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1999 E36 318is with downing atlanta supercharger

54K views 133 replies 23 participants last post by  Islandboy671 
#1 ·
thought id post this in here aswell incase anyone was interested in doing the same!

overall this took me around 10 hours to fit but thats with a good few breaks and a few snags so think if i did it again i could nearly half that time!

anyway heres some pics as i went!

all the kit laid out



had a laptop set up with the installation guide on



removing bits









upper manifold off


fuel rail removed






i hate wiring and ended up having to ring neil a couple of times for advice! so cheers neil :wink:



didnt have a clue what was what so had to label everything up with different coloured tape so i knew where they went back



lower manifold off



steel braided fuel lines fitted



new idler pulleys fitted



new gasket fitted



supercharger going in



and then how its been left till 2morro



once the bolts are tightened there isnt too much more left to do!
however there is a couple of small rubber hoses that i cant seem to find where they go! :oops:

well i carried on today! and she lives!!!!!!! :twisted: however i broke the bleed screw and i snapped the aircon tensioner bolt

heres the pics!

manifold tightened up and fuel rail fitted



throttle body and maf fitted



air fiter on the elbow wouldnt allow me to refit the pipercross as its a touch to large but i'll sort that soon



belt refitted



my johnny age 5 diagram to help me :oops:



sheared off the aircon tensioner :oops: so no aircon for the moment





and finished bar bleeding it! grabbed the camera to film the first start but it died! :oops: (sounded like a bag of nails the first start anyway!)

after adjusting the throttle cable i got it to idle ok and then went to bleed it and broke the bleed screw! :oops:
so you'll have to wait for a vid until i get another!

but it does sound mean when you rev it!

well changed the broken injector today and that sorted all the problems out so im chuffed to bits and took it out for its maiden voyage and im still speachless
its totally transformed the car!
another thing on the list of things to do was upgrading the speakers etc but i dont know how often that going to be used now as i have a new favourite tune! :twisted: :lol:
heres a quick vid just after the 1st start up! only on a crap digi camera and it does it no justice!



as always comments good or bad are welcomed! :wink:
 
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#51 ·
if the guy in australia can have his at 14-15 psi and no charge cooler surely we could get away with it in the uk?
and @mark did you ever find the part number for that mini non return valve?

obviously i'd love to have some sort of cooling ideally but looked into all sort of options and have only seen people adding meth/alcohol etc which i dont know if i'm keen on
 
#62 ·
@ mrsideways not a million miles but i'm closer to cardiff!

@rob i dont think they would cut the mustard as even though they may be rated to 300 thats divided by 6 so 50 per injector so 4 would only give 200!
and i'm aiming for the 230 mark
(im no expert but i think thats the general jist)
 
#64 ·
#66 ·
#70 ·
ian (alpina527) on here does them! ;)

and @ mark after following various links and reading threads for all sorts of forums ref the non return valve i followed a link to buy one that a few had gone for only to recognise the part as i already have one fitted! :rofl:hihi:sarcastic
 
#75 ·
not yet mate! :frown all still to come! it probably wouldnt make any difference but before being mapped i wanted to do the bbtb and probably some lightweight pulleys too!
and i'm still doing the research on injectors and maf etc as i dont wanna have it mapped and then decide i wanna push it further and have to have it mapped again!
 
#76 ·
you need to get an a/f gauge quick or get it on the rollers. you have no idea on mixture at present and you run the risk of burning something out.
you cant take shortcuts like that. false economy

if you burn a valve or hole a piston its going to cost you alot more than a £150 a/f gauge
 
#78 · (Edited)
Fantastic job

Many thanks for the step-by-step m44lee, I honestly believe I can fit one myself without too many problems .... now.... where can I get me one o' them SuperChargers? I have emailed Downing Atlanta but received no response - I am guessing that they are closed for the Christmas / New Year period and am hoping to receive a response in the new year.... but just in case.... where did you source your kit from?

Cheers
Dale
 
#79 ·
Many thanks for the step-by-step m44lee, I honestly believe I can fit one myself without too many problems .... now.... where can I get me one o' them SuperChargers? I have emailed Downing Atlanta but received no response - I am guessing that they are closed for the Christmas / New Year period and am hoping to receive a response in the new year.... but just in case.... where did you source your kit from?

Cheers
Dale
Lee got his from another car that was being broken. The bad news is that you can't actually buy them from DA anymore as they have stopped making them, I know this because I bought the last one ever made! Your only hope of finding one is wanted ads on every forum and religious checks of eBay.
 
#81 ·
good luck on the search mate!
as prince said they dont make them anymore and to get mine i joined just about every bmw related forum and put up wanted ads
i was also a bit of a vulture and pm'd everyone that had one asking if they were likely to be selling theirs in the near future etc
(i already get quite a few of these pm's)
 
#83 ·
Quick bit of information for those that may not already know:

Downing Atlanta were making Supercharger kits for the 318i / iS / ti E36 but sadly they stopped making them and this fine kit was locatable only by searching far and wide for second hand units.

It appears as though there is a light on the horizon for those of us wishing to monster up the venerable 318.

KO Performance are advertising supercharger kits for the 318 - for those interested, take a look here : BMW Z3, 318, E36/E37 1.8L, 1.9L, KO Performance BMW Supercharger Kit - 200+ whp!

If this is old news or has already been covered here - I apologise.... just damn happy I have found a supplier
 
#84 ·
i remember looking into the ko performance kit and after doing a good bit of reading about i found a good few threads on u.s forums slating there worksmanship and customer service!
this was years ago so hopefully they have booked up there ideas!
has anybody gone for this kit as i'd like to see the installed pics!
 
#85 ·
obviously this threads is years old but just so your all aware heres the threads i'm talking about!

Latest on KO Supercharger - 318ti.org forum

most of the pics dont work in there anymore but i remember some of them and the craftsmanship was terrible

for anyone that dont wanna read 20 pages

this is throttle body that someone received from them!








but like i said this stuff was years ago and obviously the company are still going so hopefully things have changed i just wanted for people to be aware is all! :thumbsup
 
#86 ·
Mmmmmmmmm that ties in with what I have discovered. Appears their site was last updated 2006. I sent emails to their customer service and sales email addresses..... nil response. I phoned them and got through to their "receptionist" who in fact turned out to be an answering service for them who could not (or would not) confirm they were still trading. She declined to take a message as they wouldn't return international calls. Also checked out the Active Autowerke site - they ARE still trading, looks MUCH more professional.... MUCH more expensive but don't do Superchargers for anything under 325.

Looks like I am back to hoping to pick up a second hand one
 
#87 ·
When i bought my DA a few years back, i tried calling KO, never got an answer. I spent time and effort with DA to make sure what they were sending was correct and going to be 'tunable'
DA were extremely helpful on the phone. I did not realise that they had stoped production again. I only bought mine 2 years ago. The main issues they had was sourcing the Eaton MP62 chargers. You may still be able to buy the rest of the kit (as it is their castings and do-dahs), the bought in all the S/C's. Might be worth calling them direct. and then maybe a call to Eaton to source the S/C ??

just an idea.

I wouldnt ever entertain KO
 
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