To the individual who told me, "This is TLDR": Go back to watching "Friends" reruns.
This part is going to skip around a bit. I'll cover the motor section chronologically, but after the motor was back in the car, Dave Stackhouse (head tech @ Bimmerhaus) and I focused on the rest of the car for a stretch. So there is going to be a more or less "Various Pawrts" segment. These shenanigans were interspersed with the work in the motor.
Chronologically, some of the entries are spaced out a bit, as (a) the various suspects found they had a life
, (b) other Bimmerhaus clients needed to be separated from their ill-gotten wealth 
, and (c) and somehow or another I had to do something to pay for this farce. 
Additionally, I'm going to refer to graphite's images posting file, http://www.doggunracing.com/mye28/LucifersHammer and indicate page and image number where it adds to the narrative, e.g., LH, page x, image #y, z. Duke tried giving me some help on getting the "Upload" function to work, but I'm still being thick, so rather than waste any more time, I'll stick to the method just stated.
4/1/05 Motor is in the car. Went in without incident, but the post-turbo downpipe is going to take some additional fiddling where it goes past the trans. Basically, there is no clearance as it sits. Nonetheless, mock-up installation on the wastegate, wastegate tailpipe and the IC plumbing went very well. It looks the the IC itself will fit OK, but there is going to have to be some surgery on the valance to provide additional air flow.
Clearance worries re. the A/C pump and power steering pump are resolved. Will need to fabricate a mount for the oil cooler; the hard oil cooler lines are going to need to be reshaped to feed the new oil filter location, along with fabricating new hoses.
4/12/05 With the motor in, looking at the air cleaner options for the turbo intake.The stock air filter box has been removed, as the oil filter occupies the bottom 3 or 4 inches of the space where it was. Thus located, a hole has been cut in the bottom of the airbox platform, this for the oil filter canister. This allows the oil filter to be reached from the LH wheel well. All in all, a very elegant solution. LH, page 5, images #114, 122.
The approach seems to be to fabricate a cold air box out of sheet aluminum. This will have a gasketed top perimeter butting up against the under-hood insulation. Air feed will come from around the left headlight buckets. While not a straight-shot ram feed, the inflow area will be greater than the 4" diameter turbo inlet pipe feeding the compressor. That 4" intake, in turn, will get a large-diameter K&N 2-stage cone type filter. The 4" intake pipe will be shaped to go into the cold air box and will also contain the Diverter valve. LH, page 6, images # 132, 133, 134, 149.
Dave is making progress on preparing the turbo downpipe for welding in the bellows section and fitting the turbo exducer flange.
Various Pawrtz
In March, Ben Keyes, another mye28.com member, offered up a set of "Nurburgring" front calipers and rotors. Decent price, so a deal was struck. Calipers have been given a thorough bead-blasting to bare metal in preparation for powdercoating.
Through my usual parts sources, I located a new set of rear N-ring calipers and rotors. These are here, along with the overhaul kits for the front calipers. The plan is to powdercoat all non-machined and non-friction surfaces to limit corrosion and brake dust accumulation. Besides the red powdercoating looks KA-Bling . . . .
LH., page 5, images #119, 120, 121. Color in the pictures isn't terribly accurate; kind of washed out with the flash. Actual color is a blood red.
A sidebar comment on powdercoating. While powdercoating can be fairly expensive, much of the cost is associated with getting the parts properly prepped. I had access to the media blaster at Bimmerhaus, and so avoided a lot of labor costs.
I've found it quite difficult to do a quality job of painting using spray cans. Where I have painted pieces, I have used a multi-step PPG epoxy. This means strip to bare metal, chemically clean. Apply the 2-part PPG substrate; cure appropriately. This means waiting until the wife is out of the house for at least 4-6 hours, then cure in the oven. Then apply the 2-part color coating with an airless spray gun or with artist's brushes. Repeat cure process. Typically, to get a full, uniform and smooth finish, the color step needs to be repeated 3 or 4 times, sanding between the thin coats.
If you put a value on your time, powdercoating begins to look attractive. Powdercoating has the additional benefit of being just about bulletproof to the effects of road mung, which is a major reason I used the process in areas subject to environmental abuse, i.e., the suspension, brakes and the underside of the car.
Where possible, everything in the suspension area got powdercoated semi-gloss black, once again for corrosion control and durability -- struts, brake backing plates, hub carriers. About the only thing that didn't was the subframe. That was because I didn't want to go through pulling the bushings . . . again
LH, page 4, images #110, 111.4/15/05 Brake components dropped off at Powdercoating Specialties in Golden. Patty thinks they should be done around 4/29. Hopefully things can be done in time to install before the 5erFest trip, namely no later than 5/23.
5/5/05 Powdercoating on brakes completed; brake overhaul kits installed on front calipers. They get $125 for the overhaul kit??? Sheesh!
Brakes installed. The fronts clear the 17 x 8 ET 20 rims, but juuuuust barely. Clearance for the rims at the struts meant putting in a 2.5 mm spacer. Rears (328 mm diameter) are fine, but the 17 x 9 ET 24.5 rims* are, shall we say, . . . snug . . . .to the fender lips.
*The odd ET offset is explained in my "rims" discussion in "Various Pawrtz," further on in the chapter.
PLX-250 wideband controller is here. No datalogging function, as that is done by the TEC-3r.
The TEC-3r installation is progressing, but slowly. Dave is trying to retain as many of the existing ECU and OBC-related functions as possible. This is anything but simple. Dave thinks things may be able to run by Friday, however the exhaust is still at Premier Coatings.
In reviewing the work plan and job schedule to see where we are, there are lots of various small tasks pending. No one of these is massive, save the TEC, but taken in aggregate, the time is significant--probably close to 90-plus shop hours, spread between two men, Dave and me. My best assessment is we will NOT make the planned 5/13 completion date; more likely mid to late June. This includes dyno time and over-the-road break-in and shakedown. Thus, 5erFest is a cancel. While this was a major goal, I am more concerned about not rushing to completion and potentially overlooking something.
5/19/05 Premier Coatings has the exhaust finished; finished appearance is exactly what I wanted. Tony Werth's people do magnificent work, and the prices are well within reason.
The oil cooler is located, feed lines reshaped; brackets are in fabrication. LH, page 5, images #112, 113.
6/10/05 The under-motor airshield has arrived. Lines up properly with the chassis locating points, but probably not going to work unless there is a lot of surgery on the shield itself. This is due to all the turbo plumbing, exhaust headers traversing the front of the oil pan, etc. that protrude down into the shield. So, need to put it up for sale. STILL AVAILABLE AS OF 1/7/07. This piece was made for the 535iS, so for someone running an M30, would be a nice addition, as it noticeably reduces front end lift at speed.
Diff gasket being replaced, as the paper one now in place has a tendency to seep.
Fire-Sleeve in from Livermore Performance; installed over the hoses in proximity to the exhaust piping. Turbo downpipe in place. Dave is asking about my turbo-to-downpipe gasket. I've never seen one; turbo flange and the top of the downpipe area near-perfect flat-to-flat mating. We'll probably use Wurth copper paste hi-temp sealant as an alternative and see if we get any leakage.
6/17/05 Oil cooler and lines in place; ditto the turbo oil feed and return. Motor turned over on the starter. "Have oil pressure." No leaks seen at any joints or fittings. This is a relief, as we had some concerns about the fittings on the oil cooler hard lines.
Exhaust is in place, but proximity to the speedo sensor on the diff calls for wrapping the piping with Nomex cloth tape. LH, page 5, image #120.
6/20/05 Turbo inlet pipe shaped. Diverter valve fitting welded in. Cold air box pattern made up out of cardboard and trial-fitted. With the diverter valve in place, we can now proceed with some of the other turbo-related stuff:
~install the Turbo XS 2-stage controller and related wiring.
~run pressure lines from the wastegate to the controller.
~run lines from the diverter to the controller.
~pull the IC plumbing out for powdercoating.
The MAP sensor is not yet installed; pressure source will be a 1/4" NPT 90-degree fitting. Manifold pressure feed to the Turbo XS controller will duplicate the MAP one. The manifold has been drilled and tapped for both of these fittings. LH, page 4, image #116.
7/1/05 Cold air box fabricated and fitted. Cruise control servo unit reinstalled. Shawn D's brass windshield washer valve installed; the original was just about toast. Gas tank has been cleaned, stripped and repainted. No rust!!
Breather lines to the evap. system are in.7/7/05 Mark's schedule has brought his involvement with the TEC-3r to a halt. With Bob Tunnell's concurrence, I have asked Justin Pierce to step in. Bob T. is Bimmerhaus' owner; he has an understandable reluctance to have outside parties working in his shop. One thing to have me in there; another to have someone from another shop.
Justin is the Electromotive guy at MileHigh Performance, and is the Denver area Electromotive dealer. Justin knows his stuff. Initial software is installed. The 3.3.87 WinTec release has numerous bugs. Software pulled. We get an updated release: 3.3.90. MUUUUCH better. At this point, the car will idle, come off idle in a sort-of acceptable manner. First attempt at rolling under it's own power. It will not engage first or second gear.
MAJOR problem has turned up with the trans. It refuses to engage 1st and 2nd. 3-4-5 and Reverse are OK. WTF?? It acts like a damaged 1-2 shifter rod and/or damaged shift forks. Upon inspection, the trans is NOT, repeat, NOT the reman. unit that was in the car when it was left with EB. (I had replaced the trans due to a failed 2nd gear synch ring about three years prior; the reman. had functioned flawlessly.) The reman. trans should have a "DOT-R" sticker on it. It does not. The VIN sticker on the trans case is a standard 17-digit one, and totally different from my VIN. Run the VIN through Carfax. VIN shows the source vehicle has been through a couple of owners. Nothing definitive about an accident history, but the last owner had lived in the same general area as EB. So what happened to ]my trans? Hmmmmm? When I picked up my car at EB's shop in August, 2004, the place was not terribly well organized. When loading my parts, a trans was lofted into the back of my tow vehicle. OK. Here's a G280. Toss. No identifying tag thereon. Another interesting turn of events . . . . More on this in a bit.
Trans gets pulled and Dave tries to reach Jim Blanton to see about doing a rebuild. Blanton is vague about possibilities, time, $$$, etc. Given the uncertainties, KH makes a decision to obtain a reman. unit for the E34M5 3.6 liter. Should be about 3 weeks from Germany to parts source to Bimmerhaus, as no units in the US. I can get a trans for just about dealer cost, but it is a major, major hit.
This totally throws the completion timetable out the window. The only piece of good news is it provides a bit more time to finish up a lot of small tasks on the rest of the car.
7/26/05 Shipping crate with the replacement trans has arrived. Open the crate. WTF?? THE SQUAREHEADS SHIPPED A TRANS FOR A MINI !!!
I call the source. Oops. "Uuuuuhh, Beavis, they shipped a wrong trans. Huh-huh-huh. This sucks." Seems the last three digits of the part # on a Mini trans are the same as for the BMW unit, and the warehouse in Munich wasn't paying attention. I am hot enough to f*&k. 
Incorrect trans goes back the same day. I demand that a correct unit get shipped, like now, and No, I am not paying any shipping surcharges. BMW knuckles, and the (correct) replacement is here on 8/5. Nine business days is not too bad, considering getting the thing through US Customs and the TSA/DHS bullshit. The other trans is in the corner, and will either get rebuilt or at some point will get sold.The trans problem was just about the last straw with EB's performance. I had a talk with my attorney. He thinks we have sufficient grounds for a civil action. Given that a number of expensive parts went missing, that there was questionable suitability for use on others, or parts were fraudulently exchanged, and the dollars involved, there may be criminal grounds as well. The problem is, this guy went through a Chapter 7 BK, and basically doesn't have any assets. We can probably prevail in a lawsuit, but the costs may well exceed any judgment we might obtain. Blind Rage is probably a mild description of my state of mind. I consider my options and I don't like ANY of them.
8/7/05 Trans installed. Oil cooler guard fabricated. Cutting holes in the valance to allow air flow into the oil cooler has made it considerably less stiff, so a stiffening brace made of aluminum angle is formed and pop-riveted into place. LH, page 5, image #107; page 6, image #141.
8/17/05 Justin has another update on the TEC-3r software, this to release 3.4.1. Significant improvements, but very rich at idle and coming off idle, especially if the engine is cold. Justin sez the cold/idle/off-idle enrichment problem has been a chronic issue with the TEC programs. If you can put up with it until the engine gets up to normal operating temps the problem reduces sharply, but it is a PITA.
Driveshaft is significantly out of balance; diff flange borehole isn't compatible with the aft yoke boss, creating alignment problems. Another one of EB's subs apparently didn't finish the job. Justin has a machinist contact who will rework the diff flange and rebalance the driveshaft properly. Other than that, the shaft is hell for stout.
8/19/05 Driveshaft and diff boss done. A/C auxiliary fan installed. LH, page 4, images #88,89,90.
8/22/05 Driveshaft in, vibration-free. Alignment done. Front: -.9 deg. camber, -7.4 deg. caster, -.08 deg. toe-in. Bav Auto (K-Mac?) camber plates will not go any further negative for whatever reason. Rear: -2.0 deg. camber, -.17 deg. toe-in each side. Dave thinks going any further give unacceptable tire wear, aggravated by the 255-width tires. The car is not being set up for the track, so settings should be OK, tho' the stock M5 rear camber is around -2.3 deg.
Noted some fuel seepage around the gas tank. Source traced to loose bolts at the fuel level sender; tightened. A minor detail, but it serves to remind us that each step in assembly needs two sets of eyes.
Short driving circuits to evaluate throttle responses. Still very rich when cold; possible issues with the TPS. Under boost, we are getting up to around 8 psi, which is stronger than I want to run at this stage of tuning and break-in. Need to reset the TurboXS control unit. Ran a 5-gas analyzer probe. CO, CO2, O2 appear to be OK, but HC is indicating probably too high to pass emissions--running rich.
8/23/05 Prelim emissions test failed -- CO and HC are way too high; this indicates we are seeing unburned fuel and/or running too rich (Duh). Too rich = high HC which in turn causes the CO numbers to go up. NOx is within limits, so cats are most likely up to their job. Dave noted missing on the last test drive; pulled plugs for inspection. Plugs showing a fair amount of soot, somewhat wet. #2 plug ID'ed as the cause of the miss -- hairline crack in the insulator porcelain. All plug gaps tight, ~.012 to .015, with #2 around .010. #2 plug discarded. Plugs regapped to .029 which seemed to significantly help engine responsiveness. Who gapped the plugs the first time, we dunno. It wasn't either Dave or me. Did they get installed right out of the box, without proper gapping? Neither of us remember . . . Stumbling still present when accelerating . We are definitely going to have some work on the dyno.
8/25/05 Bit the bullet and tried for some longer over-the-road activity, letting the engine get thoroughly warmed up and trying over a broader load range. Traffic light; a good mix of freeway, two-lane twisties and three serious mountain passes. Reasonably OK at steady cruise on freeways (2700-4200 rpm), but balky on acceleration and very uneven throttle response at low speeds and low engine loads. Get one's leg in it and come onto boost (limited to ~7 psi) and the thing pulls like there is no tomorrow. Mileage in the middle teens.
What follows is a post that didn't make it to the board that August. I was feeling rather . . .enlarged . . .
at the time, so I ask your indulgence. What I didn't know is it was going to take another seven months to actually get sorted out and functioning properly. But that's the next few chapters . . . . "Much of the content and tone of the following is with tongue firmly planted in cheek. I'm trying not to take everything too seriously, but the performance of 501 rwhp and 545 rwtq in a car weighing 3360 pounds is definitely not trivial, and is, frankly a bit intimidating. Besides, it is an absolute hoot to drive.
Now presenting you with the Third Dump of the Day:
Yrs Truly is pleased to announce Lucifer's Hammer is now out of it's cage. This to the considerable sniveling, consternation and other expressions of disbelief and dismay by The Actives, The Lurkers, The Felchers and The Culls. You know who you are, so STFU.
This little exercise has taken over three and a half years since I started this mental drool: seven months doing the homework, a year and a half being f*&ked over by an "en-gyne bill-dur goo-roo," nine - plus moths to clean up his mistakes, and six months actual assembly. So kinely Excuuuuuuuuse Meeeeee for being a little full of mineself.
While the car has not been run through the lights, an on-board observer with a stopwatch caught 0-100-0 at a little under 17 seconds. This was with a total of 400# of lardbutt for ballast, 10,000 feet elevation, and a motor a looooong way from being in tune. Give it some room to stretch out and it do rundy-rundy. It do run-run. It will break traction in all 5 gears if you insist on getting on the Loud pedal.
Built as an endurance motor, and engineered for a sustainable 15 psi, it is being held to 7+ psi and a 5000 rpm redline until things get bedded in. Given the turbo sizing, response below 2800 rpm has a small but noticeable level of turbo lag. No biggy in around-town use and in traffic. What happens after 3500 rpm can best be described as having the ability to fill wunz pance. The thing is about as subtle as a used condom in a confessional booth."
9/1/05 Car is now at MileHigh to start going over things on the dyno and work on the TEC-3r settings.
Some additional items noted. The MAP and ICV sensors were located very close together, so feedback problems exacerbated idle settings and fed bad data to the MAP and thus to the TEC. Both now relocated. I called Paul and brought him up to date. He's pretty confident that the over-rich situation is causing the driveability issues, and when leaned out, the CO/HC problem for emissions will go away. We may also have to play with the amount of advance on the exhaust cam timing as well.
A few more things noted on the Continental Divide test run and the initial dyno pulls:
~A/C not working. Blower seems OK, no cool. Refrigerant level OK. Possible relay or switch problem.
~Cruise control inoperative.
~Oil temp gauge not responding. No needle movement, tho' "twitches" at ignition turn-on.
~ABS light out in the cluster. Bulb replaced. Light stays on. Bad sensors or control unit?
~Brakes seem soft on application. Response OK, but not as crisp as I would expect. May need to rebleed. Pedal feel makes me think the brake bomb is beginning to fail.
~Better to get the motor broken in, with a few oil changes (first 1500 miles or so) before doing emissions inspection? This to allow rings to bed in, do a valve adjustment, sort out additional tuning.
~Clutch is a real bear; hypersensitive regarding engagement. Slightest bit too little throttle and it will stall. Too much throttle and it judders, jumps and balks. The difference between the two extremes is only a couple of hundred rpm. Very nerve-racking in stop-and-go traffic.
9/20/05 No entries for about 3 weeks simply because I've been less than diligent. But to recap, Justin has worked with a new Electromotive software release, adjusted fuel pressures up as far as 60 psi and down to 15 psi. The initial dyno pulls , with boost limited to 7 psi, gave us 501 rwhp and 545 rwtq @ 5800 rpm.These came using the 72# injectors. Repeating the first sets of pulls, going above 4800 rpm the engine began to "go dry;" insufficient fuel delivery with the injectors beginning to lock open at 90%+ duty cycle which is Not Good.
The Marren Fuel Injection site http://www.injector.com indicates 160# as the proper sizing, given expected power outputs of around 700+ fwhp. At 75%, the 160s yield 120#/hour.
This proved to be seriously in error; the assumptions on BSFC [.65] and duty cycle [80%] were far too high. The .65 #/hour BSFC figure was based on Marren's and RC Engineering's advisory remarks. Per discussion with Paul, he thinks the .65 figure is pretty generous, and infers an A/F ratio of around 12.5 to 12.8 or so. This is fine as it is conservative and reduces the potential for moving into overly lean conditions. Reduce the BSFC number and power will rise, up to a point, but there are definitely risks in doing so. Further work on duty cycles and injector pulse widths eventually brought the number down into the .49-.52 rangeand the motor seems happy with this, thus far.
Justin also wants to sleeve down the wastegate, as the 46 mm diameter is creating jerky reactions in exhaust gas flow to the turbine, which in turn means uneven air flow delivered to the intake plenum, which adds to the driveability problems. Justin thinks we can have the 160# injectors here tomorrow, and he will have the machining done on the wastegate by the middle of next week.
Trying the 160 # Ford units was a frustrating adventure. Backing the fuel line pressure down to around 20 psi helped reduce the fuel mass delivery at partial throttle settings, but the idle and off-idle problems came back big-time. All this in an effort to get good A/F numbers at full loadings. Flows OK up top, but horrible driveability lower down.
Cut the duty cycles back to 5%, pulse widths down to 1 millisecond. All this was done to avoid running super-rich at low throttle levels. Problem is, the low fuel line pressure doesn't let the fuel atomize properly; it sort of dribbles out of the injector. All this translates into very inaccurate and uneven fuel delivery, with the consequence of inconsistent throttle response. Things are better when the boost levels come up, but the dilemma is higher boost calls for larger injectors, but cut boost back and the injectors can't scale back enough to avoid over-enrichment. No Good, and driveability even worse than what I saw on the road.9/27/05 The solution we have come up with is to use two sets of injectors, operating in stages. The first stage will utilize a set of 45# injectors. As rpm and MAP rise, these move towards their designated 75% limit on duty cycle. At the same time, above a designated MAP level, say 20 psia (5# boost), the second set of injectors begins to open up and add fuel. This second set is 74# injectors. So at full boost, 15 psi, both sets are working at designated 75% duty cycle. 45# plus 74# = 119# x .75 = 89.25#/hour delivered. 89.25 x 6 (combined) injectors = 535.5 #/ hour consumption. 535.5/.65# per hour BSFC = 823.8 potential fwhp. Using RC Engineering's website models, these injectors will support about 850 fwhp at a fuel ine pressure of 58.5 psi.
Doing two sets of six injectors has some drawbacks. First is the obvious issue of doing a second fuel rail. This will be a one-off from-scratch item. Second is the creation of a separate wire loom to support the injectors. Third, the throttle bodies will have to be pulled, stripped and reworked to accept the injectors, and Four, there is going to be some modifications to the TEC-3r circuitry.
Some noodling and examination tells us that we will have sufficient space underneath the TBs to fit the fuel rail. It does put some emphasis on the effectiveness of the turbine heatshield, and having that item ceramic-coated to minimize radiated heat. Sizing and fabrication of the rail itself took a fair bit of cut-and-try to occupied the mill for the better part of a day.
Laying out the injector wire loom wasn't too bad, but it identified an area in the TEC-3r we hadn't anticipated. More on that in a moment.
The throttle bodies are easy enough to pull, but stripping them takes some care. They are more complex than first glance indicates and reassembly requires being very meticulous. Word to the wise, anyone thinking about this . . . .there is no free lunch.
The solution calls for placing the primary and secondary injectors 180 degrees apart with the injector spray pattern pointed at the knife-edge "splitter" which directs air flow into the two intake valve tracts for each cylinder. This assures each valve receives a consistent air/fuel mix and balanced flow volume. All this is well and good on a conceptual level, but executing the idea is going to be a real bundle of joy.
First step was to locate where the injectors were going to be placed on the downstreanm side of the throttle butterflies. These need to be located exactly opposite of the primaries, but also angled to the flow of air to maximize fuel atomization. Second step was welding in the injector bosses, getting the insertion angles dead-on and dimensionally perfect to accept and hold the injectors themselves. This meant fabricating jigs to hold the TBs in the mill. This is not quite as simple as it sounds. The exterior shapes of the three TB pairs are all different, and the setup was very time-consuming. Third, we don't know the alloy composition of the TB castings, so there was more than a little concern over selecting the appropriate aluminum wire for the TIG welding. Further, despite BMW's reputation for build quality, what would happen if we hit casting porosity or inclusions? The walls of the TBs are quite thin, maybe 3 or 4 mm, so the potential for damaging the work during machining or welding was present. If something went amiss, getting a replacement TB "pair" might be problematical, and if available, around $950 per. This would be before the time and expense of having it opened up for the 50 mm butterfly.
The machining went off perfectly, much to everyone's relief. LH, page 6, images #143 thru 148.
But back to the electronics issue.
Justin has a conversation with Fred & Co. back at Electromotive. What we end up with is creating a second driver circuit which is activated off the existing sensors, but at different throttle position voltages, rpm, and MAP levels and so on. In effect, it is a second ECU. The end result seems to work satisfactorily, but it went through a number of iterations before the kinks got worked out.
While the TEC-3r is designed to support both dual plugs and staged injectors, it was laid out to do this with eight drivers. In a six-cylinder application this is fine, as the plugs fire simultaneously and IF the injectors are in phase, i.e., operate from the same sensor inputs. The second set of injectors are "peak and hold," operated through the two "unused" drivers which activate the second driver bank. Physically, the second driver bank is in a separate housing from the main TEC case. The secondaries flow volume is determined as a percentage of the primary injector volumes, and is calculated from the various inputs to the main TEC processor. LH, page 3, image #59.
To reduce heat in the TEC case, Justin installed a PC chip cooling fan on the end plate, and perforated the end covers to increase the airflow for added cooling. LH, page 3, image #60; page 5, image #117.
Justin and I feel pretty comfortable with the sizing on the 45# primaries. The advantage here is that at light throttle settings, the injector is still pretty much in the "meat" of it's working range and pulse widths are wide enough to allow it to function smoothly. The result is response should be pretty decent and we can stay within limits on CO and HC. Working with this idea, Justin wants to create a "baseline" BIN file which is aimed at being sure to pass emissions. This may make the car sluggish, but the objective is to pass emissions and little else. Keep the boost limited to 4 psi or less, thus holding NOx down. Minimize unburned fuel. Second BIN file will have the normal usage settings. This requires swapping out the BIN files, but shouldn't be a problem,
as Colo emissions tests are required once every two years.On another note, I am having serious misgivings about the wisdom of using a lightened flywheel and racing-type clutch friction disc in a street application. With the power available, I'm thinking a reasonable case can be made for going back to the stock 20-pound (?) M5 flywheel, assuming we can come up with a pressure plate and friction disc that has some kind of life expectancy. This may tend to smooth things out on engagement and make driving in traffic less of a very tense exercise. The QuarterMaster "Extreme-V" bites like nobody's business, incredibly solid lockup, but the 6-puck metallic friction disc paired with the light 11# flywheel makes the engagement point very delicate and the thing doesn't like being slipped. Thing is, if I go back to the M5 flywheel and clutch combination, I don't think it last worth a damn with the power being transferred. Things may be a lot better when we get the fuel delivery worked out, but for the moment, I have problems.
Various Pawrtz
Rimz.
The rims on the car were a set of 16" 3-piece BBS RS's. I had bought these new back in the mid-80's and had been on my 735. When I sold the car, the rims went onto the M5. Recognizing that if I could lay hands on a set of "Nurburgring" brakes, the 16" rims wouldn't clear. I put a lot of time into trying to find a set of the RS's in 17," but nothing turned up.
In the fall of 2003 I was able to locate a set of 17-inch Style 5 wheels through Duke. Price was right, and Duke is one of the good guys. In due course, these arrived via Parcel Post from Germany. Rubber was about 75-80%. The wheels looked to be in good shape; straight, minimal curb rash. The usual accumulation of brake dust. Then I got anal. Tires were pulled, and the rims given a serious cleaning. Simple Green. Pressure wash. Scrubbing with a soft bristle brush. Numerous times. Some areas of crud and discoloration won't come off and appear to be under a lacquer coating of some description.
Since I wanted the rims to look new, I went off to see Jim Long at Tru-Design Wheel in Lakewood about stripping and refinishing. Jim pulls the wheels apart, finds some minor surface corrosion near the flange attaching bolt holes. Rims and centers go over to NDE Services for a zyglo and ultrasound inspection. NDE does non-destructive testing on aircraft parts for the Fixed Base Operator at Centennial Airport; they also test stuff for a number of car racers in the Denver area, so they come with a very good reputation. Results of the inspection come back fine. NDT was probably a bit over the top, but I didn't want to run into a situation of having a wheel with an invisible crack in it and the possibility of a catastrophe. NONE of that implies poor judgment or questionable merchandise on Duke's part. It was done purely for my own peace of mind.
Jim finds the OEM coating is damn near indestructible, so the pieces get put in a vat of carburetor cleaner or some similar carcinogen for about a week. That loosens up the coating to where it can be removed with the use of a small nuclear weapon. The rim-to-center bolts then get media-tumbled to get off remaining crud, corrosion and locktite residue. Note: the bolts BBS uses are not a stock diameter; further, the shanks have splines swaged into them to create an interference fit to the flanges and center piece. To add to the issue, BBS will not sell replacement bolts, nuts or any other parts for their rims. I know. I tried.
The front rims are 17 x 8, ET 20 offset. The rears are 17 x 9, with an ET 22 offset. This is a bit close for the rear fenders on the M5, so Jim faces off the centers 2.5 mm to give a 24.5 offset. We didn't go any further on thinning the center mount flange in the interests of maintaining strength. If this hadn't worked, the only avenue open was to buy new 17 x 9 rims with the 26 mm offset . . .even at The Good Price, these are stupid expensive.
Centers are powdercoated to match the original BBS silver. Rim flanges have the few curb rash spots built up, then turned. Damaged areas are now invisible. Flanges are polished and clear powdercoated. The wheels came back looking spectacular and the bolts properly torqued ansd locktited.
When I look back at what it cost to get the rims and tires from Duke, have the NDT tests run, and then refinished, it probably would have been less expensive to get new rims (same part #s) from a dealer and buy new tires. But then I wouldn't have learned a number of things and wouldn't have developed a friendship, and helped one of the Good Guys fund his building M535iT, aka Lucifer's Anvil. (Gonna get beat on by Lucifer's Hammmer . . . .Love ya, Duke.)
Ventures Into The Interior
As Dave Stackhouse and I began going over the car, we found a number of very small cracks developing in the dash. I still have the dash. Cheap, plus shipping from 80108. Since Duke was getting proud of himself over getting ahold of a leather dash, I did some checking through my usual parts source. Found one. NOS. Given the physical size, most unlikely it could come Parcel Post through the APO system. So rather than hassle Duke about having him chase one down and deal with shipping, it got ordered. Let BMW deal with transportation. R&R took Dave and me about a day. Dave, who has about 20+ years experience working on E12s and E28s, was most appreciative to have Todd Kenyon's "Dash Replacement web file from http://home.insightrbb.com/~todd.kenyon/bmw.htm. Good reference source on a number of topics. Note to self: do not do a dash R&R with a hangover.
Since we were all over the interior, I took the opportunity to install a rollup rear sunshade. I think I got the last one in BMWAG's inventory.
Mounts for the rear seat headrests are in; headrests proper are back from European Auto Interiors, having been recovered to match the Natur interior.
Pulling the rear seat back, the body panels received a layer of "B-Quiet" sound deadening material. This stuff is a urethane foam sandwich about 3/4" thick. It is two layers of relatively dense foam, with a layer of dead-soft lead in the middle. Cut to shape, coat liberally with contact cement and apply directly to the painted body sheet metal. It is functionally the same as Dyna-Mat, but is noticeably more effective.
At some point I want to get a look at Duke's car first-hand and examine the foam fire extinguisher system he installed. I can follow the steps he posted on his website, but eyes-on would be better.
I also want to take some measurements on his Alpina auxuliary fuel tank. I spoke with Alpina and these have been NLA forever. Paul thinks fabricating a duplicate wouldn't be a major undertaking, so another item down the road a ways.
IC, oil cooler and related plumbing are now in position, so tried a tentative refitting if the Euro front bumper. It looks like we will have to mill out an aluminum block or wedge of some sort to set the height and correct alignment for the bumper. As it is, it angles downward slightly at the front and has a tendency to wobble. I have some questions about how the attachment bolts will go in; possible interference with the IC inlet tubing on the LH side and placement of the IC itself. Access to the bolts is thru the tow hook openings and the IC tanks impinge on this area.
Inspecting the driver's seat, we discovered a couple of welds supporting the outside bottom seat bolster have cracked. Dave pulled the seat covers and foam and rewelded. No photos of this; I was away from the shop.
With the seats, console and various other pieces out of the car, I spent a couple of evenings working Hide Food into the leather. Hide Food is lanolin in a water base; has the consistency half-hardened Jello. It is available through Bentley Automobile dealers (Around here, that's "Ferrari of Denver.") Excuuuuse Meee . . . Over the 17 years I have owned the car, the leather has gotten the Hide Food treatment 3-4 times a year. While being at EB's for more than a year, the leather had no attention. No damage or cracking, but I worked nearly a pint of Hide Food into everything I could reach. The effect on the NOS leather dash was amazing . . . like water into dry sand. I'm glad I had the chance to do the treatment prior to installation.
This seems like a good enough place to take a break.
The next installment gets into the further adventures of the fuel delivery system, dyno results and some decisions on the turbo. 
