Dinan turbo swap

[vandiesel]

I'm very interested in the Dinan e34 setup fs on eBay and bimmer forum. I have reservations limited to mostly the tuning aspect as it appears that the DME is melted and I figure so is the Dinan FMU secondary unit. I'm not even sure that is what the board does but it is mentioned on the topics covering the car that burnt up. How can I get this tuned from Portland, OR? Is this worth attempting? It seems like a great buy given what Dinan put into their systems. Any guidance would be great. I have a 87 535is that is nearly done with 5 speed swap. I own a furniture company and have some upholstery techs with mad skills. The front seats are done with new oem leather and look better than factory. This engine just makes me crazy thinking what the car could be with it under the hood. Thanks for the help. CEK I blame you for causing this obsession after reading your build thread twice!

[tig]

::evil grin::

[Kyle in NO]

If you buy the kit, throw away those ancient melted electronics and run it with a modern stand alone system such as MegaSquirt, etc. Night and day difference.

[vandiesel]

I was planning on that Kyle. My concern is having someone locally who can do the proper tune on it.

[vandiesel]

Well I pulled the trigger after careful consulting by my local BMW gurus here in P-town. I figure I'll throw it on a stand and start to get bit ready while I drive my 535 with the b34 for a while with it's new 5 speed. Stay tuned.....

[tig]

Well I pulled the trigger after careful consulting by my local BMW gurus here in P-town. I figure I'll throw it on a stand and start to get bit ready while I drive my 535 with the b34 for a while with it's new 5 speed. Stay tuned.....

Good for you. Please keep us posted!

[vandiesel]

He is going to document the engine pull with pictures. I feel like I scored a good buy. The original owner dropped 30k on the Dinan stage 3 conversion. There were suspension upgrades in that number but just the turbo kit was 17k back in 1992. Pretty amazing. It will be good to see it running. Until then I need to finish my swap to 5 speed and my e30 vert build and get the 524td running again. This is a bad hobby....

[EricF]

Congrats, looks like it definitely has promise. As far as tuning, I would find some local help. Be it through forums, or a local dyno shop... Find someone who is comfortable tuning MS, or else go with a different EMS if need be, there are a few good options below $2000. Some dedicated tuning time with someone who knows what they are doing will be the best thing you could possibly do. Good luck!

[vandiesel]

Thanks Eric. I plan on taking it slow and get lots of help.

[vandiesel]

Here is the new home for the motor:

[George]

I'm not sure where you're located but I'll echo Kyle's sentiment. Junk any electronics and move to standalone. Any local tuner that has experience with MAP based tuning and a dyno will be able to tune megasquirt

[vandiesel]

Motor is pulled and is being shipped Friday. There was virtually no damage from the dash fire. I'm looking forward to getting it on a stand and ready to go in.

[Evil-E]

I'm up in Vancouver, WA and work in PDX. My car is a former DINAN turbo and went ahead and ditched all the stock electronics/bandaid "tuning" and am running MS2 wasted spark on mine. Car is night and day better even with my street tuned setup. In the end, you'll be glad you didn't go with the DINAN engine management. Good to see more turbo'd E28s in the works around PDX!

[vandiesel]

I'd love to hook up. I have a pretty sweet shop in Tualatin attached to my business. If you want to come see the burnt Dinan when I get it let me know.

[vandiesel]

Motor came today. Will be unpacking and getting on a stand for inspection and cleaning. Pics coming soon