Turbocharging my e36 323

Dexbethename

Newbie
Points
11
Location
Fakenham uk
Car
E36 323 coupe
Hi guys I have just purchased a 323 coupe on a p reg, m52b25 single vanos, it is going to end up as a drift car but before that happens I would like to squeeze more power out of her, I have been thinking of a turbo conversion on a e36 for a couple years now and finally bite the bullet and am going ahead with it.

I have got my top mount manifold sitting there ready to go on, I have just ordered a t3 hybrid turbo, it should be with me next week, I have also ordered my oil lines for it so they should be here soon, so once they are here I will get them all fitted and upload some pics

Once that is done I have also to do:
Intercooler and piping
M3 injectors
Custom exhaust
Rr and Remap
Not sure on anything else yet but there will no-doubt be a lot more to do

My main concern is the compression, I will only be running the turbo at low boost (0.7ish bar), will I have to install a thicker head gasket or will mine be ok for now? Or what would it do if I just don't do it?

I have never converted a n/a engine before but I am a mechanic so I'm good with the tools/fabrication part but the electronics side confuses me at the thought so that part will be done by a professional

Any help/advise/tips will be greatly appreciated
 
Greetings and Welcome to our TorqueCars Forum my Friend!
Good to have you along with us :)

I think trying to turbo charge the car will prove to be very costly and difficult to do; you would be much better off supercharging it. One of our BMW aficionados on the forum called Prince is supercharging his BMW and may be able to offer you some valuable advice on the do's and don't. :)
 
Tbh most don't (and wouldn't bother) adding a turbo to a 323. The best E36 engine to turbo (talking just 6 pots) is the engine found in the 325. This is because it had a stronger block.

The above list looks pretty good, but you'll also want a custom exhaust manifold and definitely lose the restrictive inlet manifold as well.
 
yeah i know that bit and i have a 325 m50 sitting at my mates but i thought i would try this one first and if it goes pop then that will be going in but seems a shame to take out a good engine so need to wreck this one first :) lol
 
Turbo engines give far more heat and usually work better with a realatively low compression so a bigger metal headgasket is probably a good idea.

Fitting a turbo isnt a straightforward job , though to be fair you seem to know that.

Regardless of the strenght of the block which is important the main reason I would use a 325 is it will always peform much better with a turbo than a 323

The extra ccs mean the same turbo will spool up much earlier

Certain engines come to life with a turbo (or two :lol::lol: ) some dont

I know someone who has a turbo'd 2.5 BMW in an early 316 body . To be honest it isnt that quick and runs out of steam quite early . Of course that could be the map but it has been done well so I would imagine the maps not far off.
 
just goes to show what i know (or rather dont ) about BMWs

No worries mate. The 323 is basically a toned down version of a 328 because they decided the 328 and 325 were too closely matched. It just uses a restricted 2.5 but they couldn't call it a 325 lol.

It doesn't matter that you don't know the engine though, as you've got far better knowledge of turbos than me.
 

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