Project E39

To Blow Or Not To Blow

So the big question is: Does one put a fat Beijing blow dryer(turbo-charger) on the vehicle? Well, the answer is yes absolutely. Turbos are great for a lot of reasons but they can also have their issues. The engine in the car could blow up or have a catastrophic failure, but the engine will have way more power, and vehicles with turbos are usually better on fuel. So Because of this one should put a big turbo on the vehicle.

Source:https://www.whichcar.com.au/features/monster-turbo-2000hp-420ci-small-block-ford-engine

Vehicles with turbos are better than naturally aspirated vehicles because they are more fuel-efficient. Turbos are being put on smaller engines with smaller displacement because the turbo can make them outperform engines with twice the displacement. Newer cars with turbos are lighter and are performing better than their naturally aspirated counterparts. The article Naturally Aspirated VS.Turbocharged has highlighted this by saying “The rapid advancement in technology means that vehicles with boosted power are now more reliable than they ever were. Turbocharged cars excel in fuel economy and relative performance, offering drivers speed and acceleration that cannot be matched by naturally aspirated engines of the same size.”(Naturally Aspirated VS.Turbocharged) Now with all this power comes big responsibility because of the extra parts in the engine bay.

Source:https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.autoblog.com/amp/2020/04/22/hyundai-cars-sitting-in-port-us-sales/

Vehicles with turbos have a lot more moving parts as well as a lot more oil running around the engine bay. When a turbo is installed on a vehicle it needs a new exhaust manifold, a hole in the oil pan that is tapped for a hose for the turbo because it needs oil in the turbo while it’s running, also air from the turbo runs through an intercooler so it has an intercooler and all the tubing that it needs to run around the engine bay. The block and internals (pistons, rods, etc.) of the engine have to be able to handle that extra power from the turbo. Some people will run way too much boost in their car and blow up their engine. While you could blow your engine one should slap a turbo on because of the huge power that comes with it.

Source:https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-tell-if-your-engine-is-blown

A turbo can easily add 100 horsepower to a vehicle and you can buy them in full bolt-on kits. When a turbo is slapped on exhaust gasses push the turbine on one side of the turbo and on the other side, it’s sucking air, shooting it into an intercooler, cooling the air down, and shooting it in the intake. Kartik says “Turbochargers are pretty much small turbines powered by exhaust and fresh air to increase the power of an engine by forcing more air into the combustion chamber. This forced air known as ‘boost’ causes a bigger bang in the chamber thus providing more power. The main reason for the boost is the pressure of the air is more than the atmospheric pressure.” (Rangam) So this means big power from the engine which is one of the main reasons to get a turbo.

Source:https://www.eagleridgegm.com/what-is-a-turbocharger-and-how-does-it-work/

One should put a turbo on the vehicle or buy a new vehicle with a turbo installed on it. Vehicles that come with turbos are getting better fuel efficiency than their naturally aspirated counterparts. Vehicles with turbos also have a whole lot more power than their naturally aspirated counterparts. Now let me ask you this: Should one put a turbo on their vehicle?

Old BMW vs New BMW

I’ve got my new BMW motor swapped and cleaned up for the road so I think it’s time to compare this car to the car I had before an 03 E39 530I. The cars look almost identical but there are some differences that you can see. Some of the things that are different are the clutch, the packages that came on the cars, and the wheels. I love my old car but I think I got an upgrade with the new BMW.

Clutch

Right before I wrecked my old car I ordered a brand new stage 2 clutch and a single mass lightweight flywheel from the auto parts store FCP Euro. I knew the clutch in the old car was going to go out soon because it had 215,000 miles on it. So the old car had the factory dual mass flywheel and clutch. This clutch is engineered to feel brand new all throughout its life, and let me tell you it did, and even after the clutch exploded it still felt like a new clutch. On the other hand, the stage 2 clutch and lightweight flywheel on the new car feel great and smooth. The clutch is very stiff. It makes rev-match downshifting and double-clutching very easy.

Packages

Both of the cars, the new BMW and the old BMW only have one package. The old BMW had the cold weather package which had heated seats, heated door locks and handles, and heated headlight sprayers. All of this was super nice. One of my favorite features was the heated seats. They would get super hot. It was especially nice when it was in the negatives outside. On the other hand, the new BMW has the M sport package so it has different suspension components and has nicer larger wheels it also has a better steering wheel and sport seats. My favorite from this package is either the suspension or the wheels but we will get into that later.

Interior

I liked the color of the interior on the old car. It was full leather and all of the interior except for the dash which is black and the vavona wood trim was dove gray meaning the seats, the shift boots, the carpet, and the headliner. The seats were heated and honestly, I think I could have cooked an egg on them. However, I love the interior of the new car. The whole bottom half from the windows down is black and everything up is gray. What I love about this interior is that since it has the M sport package it has a different steering wheel and sport seats that hug you when you’re hugging the corners. This interior is also full leather and has vavona wood trim but I plan on replacing it with brushed steel trim.

Wheels

So the old BMW had some pretty nice wheels in my opinion the wheels were called style 82’s. But the new BMW has some beautiful wheels called the style 42’s. The style 82 is a traditional 1 piece wheel whereas the style 42 is a 2 piece wheel.

All in all the old BMW took a beating and it has a special place in my heart but I think I got an upgrade with the new car. The new car needs a lot of TLC but I’m here to give it to it. I also plan on sharing the progress on ProjectE39 if y’all want to follow the project. Thanks for taking the time to read about my Project.

This BMW Changed My Life

When I got my permit I started looking for a car. I ended up picking a 1999 Volkswagen bug for about 800 bucks. Turns out that was a bad idea. The car was always giving me problems. It was always overheating and leaving me stranded. So I started looking for another car. I liked how the car was built and how it felt on the road. So I started looking for a euro car. I found a lot but there was one that caught my eye. A 2003 BMW 530I

The next day we went up to Colorado Springs to look at it. It was in really good condition but it had about 215,000 miles. It was slightly concerning but the guy who was selling it said that he kept up on maintenance and that it ran great which it did. So I bought it, I ended up talking the guy down to $2,100. A couple of days later we went up and I drove it back home about 130 miles. That’s when I realized that that was the most comfortable and smooth car that I had ever driven. I also noticed how much the cup holders sucked. I had fallen in love with the car in less than 20 minutes of driving it. When I got it home I wanted to drive it to school but I couldn’t because it didn’t have insurance or plates. After about 2 weeks of owning it, I put in new grills, led interior lights, led fog lights, shift knob, and shift boot.

After all that I drove the car for about 2 weeks and put 2,500 miles on it so I did an oil change and everything looked good. Since the oil change went well and everything looked good on the car I planned a trip on a Friday to go up to my sister’s house that was about 300 miles away. I woke up that morning packed and got ready to get in the car. Then I left the driveway and made it to the first stop sign on my street and the clutch exploded. So I started the car in first and power shifted all the way home. The car sat for about a week and a half until I found a clutch and a garage to work in. I picked up a stage 2 clutch kit with a solid lightweight flywheel for $600 on FCP Euro, and my friend Sara let me use her garage for the weekend. When I started tearing into the car I was slightly intimidated knowing that it is a German car, but to my surprise, the car was super easy to work on. From taking the shifter apart on the inside to dropping the transmission underneath the car.

I drove the car for another 3 weeks after the clutch job putting about 3,000 miles on the motor. At the time I also raced and beat a V6 mustang, not super impressive but it was my first victory in the car. And that was my first two months of owning my BMW.

Introducing The Car

I’ve been reading about others E39’s so I figured it was time to make a post for my own. I am constantly doing work to it big or little. (BMW Things) I would love to share everything I’ve done and plan to do. Thanks for stopping by.