Old BMW turbo problem..

[KemppiFrog]

A friend bought a BMW Z1 new, back in the day. It was the first model by a new section of the firm and was partly to get them into gear for future projects.
Finding it a bit sluggish, as same drive train as the 2500i saloon, he gave it to BBR, who bolted a couple of turbos on and lowered it a bit. That transformed it, with a top speed of over 170mph. Not used a lot over the years.
Now, it has probs, diagnosed as the extra ECU added for the conversion. Not talking to the injectors. He asked BBR, but they don't seem to have anybody or records from that time. His local mech has given up.
He, and the car, are in Portugal, but he is selling up to return to UK, as too hot in the summer. It would be handy to get the car sorted before he leaves (could be several months)
My thought, from little experience with ECUs, would be a fresh one that takes over from both.

Any ideas?
KF

 

[KemppiFrog]

To add, I assume that if a UK outfit got it on the ramp, fitted a fresh ECU, they could set it up quite quickly. The problem is where it is.

 

[Bullet2012]

The problem is where it is.

Only if he intends driving it back It can always be put on a trailer, or on shared transport.

 

[Pete.]

A friend bought a BMW Z1 new, back in the day. It was the first model by a new section of the firm and was partly to get them into gear for future projects.
Finding it a bit sluggish, as same drive train as the 2500i saloon, he gave it to BBR, who bolted a couple of turbos on and lowered it a bit. That transformed it, with a top speed of over 170mph. Not used a lot over the years.
Now, it has probs, diagnosed as the extra ECU added for the conversion. Not talking to the injectors. He asked BBR, but they don't seem to have anybody or records from that time. His local mech has given up.
He, and the car, are in Portugal, but he is selling up to return to UK, as too hot in the summer. It would be handy to get the car sorted before he leaves (could be several months)
My thought, from little experience with ECUs, would be a fresh one that takes over from both.

Any ideas?
KF

There are any number of secondary ECU's that could be swapped out for the dead one. Do you know what make it was? My bike used a Micro-tech unit which required only a RPM input and MAP input to fire four extra injectors. This is their most recent fuel-only offering:

LT-9c Fuel Only ECU - Microtech EFI

The LT-9c fuel only auxiliary injector controller, is designed to work on engines which retain the factory ECU but have fitted extra injectors to the intake system. This allows the engine to run on the factory engine management system under light throttle conditions, then when the engine comes...

microtechefi.com

 

[Melvyn Best]

I changed my Xflow engine in my kit car to full engine management including building a wiring loom from scratch and fitting a lambda sensor in the exhaust . Got the engine running easily and was able to use the built in analyser to get the mixture set up good enough to get some miles on the rebuilt engine before getting it set up on Emeralds rolling road . Can recommend an Emerald ECU and they are very helpful . Depending on where in the UK he is going to it might be worth a visit to Norfolk?

 

[KemppiFrog]

Thanks guys, I might have found a techie local to him, but I will find out what system it has.
KF

 

[KemppiFrog]

I changed my Xflow engine in my kit car to full engine management including building a wiring loom from scratch and fitting a lambda sensor in the exhaust . Got the engine running easily and was able to use the built in analyser to get the mixture set up good enough to get some miles on the rebuilt engine before getting it set up on Emeralds rolling road . Can recommend an Emerald ECU and they are very helpful . Depending on where in the UK he is going to it might be worth a visit to Norfolk?

Melvyn, do you have contact info for Emerald? They have not replied to the Z1 owner. From your post, they are in Norfolk? I might have a go..
Thanks
KF

Local techie I mentioned is mech only, not electronics.

 

[minimutly]

A friend bought a BMW Z1 new, back in the day. It was the first model by a new section of the firm and was partly to get them into gear for future projects.
Finding it a bit sluggish, as same drive train as the 2500i saloon, he gave it to BBR, who bolted a couple of turbos on and lowered it a bit. That transformed it, with a top speed of over 170mph. Not used a lot over the years.
Now, it has probs, diagnosed as the extra ECU added for the conversion. Not talking to the injectors. He asked BBR, but they don't seem to have anybody or records from that time. His local mech has given up.
He, and the car, are in Portugal, but he is selling up to return to UK, as too hot in the summer. It would be handy to get the car sorted before he leaves (could be several months)
My thought, from little experience with ECUs, would be a fresh one that takes over from both.

Any ideas?
KF

Has it been laid up for a while? ECUs don't talk to the injectors, they fire them. And what can happen is that injectors stick closed. I've had this very thing on a Vauxhall engine I built with astand alone ECU. The trick was to temporarily feed 12v direct to the injectors for split seconds at a time (yes I know they are fed with 12V, but you need a good return path, not via the output transistor in the ecu). It freed all the ones on the Vauxhall. So with the pump running, a made up lead, 12V on, flick to earth whilst cranking the engine (this tells you if the injector is free).

 

[KemppiFrog]

Has it been laid up for a while? ECUs don't talk to the injectors, they fire them. And what can happen is that injectors stick closed. I've had this very thing on a Vauxhall engine I built with astand alone ECU. The trick was to temporarily feed 12v direct to the injectors for split seconds at a time (yes I know they are fed with 12V, but you need a good return path, not via the output transistor in the ecu). It freed all the ones on the Vauxhall. So with the pump running, a made up lead, 12V on, flick to earth whilst cranking the engine (this tells you if the injector is free).

That is very interesting.. I don't know the exact system on the engine. But the owner is not tech inclined, so I will send it on, but he will need someone to actually do it.

 

[Melvyn Best]

Melvyn, do you have contact info for Emerald? They have not replied to the Z1 owner. From your post, they are in Norfolk? I might have a go..
Thanks
KF

Local techie I mentioned is mech only, not electronics.

EmeraldM3D.com - Rolling Road

EmeraldM3D - Rolling Road, The best place to have your Emerald ECU setup & mapped.

www.emeraldm3d.com

HTH

 

[Pete.]

That is very interesting.. I don't know the exact system on the engine. But the owner is not tech inclined, so I will send it on, but he will need someone to actually do it.

For what it costs he might as well send the injectors off for testing and cleaning by someone with an ASNU machine or similar. There's a guy on ebay advertising 14 quid a pop for the service.

 

[KemppiFrog]

For what it costs he might as well send the injectors off for testing and cleaning by someone with an ASNU machine or similar. There's a guy on ebay advertising 14 quid a pop for the service.

Apparently he did have them cleaned and tested, so it is down to the ECU.

 

[Nomad]

PM sent with a couple of ideas ...

If you used Facebook there are a few groups that have adverts for transporting cars from Spain / Portugal etc back to UK. A group that might give you some ideas (or adverts) https://www.facebook.com/groups/ukregisteredcarsvehiclesinportugal1