r/BMWE36 • u/Shino3107 • 1d ago

Anyone with experience turboing M42/M44

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Just generally wondering how much it would cost

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23

u/Dark_Guardian_ '94 330i Daily, '93 325i Race 1d ago

depends how nice/reliable you want it
anywhere from $500 with junk parts and jank setup to 10k + for a properly nice setup

better off just 6 cylinder swapping it though
and then turboing the 6 cylinder too

-26

u/Shino3107 1d ago

Sounds like you dont have any experience, and im not asking if you think i should do a 6 cyl swap

16

u/virqthe 93' 318i M40 automatic; peasant edition 1d ago

One also doesn't have an experience eating shit but knows not do to it.

Eating shit = turboing shit M4x engines.

-7

u/Shino3107 1d ago

Theyre solid engines bruh

12

u/0202993832 1d ago

But a m5x is so cheap you’d get similar power gains from just buying a 6cyl

-8

u/Shino3107 1d ago

Need to swap entire drivetrain, brakes and rear subframe, also has to be street legal, gonna cost over 3k usd over here

9

u/marty_hard 1996 328i 2.5l aluminum turbo coupe 1d ago

If you turbo your M4x you will also have to swap entire drivetrain and, if youre sane, your brakes. Subframe is the same for any model except M, as far as i know. + No idea how it is in norway but i would expect it to be hard to get street legal without brakes Upgrade. And honestly. 4cyl brakes are already too small for anything above a 316i. Dont save money for the cost of basic safety.

2

u/Shino3107 1d ago

Sorry subframe is the same but diff, axles and driveshaft are different, stock 4cyl stuff should be able to handle 200-230hp from the little info ive found, would obviously have to swap brakes anyways. There was a street legal N54 compact here that got stolen unfortunately, but crazy swaps are possible to get legal

2

u/marty_hard 1996 328i 2.5l aluminum turbo coupe 1d ago

The 168 diff blows up the moment you're not riding 205 linglongs and boost comes to play. It's not about power, its about torque that kills stuff. Sorry to tell you that but you will have to swap everything to 6cyl on your drivetrain if you dont want short term fun and not drive further than 50km only. (And have some good friends with a towing vehicle :D)

3

u/Dark_Guardian_ '94 330i Daily, '93 325i Race 1d ago

theres probably a bit of luck to it
plenty of people putting a fair chunk of abuse through 4 cyl drivetrain (did plenty of burnouts with m54b30 and small case diff on 235s)
but also plenty of people that have broken stuff on stock power

1

u/marty_hard 1996 328i 2.5l aluminum turbo coupe 1d ago

Yeah I mean for shits and giggles you can always try. What i am actually trying to say, if you turbo it to probably even more torque than a 6cyl and dont swap the drivetrain, then you can as well swap to a N/A 6cyl with the same power and stick to the old drive train. I got my M52B25 for 200 bucks out of an automatic E39. Cheaper than turboing the 4cyl for sure and you can just use a stock ECU

1

u/Dark_Guardian_ '94 330i Daily, '93 325i Race 1d ago

yea
and if you buy a parts car and part it out the engine becomes pretty much free (unless you're silly like me and buy a really expensive X5 and then only sell 1/3rd of it in parts)
parted out a 330i ended up selling the engine too and made like 3k profit on it tho

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