[pavo335]

Originally Posted by Wedge1967

Nice. Did you have someone custom make the tank or did you buy that from a vendor? I've seen tanks like this for the Vette, but haven't seen one for the 335. How much does it hold?

It holds a little over 4 litres and has a venting cap thinggie, real easy to fill and no mess, the vendor is on here 'skycat' shoot him a pm.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by Mike@N54Tuning.com

The 40-50% percent Washer fluid is not commercial. Its off the shelf available in most auto parts stores.

My point is to put the warning in perspective. Is there a risk in running 100% meth in the WW, yes for sure, but my point is that running a 50% methanol mix in the WW tank is no more dangerous then filling your WW tank with wiper fluid.

Obviously care needs to be taken to ensure everything is in good condition, including the WW tank, the lines, etc. (especially the routing of the meth line but that goes for trunk mount and WW mount)

Any loss of car is saddening, and we should work to avoid such things as best we can but things need to be put in perspective. Since you seem familiar with that incident, do you know what meth percentage was run in that car?

Mike

As posted it was 50/50 mix.

Indeed care needs to be taken, and one can only do so much. They say you shouldn't smoke in bed because of the risk of falling asleep and stuff catching on fire (I'm not a smoker), but people still do it and live to talk about it. However, it would seem to anyone that they can simply avoid a potential problem, by not smoking in bed as there are cases of people falling asleep while smoking and their homes catching on fire.

The same rules still apply here. Knowing what we know now, as these cars age and people put miles on them we learn more.

It seems we are learning now that there could on the ever so slightest chance be a potential risk with this setup. Is everyone on the road going to encounter this, no. Could there be a higher chance of getting hit by lighting, maybe This is not to say a trunk mount kit is bullet proof either, I've probably said this few times now, the safest meth is no meth.

You know Mike I've been running meth in my car since almost day 1 so I'm not against the use of it but its important to let others know to watch out. If anyone people can learn to make sure their cap is secure or do some modifications and be aware of potential hazards in their filler cap, and ensure there meth lines are ran appropriately and not to overfill their WW reservoirs more then 1 gallon. If they learn that much more from this thread I'm good with that.

However, I atleast sleep better at night knowing people know their is an inherent risk. That's all I want people to know. I just want you to know I'm not picking on the BMS kit, I've already spoke with Vishnu about their kit as well. They are making some changes to their new kits from what I hear. (nothing set in stone yet).

Something to think about.

[Wedge1967]

I remember Overboosts fire. He was using 80% in his WW. Everyone thought it was a coil pack because it burned out the valve cover.

I actually had the same fire, but I was luck and got the fire put out before it did any damage. I was running 50/50 from the WW and didn't have any issues, but went to get my DP installed and wanted to do some dyno pulls after so I put 80 to 90% meth in the WW tank. After installing the DPs, we took the car out for a quick spin and it wasn't more than a mile when I had smoke rolling into the car from the dash. We quickly stopped and opened the hood to find the foam under the valve cover was on fire just above the turbos. I actually used my hand to smack the top of the valve cover to put the fire out. Just the shock wave from hitting it was enough fortunately. We took it back to the shop and put it on the lift. When we dropped the sub pan it was wet from the WW tank over flow. My assumption is the overflow ran back on the DPs, caught fire and flame went up the side of the engine catching the foam under the valve cover on fire. Today I won't run higher than 70% now and always have a fire extinguisher in my car.

I plan to change to a trunk mount and would highly recommend doing so for any new installations. I would also recommend a race approved fuel cell with foam. 4 gal Summit tank is only $100… 9x10x17in Just my OP...

Originally Posted by Jeff@topgearsolutions

I'd speculate that meth splashed over onto the turbo side of the engine

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by Wedge1967

I remember Overboosts fire. He was using 80% in his WW. Everyone thought it was a coil pack because it burned out the valve cover.

I actually had the same fire, but I was luck and got the fire put out before it did any damage. I was running 50/50 from the WW and didn't have any issues, but went to get my DP installed and wanted to do some dyno pulls after so I put 80 to 90% meth in the WW tank. After installing the DPs, we took the car out for a quick spin and it wasn't more than a mile when I had smoke rolling into the car from the dash. We quickly stopped and opened the hood to find the foam under the valve cover was on fire just above the turbos. I actually used my hand to smack the top of the valve cover to put the fire out. Just the shock wave from hitting it was enough fortunately. We took it back to the shop and put it on the lift. When we dropped the sub pan it was wet from the WW tank over flow. My assumption is the overflow ran back on the DPs, caught fire and flame went up the side of the engine catching the foam under the valve cover on fire. Today I won't run higher than 70% now and always have a fire extinguisher in my car.

I plan to change to a trunk mount and would highly recommend doing so for any new installations. I would also recommend a race approved fuel cell with foam. 4 gal Summit tank is only $100… 9x10x17in Just my OP...

It's interesting you say that you just installed downpipes because so did this car. See PM

[hemi to e90]

these are overfill issues, so we are all clear right?

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by hemi to e90

these are overfill issues, so we are all clear right?

Overfilling is one case, but there is an overflow vent that it can escape from too (without over filling the reservoir). Since the tank has no baffles it can slosh around in the tank and come out the vent. Which seems even more plausible.

[Wedge1967]

No, I'm not sure how you made that assumption. Overboost had a low WW indicator when he had his fire. I only had 1 gal in my tank, I know because I pumped it dry prior. Meth fires are no joke. Honestly if you are running WW meth and you think it can't happen to you, then I truly hope that's the case and it doesn't.

Originally Posted by hemi to e90

these are overfill issues, so we are all clear right?

[BOosted 335i]

well what about installing a ww tank on drivers side in fender? There was someone here that posted a pic last year. it was a blue 335 that added a tank in the drivers side. it would be away from the heat?

[Wedge1967]

It would get it away from the main heat source. I really think the reason my fire kicked off was due to a few issues. Meth evaporates quickly as it's heated. The pressure inside the tank must go somewhere, so as the meth sloshes around in the tank, the pressure blows it out the overflow. In my case it was dumping onto the belly pan and ran back onto the hot down pipes. I actually thought about a smaller tank on the intake side, but then you're always running out. I just think the way to go is a pro tank in the trunk with the foam to keep the Meth from sloshing around in the tank.

Originally Posted by BOosted 335i

well what about installing a ww tank on drivers side in fender? There was someone here that posted a pic last year. it was a blue 335 that added a tank in the drivers side. it would be away from the heat?

[Kiwi Peter]

Originally Posted by pavo335

It holds a little over 4 litres and has a venting cap thinggie, real easy to fill and no mess, the vendor is on here 'skycat' shoot him a pm.

Thanks Pavo
I think our in trunk tanks are the best bar non, they are fantastic for us Australians.
But the US guys wont spend the money sorry to say i think they need a few more fires before they get there act together

[mo2566]

Thanks for all the feedback guys... more than I was expecting and I'm glad to know the issues and risks.

[spool twice]

Originally Posted by Wedge1967

It would get it away from the main heat source. I really think the reason my fire kicked off was due to a few issues. Meth evaporates quickly as it's heated. The pressure inside the tank must go somewhere, so as the meth sloshes around in the tank, the pressure blows it out the overflow. In my case it was dumping onto the belly pan and ran back onto the hot down pipes. I actually thought about a smaller tank on the intake side, but then you're always running out. I just think the way to go is a pro tank in the trunk with the foam to keep the Meth from sloshing around in the tank.

thank you for this. I've always suspected a pressure/vacuum issue and the OEM unit not being able to vent this efficiently. Before I made an additional pressure/vent tube, my WW cap always felt "loose," despite still being on properly capped after some hard runs, and when opened, there was some vacuum that had developed being released and the meth would temporarily rise with this release and drop, sloshing around for a couple seconds. Now after the additional pressure/vent tube, those symptoms are all gone.

[Tzu]

Originally Posted by BOosted 335i

well what about installing a ww tank on drivers side in fender? There was someone here that posted a pic last year. it was a blue 335 that added a tank in the drivers side. it would be away from the heat?

I'm still looking for an option myself, but I lack the time to put real effort into it. Ideally it would be a thin tank (like the WW res) and just plastic weld some mounts & a filler neck. It's a pain because I cant find any other options, but if you can find that thread then it will probably help quite a bit.

[mo2566]

Sorry to bump my old thread, but didn't want to start a new one. I definitely will do trunk mount and boost juice (no higher than 50%). Will there be much risk with this setup when not running the map3? (specifically, when my wife drives the car or I have my kids in the car, I wouldn't run the meth map.... How high is my fire risk)?

[spool twice]

50/50 mix IIRC has a boiling point of 176F; I don't believe the trunk will get up to that high of temp sitting in the hot sun. You can always try running a denatured alcohol/water mix because 100% denatured alcohol has a boiling point of about 178F, adding water to make a 50/50% mixture will only raise the point, which is better from a safety standpoint.

The biggest risk is being rear ended, where any mix except 100% water can ignite into flames.

There is always a risk factor when using methanol, regardless of which map you're in.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by mo2566

Sorry to bump my old thread, but didn't want to start a new one. I definitely will do trunk mount and boost juice (no higher than 50%). Will there be much risk with this setup when not running the map3? (specifically, when my wife drives the car or I have my kids in the car, I wouldn't run the meth map.... How high is my fire risk)?

You dont need to be actually running methanol through your engine to have a risk of fire. The risk is having methanol and higher concentrations stored in your windshield washer reservoir. You can be on map 0 or a stock car, but if you have a higher concentrated mixture in your reservoir you are still at risk like anyone else. I dont know the exact point at which any concentration is safe. In my opinion I would take out anything in the WW tank, I dont use the WW sprayers to clean my windows anyway. For those that need the WW sprayers to clean perhaps there are other solutions that dont use methanol and not flammable.