Going AA Superchaged...

[Warren]

I've decided to go with the AA supercharger kit for my 328is while its still on sale. It will be running 8psi of boost. My engine has 130,000 miles on it and runs without any problems.

From experience what do I need to do in order to maintain daily driveability?
I was thinking about just getting the head rebuilt with a cometic gasket.

Any recommendations would be appreciated!
Thanks!

[fairweatherpunk]

Head gasket's not a bad idea, but I would do a compression test before I would do anything. Make sure it's close to the same across all cylinders. You are pretty far north, I don't know what the temps are like up there but heatsoak shouldn't be a problem.

[BMW Maniac]

Take care of the cooling system. If you're headgasket isn't leaking, don't worry about it....8psi on the stock headgasket is nothing.

[fairweatherpunk]

BMW Maniac, when you say take care of the cooling system do you mean upgraded water pump and thermastat? Just curious?

[92318is]

Originally Posted by fairweatherpunk

BMW Maniac, when you say take care of the cooling system do you mean upgraded water pump and thermastat? Just curious?

I'm sure he means replace the radiator with an all aluminum unit, replace the hoses, waterpump, thermostat, thermostat housing, and expansion tank.

To the OP, as long as your regular maintenance is kept up, and you have all of the normal maintenance issues taken care of (ie, cooling system) then running 8-9 psi on a stock motor shouldn't be an issue. No internals should need to be done, other than that, I would upgrade the stock clutch and while you're at it flywheel, maybe some motor/transmission mounts, injectors and fuel pump, get a good tune once you've got the charger installed...other than that, I would think you'd be fine with all other stock parts. Maybe get an oil and water temp guage, and obviously a boost guage, just to keep an eye on those things.

[92318is]

OP - sorry, didn't check your sig, you've already got an upgraded clutch/flywheel, so I guess you wouldn't need that

[fairweatherpunk]

Thanks

[Warren]

So you are saying that as long as I have good compression and upgrade the fuel and cooling systems my engine is going to be alright with 130,000 miles on it?

What about putting an intercooler on the supercharger?

Thats a releif, if I dont need a rebuild then I can get that LSD I've been eyeing too lol.

[BMW Maniac]

Originally Posted by Warren

So you are saying that as long as I have good compression and upgrade the fuel and cooling systems my engine is going to be alright with 130,000 miles on it?

What about putting an intercooler on the supercharger?

Thats a releif, if I dont need a rebuild then I can get that LSD I've been eyeing too lol.

Let the company that you buy from do the R&D....if it doesn't come with it, then you probably won't need it.....but yes, as long as all that is ok, save your money...get the LSD!

[92318is]

Originally Posted by Warren

So you are saying that as long as I have good compression and upgrade the fuel and cooling systems my engine is going to be alright with 130,000 miles on it?

What about putting an intercooler on the supercharger?

Thats a releif, if I dont need a rebuild then I can get that LSD I've been eyeing too lol.

As long as the engine is still running strong and there are no problems, it should be fine. Obviously it couldn't hurt to rebuild the engine, but thats a lot of money (unless you can do it yourself, but it'd still be fairly expensive). But running such a small amount of boost, you're not putting a whole lot more stress on the engine. If you have the money to get it rebuilt and are planning on keeping the car for a while, I would do it, otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

[mcclaryjj]

Good afternoon everyone, I've been gone for some time and in a few days I'm headed to japan for 8 months. But, when I retrun I will be dumping some money a little at a time into my 97 m3, it has 110,000 mile on it. The upgrades are as listed; UUC short Shifter, UUC CAT Back exhaust, UUC Cold Air Intake, Shark injector. That's pretty much it... I know that's nothing but I had to start some where... I'm asking you guys what can I do next and if anyone has a step system I can try first, like what's first...

[92318is]

Originally Posted by mcclaryjj

Good afternoon everyone, I've been gone for some time and in a few days I'm headed to japan for 8 months. But, when I retrun I will be dumping some money a little at a time into my 97 m3, it has 110,000 mile on it. The upgrades are as listed; UUC short Shifter, UUC CAT Back exhaust, UUC Cold Air Intake, Shark injector. That's pretty much it... I know that's nothing but I had to start some where... I'm asking you guys what can I do next and if anyone has a step system I can try first, like what's first...

Most people will first tell you make sure all of the maintenance is taken care of, but hopefully most people know that. Not just regular oil changes, but tansmission fuild and diff fluid, also radiator flushes are always good, and make sure you have had the entire cooling system (radiator, expansion tank, thermostat, thermostat housing, waterpump) replaced as well, since its such a major weak point on all e36's. After that, I've heard some really good things about Turner Motorsport's performance package for the e36 m3 Turner Motorsport - Item# TMS-I3THDR - E36 M3 OBD-II TMS/Conforti Performance Package Stage IV - E36 MZ3

I would also upgrade the suspension, if its just street/light track driven, I've heard good things about coilover suspensions, again, Turner's site has some good stuff. Also, bbs rims look awesome on BMW's, and can reduce weight. Also, as a side note to Turner's performance package, you can buy each peice separately, since you do already have a CAI, but after getting the headers, injectors, etc. that come with the kit, I would definitely get the chip it comes with, since its tuned to work with those performance parts the kit comes with.

How's that for a start?

[mcclaryjj]

Thanks again, you've been very helpful... One more thing, I've had trouble with a ticking noise under the hood lately like noisey lifters, but I took it to my regular Mech and they told me that my engine is strong and sealed great, no leaks, no overstresses. But it just troubles me sometime when I hear it. How much money will it cost for an engine rebuild or shall I ask what does an engine rebuild consist of?

[BMW Maniac]

Originally Posted by mcclaryjj

Thanks again, you've been very helpful... One more thing, I've had trouble with a ticking noise under the hood lately like noisey lifters, but I took it to my regular Mech and they told me that my engine is strong and sealed great, no leaks, no overstresses. But it just troubles me sometime when I hear it. How much money will it cost for an engine rebuild or shall I ask what does an engine rebuild consist of?

Noisy lifters...use thicker oil if it bothers you that much. As far as an engine rebuild, its a lot more money than you'd want and for the money, why not just go turbo? You can install a thicker hg, arp head studs and make over 600rwhp on that engine....if you still want to take the engine apart, build it with forged internals and keep upping the boost

[mcclaryjj]

Forgive me for not being up on the tuning, but I thought if I went turbo I would have to rebuild to get more out of it? And by the way a turbo will cost ooh I'd say last time I chekced around $8~10 not including labor... am I right...and who's got the best....I see that alot of the cars on here is stuck on AA...