MyE28.com

Lucifer's Hammer Series Index: Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5 • Part 6 • Part 7 • Part 8 • Part 9 • Part 10 • Part 11 • Part 12 • Part 13 • Part 14 • Photos

OK because I'm thick, I am having mine prawbelms with the Image Uploader. Doesn't like the filenames or something. Deal with it later.
As I indicated in my post on the General Conversation subforum, I'm going to try to provide a history of what has gone into this exercise. If you have questions, either reply, e-mail me, or send a PM. I'll try to figure out the PM function as I go, but if I don't respond to a PM, it's due to my technical ignorance . . . I'm not ignoring you.

This first installment is going to detail out what's in there . . .going to be long, so go find the coffee now.

1988 E28M5 S38B40TL "Lucifer's Hammer"

"By the pricking in my thumbs, something wicked this way comes." W. Shakespeare: Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 1.

"Like a freight train on crack with a steroid enema."

General
Built in September, 1987, this car is #804 of 1256 US spec cars built. BMW built a total of 2241 E28M5s (568 EUR, 187 UK, 1256 USA, 134 CAN and 96 SA) bewteen October, 1984 and June 1988.

The car was purchased in September 1989 with 3103 miles on it, having been used as a demo by the Molesto, CA dealer. The price was near theft. The E34s were being introduced. In addition, the dealer was under considerable financial duress. Shortly thereafter it was handed over to Dinan Engineering in Mountain View, CA for their Stage IV suspension conversion and installation of a Dinan ECU chip. The VDO oil temp and pressure gauges were transplanted from my E23 7-series, as were the BBS RS 3-piece wheels. Used as a daily driver for almost 5 years, the car accumulated nearly 120,000 miles in the Central Valley before I returned home to Colorado in 1994. Since then, it has seen only occasional long summer trips.

The decision to refresh the engine arose from an initial desire to bring the car back to its (more or less) original crispness, normal wear and tear having taken its toll. The objectives in the rebuild were to develop maximum power outputs from the S38B35 block consistent with meeting Colorado's Enhanced Emissions standards, day-to-day-driveability essentially equivalent to a stock M5, with reliability and longevity equal to or exceeding a factory motor.

Chassis
weight and distribution: 3360 lbs wet, 1/2 tank of fuel: 1820# f (54%), 1540# r (46%)
Dinan front strut bar. 6061T6 aluminum/carbon fiber construction.
Bavarian Auto (KMac?)eccentric camber adjustment plates on front strut towers.
front strut towers reinforced--spring perches to sway bar link mounts.
Korman/Patterson rear strut bar. 4130 3/4" x 3/4" square-section aircraft tubing.
new rear subframe bushingsa (stock, as urethane trtansmitted too much vibration.
new rear Pitman arms and diff mount.
Aeromotive A-1000 main fuel pumps (2), each with 600# (360liters)/hr capacity @ 45 psi.
fuel lines resized to 5/8" to accommodate fuel flow requirements.
Aeromotive variable rate fuel flow regulator, billet pump volume controlller (1 for each pump) and back check valving.

Suspension
Dinan Stage IV suspension
~SLS load leveler removed
~adjustable rear trailing arms
~Bilstein "Sport" shocks and Mac struts
~front & rear springs manufactured for Dinan specifically for the E28M5 suspension packages
~25mm front sway bar; 19 mm rear sway bar. Both adjustable for handling requirements.
~sway bar mounts gusseted and frame location points reinforced.
~new urethane sway bar bushings, f & r.
Lemforder forged aluminum lower control arms (540I Sport); Paul Gray urethane bushings.
Lemforder upper control arms, Paul Gray urethane bushings.
Bavarian Specialties (Mike Yaskin) 22 mm strut-to-steering spacer blocks.

Brakes/Wheels
E34 Euro M5 "Nurburgring" calipers . (345 x 32 mm; 328 x 20 mm).
stock composition pads.
brake components powdercoated for corrosion resistance.
E32 25 mm master cylinder.
Bavarian Autosport stainless steel braided brake lines.
2-piece forged magnesium BBS "Style 5" wheels 8 x 17 ET20 f, 9 x 17 ET 25r. Note: rears were reworked from stock 22 mm offset.
Pneumant 950 PN950 'Tritec" 235/45ZR-17f, 255/40ZR-17 tires.
Thanks and a tip of the hat to Duke "The Scrounger" for finding the wheels

Motor
Engine configuration: S38B40TL 4 valves/cyl, 4 liters (3986 cc) turbocharged inline 6-cylinder.
Motor built by Paul Burke Imagineering, Knob Noster, MO
Tuning and engine management systems by MileHigh Performance, Englewood, CO
Driveline and suspension by Bimmerhaus, Broomfield, CO

Outputs:
RWHP = 707+ hp @ 5700 rpm. RWTQ = 725+ ft-lb @ 4900 rpm.
Boost level = 14.95 psi
(These are SAE compensated values taken on an eddy current chassis dyno)

engine blueprinted for tolerances, static and dynamic balance. Total combined weight tolerance on reciprocating parts: +/- .2 gram.
align-bored, all deck and mating surfaces trued, parallel/perpendicular as required.
bored/stroked: 94.36 x 95.00 mm (3986 cc).
SCAT billet crank. 4340 steel, nitrided, stress-relieved, knife-edge counterweights. Balanced w/o drilling.
Fahey tool steel crank hub.
Carillo H-section billet rods, balanced, paired and stress-relieved. Weight 575.0 grams. Carr rod bolts.
JE 8.8:1 forged pistons Rig lands and piston crown configured for FI application. Weight 389.0 grams.
Piston skirts antifriction coated by PolyDyn, Houston, TX. JE Series 82 tool steel wrist pins. Weight 117 grams.
Total Seal ductile iron/plasma moly coat rings.
Total reciprocating mass per cylinder = 1179.6 grams, =/- .1 gram.
New bearings, seals and gaskets throughout.
Interior of block deburred for oil return; Glyptal coated.
New cam chain, sprockets & guides; E36 M3 configuration chain tensioner.
Blueprinted oil pump, raised oil baffle, new oil level sensor.
Oil spray piston cooling system per BMW M106 motor.
New oil pump, sprockets & chain.
Schrick 272 intake cam, 11 mm lift. Stock 248 exhaust.
Valves unshrouded, port and valve treatment for optimized gas flow; all guides replaced.
Exhaust track (combustion chamber, piston crowns, valves, exhaust ports) ceramic coated for heat management.
E34 38.5 mm intake, 32.5 mm exhaust valves.
E34 3.8 L intake horns.
Intake throttle bodies opened to 50 mm, polished, flow-bal;anced, matched to intake ports.
Exhaust ports opened + 2.5 mm, polished, flow-balanced, matched to exhaust manifolds/gaskets.
ARP head studs, main cap bolts/
Cometic .080" MLS head gasket.
Electromotive TEC-3r ECU. Proprietary software configuration written for this application.
Staged injectors arrangement designed and built by MileHigh Performance, Englewqood CO
2 sets of injectors, separate rails. Primaries 45#, secondaries 74# Flow and duty cycles keyed to load/boost demands.
PLX Devices M-250 wideband O2 sensor.
Calvin Elston Exhausts (Charlotte NC) equal-length tuned header system, unique to this car. Headers and entire exhaust system fabricated from .060" wall 321 stainless.
Turbo downpipe 3" into cats 2 x 5.9 L capacity RandomFlow cats, 2 x 2 1/2" exhaust-'cat back into 2 Bassani mufflers.
Complete exhaust system zirconium porcelain coated by Premier Coatings, Denver.
Urethane alternator mount bushings.
Rebuilt alternator w/ new brushes and voltage regulator integral to alternator.
Rebuilt starter; new bendix & solenoid.
6-coil Euro 3.8 M5 ignition system: coil-on-plug.
New water pump and 68 deg C thermostat.
All hoses and rubber components in engine compartment replaced at time of rebuild.

Turbo
Turbonetics T66/T4 turbocharger 66 trim (A/R .55) compressor; A/R .81 P trim turbine. Ceramic bearings,water cooled.
"Big shaft" impeller unit. Rated flow: 72#/min @ Pr =2.36. Turbine is zirconium porcelain ceramic coated for heat management by Premier Coatings, Denver.
TiAl 46 mm wastegate; 1.2 bar springs.
Turbo SX H-34 diverter valve.
Intercooler by Bell Engineering (Corky Bell). Custom unit tio fit Euro valance. Flow tested @ 1156 cfm. Bar-and-plate design. 25" w x 6" H x 4" D. < 1.2 psi pressure drop.
Estimated efficiency @ 60 mph = 78% +. Greater at higher speeds.


Driveline
VAC Motorsports 11# steel/aluminum flywheel.
Quartermaster 8.25" "Extreme V" 6-puck metallic clutch. HD pressure plate and TO bearing.
New clutch slave and master cylinder, hydraulic lines. Clutch slave upsized internally to 25.4 mm diameter.
E34M5 Getrag 280.51 upgraded trans.
UUC Shortshifter linkage.
reinforced (heavy wall) custom driveshaft from Dobbin Bros, NC.
New guibo, driveshaft center bearing/mount, Spicer U-joints.
Quaife torque-biasing differential (3.64) built by Brett Anderson (Koala Motor Sports).

Bodywork, gauges, etc.
Leather dash panel.
Miller & Norburn/VDO oil temp&pressure gauges.
das-mounted 2-stage booist control; Autometer boost gauge, EGT, A/F metering. Gauge panel built by Shawn Doughtie, Alpharetta, GA.
Brass/stainless windshield washer valving (Shawn Doughtie).
Hella Euro headlights (7"-5 3/4") H4-H1 90/100 W.
Hella H3/100 W fogs.
Euro bumpers and air dam f & r; powdercoated matte black to match "shadowline" trim.
Lower valance reshaped to accommodate Bell Engineering intercooler.
Rollup rear sunshade
Rear seat headrests.
New heater control valve internals.
"Evo 3" ///M-style 3-color powdercoat on valve cover and plenum.
driver's door coin tray.
Wide-angle exterior mirrors.
Under-spare 9-liter jerrycan.
2.4 kg. powder fire extinguisher.
Euro first aid kit in trunk receptacle.
B-Quiet "L-Comp" composite sound deadening panels behind rear seat area.
Sound system: Bone stock. With the engine sounds this bad boy plays, who cares?

Answers to the most frequently asked questions:

1. Yes, I have.
2. No, you may not.
3. Occassionaly, under the right circumstances.
4. Less than I'd like to.
5. Much more than I should have.
6. Is the bear catholic?
7. Only under a grant of immunity.
8. Enough to get you charged with a felony in the State of Mississippi.
9. If I can pick the road.
10. Bring It, Homes.

There. THAT ought to stir up the pot.

Now that is a Supercar. See I can be nice.

Only one question. What was the actual whp? I am curious about how much SAE adds to compensate for the elevation.

Todd

wow


I can't wait to see some photos of this.

damn...

oh and...

damn!



oh i forgot...

Thanks Todd. No hard feelings.

I'm not 100% certain on this, but the SAE compensation factors are heavily driven by altitude.

In my case, Mile High's dyno is at about 5700' ASL, so about 81% of sea level air density. Running that # back, multiply the adjusted number by .81. So 707 x .81 = 572 actual wheel hp give or take. This gets further adjusted by ambient temperature, relative humidity and I'm sure a few other things.

But in any case, the delivered power is, shall we say, enough to get one's attention.

As this thread continues, I'm going to bore everyone out of their skulls by laying out some of the math that relates to how we got where we are. It may not necessarily be a cookbook "how-to" outline, but it should provide some of the technical basis for deciding what's feasible.

Guys,

The folder(s) with the pix are quite large. I sent a somewhat shortened set of these on a disc to Duke a while back, and IIRC, this was nearly 750 MB. Since then, there's been some additions. Soooo, I'm going to need to figure out how this mess is going to ( a) get stashed someplace accessible, (b) get properly captioned with appropriate notes and (c) get integrated into the rest of this saga.

So bear with me. Thx.

Hi Ken, thanks for generously posting information on your engine build. When you get time, I'm wondering if you'd be kind enough to answer a few questions:
1) What drove the choice to use "iron/plasma moly coat rings"?
2) What location was chosen for mounting the additional injectors?
3) Was/were any surface treatment(s) done to the cylinders?

Wow. Just f*****g wow.

/drool, hope my car is at least half of what you have there when I'm done.

Good Job!!

Hope one day to see it inperson with a close up al la butt dyno..

Oh My,
Ken, good to see you back.

We emailed through Duke. I was going to email again, but didnt see the sense, as we weren't going to get to the bottom of the hp #s from last time. I didn't have the psi # either.

At 15psi gauge pressure at 5700', it makes sense. I didn't get the #s right on my side w/o the pressure. I was just seeing if the #s were in the ballpark, and 15psi gauge is roughtly double what a S38b38 would put out. Your # is higher than that, as it should be with the work you've done. Very nice work.

The SAE correction for temp is very small, almost never more than a few %. Not enough to even give here. Altittude is, as you've given, much larger.

Look forward to the pics.

RussC

///M,

1. Using ductile nodular cast iron for the rings is driven by a couple of factors. First, it has greater "pliability," and as such is less prone to detonation cracking than plain grey iron. Second, it beds in much easier than chrome rings. The use of MoS2 as a ring coating comes from the fact it has a significantly lower coefficient of friction and a high resistance to abrasion. Additionally, it has a thermal conductivity coefficient several times greater than either cast iron or chrome-plated cast iron. Finally, it is porous and acts as an oil reservoir, reducing scuffing and cylinder wear.

2. The second bank of injectors are mounted directly opposite the stock injector bungs in the individual throttle bodies. In other words at 6 o'clock vs. the 12 o'clock positioning of the stock injectors. Getting everything in there with sufficient clearances was not impossible, but took a lot of noodling, fit-and-try before it all came together.

Once I get the picture folders accessible, this will be readily apparent.

Getting these into place meant welding in a set of injector bungs at the correct angle into the incoming air flow, and fabricating a second injector rail. This little exercise was just a whole buncha laffs. . . . NOT.

3. No special treatment was done to the cylinder walls other than very meticulous preparation. To begin with, the bores were taken out in very small increments with a torque plate cranked down on the top of the block.
The initial boring, done in .002" increments on a Winona boring machine, got us within .004" of the finished size. From there, the next .003" came out using 220 grit stones in a Sunnen CK-10 machine. This left about .001" to come out. The next .0005" was taken out with 280 grit, and the last .0005" with 400-grit.
The cross-hatch was done at a 45 degree angle to a finish of about 12 micro-inches.

This meant several oil changes at couple of hundred mile intervals to get things run in, but this approach should allow things to last.

I built this motor as an endurance engine, not for quarter-mile stuff.

What was essential during the block prep was that dimensions and alignment were absolutely dead-nuts on. This assured that bearing alignment was absolutely true to geometric center lines. Similarly, the cylinder bore centers were true to the crank centerline and the bores themselves were perpendicular to the crank CL.

This sounds pretty basic, but it's amazing how often this kind of setup work gets overlooked. As it was, BMW did a very good job of originally boring this block. We fould one hole, # 4 IIRC, that was off center a couple of thousandths, with similar difference from true vertical. Taper in the bores, other than from 130,000 miles of use, was basically nonexistent. With the torque plate in place and the boring bar set up to the master lines, not to the existing holes, the reboring came out exactly where we wanted it.

Lots of setup time, and more time taken by doing the small cuts, but I think it was worth the effort.[/u]

Amazing. Good luck getting those pictures up.

Ben

Russ,

Thanks for your kind remarks. FWIW, you might want to go into the http://www.not2fast.wryday.comwebsite and play around a bit with their numbers and see what kind of results you get. Very worthwhile and usable webpage. One of the things we found with this motor is the truly amazing effect on Ve that a tuned exhaust provides. The Ve numbers we are getting are really remarkable. . .on the order of 135+%.

This is the result of careful determination of tubing lengths, proper sizing and ceramic coatings acting as a heat transfer barrier. FWIW, Calvin Elston, who built the system, was the exhaust/turbo/intakes wizard for Paul Newman Racing's Nissan GTPs back in the 80's. Elston did a LOT with remote-mount turbos and knew what he was doing.
When you see the photos, you'll see what he came up with.


Playing with the Not2Fast model, it becomes apparent that the GT-42R is probably the optimal solution for my engine. What the model doesn't contain is any provision for addressing what kind of gas flows thru the head. Depending on what those numbers are, there can be genuine differences in power outputs.

In my particular situation, Paul Burke (my engine builder) was
able to generate flows running 275-277 cfm @ 28" of water. Combine that level of gas transfer with the valve curtain area available on the big valve S38 (4.12 sq. inches) and there is a recipe for some massive power generation.

Formulas (you guys were WARNED about this kind of stuff f. . . ):
valve diameter (intake = 38.5 mm [1.515 in]) x pi (3.1416) = 4.76 inches circumference x 2 valves = 9.52 inches x valve lift (11 mm [.433 in.]) = 4.12 inches curtain area. This, girls, is huge in a 94.4 mm combustion chamber.

The result is the cramming of a LOT of air/fuel mix into the chamber, so beaucoup capacity for energy release.

Back to turbo sizing. What we ran into with the GT-42R is its physical size. It simply won't fit between the intake plenum, the block and the sides of the engine bay. Additionally it begins to push the limits on the surge line of the compressor maps at low air mass demands, i.e., low RPM and low loadings. Great when youn get things wound upo, but otherwise, not necessaril;y so hot. More on this in some installments of the diary yet to come.

So we found that a T-66 would not only give us most of what we were looking for, but it would also fit in the space available. Granted there had to be a bunch of surgery on the intake plenum, but the pieces did go together. The T-66 begins to fall off the pace at upper rpm ranges, but it definitely gets the job done. Once the photos are available, I'll post the turbo maps and try to explain what was going on here. In any case, I don't spend a whole lot of time north of 62-6300 RPM, and what's available in the 4500-5700 rpm area is quite enough thenkyewverrymuch.










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I think I speak for everyone when I say that this car would be a dream come true...

cant WAIT to see pics of this bad boy

Great work, what an inspiration!

It took a bit over three years. It was more like a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from for faaaar too much of the time. This thing was anything but a walk in the park.

Is the engine block baste on an B36 or an B38 Engine?

the B38 engine block is weak it will eventual crack between the cover lids on the sides this has happen with several FI 700hp+ B38 engines so we boring B36 blocks instead

otherwise cool engine but 900hp+ who'd be nice

The block is an S38 B35. A lot of attention went into being sure that there was sufficient casting thickness, especially around the lower skirts of the cylinders. This was to avoid potential cracking. Also, the block was pressure tested to pick up any existing cracks. Clean bill of health.

First, to reduce areas with stress risers in the casting, the entire interior of the block was surface-ground with a die grinder. Second, to maintain sufficient rigidity and strength in the cylinders, we kept the bore as small as possible and still allowed getting to "4 liters" displacement. This ended up with the 94.36 mm bore and the 95 mm stroke.

Once I get pics available, you can see what was done here.

Yah, I know, some guys have gone out to 95 mm+ on bore diameter. IMHO, this leaves very little material between the cylinder walls. Keep in mind the S38 cylinders are 100 mm center-to-center. Go to a 95 mm hole and you have around 5 mm of material between the bores. So we stayed as thick as we could.in the interests of strength and durability.

Knowing that the B38 blocks have a reputation for less-than-bulletproof strength, we also made te decision to give up some measure of top-end/high rpm output for engine longevity. While the motor can and will certainly turn 7000 rpm, the redline has been set at 6300 rpm.

Using the formula that max RPM is: 600,000/stroke length in mm, we get 600,000/95 = or 6315 rpm. Keep in mind this was built as an endurance motor, and I fully expect to see 120,000 miles (200,000 km) out of it.

In the same vein, 95 mm is probably on the long side for stroke. Rod length is 141 mm, so the rod-to-stroke ratio is 1.48. This potentially raises issues with the angle of the rods as they near the bottom of the cylinder skirts.; also puts a lot of side-loading on the pistons. Another reason to manage the rpm limits.

A note here. When BMW was using the M12 blocks as a basis for their turbo F1 motors in the 80's, they reduced the bore diameters to provide additional material between the cylinders. Granted they were running 3 bar+ of boost, but the point remains.

One alternative that Paul Burke suggested was hogging out the cylinders entirely and fitting steel wet sleeves in their place.
Feasible from an engineering perspective, and probably stronger, but Lord knows what it would cost.

I saw this car last summer at a car show in south Denver - it is very impressive piece. Very impressive indeed.

But the more important part, I had the opportunity to speak with Ken - what a stand up guy. He makes all of us e28ers proud.

Thanks for sharing Ken...

If your redline is 6300rpm, your way safe. That is really low for that engine, even at the limits your at.

RussC

Ken H. wrote: Motor built by Paul Burke Imagineering, Knob Noster, MO

KNOB NOSTER, MISSOURI!!!!!

That's where I am! That's one mile from Whiteman AFB! Wow, what a small world.

Ken, I'm going to shoot you an e-mail about this Paul Burke gentleman. I'm interested to learn more about him and how long he's been in Knob Nasty.