need supercharger/intercoller advice

[bigandslow]

i have a 93 525i and was wondering if there was anyone out there that could help me on a few things. A. specs for the intercooler ( hight, width, lenght) B. intercooler piping ( pluming, lenghts, bends, placement, ect.) and C. how much boost can i run on a stock motor with a pro-charger??? if someone would happen to have detailed picutres of pluming it would be greatly appreciated if they would share them. thanks again for all your time and info to come. you can e-mail/PM also if prefered.

[riseosiris]

Hey, goto cardomain.com and check up on Pat P's car...he's got a Twin Turbo 535 and was adding a blower to his M5 b/f it got snagged by a drunk driver. While the engine isn't the same, you can definitely get an idea of what fits under there...I believe his cardomain id is Philpotp...or something like that...regardless, if you just browse through the e34 5 series, you're bound to see it...it's RED =o)
-Lloyd

[///BMW]

so thats what happened to the m5, man that sucks!

anywho heres a link

http://www.cardomain.com/id/pphilpot02

just increment the last 2 digits by one, you can see all his cars

[bigandslow]

thanks guys

[6piston]

actually u don't need an intercooler for a supercharged engine...

[bigandslow]

"actually u don't need an intercooler for a supercharged engine..."

i want to run lots of boost and i already have it. thats all

[6piston]

hmm, okay..
but maybe i'm still green.

how will the air through a supercharger be hot enough to be able to utilize an intercooler?

hmm..

does the heat in the bearing or bushing in the supercharger get so hot due to the extreme revolutions generated by the pulley belts?

or is it that the engine will get very hot if we run high amount of boost so we need to make sure we get cool air to further cool the engine's temperature?

wouldn't an oil cooler be sufficient to cool both the engine and/or the supercharger?

please enlighten, anyone?
Tom

[riseosiris]

Originally posted by 6piston
hmm, okay..
but maybe i'm still green.

how will the air through a supercharger be hot enough to be able to utilize an intercooler?

please enlighten, anyone?
Tom

Tom, there are two (main) reasons the air from a Turbocharged car gets hot. You're thinking about only one of them, the fact that the turbo is on the exhaust manifold and absorbs tremendous heat from the engine, imparting the heat on the intake charge. However, this heat soaking is only a small contributor to overall increases in intlet air temp. The real reason is simple physics. When air (or anything for that matter) is compressed, it generates heat. Try pushing the palms of your hand together as hard as you possiby can....they get warm right? Alternatively, if you decompress a substance rapidly, it gets colder. Ever spray an aerosol can for too long and the tip gets cold? Or pulled the dump valve on an air compressor tank?
Anyway, the more boost you create, regardless of method, the hotter the air will get. Typically you see intercoolers plumbed into Centrifugal-style superchargers because they plumb almost identically to a turbo, therefore front intercoolers can be used. With roots-style (eaton) or Helical (Whipple) blowers, the packaging is generally more tight. The blower usually attaches directly to the intake manifold, so it isn't easy to run a pipe to front intercooler. Instead, they usually use air-water intercoolers, or as Vortech calls theirs, an "Aftercooler." Basically it's just a liquid heat exchanger (radiator) inside the pressurized side of the intake. The heat is absorbed by the water circulating through the core. The hot water is then run via electric pump from the to a second radiator mounted in fresh air. Then fresh, cool water is brought back to start the process all over again. As these are more complex, they're also more costly. Air-Air intercoolers may run $400-$1500 wheras Air-Water units may go from $800-$2000.
A bit long, but hopefully that answered your question.
-Lloyd "I know this because I'm still dreaming about my soon-to-be-acquired 2002 Turbo project" Belcher =o)

[6piston]

oh okay.
so superchargers generates lots of heat too.
i've always thought that they operate cool.

i didn't know when cool air goes through the compressor they'll get so hot after being compressed.

nice article riseorisis.
appreciate it.

cheers
Tom