After putting in proper coolant and bleeding the system my fan has now been working properly for a few hundred miles and I haven't had any issues since! Hopefully it stays that way
Inspiration for the future of my 1990 325i. Great car. By the way, coolant/antifreeze also provides lubrication and the protection that lubrication gives. I've done just water and it was ok for temp control, but no good for those metal guts.
@@MkII-cw3rw I did only water a long time ago in my stock e30 325i, and the needle never passed the middle, which is where it spent most of it's time. Then I took the temp sensor that activates the fan, and used it to activate the aux fan. At that time I put a temp sensor that activated the fan clutch at a lower temp. The temp gauge still remained about the same, but I think it is able to handle extreme situations better. The car has been garaged for about ten years now.
@@ImJoel do you have an aftermarket triple pass radiator with a set of silicone coolant hoses and upgraded oil cooler? Maybe it will calm down the overheating? 🤔
m50 heads have 3 ports, the m52 heads had 2 ports since the later e36's integrated the cluster and ecu temp senders. The third port is definitely handy for running coolant to the turbo. Looking forward to seeing this car rip more!
A year after, Im glad it still works. Those little problems that occur are just normal stuff... Ive had overheating problems with my E30 as well... The most important part here is answered, it is reliable. We are talking about turbo build you did. All of those minor problems you had could occur on a NA engine as well. Cool car and a great work what you did. Greetings from Croatia!
Hey Joel, I supply the vems standalone and work closely with one of the best vems tuners, happy to help regarding your after start tuning or any other issues you need to sort still. Thanks indy 👌
I picked one line once from Chip Foose (that sticks with me)..he said :' the most important thing of any build & swaps for success is heat managment & cooling'..he said ;'you will not enjoy your dream car if you cannot control that heat' (especially N/A to turbo)..being able to manually control cooling & extractor fans from the dash is better also.(heat louvers are useful too)...stuck on a hot day at a red light ,flick the switch..,don't wait for that ECU to decide..'installing heat sensors in the bay with gauges on the dash also is helping)..love your car ,great DIY job..,but please keep that left foot off that clutch between gears..it ain't a foot rest..!!!
amazing work dude! i love your knowledge of BMW engines! only a true BMW will know what you talking about M50 M52 S50 S52 M54 M20.. etc looking forward your next video!
Hey and another thing , use distilled water only for your cooling system otherwise regular tap water will corrode your cooling passages in engine in all of cooling system
OBD2 harness is > OBD1 harness. I'm entirely biased, but OBD2 rear mount crank sensor never goes bad and lets you run an M54 damper, OBD2 open element IAT actually reacts to temp changes, ETM is better for doing swap harness wiring mods. You can still run a Link E36X PNP ECU if you buy a 413 ECU connector and repin your harness to what the link expects. I guess you could also repin the same MS41 ECU connector but you need to mod the plug. With either harness there's a ton of stuff that isn't used, biggest difference is you'd need to buy a cam sensor. Also if you want to clean up that coilpack connector/wiring, run it out the other side or back of the valve cover, can even hide it in a 318 firewall cover if you want.
maaaaan watching this was therapeutic as I've experienced the same issues turbocharging my E36 M3. some things I learned too: adding distilled water will help with cooling, and you can go down to 20% antifreeze, 80% water on a street car. also I was having horrible cooling due to lack of airflow so I added the clutch fan back and it's been chillin.
Hey bud...that's why I did a custom wiring when I installed the Fueltech 550 on my e34. Your build is just awesome and it hurts to see you having issues due to old stuff. Keep up the good work, and you did prove that your build is 100% reliable!!!! Cheers
Bro, what would have been dope was you taking a video of the sleeper making it's easy through the back woods just rolling in 1 St gear. Man, with a drone. Now, that would have been an epic shot for life.
for the oil leak, it's an E30... NORMAL things hahaha ! Mine got a m20 2.5l turbo cheap build (custom oem piston, oem rods, oem head studs, ebay deka 660cc ect ect) even with a all new gasket everywhere, it's still leaking some oil, not so much but it's due to the blow by into my bloc, it's pushing the gasket of the block back oil return from the head (m20 shitty conception) an mess everything to the left side of my engine, and of course finish on the ground ! but to the reliability, my m20 overpass all my expectation, 14psi from over 2 years, no major issue, so much fun driving this car, and too much surprised guy with a "big" cars hahahaha, that's for me the most enjoyable moments about it. Our build are gone to the same time i thinks, so i love to follow how your's is runing today too! Regards from France.
Hey Joel, get a thermostat that makes your engine run lower than the OEM 92 degrees. Bimmerworld has retrofit options at 71, 75 and 80 degrees celsius.
Loving the content Bro keep up the nice work, I had the same issue for the fan that wasn't turning on in time so now I have it also cabled to a switch in the dashboard to switch it on when I want, it helps a lot! I anyway hope that you can find the problem and resolve it!
Rapid Spool Industries 😂 I met the Owner/creator of RSi bout 10 years ago at a BMW meet in Pembroke Pines Florida. Older Gentleman who definitely know his way around e30’s and 24 valve BMW engines (although when we met he was running a M30 engine with a huge turbo off a diesel truck 😂)
Speaking from experience the engine stuff alone, if you're doing a bottom mount and scavenge pump setup, will set you back around $1200 before even getting into the electronics to make it work at higher boost levels. You'll also need to do reinforcements, ensure all safety equipment is functional or removed, make sure your drivetrain is in good enough condition to run higher power, replace all bushings and preferably upgrade to poly or delrin, and highly consider lowering your center of gravity on coils and improve handling with adjustable sway bars and strut braces. All in, including a custom exhaust an no interior work, you're getting in around $4k for anything above 4psi. If you stay at 4psi you can technically be turboed for around $1500.
@@ThatWasSketchyy I understand but I'm trying to give you a starting point. Interior work isn't cheap but it isn't anywhere near as expensive as the mechanical stuff; bodywork if needed is going to be the biggest variable in numbers.
I had the same Problem with the after start like you. My solution was to turn up the Priming Pulse an close the IACV more when the engine is hot by reducing the PWM Duty Cycle Hope that helps a bit!
Mentioning the OBD2 port as the reason of the difficult tuning problems has be wondering if it's not so much the type of port as it's the type of hardware you are using for running the car. You mention something called "Vems"? I wonder if you could switch out that hardware (and subsequently the software) you would have a much easier time. But I really can't know as you are the builder of it and know much better than I could. But to me if you had the money to buy a different system to run it on through the OBD2 it would make much more sense. But as I said I really don't know. Great car and build! LOVE IT! Thanks!
This is how I know you're in CT. Take one turn off of a main road and you end up on a rally course through the hillside forest. It's great in an SUV but shit otherwise LMFAO. Awesome car as always.
Distilled water is bad. All other elements have been removed and so the water wants to leach them from the block making it brittle. Normal water is correct if it’s not hard.
u should have a screw somewhere in ur cooling system which u can open while changing fluid so air can get out easier and that way it will suck up the new fluid better instead of u waiting the whole time
how much was the whole build (including the car base) and how’d you save up for it/how long did it take you to build? maybe a video idea. luv the channel !!
Great build! Dear sir I have some questions as I would like to build a m54 and I am a DIYer such as yourself. First of all what’s the engines compression ratio with the new piston setup?? Over or under 10:1? Also how much boost are you running and what fuel are u using ? What’s the most boost you can run using pump gas without having knocking ?
Ever consider relocating your catch-can to the other side? I had a great deal of smell that got eliminated when I moved it to right in front of the turbo intake.
What sized tires are you running on this setup? I'm about a month and a half away from finishing my working prototype turbo e36 and will have to start prepping for the actual power portion of the build here soon which includes my reinforcements, suspension bracing, and wider tires.
Lower cost and... Wattabout labor? If you're willing to wrench, you could throw the low end of an m54b30 (crank, rods n pistons) into your motor then top it off with s52b32 cams and an m50 intake. Gives you: Sweat +displacement +compression = +HP +++smiles. And, depending on your dickering skills, for around a dime.
Dude i had a e46 328i 4dr n the m52 was awesome....until it all went to shit. Started out with sumthin in the coolant system melting causin it to block off the coolant goin thru the motor n ended up blowing it. Stock motor tho
You heat soaked it thanks for showing you choke it helps teach me although I learned the hard way like you... My plastic therm Housing cracked, Regardless BMW's 3 Series suck at bleeding everything including slave cylinders XD those car's are weird.. Regardless you gotta make a long ass neck with the over flow tank I had a shitty drift car with a phone cord attacking it to the radiator & I'd lift It too my chest to bleed it in massive gulps instantly. Lol you're bleeding it now. As Im was writing the shits. Also move the relay foo
hey bro, What program are you using to monitor coolant temp and oil pressure etc? Is it only compatible with obd2 and that vems ecu you have? Im mid m50 swap and will be maintaining obd1 Cheers man, having your setup is the goal/dream
After putting in proper coolant and bleeding the system my fan has now been working properly for a few hundred miles and I haven't had any issues since! Hopefully it stays that way
Inspiration for the future of my 1990 325i. Great car. By the way, coolant/antifreeze also provides lubrication and the protection that lubrication gives. I've done just water and it was ok for temp control, but no good for those metal guts.
Where does the temp needle usually stay?
@@MkII-cw3rw I did only water a long time ago in my stock e30 325i, and the needle never passed the middle, which is where it spent most of it's time. Then I took the temp sensor that activates the fan, and used it to activate the aux fan. At that time I put a temp sensor that activated the fan clutch at a lower temp. The temp gauge still remained about the same, but I think it is able to handle extreme situations better. The car has been garaged for about ten years now.
I will never get tired of hearing that turbo
It does sound amazing
Lowkey you're turning into one of those channels that I Can't wait to see the next video. The E30 is sick, and I'm dumb hype for the Wagon build
Thank you!! i’m just waiting on parts for the e46 😭 it’s killing me. all i wanna do is make videos on that car
@@ImJoel I feel that. I got a clapped out 46 vert I'm working on now
LOWKEY??? For me it turned into one of those channels the first video of the e30 😂
@@ImJoel do you have an aftermarket triple pass radiator with a set of silicone coolant hoses and upgraded oil cooler? Maybe it will calm down the overheating? 🤔
@@ImJoel Hey Joel we GOTTA get you a fancy ALL white hangar workshop too, you deserve it.
m50 heads have 3 ports, the m52 heads had 2 ports since the later e36's integrated the cluster and ecu temp senders. The third port is definitely handy for running coolant to the turbo. Looking forward to seeing this car rip more!
Correct! I noticed that too
honestly you're carrying the e30 scene rn!! keep up the good work my friend
A year after, Im glad it still works. Those little problems that occur are just normal stuff... Ive had overheating problems with my E30 as well...
The most important part here is answered, it is reliable. We are talking about turbo build you did. All of those minor problems you had could occur on a NA engine as well.
Cool car and a great work what you did. Greetings from Croatia!
"not cutting any corners on reliability"
-Puts normal water in the radiator
Pick one.
Water wETTER
Although that won't help as much as a daily driven car with coolant & water swaps for the track..
Antifreeze isnt magic, water wetter can drop temps a measurable amount which is why you run a much larger cooling system than needed.
He was misinformed. One or two bottles of redline water wetter with distilled water in fine in non freezing weather.
Joel please make a compilation of just raw driving footage. I’d love to get a video of a bunch of pulls put together. Great work as always man!
Coolant also lubricates the system, it's better for your waterpump.
And it will prevent corosion.
I knew I was playing smart when I only put coolant
Hey Joel, I supply the vems standalone and work closely with one of the best vems tuners, happy to help regarding your after start tuning or any other issues you need to sort still.
Thanks indy 👌
I picked one line once from Chip Foose (that sticks with me)..he said :' the most important thing of any build & swaps for success is heat managment & cooling'..he said ;'you will not enjoy your dream car if you cannot control that heat' (especially N/A to turbo)..being able to manually control cooling & extractor fans from the dash is better also.(heat louvers are useful too)...stuck on a hot day at a red light ,flick the switch..,don't wait for that ECU to decide..'installing heat sensors in the bay with gauges on the dash also is helping)..love your car ,great DIY job..,but please keep that left foot off that clutch between gears..it ain't a foot rest..!!!
You’re running a big single bro, always remember to let the car idle for 3-5 mins before shutting off, gotta let the fluids cool down
amazing work dude! i love your knowledge of BMW engines! only a true BMW will know what you talking about M50 M52 S50 S52 M54 M20.. etc
looking forward your next video!
Hey and another thing , use distilled water only for your cooling system otherwise regular tap water will corrode your cooling passages in engine in all of cooling system
OBD2 harness is > OBD1 harness.
I'm entirely biased, but OBD2 rear mount crank sensor never goes bad and lets you run an M54 damper, OBD2 open element IAT actually reacts to temp changes, ETM is better for doing swap harness wiring mods.
You can still run a Link E36X PNP ECU if you buy a 413 ECU connector and repin your harness to what the link expects.
I guess you could also repin the same MS41 ECU connector but you need to mod the plug.
With either harness there's a ton of stuff that isn't used, biggest difference is you'd need to buy a cam sensor.
Also if you want to clean up that coilpack connector/wiring, run it out the other side or back of the valve cover, can even hide it in a 318 firewall cover if you want.
maaaaan watching this was therapeutic as I've experienced the same issues turbocharging my E36 M3. some things I learned too: adding distilled water will help with cooling, and you can go down to 20% antifreeze, 80% water on a street car. also I was having horrible cooling due to lack of airflow so I added the clutch fan back and it's been chillin.
Hey bud...that's why I did a custom wiring when I installed the Fueltech 550 on my e34. Your build is just awesome and it hurts to see you having issues due to old stuff. Keep up the good work, and you did prove that your build is 100% reliable!!!! Cheers
You have an badass car. Good job on the engine.
Also, your editing of this video is amazing. keep up the good work !
Yoo it's that guy who span out the e34,nice, I'll gladly follow what you're saying because I'm about to buy an e36 with the m52turbo
Remember that time when I had m20b25 in my E30.
Really best time of my life
Bro, what would have been dope was you taking a video of the sleeper making it's easy through the back woods just rolling in 1 St gear. Man, with a drone. Now, that would have been an epic shot for life.
for the oil leak, it's an E30... NORMAL things hahaha ! Mine got a m20 2.5l turbo cheap build (custom oem piston, oem rods, oem head studs, ebay deka 660cc ect ect) even with a all new gasket everywhere, it's still leaking some oil, not so much but it's due to the blow by into my bloc, it's pushing the gasket of the block back oil return from the head (m20 shitty conception) an mess everything to the left side of my engine, and of course finish on the ground ! but to the reliability, my m20 overpass all my expectation, 14psi from over 2 years, no major issue, so much fun driving this car, and too much surprised guy with a "big" cars hahahaha, that's for me the most enjoyable moments about it.
Our build are gone to the same time i thinks, so i love to follow how your's is runing today too!
Regards from France.
I would like to be the first to say, it was truly reliable, until today 😔. Favorite E30 on YT. Its all for the content anyway.
Thats freaking awesome man! respect you did that all by yourself
Hey Joel, get a thermostat that makes your engine run lower than the OEM 92 degrees. Bimmerworld has retrofit options at 71, 75 and 80 degrees celsius.
Loving the content Bro keep up the nice work, I had the same issue for the fan that wasn't turning on in time so now I have it also cabled to a switch in the dashboard to switch it on when I want, it helps a lot! I anyway hope that you can find the problem and resolve it!
Good vid. When you change coolant, jack up front end and put heat on full blast. It will eliminate air in the system and prevent overheat condition.
You’re quickly becoming one of my favorite car channels man. That TURBO hahaha. Hope to see you around CT at some point 👍🏼
For all vems questions refer to the person who sold you the ecu. It's their literal job to support you.
Rapid Spool Industries 😂 I met the Owner/creator of RSi bout 10 years ago at a BMW meet in Pembroke Pines Florida. Older Gentleman who definitely know his way around e30’s and 24 valve BMW engines (although when we met he was running a M30 engine with a huge turbo off a diesel truck 😂)
always a good day when joel uploads
would be awesome to see a video of how much it cost to build the entire car.
Speaking from experience the engine stuff alone, if you're doing a bottom mount and scavenge pump setup, will set you back around $1200 before even getting into the electronics to make it work at higher boost levels. You'll also need to do reinforcements, ensure all safety equipment is functional or removed, make sure your drivetrain is in good enough condition to run higher power, replace all bushings and preferably upgrade to poly or delrin, and highly consider lowering your center of gravity on coils and improve handling with adjustable sway bars and strut braces. All in, including a custom exhaust an no interior work, you're getting in around $4k for anything above 4psi. If you stay at 4psi you can technically be turboed for around $1500.
@@deltacharlieecho4732 interested in everything for the video, not just engine. Everything along with the shell
@@ThatWasSketchyy I understand but I'm trying to give you a starting point. Interior work isn't cheap but it isn't anywhere near as expensive as the mechanical stuff; bodywork if needed is going to be the biggest variable in numbers.
@@deltacharlieecho4732 yeah I understand that, just thought it’d be a cool
Video
@@ThatWasSketchyy for sure.
Maybe you had blow by on the dyno because your rings weren't fully seated yet. Love the build though, good job
Yo it’s funny seeing you drive in that forest. Shit is right next to my house. That highway on-ramp is such a fun entry as well! Gotta love CT
oooooh damn i get so excited just watching your videos man you make such great content, cant wait for more
Wish you could get these to sound like some of the popular Japanese in-line 6s
I had the same Problem with the after start like you. My solution was to turn up the Priming Pulse an close the IACV more when the engine is hot by reducing the PWM Duty Cycle
Hope that helps a bit!
This cars exhaust is so intoxicating I can’t get enough
such a good video. true bmw guru and teaching others so much. thank you
How can you build an engine but not know you need to use coolant?
I'm actually perplexed.
I love the home build on this mate.. gives me hope doing my m54 build
im thinking of doing a m52 swap on my e30 but have no clue on what set up to run or anything your videos helped me understand more🙏🏽
Another shock bolt? Another? badass car
Heard long cranking times could be related to bad or worn out grounds I would recommend checking those
Usually engine to chassis
In germany we dont have the m52 with the stell Block,it sucks
Mentioning the OBD2 port as the reason of the difficult tuning problems has be wondering if it's not so much the type of port as it's the type of hardware you are using for running the car. You mention something called "Vems"? I wonder if you could switch out that hardware (and subsequently the software) you would have a much easier time. But I really can't know as you are the builder of it and know much better than I could. But to me if you had the money to buy a different system to run it on through the OBD2 it would make much more sense. But as I said I really don't know. Great car and build! LOVE IT! Thanks!
Keep it coming love the content
This is how I know you're in CT. Take one turn off of a main road and you end up on a rally course through the hillside forest. It's great in an SUV but shit otherwise LMFAO. Awesome car as always.
Th ats hilarious. Im in CT and that wiz my first thought . I can tell by the woods . Is he in CT really ?
@@HEATHANSKATEBOARDS I believe so, I remember recognizing some streets in one of his doordash videos.
love ur cars and ur channel
Distilled water is bad. All other elements have been removed and so the water wants to leach them from the block making it brittle. Normal water is correct if it’s not hard.
Good video bro, car looks good
Pretty sure you can set it up to 15-20 degrees from 12 o-clock for your oil feed without it being an issue.
Ebay turbo ftw
clean build. deff know your bmws. need a proper turbo on that thing tho
After you fix the car put 80c termostat and put the ecu to start the fans at 82c max its nesesarry
u should have a screw somewhere in ur cooling system which u can open while changing fluid so air can get out easier and that way it will suck up the new fluid better instead of u waiting the whole time
Try switch oil viscosity n add a whole quart of lucas oil stabilizer which also replaces a quart of oil you put in
Or you could be like me and have an OBD2 coil harness on an OBD1 M50 harness
dm me about this
@@yourboyreebs bruh now
In the forest with a cracked head.
Sounds like good times.
how much was the whole build (including the car base) and how’d you save up for it/how long did it take you to build? maybe a video idea. luv the channel !!
Yeah definitely use distilled water if you live in a hot climate
should do more gopro pov clips for the door dash videos
my dream car
Hard start hot is weak cam or crank sensor old from the heat
Man... I need this exhaust note, and I have an M54B25
right ear vibing
Bmw Kryptonite is the cooling systems haha my e36, e39, e46 and e92 have had cooling problems lol
No air filter on the turbo?
another ct man niceeee
Great build! Dear sir I have some questions as I would like to build a m54 and I am a DIYer such as yourself. First of all what’s the engines compression ratio with the new piston setup?? Over or under 10:1? Also how much boost are you running and what fuel are u using ? What’s the most boost you can run using pump gas without having knocking ?
i actually had doubts about doing turbos with m54 internals because how thin the conrods is
If i still wouldve had my 07 s4 we couldve went at it😢 but it got totaled but u make me want a E30 so bad
When I was tracking my 24v e30, shit was vibrating loose all the time. Blue loctite everything lol
Very nice work
Ever consider relocating your catch-can to the other side? I had a great deal of smell that got eliminated when I moved it to right in front of the turbo intake.
Hi, nice project i like it, can you tell me what i need to replace for 400 horsepower, what i need to buy, my engine is m52b28
You are the bro who Said, I'm Gona arrested ???
Wat specs have you.
Stock internals
What compresion.
How much boost are you running
This is cool as fuck 🔥
Nice car sorry what ecu again ?
What sized tires are you running on this setup? I'm about a month and a half away from finishing my working prototype turbo e36 and will have to start prepping for the actual power portion of the build here soon which includes my reinforcements, suspension bracing, and wider tires.
you mentioned is was an M52b28 but with pistons from and M54…. is the block bored out?
What’s up with the 93 gas in the US. The lowest we have in the Netherlands is 95, then 98 and some pumps still do 102.
different form of measurement overseas, look up RON vs. Octane
93oct in usa is 98mon in europe,i hope you got it.
I have an m52, what are some of the best ways to increase hp for a lower price?
Lower cost and...
Wattabout labor? If you're willing to wrench, you could throw the low end of an m54b30 (crank, rods n pistons) into your motor then top it off with s52b32 cams and an m50 intake. Gives you:
Sweat +displacement +compression = +HP +++smiles. And, depending on your dickering skills, for around a dime.
nice man
Dude i had a e46 328i 4dr n the m52 was awesome....until it all went to shit. Started out with sumthin in the coolant system melting causin it to block off the coolant goin thru the motor n ended up blowing it. Stock motor tho
Very nice build (y) Would you do something differently if you would be doing it once more?
You could tune your stock ecu for turbo with romraider and open ms41.
Dont think it supports a EBCS
@@mikelbring Actually it does.
It doesn't support it, but you can fudge it with the charcoal purge PWM table. Works for open loop boost control
What’s your mpg?? City and highway if you know
i broke an s52 cam before too lol
how far do you think the aluminum block could be pushed?
Whats your turbine housing size? i thought only the S52 head has two coolant ports. obd1 has three
What’s a shock bolt ??I have an e30 and I wanna take care of it 😂
Which shift boot do you have ?
I’m not sure if you mentioned this in the video but how much money did you spend on the swap?
Anotha one ❤️
“All swap cars have bolts come loose” not if it’s swapped correct😂
Swapped Turbo cars*** Always have massive vibrations, rattling bolts loose
🔥🔥🔥
You heat soaked it thanks for showing you choke it helps teach me although I learned the hard way like you... My plastic therm Housing cracked,
Regardless BMW's 3 Series suck at bleeding everything including slave cylinders XD those car's are weird.. Regardless you gotta make a long ass neck with the over flow tank I had a shitty drift car with a phone cord attacking it to the radiator & I'd lift It too my chest to bleed it in massive gulps instantly. Lol you're bleeding it now. As Im was writing the shits.
Also move the relay foo
hey bro, What program are you using to monitor coolant temp and oil pressure etc? Is it only compatible with obd2 and that vems ecu you have? Im mid m50 swap and will be maintaining obd1 Cheers man, having your setup is the goal/dream
It’s the vems ECU software goes along with the ecu
How much did it cost?