My ///E12 535i Turbo project

[E12 535i Turbo]

Hi ladies and gents.

Four years ago, I stumbled apon this ex Tony Viana BMW E12, 535i. The owner then, needed cash and had it in the market for R22K. What made the car so attractive was the engine. It was the M30B35 engine and on top of this it was turbocharged. I decided to buy the car as I was looking for a project car and this was the ideal car.

Unfortunately the body was a wreck. I decided then to do everything myself and this was a bit of a problem as I am a chemist and have never done any of this sort of thing ever in my life. Well, I have gone through a lot of trial and error and today I feel extremely proud of the outcome.

I finished the project two years ago. Unfortunately one night in a race I dettonated and broke pistons. I then decided to rebuild the engine, balance it, flow the head and clean up the engine bay.

Well, now almost two years later I can say the car will be complete in December.

This is a picture of the car just after completion of the first phase of my project. I have since then removed the ///M colors.

[ZA Perana]

Very interesting project, was there any documentation to back up the Viana ownership? Must be pretty quick with a turbo, what boost are you running?

[Elcamino]

Very very nice please post more pics

[E12 535i Turbo]

Very interesting project, was there any documentation to back up the Viana ownership? Must be pretty quick with a turbo, what boost are you running?

The car belonged to Tony Viana and was destined for the track. He however used it as his personal ride. When Tony got sick with cancer, he sold the car to one of his employees called Phillip Hendriks. Phillip imported a turbo kit from Germany and turbocharged the car. Phillip had the car for a couple of years before he sold it.

What makes my car different from other 535i's of the same era, is that it came standard without aircon, no electric windows, no central locking and no sunroof. It also came standard with the M30B35 motor whereby other 535i's had the 92mm bore Motronics motor and all of these luxuries. I discussed this with Phillip and he said that BMW did this to shave some weight of the car in order to beat the mighty Alfa GTV 6. Before they could race the car, they had to homologate and build a hundred or so of these specific models for road users before it could race on the track. This car was no 7 of the 13 that was given to Tony for track racing back in the early eighties.

I am running a modified T61 turbo and pressure is 0,8 bar for normal road use and 1 bar for racing. The car made 290kw and 600nm on the wheels just before I dettonated and broke 2 pistons, 2 years ago.

[E12 535i Turbo]

Very very nice please post more pics

The car after the primer coat.


The car after the base coat.


Putting on the ///M colors.


///M colors complete.


Almost done with the first phase of the project.


First phase done.


One night I had a race with a motorcycle. Unfortunately the fuel trim was too low and the boost too high and I dettonated. The outcome of that was two broken pistons. I then decided to strip the engine and do a little more work on it. This was also the perfect time to clean up the engine bay and add some bling to it. Herewith a list of changes to the motor.

New forged Mahle pistons for higher boost.
Bottom end was balanced.
Head was flowed
Conrods was shot peened.
New turbo manifold.
MSD with rev limiter installed
New 50mm mr Turbo dump valve
New 40mm tial waste gate.
New 80mm exhaust system

Herewith the start of the second phase of the project.

Removing the ///M colors.


Preparing the engine bay for the clean up.


The engine bay after the clean up.


Polishing all the parts.


Assembling the motor.


Starting with the turbo plumbing.


Making my own new turbo manifold, phew what a job!!!


Getting it ceramic coated, nice bling.


Installing the turbo.


Cleaning the brake boosters.


Adding bling to it.


Boosters in place.


Installing the MSD and Coil.


I am now 95% complete with the project and it will be done in December.


I also decided to shed more weight off the car as power to weight plays an important role in racing. I used the original hood to make a mould out of fibreglass.


The final product.


The new light weight hood in place.


I then decided to shed more weight by replacing the fuel tank with a light weight plastic cell.


To round it off nicely, I installed some light weight carpeting.


Next expense will be a NoS kit and a set of these wheels.

[ZA Perana]

Very interesting project, was there any documentation to back up the Viana ownership? Must be pretty quick with a turbo, what boost are you running?

The car belonged to Tony Viana and was destined for the track. He however used it as his personal ride. When Tony got sick with cancer, he sold the car to one of his employees called Phillip Hendriks. Phillip imported a turbo kit from Germany and turbocharged the car. Phillip had the car for a couple of years before he sold it.

What makes my car different from other 535i's of the same era, is that it came standard without aircon, no electric windows, no central locking and no sunroof. It also came standard with the M30B35 motor whereby other 535i's had the 92mm bore Motronics motor and all of these luxuries. I discussed this with Phillip and he said that BMW did this to shave some weight of the car in order to beat the mighty Alfa GTV 6. Before they could race the car, they had to homologate and build a hundred or so of these specific models for road users before it could race on the track. This car was no 7 of the 13 that was given to Tony for track racing back in the early eighties.

I am running a modified T61 turbo and pressure is 0,8 bar for normal road use and 1 bar for racing. The car made 290kw and 600nm on the wheels just before I dettonated and broke 2 pistons, 2 years ago.

Wow, clearlya very special and unique car. Does it have the sports gearbox or the earlier normal H patter box? I recall the model with the dog leg sports box was considerably quicker due to revised gear ratios. Great pictures, its clear that the rebuilt has truly been a labour of love.

Serious power considering that by the standards of the time that 5 series was pretty light.

[E12 535i Turbo]

[damagecontrol]

ve ve NICE!!!

[Villain-of-Note]

Wow>>>>trulu a different, and unique, car this....I'm jealous.....

[gordini]

macnificent car....must be pretty quick as well