[Brule]

Hi,

The cost of a single turbo kit (material only) is over $7,000
Does not include any labour or welding supplies or consumables or shipping.

I have been selling one off parts, oil lines and manifolds etc and want to be able to sell a complete kit. However no one is willing to pay $8,000 for a 100% bolt on kit with quality parts. At a price of $8,000 I have given to around 20 - 30 people no one wants it. This only allows $1,000 for labour and consumables and not worth doing as these take a week to make.

If you wanted a single turbo kit what parts do you want or what parts dont you want?
Just hot parts?
Option of any part single purchase? for example oil feed, oil drain, manifold, dump pipe ect
No turbo and wastegate? A gen2 precision 6266 and gen 5 turbosmart 50mm gate costs $3,500 just for 2 items.
Cheaper suggestions for garret or borgwarner turbos?


This is a 100% bolt on parys list. You can pull stockers Friday night after work and be driving Sunday. (1day if your a legend)
Still needs boost control and tuning. Jb4 or Someone to tune it.

What would you not want or suggest cheaper parts from the below list?

Parts include:
Manifold Studs and nuts
Manifold gaskets
T4 manifold gasket
Coolant and oil fittings and lines Speedflow
Heat sheathing for oil feed and drain lines
Manifold T4 divided
Exhaust to oem exhaust
Turbosmart 50mm Wastegate
Wastegate exhaust
Wastegate Turbosmart
Wastegate Beanie
Precision gen 2 6266 Turbo
Turbo Beanie
Bolt on boost solenoid from BMS
Vacuum lines
Vacuum lines heat sheathing
335D Coolant tank and relocation fittings
O2 bungs
O2 Heat sinks 180 good ones
V bands
Silicone clamps and pipe from turbo to intercooler
Steel flexi joints
Ceramic coated manifold and exhaust

Have a good night.
All suggestions welcome.


Brendan

[RJ019]

I think if you made a decent single turbo manifold they would sell easier than a full kit. People don't realise how much it really costs to do a full kit and think they can do the rest cheaper by themselves.

$8k is a good price for a full kit but like you said wouldn't even be worth your time selling it if you had interest.

[Aus335iguy]

Just the manifold I reckon. It's a difficult thing to source for RHD.
They don't like hearing it but 8k is actually fairly cheap if you ask anyone who's done it.

[Socket]

I agree with Aus & RJ, RHD T4 manifolds are probably what people will want. They are also the part that is the most labour intensive to and they probably wont want to spend more then $1000 on one. Making a jig might bring the costs down. It saddens me to say this but there seems to be fewer people on the platform prepared to sink $$ into these cars (not like a few years ago) The new breed of owners seem to want to do things on the cheap. For example putting in a $1200 coilovers that will have a terrible ride and handling, instead of buying quality kit. I generalise of course, but I have found selling 2nd parts that people wont buy them unless they are a bargain and you are practically giving them away. As Aus says a ST set up for $8K is cheap (wish you were around when I was doing mine) but given the cost of a second hand 2007 335 is around $15K now, the number of people willing to sink $8-$10K into their car is diminishing. The guys selling kits in the US and UK may give you some ideas on what might work. Pretty sure they mainly sell the pipework (mani, dp etc) Personally I reckon what you are doing is great !!! Hardly anyone doing anything like this for the platform in Aus.

[jzx_andy]

Hey Brule, these are some of my thoughts. I don't mean any criticism at all as I think you're offering a great thing to what is in my opinion a very undeveloped market.

Personally (as I want to go ST eventually) think all I'd want out of a kit would be the manifold, dump, outlet, screamer pipe and associated vbands/clamps.

I've always thought I could grab the rest of the n54 specific bits like oil and water lines, turbo installation kit, heatshielding etc from a larger USA retailer and a turbo/gate/misc fittings from Goleby's.

I'd guess the majority of people doing an ST conversion would be relatively decent with the tools and would know how to buy/fabricate the rest without too many headaches.

To be honest I was not aware that you provide these services on an ongoing basis and that might be part of the problem, especially since a huge chunk of the enthusiasts are hidden away in the Facebook groups. Will definitely consider you when the time comes.

Goleby's mentioned things like 6boost n54 parts on FB a couple of years ago, but seems like that isn't going to eventuate, despite there being a fair bit of interest on social media at the time.

[135i2]

The most promising and well made, budget ST manifold looks like being the M18 performance cast S/S, if it clears the steering shaft. Having developed two bottom mount kits, it is not worth the time and investment. Big power from an ST or big twins will result in the stock motor blowing, just a matter of time. Be prepared for an expensive rebuild and remember that anything done properly will cost. E series are dead for most having moved on to later tech and easier power. Just the cheapies and dogged enthusiasts left.

[Socket]

Originally Posted by 135i2

E series are dead for most having moved on to later tech and easier power. Just the cheapies and dogged enthusiasts left.

Sad but true