[ridin135]

Hey everyone its been awhile since I have been on the boards since I got rid of my 135 last September. I am looking at getting a 2011 335 xi and was worried about the power potential of the motor. I would like to here peoples impressions that have owned or driven both, preferably both modded. The torque output of the motor is nice but the horsepower is a little low. I have done a search but could not really find what I was looking for, I thank you in advance for your contribution to this thread.

[Slops]

I feel like you are going to be a little dissapointed going from a 135 to a 335 no matter if it was a n54 or n55. The potential power will really shine once somebody comes up with a single twin scroll turbo upgrade I think. If you look around, the N55 is starting to make quite a splash with its bolt-ons and a tune. Intake, downpipe and a procede for instance will put you in the high 300's. Having an xi will let you launch all that power and put it down from 1st gear. Thats really my selling point on the xdrive other than I need it in the winter but being fun as hell to be pushed back into the seat when you launch it.

[TurboBimmer]

Hi,

I haven't driven an N55 yet, but since it's a more recent engine development, there are obviously less tuning solutions available. As you seem to look for a big bump in hp, your best bet would be an N54 with upgraded turbos (search for "Rob Beck turbos").

I don't think we'll see turbo upgrade kits for the N55 soon. The Valvetronic design seems to make tuning that engine alot more complicated.

So my vote goes for modded N54 all day

[Slops]

Originally Posted by Autobahn335i

Hi,

I haven't driven an N55 yet, but since it's a more recent engine development, there are obviously less tuning solutions available. As you seem to look for a big bump in hp, your best bet would be an N54 with upgraded turbos (search for "Rob Beck turbos").

I don't think we'll see turbo upgrade kits for the N55 soon. The Valvetronic design seems to make tuning that engine alot more complicated.

So my vote goes for modded N54 all day

At this point i completely agree with you. N55 has a long way to go to get up to par with N54.

[ridin135]

I will only have the car for two years so I won't be doing a upgraded turbo. The only way I can get an n54 is if I go used and I want a lease so that won't work. If I didnt live in a shit climate I would just get a z4 and call it a day.

[jpdauber]

I was in the same situation and don't regret getting the N55.

[ridin135]

Anyone else driven both

[itsbrokeagain]

I have driven both and the throttle response isnt quite there compared to an N54 car, but then again I have yet to drive in a procede equipped car to see how much its changed.

Stock for stock it kinda sucks...especially when you put it in reverse on a 6MT, the gas pedal suddenly takes a lot more effort to get the car to rev up to even move a little bit. Im an experienced driver and Ive stalled the car probably 4 times in reverse..the RPMs come down and it just grabs a little and stalls.

[codylcast]

I came from a 2008 335i sedan and recently moved to a 2011 335i xdrive coupe. Both cars equipped with steptronic. Stock-stock is basically the same/similar - low end grunt I'd give a very slight nodd to the 2011/n55. Higher rpms seems like it is a wash. The exhaust note of the n55 is somewhat muted compared to the n54, whether that is good or bad is up to you. I kinda miss the growl of the n54. Gas mileage is down, but I think that has more to do with the move from rwd to xdrive.. (21 vs 19 combined cycle). Overall I do not regret the switch.

I have to agree with the poster above, I think the switch from a 135 rwd to xdrive 335 is going to be more difference than n54 vs n55. I've driven both 135 and 335 back-to-back, both n54, and the difference is substantial.

[daixloxbmw]

I came from a Procede V3 2008 335i coupe (6AT RWD) to a Procede V5 2011 135i coupe (7DCT RWD).

Both cars were completely stock (performance-wise) aside from the tune.

I disagree with some of you who mentioned that the tuned N55 has more low-end torque than tuned N54. Despite what dyno graphs have shown, my butt dyno says that the N55 is slightly down on low-end torque compared to the N54. When I say low-end, I mean under 2k rpm.

With my heavier and wider geared 335i, I seldom had to upshift beyond 2k rpm because there was just so much low-end torque. With my lighter and closer geared 135i, I find myself upshifting around the 2.5 - 3k rpm much more frequently.

Also, as Matt said, the N54 has better throttle response as well, there was instant torque available at any rpm. The N55 seems to be a big laggy under 1.75k rpm.

I am hoping that as the Procede and other tunes develop the N55 platform more, we will close this performance gap. Right now, my previous 335i definitely feels way more immediate in the lower half of the rpm range.

[ridin135]

Thanks for your responses, so far I don't know if I wanna get the car now.

[E92LNGCGY]

Have you tested the new N55? If not go and try it out.

If after the test drive you don't like the N55 as much then why not look at the 335is it's got the N54 motor with upgrades? Does it have to be XI or 4dr? RWD isn't bad in the winter as long as you get some good winter rubber. I'm sure you'll appreciate the IS because of the extra power and it is easy to tune.

[chumley]

If you like the car otherwise I say get it. If I understood what you posted, you only want to lease for 2 years so why are you that concerned with what the ultimate power potential is? Maybe it's just me but I see that as an evolution with almost every car I've had. By 24 months I'm just getting started!

The N55 certainly has tunes, CAI, DP, FMIC, etc... available so what else do you plan on unlocking? At this point the consensus seems to be that the N54 platform has more potential but the differences in the 2 with basic bolt-ons is likely to be pretty negligible.

To me, if I was leasing for that short a time frame I'd probably order it with the performance exhaust for the awesome sound, go with a flash + DCI and be done. Easy to undo and solid performance.

[adrock]

I had an 07 n54 and now drive an 11 n55. Both cars are quick, but to me they differ in the way they deliver the power, n54 the boost seemed to come on in a big wave (I guess you could call this "turbo lag"), were as the n55 feels almost naturally aspirated the boost delivery is so linear. In the end they "feel" very different, but the good news is that they are both very quick. Any one who tells you that the n55 is slow hasn't driven one yet, or hasn't considered that the power just feels different. I honestly don't regret my decision at all.

[vase330]

Best description I have read all day. N55 has less lag than N54. That is my butt dyno experience too.

For a daily driver, I think you will like the N55 better than the N54. I recently had a loaner for a while identical to my car which is N54. Stock for stock, N55 is smoother and more linear, less noisy. Midrange feels like a wash, but if you romp on both, its a revelation on how different they are. I absolutely noticed the N55 feels like it runs out breath much earlier and there isn't as much up top to compared to the N54. If you want to drive the car really hard, N54, if its a daily driver small edge goes to N55. I am going to state the obvious too, regardless of whats available now in the tuner market, the tuners will tell you, the N54 has more headroom and is easier to tune. 2 Turbos > 1 bi-Turbo on these cars. All this might eventually mean nothing with a single Turbo both, but that better fuel economy has an opportunity cost attached to it. Its not free, you give up some ooomph. In the end N55 is fine car, I wouldn't hesitate to get.

[boostd92]

I'd defer to Shiv, but there are two MAJOR differences when it comes to N55/N54 comparisons that make the N54 the easier choice: MAF and Valvetronic.

The N54 is Map based (instead of MAF) which is generally a lot more forgiving and easier to tune. The N54 also does NOT have valvetronic like the N55 - another hurdle to tuners.

[kiteboy]

N54 for ever

[makarov88]

Never have I ever stalled a 6MT N55 in reverse

[itsbrokeagain]

Originally Posted by makarov88

Never have I ever stalled a 6MT N55 in reverse

Yeah i wasbt quite used to it. I have been driving stick for so long i dont rev my cars out much to get them moving..the N55 required me to re-train my left foot.

The other cool thing is i prefer the sound of an uncorked N55 over an N54. It sounds wicked. Also on every upshift in boost i get a loud pop from the exhaust...maybe it will blow flames at some point :

It just sounds a bit like a Supra..pissed off when in the upper RPMs.

Ill have a sound clip hopefully by next week. The AMS exhaust on it sound wicked.