M44 Engine project

[littlefeller]

nooooooooo, see how much you can make before turbo first im curiouse as to how much can be freed from dumping the fan, water pump, power steering and anything else connected to the engine.

 

[t-tony]

Hi, thanks @t-tony for that info may well come in handy, just talking to a chap in the states selling a custom turbo header/manifold and Garrett T4 turbo for the M44. Apart from the time gap with messaging he is not so keen on posting but will see what happens, at the moment I am trying to work out if it will fit the Z3 and if the 318ti engine compartment are the same.

Looking at the work he has carried out and the dyno his car is putting out 263 HP, with 15/18 lbs of boost. He says he has been running this for 18 odd months with no real problems, my thought would be to use less boost and aim for the 230/240 HP mark.

I may well use his build as a reference.

Andy

I fitted a strut brace for a 3 series on my Z3 Andy, so suspension dimensions look to be the same, so there's a fair chance the engine compartment is the same. Always nice to have a source of information when doing something like this, but it is a problem talking to someone who is 5 hours behind you. It doesn't sound much but it means you doing polar opposite things like at the end of your day he's only halfway through his work.

Tony.

 

[oldcarman]

Where is he in the USA? Perhaps a member close by could get it and post it to you! JIM

 

[windym]

Bit of an update on the M44 HP gains, although I have been busy with wheels and bits. Just ordered the new water pump and electronic controller as well as the electric power steering pump, which will be overhauled before fitting.

The water pump link is here

http://www.mawsolutions.com/Assets/applets/EWP80_install_instr.pdf

Now this is an interesting read and for anyone thinking of changing their water pump, I would recommend a read. So time differences taken into account I have been talking with a couple of 318 owners in the States. They are both mechanics who wanted more HP without going the 6 cylinder route. When I looked into pulling more HP out of mine I looked at the ancillaries as well as engine tuning.

These guys have done the same albeit before me, so their experience is what I will draw from. Their basic engine was the same as mine M43 single cam, they decided to rescue the strangled HP before doing any engine work. This included water/steering/fan/A/C pump pulley deletes, as well as intake, header, cat, re-map and flywheel .

One of problems to overcome was the load on the engine caused by older parts. The main loss in HP was worn pulley parts that caused extra loading. By removing the above and replacing with electric counterparts adding the lightened flywheel, exhaust, induction and a re-map. The M43 single cam unit that started life with 118 HP was dyno’d at 187 HP, this is without any engine work, other than a re-map.

This would mean that any engine with similar mods could have a substantial HP increase. With the 6 cylinder engine manifold modifications increases up to 240/250 HP quite easily.

Anyway I digress the main point for this post was to bring the waterpump to your attention. As the BMW units get older and needs replacing this looks an extremely viable alternative. Both in flow rate, engine protection and performance, so have a read it makes a lot of sense.

I can't see the point in just staying with old technology, (unless you want to keep your car as BMW made it) There seems to be a lot of mods that will help preserve engine life as well as adding HP and fun to Z motoring.


Andy

 

[windym]

Got the engine fully stripped down this weekend to its component parts, the water pump was partially seized and the head gasket was goosed. But as Im only interested in the block and a few bits not a problem, the bores are in great shape with the honing honning ? marks very visible.

So not bad for an engine that has done 100k ish, also just picked up some E30 3.0 M3 pistons and rods at 85.964 so the block will be bored out to 86mm from the original 85mm. The M44 crank has an 83.5mm stroke, I will be using an M47 forged crank with an 88mm stroke, more displacement more torque. The M47 crank has the same dia big-ends and main bearings as the M42/M44, with the 86mm bore and 88mm stroke will turn it to a 2045cc motor.

Andy

 

[oldcarman]

Keep the info and pics coming please! Very interested in the while project, JIM

 

[littlefeller]

doesn't swapping mechanical pumps for electric ones just move the power drain to the alternator? does anyone have figures for how much hp is used to generate say 50 amps?

 

[Synclare]

Hi, thanks @t-tony for that info may well come in handy, just talking to a chap in the states selling a custom turbo header/manifold and Garrett T4 turbo for the M44. Apart from the time gap with messaging he is not so keen on posting but will see what happens,

I have a contact in Pennsylvania that it could be posted to and he in turn could post it to UK if that helps.

 

[spurs fan in a coupe]

Keep the info and pics coming please! Very interested in the while project, JIM

You should be.... it's your old engine!

You never told me the water pump and head gasket were gone when I bought it!

 

[Jonno Bee]

Fascinating thread Andy. I am well impressed at the condition of the bores. I like the idea of trying to maximize the performance of the engine you have. Thanks for sharing your experiences, looking forward to following this.

Cheers,

Jonno

 

[windym]

doesn't swapping mechanical pumps for electric ones just move the power drain to the alternator? does anyone have figures for how much hp is used to generate say 50 amps?

Hi, it does take HP from the engine so there is a loading, looking at fitting a pressure switch in the fluid line. This will detect when the fluid is moving in the steering rack and activate the pump.

So the theory is by adjusting the amount of pressure detected by the sensor, the pump will be off when driving most of the time giving manual steering, cutting in when needed.

The 1.8/9 steering rack is the fastest and lightest on the Z3 range and also can be driven without PS, with the use of a by-pass valve. I may go fully manual if I have trouble sorting out the pump but the pressure by-pass has been used by a couple of E30/6 racers in the States. By all accounts works very well and can help to reduce tram lining and give a more planted feel to conering (their words not mine)

Andy

 

[5harp3y]

The 1.8/9 steering rack is the fastest and lightest on the Z3 range and also can be driven without PS, with the use of a by-pass valve. I may go fully manual if I have trouble sorting out the pump but the pressure by-pass has been used by a couple of E30/6 racers in the States. By all accounts works very well and can help to reduce tram lining and give a more planted feel to conering (their words not mine)

Andy

i thought all Z3's have the same rack and the same ratios hence why people put them in other BMWs. RealOEM certainly only shows one part number for all Z3s

i personally wouldnt bin the power steering as its hydraulic and has plenty of feel as it is

 

[windym]

i thought all Z3's have the same rack and the same ratios hence why people put them in other BMWs. RealOEM certainly only shows one part number for all Z3s

i personally wouldnt bin the power steering as its hydraulic and has plenty of feel as it is

Hi, the 4cyl rack is the quickest, most E46 racers fit them, the reason for ditching the steering has been posted before.

Andy

 

[oldcarman]

You should be.... it's your old engine!

You never told me the water pump and head gasket were gone when I bought it!

That would be because I wasn't told about that by Sean who told me everything sounded good to go! So sorry but I think you are doing okay overall from it, JIM

 

[hard top]

That's gratitude for you...
Should be happy Spurs took it off your hands and gave you some cash otherwise you would still own a piece of junk stuck in the UK.

 

[oldcarman]

And this is your business how?? JIM

 

[spurs fan in a coupe]

@oldcarman @hard top I was only joking. Maybe we should leave @windym thread on topic

 

[windym]

So pistons are now here, well pistons,rods and rings a very lucky find E30 3.0 M3 had to buy a set all 6 so some spares.

Waiting for the crank to show up then its off to the engineers for skimming, boring, honing, balancing, decking and pocketing. Decided to have the con-rods weighed and matched at the same time, all bearing surfaces honed and bearings made for the engine.

Andy

 

[oldcarman]

I think you have covered everything you need to do with the pistons and rods with the weight matching. How much do you need to bore the cylinders to fit the piston/ rings? Are you skimming just to gain a flat surface or enough to raise compression? JIM

 

[windym]

Hi 1mm from 85 to 86 then its just getting the deck height right for the pistons.

Andy