

Sorry, didn't quite get the whole string in on the first picture.

[Jeremy]

My TCDs1. Not exactly "clean", but the components look good. The kit does come with a bracket to support the AFM, but I hadn't installed it yet in that shot.



Jeremy

[Duke]

My ex-project.

It started out like this -

[Jays535is]

Here's my home grown.

I guess I'll call it the JCL T1 kit.

[BadM535i]

Here is my old home made setup.





Here is my cousin's setup who lives in U.A.E.
This is the setup I am now going with my car.

[turbodan]

Not that its relevant, but heres a few of my M20 turbo:
The old top mount as of 6/07:

The current TCD manifold and turbo, during assembly:



Front mounted air to air intercoolers make room for spark plug changes and easy valve adjustments without messing with the air/water cooler and water lines.

[M. Holtmeier]

A shot of mine early fall '07 with the stock 200k mi b34. Car has since been disassembled for restoration and upgrading. I too am looking for that factory install look.

[Brad D.]

Definitely not going to be confused for stock, but not too bad for a home brew setup. Here's my setup.

[gkrea1]

Sold it last spring.
[/img]

[LarryM]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but did your Dinan turbo use an air-to-air intercooler behind the right headlight area? It seems that would help avoid a lot of the plumbing involved in an air-to-water setup if it's not really necessary, under low-boost conditions.

[The Don]

Sold it last spring.
[/img]

Got any more pictures of the car. Looks like an arctic blue 6-series.

[grahamcam]

Just purchased this car in seattle... ( sitting for two years)
Dinan turbo with records and cool plaque on shocktower.
Other than the hokey airfilter.

[gkrea1]

Got any more pictures of the car. Looks like an arctic blue 6-series.

You bet.

http://mydrive.roadfly.com/blog/gkrea1/

Scroll down through all the text. I had written up every detail of the car as I knew it for when I was selling it. The pictures start about half way down.

[LarryM]

Beautiful, quality car Greg. Nice writeup too. I hope you got a fair price when you sold it.

Evidently Dinan felt that an air/air intercooler was sufficient. Too
Too bad nobody seems to be offering one today.

[Jeremy]

Evidently Dinan felt that an air/air intercooler was sufficient. Too bad nobody seems to be offering one today.

Dinan also seemed to think that putting the intake in the path of airflow coming off said intercooler, right on top of the exhaust manifold, was a wise idea. They weren't always right or the best.

Air to airs do work well if engineered properly, and I feel Dinan did not. Getting a good sized air to air to fit in a spot with cool air flow is a real challenge on the e28, air to water is way simpler in that regard.

Jeremy

[Brad D.]

Evidently Dinan felt that an air/air intercooler was sufficient. Too bad nobody seems to be offering one today.

Dinan also seemed to think that putting the intake in the path of airflow coming off said intercooler, right on top of the exhaust manifold, was a wise idea. They weren't always right or the best.

Air to airs do work well if engineered properly, and I feel Dinan did not. Getting a good sized air to air to fit in a spot with cool air flow is a real challenge on the e28, air to water is way simpler in that regard.

Jeremy

I agree; the Dinan setup seems to slightly favor packaging over part placement. The intercooler is decently sized however, alot of the cooler is blocked and still has an air filter placed behind it. I do know that rather extensive modifications of the ABS unit and cutting were required to make the IC fit.
If you are going with an air to air setup, and you are willing to cut to make it fit (and it CAN look good) then a decent sized core will fit on the front of an e28.
I agree that the water to air unit works extremely well in an e28 and packages very nicely, however if one chooses to go the A-A route, the Dinan location is not where I would put it.

[gkrea1]

Evidently Dinan felt that an air/air intercooler was sufficient. Too bad nobody seems to be offering one today.

Dinan also seemed to think that putting the intake in the path of airflow coming off said intercooler, right on top of the exhaust manifold, was a wise idea. They weren't always right or the best.

...

Jeremy

I agree. At the time I was pretty new to turbos but it struck my engineering sense as being very wrong to suck in hot air just to cool it off again. Check out the pictures. I moved the intake to a spot behind the front spoiler. See the heat cloth-wrapped tube heading down and forward from the AFM?

Did it help? Maybe, maybe not. It was about 4' of extra plumbing all told. But the thermodynamics gods were sated so I could sleep at night again. The next time I'll have an air-water intercooler.

[grahamcam]

How far down did you have the tube go? and did you place and air filter at the end? if you look at the dirty 535is engine bay, that is the one that I just purchased and I feel that your set up looks like it works much better.

[gkrea1]

How far down did you have the tube go? and did you place and air filter at the end? if you look at the dirty 535is engine bay, that is the one that I just purchased and I feel that your set up looks like it works much better.

The air filter (K&N cone) was mounted in front of the front cross member under the bumper. I used an aluminum 90-deg pipe attached to a steel 90-deg pipe. The aluminum had the filter on one end and then mated to the steel. The steel went under hte main front cross member and was the lowest point in the front end -- thus steel for the time or two I bottomed out. (Stage IV Dinan suspension on an E24 is low.) The flexible tube shown in the picture went between the AFM and the other end of the steel tube. Pretty cobbled together but it worked.

[img]http://mydrive.roadfly.com/photos/pic.p ... =10604[img]
http://mydrive.roadfly.com/photos/pic.p ... r6&i=10604
(Huh. Picture isn't posting. Well, cut & paste time. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

It put cooler air into the AFM but at the expense of flow efficiency.

[Hannah06]

A shot of mine early fall '07 with the stock 200k mi b34. Car has since been disassembled for restoration and upgrading. I too am looking for that factory install look.

Really? I just want you to know that I am very thankful the I have read your post. I am always hoping that this will not be the last post that I could be read written by you!



_________________
Aprilaire

[Brad D.]

Holy moldy thread Batman!

[cvillebimmer]

745i - ish setup





Nice to see all the pics in one place.

[Martin in BellevueWA]

Here's my e34 with Callaway manifold, TCD charge pipe, Miller's pre-turbo pipe.

[red535t]

here's my m30 turbo offering.
alittle rough round the edges but did a great job where it counted

[stoph99]

Hey Turbodan, what top-mount manifold is that in your earlier build? 524td?