E36 M3 turbo rebuild

osiris

///Member
Its probably something so stupid that's preventing it from starting, like a ground not connected somewhere or something ridiculous like that.
 

Gizmo

Banned
They got the car running yesterday, finally! Not sure what it was but it's running now. Cobus was waiting for new spark plugs as the ones on the car were finished. He's installing new plugs and then doing the tuning. Possibly get the car back today.
 

osiris

///Member
That's good news, let us know what it was when you find out?

What else needs to be done to the car after the tuning is done?
 

Gizmo

Banned
Got the car back from Cobus at BME Tuning, the car was dyno'd for 0.4bar boost and made 200.9Wkw@6384rpm and 316Nm@5634rpm.
BME replaced the brand new OEM M3 crank sensor saying it doesn't work for some other sensor that doesn't fit correctly so they spaced it away with washers and used a longer bolt...:thumbdo:
They also replaced the spark plugs saying they were shot. The car is back in the garage above the pit as there is an oil leak, the catch can breather filter is oily and signs of oil around it, possible source. Thats when I spotted the WTF crank sensor moment!

I made sure to get the replaced items back. Old spark plugs and new sensor.


Dyno sheet.


Looking for oil leaks. Turbo side cleanish...


Passenger side not so clean.





Then I saw the sensor they fitted and how they fitted it...




 

Gizmo

Banned
Cobus says the motor swings very easily so he thinks the compression is very low so increasing boost will come with a retune once we know that the injectors can fuel it. Also the car only starts pulling hard from 4500rpm, under it she's very flat and not having the vanos to kick things off nicely only exacerbates the situation.
My suspicions of the stock pistons being decked or the stock rods shortened to drop compression are becoming apparent, only pulling the head will tell us which one it is...
 

Peejay

Events Organiser
I'm sorry but I have a dumb question.... but is it always necessary to disable or lock the vanos on a m3 turbo?
 

Gizmo

Banned
Not a dumb question, its stupid to disable it as it would help spool the turbo much sooner. Turbo lag wouldn't be so bad if it were working. These aftermarket management systems cannot run vanos and nor can it's tuners tune for it. Who knows what the vanos looks like inside on this car...
 

Peter@AEW

BMWFanatics Advertiser
Official Advertiser
The vanos has been disabled in the car probably by locking it in a fixed position effectively robbing the engine of its ability to produce power under 5000rpm.

The intake cam has a movement of 42 degrees when controlled by the vanos.

Yasheen (444YYY) and I tested his car with INPA plugged in to view the inlet cam movement when under load and on idle so by locking the vanos one effectively leaves the cam in a static position and hopes for the best.

Warren we shall chat and see how to best deal with it.
 

moranor@axis

///Member
Official Advertiser
from the graph it seems the turbo is more suited to higher boost on this engine... what does the boost gauge say at low RPM?

will be interesting to see how much cam timing can fix this :) I would guess setting the cams at the normal low RPM timing will be best as this si where it is struggling... boost can take care of the high RPM assuming you dont get detonation at low rpm...
 

Gizmo

Banned
It's a big turbo capable of over 600hp. Running it on a very low compression motor and at a very low boost of 0.4bar is kind of a waste as it doesn't come close to its efficiency point. The answer is to increase the boost and get the turbo into its efficiency range. Getting the vanos to work would be even better but alas it has been butchered by previous owner/tuner.
 

Mohammed@Auto X-cessorize

BMWFanatics Advertiser
Official Advertiser
The ///M3 turbo im busy with has the same problem of being lazy low down because of the vanos being locked, @Gizmo, on what position did u lock the intake cam on your motor? Good thing about the one i have is that once its past the low down, it really really goes....
 
Top