M42B18 turbo help

After doing some research on the capabilities of the M42b18 (found on an e36 318is), I fully intend to add a turbo. My question is what 1-2 things would you recommend to upgrade on the engine (i.e. valve springs, etc…)? If I remember correctly, I can lower the compression on the engine by putting on a 1.5mm head gasket which is the route I’ll go initially before actually buying brand new pistons. I’d love to hear people’s opinions, and for the love of God please don’t tell me that I’m wasting my time and that I should just swap the engine. People where I live seem to all have the 6 cylinder engine so this is my effort in trying to make my e36 stand out and be different from the crowd. Thanks in advance!

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Comments

SplitSecond

Sweet! So I’ve got hours into thinking and planning this out for myself. APR studs upper and lower.Pistons, valves and springs. H rods. Also get a good cast iron manifold!! do manifold APR studs is a must!! ( tighten to oem specs) Bigger fuel injectors eBay bosh ones are$100. You’ll need a camshaft which is around $1,200 :/ if you run low boost you’ll be good without making a window in your motor on stock internals. High boost is what kills motors. Also you’ll need to get it turned around me that’s roughly around $500 could be wrong

04/29/2016 - 23:34 |
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Those are some great plans, and this just goes to show how much a project can start to cost haha

04/30/2016 - 15:56 |
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Pfannkuchenmann

Most of the Time it is actually the rod and not the piston giving up so that would be the first thing (internally) that I would change

04/30/2016 - 05:19 |
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I wasn’t aware about that so thank you, I’ll definitely start shopping around for new rods

04/30/2016 - 15:58 |
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