Noob Intro from Florida...

[smerfj]

I'm Josh. I have always had a "thing" for the e30's and finally bought one in Jan '07 to turn into a project car. It's an '84 325e and it's been sitting in storage because I have been restoring a 1930's John Deere model E 3 hp hit 'n miss antique engine. I knew that I would never finish the John Deere if I started the bimmer, so I've been putting it off. Well I finally finished the John Deere 2 weeks ago (taking 11 months longer than I thought) so I'm starting to look into the bimmer forums for ideas.

I'm a bit crazy and I have just about every tool imaginable to use (no computer controlled stuff though) so I have been cooking up some ideas for the car over the past 2 months. Originally I wanted to drop in an American muscle V8 with a set of turbos (yes say what you want but I go for the highest hp/$) but recently I've been exploring the hybrid options. Specifically using a small shaft-power turbine (like the Solar T-62 - there is no "thrust" from this engine, it is pure shaft power) coupled to either a battery/electric motor system, or a hydraulic system with some regeneration capability.

Both of the hybrid options are slightly more $ than the American V8 option, but I have yet to see a turbine powered BMW (or any other car for that matter). This is where people quickly point out the cars with jets stuck to the back shooting pitifully low amounts of thrust- Not at all what i'm doing. I'm using the shaft power output of the turbine, which should be ideal when using a generator or hydraulic pump. batteries or accumulators will give momentary power output well over the turbine's power output, and braking should recover. I don't know how I'm going to get it done, but for now I'm saving $ and doing my homework. If you know anyone who deals in small turbine engines (APU style) I would like to know them.

I made this intro ridiculously long just because I rarely post, and because I'm both lazy and long winded... there's no telling when I'll get around to browsing this forum again. I love discussions about anything car or mechanical related so feel free to PM me and I'll get back to you next time I'm on. Or you can head over and check out my blog at w w w . thelawofmurph. c o m/blog/

I try to keep that blog technical, and have about half of the John Deere restoration documented.

Well, there's my hello. I'll be around... watching, reading, thinking, and maybe if you're lucky- even posting.

[DomM3]

Oh, what a post.
Welcome here to this Forum.
Regards from germany to the sunshine state.

[mtechnik]

aboard DTMPower E30 brethren

[ESP]

Welcome! Sounds like you have the wrenching capabilities to get this done and it sounds like a really interesting project! Can't wait to see how it goes.