"Making Turbocharger Technology Work"

BMW M20 Turbocharger System



Home Up News Products Services About Us Gallery Links

 

BMW M20 Turbocharger System

 

                             

 

Please excuse our construction. We are currently re-introducing this kit to the market and it will be available soon. Please check back often for updates!

Here's an old advertisement to give you an idea of what is coming:

Turbo Systems include:

bullet

CarTech cast ductile iron turbo exhaust manifold

bullet

TO4E Turbo

bullet

Tial 38mm external wastegate

bullet

3.0” downpipe (ceramic coated)

bullet

Intake pipe (powder coated)

bullet

Charged air pipe (powder coated)

bullet

30lb injectors

bullet

CarTech Billet RRFPR

bullet

Bosch bypass valve

bullet

AFM bracket

bullet

K&N Filter

bullet

All necessary silicone couplers and clamps

bullet

Exhaust manifold gaskets and nuts

bullet

Oil supply line and fittings

bullet

Oil return line and fittings

bullet

Water/air intercooler

bullet

Continuous duty recirculating pump

bullet

Front Mount aluminum heat exchanger

 

Major Component Description 

Exhaust manifold:

We designed and patterned this manifold completely from scratch. Styled after the Offenhauser Indy car manifolds, this ductile iron casting is extremely strong, yet not overweight.  The decision to use a casting and ductile iron as the material is prompted by the desire to have a high-quality and high-durability piece.

Wastegate:

The Tial unit is a CNC billet aluminum top and cast stainless steel base. It's a race quality item with the highest temperature diaphragms available. We have integrated the gate into the system in a very interesting manner. We utilized a layout similar to the Toyota IMSA GTP racers of a few years back (arguably the most successful turbo endurance racing effort since the 917). This gate configured to be compatible with modern remote controllers. A Cartech boost gauge is also included in the system.

 

bullet347 Stainless Steel Alloy is used for valve and valve housing.
bulletHigh temperature silicone Nomex reinforced actuator diaphragm
bullet17-7 PH Stainless Steel actuator spring gives consistent pressure at high temperature, resists "relaxing" at temperature to 900F (483C)
bulletNitronic 60 Stainless Steel is used for the valve seat, and valve bushing the same material used in the higher level gates for reliability and longevity
bulletCNC Machined 304L 12mm thick weld flanges
bulletAvailable spring pressure: .3Bar (4.35psi), .45Bar (6.53 psi), .65Bar (9.43 psi), .8Bar (11.60 psi)
High Pressure Spring Pressures available .95Bar 13.78 psi), 1.1Bar (15.95 psi), 1.35Bar (19.58 psi), 1.5Bar (21.75 psi)

Turbocharger:

The Garrett TO4 series turbo is the real workhorse of the industry.  The Turbonetics 60-1 is the starting point and provides nearly infinite room for growth as engine modifications dictate. It has been kept modern with the latest in high efficiency compressor wheels and shaft seals. A choice of three turbines, six compressors, and five different A/R ratios gives us the opportunity to size the turbo right on for the end user’s needs.

Turbine Outlet Pipe (downpipe):

The stianless TO pipe is 3.0 inch in diameter and ideal for power outputs to 600+ bhp.  We’ve put the wastegate dump back into the exhaust far down the pipe to avoid the power robbing turbulence right behind the turbine.

Compressor Inlet & Intercooler Tubes:

All tubes are fabricated from high quality mandrel bends, bead rolled on the ends and powder coated with black wrinkle finish. Alternate finishes are available at no additional cost. Silicone material hoses are used throughout, and, on the pressure side, retained by stainless cross-bolt style clamps.

Intercooler:

We do offer our BMW systems without an intercooler at reduced cost. We strongly urge including the intercooler in your turbocharging decision. The intercooler is an aluminum fabrication sized for approximately 500 bhp. We use bar-plate cores which yield the greatest efficiency at the lowest pressure drop. These are the very same cores that Spearco chooses to sell. We use a water / air configuration on the big and small 6-cyl BMW applications due to efficiency and packaging. The air temperature going into the engine, as stated so often, is the key element in deciding life or death for a forced induction engine. The hotter the air, the sooner knock sets in, and knock is hugely destructive.  Further to the safety benefit is a virtually free 12 to14% gain in torque due to the cooler, more dense air. It is fundamental engineering that an intercooled system is both safer for the engine and more powerful than a system that has no intercooler.

Engine Management:

Our system utilizes the factory DME for engine management. We have spent countless months of chassis dyno time to get you a completely reliable and very powerful engine map (a Clayton variable load dyno for those interested). Also a complete set of injectors is included to compliment the power level and turbo selection.

Pricing

Description SKU # Price
BMW M20 Intercooled Turbo System CAR-XXXX $3,895
BMW M20 Large Intercooler Upgrade CAR-XXXX $500
BMW M20 Non-Intercooled Turbo System CAR-XXXX $2,995

 

Not Convinced yet?!

 

Engine Safety
It is necessary to feel reasonably comfortable that one is not going to kill the jewel of an engine the BMW is blessed with by adding the forced induction system. To reach this understanding, it is urgent to come to grips with two fundamentals.

bullet     One: The power loads in the engine at the elevated output of forced induction are
     not big enough to tickle its tummy.  Cyclical (RPM) loads are commonly what hurts engines.
 
bullet     Two: Heat in the air charge entering the combustion chamber is the root of all evil.
     Engine knock is the only killer of forced induction engines, and it is solely induced
     by heat.  Many things influence the heat, such as air/fuel mixtures, compression
     ratio, boost, etc. Whether an engine dies a knocking death or survives to provide
     great enjoyment is almost solely dependent on how well the designers handle the
     heat in the intake charge and the A/F ratio.

When an SC salesman tells you his system is so well engineered that an intercooler is not worthwhile, its time to question his motives.  While his argument may sound plausible by citing that the blower doesn’t make heat, or that intercoolers have bad side effects, this is simply not what physics bears out.

The engine safety of our system is well under control.  The turbo and the CS generally share the same style compressor and are therefore, equal in efficiency, which means they produce the same heat in the air charge. The similarity stops right there.  Our intercooler removes 88% of the 120 F added by the turbo, at around 7 psi.  This intercooler is such a powerful influence on the temperatures, that the turbo could produce over 30 psi of boost before the air temperature exiting the intercooler would be the same as that exiting the centrifugal blower.  Further engine safety is provided by the correct air/fuel ratios and the original factory knock sensing system, via our reprogramming of the DME. Follow the rules regarding fuel octane, standard premium grade, and the safety issue is a slam dunk.

Throttle Response
It is common for someone unacquainted with a turbocharged car to complain about the throttle response with the turbo.  The SC salesman will try to convince you that nothing happens when you move the throttle, not even standard, normally aspirated response. Unfortunately, this misinformation persists, as the engine responds instantly to the slightest throttle position change. When the driver of the turbo BMW applies throttle, there is actually a small amount of boost in the upstream tubes at that instant. With a small amount of boost available to push it's way into the manifold, rather than just atmospheric pressure, the driver will notice a small, but perceptible improvement in throttle response.

The Daily Driver
The substantial increase in engine power does not come about at the expense of the sweet driving nature of the BMW. All aspects of smooth, easy drivability are controlled by such factors as fuel injection calibration, compression ratio, camshaft profiles, and ignition timing. These items are carefully altered in the installation, therefore the drivability is also unchanged from stock.  If one puts a rock under the throttle to eliminate boost, the driver would pronounce the vehicle as just another BMW with perfect drivability.

Mid-range pulling ability of large engines has always been their attraction. This characteristic now shows up in the turbo BMW with its new found torque capability. We hope the idea of calling the  a low and mid-range torquer doesn't sound too preposterous. Before laughing and rejecting the idea, please accept and regard as fact, the Turbo BMW will pull harder in 5th gear at just 3000 rpm than the stock BMW can manage in 3rd gear, at virtually any RPM. Further along the same idea, 3rd gear under boost will accelerate over 10% faster than 2nd gear stock can manage.  It sounds preposterous perhaps, but it is absolute fact, the turbo BMW will do exactly that with the equipment provided in our system.  And it does so safely.

Along with the sheer fun and entertainment value of the huge power and torque increase, comes the capability to properly decorate your favorite strip of pavement with long black lines. This is particularly fun as the turbo BMW never looses its composure and accomplishes such feats with true grace and ease.

Emissions Equipment
All emissions equipment items are in place and completely functional. The turbo BMW will easily pass any tailpipe sniff test in America.

Installation
Capability and complexity do not necessarily go hand-in-hand. The Cartech BMW system is remarkably simple and straightforward. This entire system can easily be installed by the hobbyist do-it-yourselfer. One should consider the skill levels required as the same for changing a header and tailpipe. Without the distraction of football games, lawn mowing and such, the entire job can be accomplished in 18 hours.

Service and Maintenance
A 5000 mile maximum oil change interval is necessary, then service the rest of the car within BMW’s guidelines.  With the Cartech Turbo system, once installed, adjusted and detailed nicely, the owner/driver can close the bonnet and forget it.

Warranty
All items of our system carry a one year warranty. Our warranty does not extend to any stock BMW components. BMW will not warranty engine or driveline items.

Service After the Sale
In our view, the purchase and installation of our system becomes a mutual project between Cartech, the installer, and the end user. We are committed to making this a good experience for all concerned. We know our product and we are here to help if needed.

Terms and Delivery
50% payment is required. Returned goods are subject to a 20% restocking fee. Cancellation fee is 10%. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express and cash.

Telephone: 210.333.1642
FAX: 210.333.1749
Postal address: 18975 Marbach Ln, Suite#812, San Antonio, TX 78266
Sales E-mail: Mike Montgomery

Send mail to pmarshall@cartech.net with questions or comments about this web site.
All web pages are the property of Cartech Systems and may not be copied without express permission.
Copyright © 1998-2005 Cartech Systems LLC, all rights reserved.
Last modified: 08/15/05