It's not often you see 400+ whp cars driving around town, especially those bearing the Bavarian marque's badges, better known for their handling prowess and awe-inspiring braking. Yet Project M3 has propelled itself well into sports car-no, let me claim super car territory-with its performance upgrades, especially those found in the engine compartment.
By no means has this achievement come cheaply. Part 8 featured an expensive turbo kit from Active Autowerke. And in the last issue we saw Project M3 receive a fresh 3.2-liter U.S.-spec. M3 motor from Bavarian Engine Exchange, featuring new internals from the likes of JE Pistons, Pauter Machine Company, Total Seal, Active Autowerke and BMP Design.
It's not all that easy to find a shop up to the task of completing this multi-day transplant, but I'm fortunate in having located evosport. Tech-nician Frank Lopez needed more than a day to yank out the exhausted 3.0-liter turbo (a bit longer than usual because of complex plumbing).
Project M3's next step began with more displacement. Up top is Bavarian Engine Exchange's cylinder head, with its upgraded CNC ported and polished air passages, and the valves are popped by turbo-specific cams from Active Autowerke. A new turbo from AA, with an even larger compressor utilizing a Garrett T60-1, provides the blow.
Since the motor came butt-naked from Bavarian Engine Exchange, Frank scooped out all the extra (yet important) gadgets-intake manifold, valve cover, water pump, oil filter housing, etc.-for the new engine. If you were to order an engine from Bavarian Engine Exchange, however, you'd get everything you need. Almost every step of the process is a perfect swap-just remember to plug up the crankshaft sensor hole on the OBD-II 3.2-liter block, or your car will spew enough oil to seize the motor within a 100 miles.
Because the turbocharger generates a tremendous amount of heat, the exhaust manifold and other engine components were under threat by its proximity. Enter Cool Ride Products, a subsidiary of American Diesel and Gas that makes custom heat shields and insulation products for various race teams in NASCAR, CART and Formula One. Tony Anthon, the guru behind this magical material for 15 years, cooled nuclear reactors for a living, so his qualifications to block the heat from my relatively cool exhaust manifold seemed more than sufficient.
Before the heat-shield mat was applied, the heat from the turbo area was exceeding 800F, measured at idle after a semi-hard run. With Cool Ride's heat shield installed, the temperature dropped to a staggering 240F. By preventing excess turbo heat from saturating the air under the hood, we effectively limited the loss of horsepower from heat soak and likely improved fuel mileage. Even normally aspirated M3s benefit from this application of heat-blocking elements, especially in track-driven cars.
More Cool Ride wrapping was applied on the intake pipe from the intercooler to the throttle body. For such an application the wrap comes reinforced with aluminum shielding on the outside and sticky adhesive on the inside-be careful; once it's in contact with the metal pipe, it's not coming off. This prevents engine bay heat, specifically from the radiator, from penetrating the chrome pipe and heating up the intake charge. I was so sold on this stuff I had Cool Ride make coverings for the downpipe, turbocharger and even a heat shield for the underside of the intake manifold, which I'll talk about next time. Of course, Cool Ride will fabricate just about any custom application.