MyE28.com

A friend of mine is building a turbo kit for his eta e30 (me too maybe). Does anyone here know where the max oil pressure location on the block is?

Max oil pressure isn't as important as clean oil. Turbos dont really need oil pressure. If you've got too much theres a chance it'll get past the oil seals and into the intake or exhaust. Anyway, a lot of guys run a tee from thier oil pressure sender so they can use the factory pressure switch and also feed the turbo.

On a turbo car, especially if you're using an oil cooled turbo, you should install an oil cooler too. Thats where I tapped mine. I drilled a hole into the center bolt that holds the oil filter head to the block. Then I tapped it, threaded in my oil line fitting, and sealed it with JB weld. I liked that because thats filtered, cooled earl. And I didn't have to mess with my oil pressure sender.

Out of curiosity, what parts did you use for an oil cooler on your e28? No m20 powered e28 ever had one from the factory that I know of. Do the e30 parts work? Obiously the oil filter header does, but what about the lines and the radiator?

Jeremy

I used a complete cooler from a 1987 325i. Later cars, like model year 88 and on have a different cooler and lines, so I dont know if they can be made to fit. The MY 87 cooler is pretty much a direct fit except for a little frame modification. You might have noticed the big square-ish blocks that come down off of the engine supports near the front of the car. I had to chop the pass side one completely off with a dremel to route the lines. I had done this on my white car, and the cooler fit neatly inside the lower front valance. Its a bit crowded, but it all clears the A/C stuff too. On the turbo car, which is valance-less for now, it hangs below the intercooler. Its a bit exposed, but its all I could manage with the cooler lines. I expect it'll fit into a new valance with a little modification. I'll see if I can get some pics of the cooler and the rest of the turbo system up this weekend. I know what you're thinking about cutting the frame. The block in question just sticks down out of the frame rail. As far as I can tell its just some sort of vestigal limb these things seem to have. Pics coming soon. That should clear up any uncertainty.

Jeremy wrote:Out of curiosity, what parts did you use for an oil cooler on your e28? No m20 powered e28 ever had one from the factory that I know of. Do the e30 parts work? Obiously the oil filter header does, but what about the lines and the radiator?

Jeremy

M21 has one stock.

turbodan: Can you explain the oil tap that you made a little more. You actually drilled into the center of the bolt?

If I wanted to go the oil pressure sender T route, what is the thread size and pitch for the OPS? Is it the same for the M20 and M30 even though the senders are not the same?

Yeah, but the diesel has a completely different oil fliter head. I know the m21 filter head wont fit an m20, and I doubt the lines would fit the 325i filter head. Its not hard to fit the whole 325i cooler. It would likely be harder to fit anything else.

The oil feed was just that simple. I mounted the bolt into a vise, center punched it and drilled it. Its actually pretty soft metal. I would have welded the fitting to seal it instead of using the JB weld, but I was low on gas and still needed to make the exhaust. The epoxy has held up so far.

I have no idea about the thread pitches or sizes for the pressure switch. A few guys on e30tech.com might have more info on the details.

Good to know, Ill pass this on to him thanks.