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I was talking with my brothers roomate who is a professional technician that really knows his stuff, I mentioned turboing my 1987 535i. He doesn't know much about BMW's but said a cheap easy way to do it would be to grab something like Garrett t-25's from the junkyard out of a eclipse. Turbos are cheap at my junkyard, and I can get 90's saab turbos, eclipse, and old 240, and later model volvo turbos. I know these turbos are quite small compared to what people are using, but buying used turbos and purchasing rebuild kits for them would be much cheaper. Any ideas on this or am I just wasting my time?

I'd have to say you're just wasting your time. When you consider the extra cost and head ache that is involved with plumbing and welding up a twin manifold, its not worth it. That means 2 down pipes, 2 charge pipes, 2 wastegates....

Correct, car has 2 exhaust tubes stock, but I see both sides. The biggest problem I have is cost so I was trying to find some solution.

While small turbos are cheap and readily available, the amount of effort required probably offsets the cost savings of a decent sized single. There are more factors at play but I'd stick with a single if you are on a budget.

Scottinva wrote:Correct, car has 2 exhaust tubes stock, but I see both sides.

If cost is an issue at all, then forget about it.

I would hate to buy a used turbo, thats like having a stripper as a wife, just cant trust them.

It doesn't get any easier than a bolt on kit.

I need a job I wish we wearn't in a "depression" or a "recession" whatever you want to call it. Wish someone on here in va was looking for employees lol.

Turbo and budget do not go together.

Why don't you try mounting a turbo back in the muffler area? Would be a first and is done with Corvettes (and a Tiger) all the time.

If it does not work, all you have to do is replace the exhaust pipe and remove the charge pipe to the intake. No mods to the exhaust manifolds are required.

Duke wrote:Turbo and budget do not go together.

Why don't you try mounting a turbo back in the muffler area? Would be a first and is done with Corvettes (and a Tiger) all the time.

If it does not work, all you have to do is replace the exhaust pipe and remove the charge pipe to the intake. No mods to the exhaust manifolds are required.

chrism wrote:

Corvette


Tiger

what in the world.....

Scottinva wrote:what in the world.....

It's not a new idea. Squires Turbo Systems sells kits for a bunch of vehicles. I wouldn't buy one of their kits but there are people out there doing that kind of stuff.

Big Bronze Rim wrote:

Scottinva wrote:what in the world.....

It's not a new idea. Squires Turbo Systems sells kits for a bunch of vehicles. I wouldn't buy one of their kits but there are people out there doing that kind of stuff.

I'm not really a fan of it either, but the one advantage of something like that is that if you had to pass emissions every year, something like that could be modified more easily to revert back to N/A than a traditional system like we have, where the turbo mounts directly off the manifold. Unplug the charge pipe and keep the wastegate open and assuming you still had an N/A tune and a CAT you could probably pass most visual and sniff tests.

You would have to run an intake hose from the turbo all the way to the intercooler though correct? Im having trouble pictureing exactly how this setup works. I understand a normal turbo setup, but its hard to picture it in that application.

Most of those setups don't run intercoolers as the charge piping has a lot of surface area and acts as an IC. And yes, you have to route the charge piping back to the front of the car from the rear.

I seem to remember a certain Mustang from the New Mexico area, that had the turbos mounted in the trunk.

Anyone have the pictures hanging around, wouldn't mind seeing that car again.

Paul

Duke wrote:Turbo and budget do not go together.

On the contrary, even with my "money's no object" clients, there's always a budget. Seems to me there's a least one reference in the LH build-ups (which is not what you'd call a cheap or skimpy build) where some paths were not travelled due to the cost/reward ratio. There's always a budget.

I disagree philosophically too. Not everyone has the spare change to embark on the perfect build (and conversely, having lots of money to spend doesn't mean you'll get perfection). The experience and knowledge potential available to someone willing to build their own stuff with limited funds is not something to be dismissed out of hand. Having more time than money and a keen interest in learning about what you're doing is, in my books, to be nurtured and fostered. For those that choose to take a different road, great, but far be it from me to piss on someone's desire to explore something because he can't afford to do it the way I'd like to see it done.

Scottinva - absolutely. Go scrounge some matching JY turbos and figure out how to make it work for you. You already know that used parts and marginal amounts of experience are probably going to lead to failure at some point, but not doing it won't teach you anything at all and sure as shit won't be nearly as engaging and entertaining. As Ford (I believe) said "whether you believe you can or believe you can't, you're probably right". You can accomplish anything you decide to. Do it.