Turbo on a 323i

[HowFastIs2Fast]

I just bought my 323i and I got from this guy with a turbo almost all the way installed. He has the intercooler and turbo timer all hooked up, he is just basicly missing the turbo. I had the impression that I would get the turbo with the car, but he said that he wanted 3k for it, so i turned him down. Now I have half of a turbo kit on my car and am not sure weather to hook it up all the way or not. My question is do I need to make any modifications to the engine to keep it running smooth if I hook it up. I want it to last past 200,000 miles. Right now it has 100k. What i'm looking for is the basic pro's and con's that go with a turbo.

[crazy1323]

What are you using to tune the engine. You need somekind of a stand alone for fuel management. Also, if you are looking to get 200,000 miles out of this car I would not turbo it, that is just what I would do.

[BiFfMaN]

the 2.5 m52 motor comes with a cast crank not a forged..so that will limit HP.
also you would need larger injectors,FPR and fuel management like crazy was talking about. Keep the boost low (no more then 9Psi) with the compression ratio your running with the stock pistons. As for turbos i was thinking the Garrett GT3071R or GT3076R line of turbos are good for that size motor, they are ballbearing and oil/water cooled ( longer life ). im thinking that the kit that u have does not have most of the lines or hardware...so have fun fabing.

But truthfully...if you want the motor to last...keep it stock..turbocharging a motor (IMO) is not just slapping a turbo on..you need to have the motor properly built to handle the extra heat and stress. but hey if you got stupid amounts of money...then go for it... :thumbsup:

[HowFastIs2Fast]

I was affraid that i would need to rework the engine to handle the turbo. Plus right now I don't exactly have tons of money to play around with. Maybe when gas drops down in price and I get a promotion, then I can start playing around with this car. Until then, does it matter if a leave the intercooler and all the hookups on the car?

[BiFfMaN]

might get laughed at for having the intercooler and no turbo... :lmao: :lmao:

oh also one of the GT25 or GT28 line might be better suited if yah not wanting to push the 400+ hp barrier. btw what size intercooler?

[HowFastIs2Fast]

it's not very big. I tried to measure it the best I could and this is what I got. 28"wide x 10.5"hi x 3"thk

[CGRIZZ516]

i don't think a turbo is gonna help your motor last 200,xxx miles. Like everyone said, you'll need to do lots of custom fabbing and of course get a decent turbo unit. Not to mention extensive tuning which is very difficult on the E46's hence why there aren't any production turbos that we can just order, all of them are custom jobs. You could roll around with the intercooler on, its not gonna do much, it'll just make most others curious. I say you just sell the turbo parts and make back some money. Even with whats already there you have a ways to go and you'll need plenty of money to finish it.

[BiFfMaN]

it's not very big. I tried to measure it the best I could and this is what I got. 28"wide x 10.5"hi x 3"thk

Thanks.

Reason i was asking was because if the intercooler was too small for the amount of boost you thought about running then thats power your losing out on.

surface area of the intercooler plays a big part in how its going to drop that boosted air. not enough surface area and the intercooler becomes heat soaked way too fast. most boost experts will tell yah get the biggest IC you can get...but make sure it has good airflow. crappy intercoolers can drop more then 3-5 Psi of your boost :( .

there are alot of good articles on the internets about turbocharging cars...learning what it does and how it effects your motor ( as in heat generated ) is the first thing you should research when thinking of forced induction.

time for a beer :dave: :dave: :dave: :dave:

[HowFastIs2Fast]

hey, thanks for the suggestions, and all of the info. I'm going to do it, just now I know that its going to take a lot more effort than I first thought. If I have any trouble down the road, I'll just put a post.