RHD m54 b30 turbo build

[parkin001.tp]

Hi guys,
I'll start off with introducing mySelf ;
I'm Tom,
Mechanical engineer by trade mainly being hands on in a toolroom, as a bit of a side hobby I rebuild engines and I'm now planning to use my engine and transplant it into my current car, I'll discuss this later with the 'plan'

This is my First ever post on any forum, IV always been the one to view everyone else amazing work but thought it was time to give something back and hopefully learn something along the way, after all that's what it's all about.

So recently I bought the m54 b30 engine with 102,000 miles on, the engine came with all ancillaries, wiring loom, ecu, intake and exhaust manifold, and even with a gear box and clutch, the engine looked fairly clean from the outside and the bit of oil that was left in the engine looked nice and clean. Here's a pic of when I took delivery.



The plan is to strip the engine so every last bolt is taken out and rebuild it with the majority of the parts replaced with new or upgraded bits, with this being a turbo build I won't be doing the band aid of just fitting a thicker head gasket, I'll be going down the road of properly lower the cr with the pistons, I have a few ideas for the stock mahle pistons but may scrap that idea after I have developed them.
Once the engine is built I will be transplanting it into my current car... A 1999 bmw e46 318i (yes a four cylinder)
There will be other mods to support the power of the engine and also uprating the suspension and brakes (obviously) and also fitting a lsd (possibly the m3 rear end swap)
I'll be fabricating my own exhaust manifold and I will give a step by step guide on that when it comes to it as it's a rhd car it's quite difficult to source a decent manifold.
I'm also looking into the idea of a water meth system that activates at a certain amount of boost or rpm.
I'll also be taking the oil filter housing and be fitting a oil distribution block similar to the vac distribution block. This will be to run a external oil filter and oil cooler as with the turbo things will get hot
I'll be uploading pictures tomorrow morning to show where I'm upto as I'm starting this post just as IV finished tearing the block apart.

[AlexQuattro]

Good luck with your project. Don't forget to have fun.

[parkin001.tp]

It's always fun doing this sort of stuff, I'll have to upload all the photos later as I'm currently in the middle of moving house

[parkin001.tp]

heres the pictures of the strip down so far

[AlexQuattro]

Looks good for a relatively high mileage engine. No sludge.

[parkin001.tp]

Looks good for a relatively high mileage engine. No sludge.

I was especially surprised with how clean the cans cams look there is practically no wear on them, I couldnt find any sludge anywhere in the engine only oil tarnish on the block and head but that will be cleared off soon

[parkin001.tp]

so today i got the block back from being acid dipped, it came up very well.
iv also managed to finish stripping down the head.heres a quick guide to removing the valves from the head; using a valve spring compression tool compress the spring, you will find two c shaped collets at the top of the valve, using a magnetic screwdriver knock the two half collets ofrelease the compression tool and remove the spring and retainer pushing down on top of the valve to push the valve through and pull from under the head to completely remove the valve from the headi would recommend numbering the valve to same hole the valve came out of too. ALL done

[parkin001.tp]

yesterday i had some time to do some machining, after looking at prices for a oil distribution block i decided to make my own, those with a beady eye will notice a vanos feed appear as i somehow forgot about this.
heres some pictures;







test fitting on the block









forgot to include these last time but these are the pictures of the block after acid dipping






the IN and OUT feed have a AN-10 feed,
the turbo has a AN-4 feed
and the vanos has a AN-6 feed
i am yet to machine the holes for sensors, i just wanted to test fit the distribution block to ensure it located properly on the locating dowels

whilst i was machining i had a go at working on my idea for the pistons,
my idea was machine the pistons to lower the compression ratio, too which soon i regreted but you live and learn, i shall continue anyway...

i calculated how much material i needed to remove to lower the compression ratio to 9.0:1.
here are the pictures after they were cleaned up and polished;



and heres how they were after machining



i must add that one the image above you will see the depth measured in mm, there is roughly .5mm between each side, this could not be avoided, no matter what i did when clocking up the job the face would not be running parallel, if i got the face running parallel the the outer diameter would have been out of true, this could have been down to the piston being ramped on the face to help with swirl, im not too sure.
after machining them i do regret it, after talking to numerous 'experts' this design would cause a negative effect on the swirl on combustion and possibly cause premature detonation.
i must also add the the reason i machined them in the locations they are is due to the holes for the wrist pin being directly below them and there being more material being there and thus helping to prevent weakening the pistons.
in a good way though this has pushed me into buying some forged CP/Wossner pistons that are made for the job instead of making it a 'bodge' job.

[Sticky]

Any updates?

[parkin001.tp]

There will be soon, I'm just in the middle of moving house so might be a couple of weeks yet until I can properly get into it

[parkin001.tp]

recently iv had a chance to get a few bits done here and there, iv finally finished machining the oil distribution block with the mounts for the alternator and the tensioner, iv also done a reasonable amount of work to the head, firstly iv had the head acid dipped along side with the cam tray to make them look like new and iv also started on porting a polishing the head, although i must add it was more along the lines of just removing any casting defects and polishing the surfaces.
iv also been buying some goodies for the head, staring with some superTech black nitride valves for both intake and exhaust. pretty flash!

as usual here are some pics;





















these are the stock valves





and some shiny new valves

[Sticky]

recently iv had a chance to get a few bits done here and there, iv finally finished machining the oil distribution block with the mounts for the alternator and the tensioner, iv also done a reasonable amount of work to the head, firstly iv had the head acid dipped along side with the cam tray to make them look like new and iv also started on porting a polishing the head, although i must add it was more along the lines of just removing any casting defects and polishing the surfaces.
iv also been buying some goodies for the head, staring with some superTech black nitride valves for both intake and exhaust. pretty flash!

Very, very nice!

[parkin001.tp]

So recently I had an idea to work on for when I fabricate my manifold, a actual prototype will be produced soon but for now here are some screen shots in CAD, anyone want to order some if there successful??

[Sticky]

anyone want to order some if there successful??

The M54 tuning market is pretty small these days. But... that looks great.

[parkin001.tp]

The M54 tuning market is pretty small these days. But... that looks great.

I'd be able to do to most engines I reckon , I'd just need sizes and I can work from there

[parkin001.tp]

another little update here,
iv just got the head back from having a head skim and also having the valve seats re-cut for the new valves.
also as from my last post here is the prototype for the exhaust flange, the finish on the bore is fantastic but I'm not happy with the rest of the finish, at least its a prototype, as you can see from the photo's below the port matching is new as damn is perfect. .... no to do the stainless ones....
here's the photos as usual;

[Sticky]

iv just got the head back from having a head skim and also having the valve seats re-cut for the new valves.

Who did the work?

[parkin001.tp]

Company called headmasters, they are really fantastic guys and gave me loads of helpful tips

[Leinad78]

I really like your work. What ecu are you going to use?

[parkin001.tp]

Thank you it's really appreciated, I have a good friend who reckons he can tune the stock dme to allow for the turbo at 15psi, so I'm going to let him have a go with that first before I look at any other systems

[Leinad78]

Good choice, if he fails, contact me and i´ll gladly introduce you into our development group

[parkin001.tp]

Thank you so much for the offer, if he does fail, I'll let you know

[Sticky]

Thank you it's really appreciated, I have a good friend who reckons he can tune the stock dme to allow for the turbo at 15psi, so I'm going to let him have a go with that first before I look at any other systems

Really? A friend thinks he can tune this?

[Sticky]

Good choice, if he fails, contact me and i´ll gladly introduce you into our development group

What development group is that?

[Leinad78]

A group of half a dozen bmw enthusiasts working on the MS43 disassembly to understand what its doing and how it can be tweaked. Member Alex is currently at 550whp with his MS43.