[mapleridge]

Let's not kill the OP for posting this. He was trying to let us know about a deal. It is quite clear that most people are very weary of dealing with this SC kit. No solid reviews that comment on durability/quality or break down the design. Arma is a vendor on this forum. They are free to come in here and provide more insight on what is/has been said as of late. Some claims are that they have a shadow company in the US. R&D claims are false. Outdated design. Poor warranty policy and more.

Arma, please clarify.

[geekwilson]

Originally Posted by mapleridge

Let's not kill the OP for posting this. He was trying to let us know about a deal. It is quite clear that most people are very weary of dealing with this SC kit. No solid reviews that comment on durability/quality or break down the design. Arma is a vendor on this forum. They are free to come in here and provide more insight on what is/has been said as of late. Some claims are that they have a shadow company in the US. R&D claims are false. Outdated design. Poor warranty policy and more.

Arma, please clarify.

agree

[mapleridge]

Arma doesn't wish to comment I think. I saw that they had visited my homepage so it leads me to think they viewed my request to comment but didn't wish to do so.....Draw from that what you will.

[geekwilson]

Originally Posted by mapleridge

Arma doesn't wish to comment I think. I saw that they had visited my homepage so it leads me to think they viewed my request to comment but didn't wish to do so.....Draw from that what you will.

maybe they think you are a fairest men ever probable they might consider your request.

[lightning]

Originally Posted by onephattai

There are a few members on this forum that purchased this kit and they are happy with it. Don't let one negative post rotten your mind. I'm looking into getting this kit and will definitely do some research.

I had it installed and it just failed. I didnt believe all of the negative comments initially and I learnt my lesson. I did extensive research, months of contemplating and being positive. But what turned me off was not the quality of the product (even though it is not that good) what turned me
Off was the way they handled the whole situation. In order to let everyone have a better understanding, I will post up my photos in 12 hours time.. You can backdate my post to verify my enthusiasm about this kit and trust me. I felt like how u felt. There are also other customers who can't be bothered to come online to share about their bad experiences, I just want justice to be served

[lightning]

Regarding their reply on their Arma announcement, I have sent them numerous e mails about their claim but they did not reply. And I will also furnish u with all the details about the damage from a certified mechanical engineer. They keep claiming that it is a fod. But I will publish the report later and you can judge for yourself

[TSM330i]

Originally Posted by lightning

Regarding their reply on their Arma announcement, I have sent them numerous e mails about their claim but they did not reply. And I will also furnish u with all the details about the damage from a certified mechanical engineer. They keep claiming that it is a fod. But I will publish the report later and you can judge for yourself

In the report, ARMA also claimed that you modified the air intake and painted the tubing. Is that true?

BTW, I'm still not sure how a foreign object could get into the supercharger that's going to do that kind of damage. The ONLY way I could see that happening is if a bolt was left in the intake tube AFTER the air filter and it bounced around and eventually led to being ingested by the supercharger.

[lightning]

Originally Posted by AW325xi

In the report, ARMA also claimed that you modified the air intake and painted the tubing. Is that true?

BTW, I'm still not sure how a foreign object could get into the supercharger that's going to do that kind of damage. The ONLY way I could see that happening is if a bolt was left in the intake tube AFTER the air filter and it bounced around and eventually led to being ingested by the supercharger.

they supplied me with a air intake that was too big for my car, so we replaced it with a very credible brand, K&N filter, which fitted perfectly. it ran without problems for a month or two. if there was any problem with the filter, don't you think that it would have immediately get into it? And you are right, there is no way a foreign object could have done such damage. i'm gonna post a photo of it and a report attached to the photos.

[lightning]

Based on the arma report, their diagnosis pointed out towards a FOD ingestion. Their assessment does not hold ground as the entire charger assembly was ripped off the steel bracket. Thus any damage to the rest of the remaining blade core cannot be ascertained to FOD ingestion or any post damage spinning. The intake pipe was fairly intact compared to the charger compression housing.

Their report pointed towards damage at 4 points and this is an unsupportable theory as there is no corresponding damage in the sides of the charger support bearing strut. I cannot fathom the possibility of a FOD hitting a blade spinning at 20000rpm and yet still not hit 1 pc of the support struts. The damage shown in the picture could have occurred when large chunks of aluminum flew around in that corner of the car. The chunks could have bounced around the corner and the residual spinning energy of the blades could have hit the blades.

there is no possibility of a FOD entering the charger as the air filter was perfectly intact. The original filter provided by ARMA was too large to fit under the bonnet. The filter is still in the shop and it is still crushed and flattened. That was the reason why we had to change to a smaller filter. K&N is a reasonable brand, don't you think? Both filters are present and can be verified for their integrity.

As for being unable to verify the exact item that hit the blade in the previous set of pictures, we were able to match the screw thread imprint with one of those bolts on the charger housing. So after we disprove that initial hypothesis, another possibility comes out. Now it is the reminder of the turbine core. The entire steel charger frame was bent. Even the charger assembly was ripped off from the frame. Other than a catastrophic failure, how else can such sturdy structures fail too?

So from the looks of it the possibility of the blade failing due to material fatigue is higher than any FOD ingestion. That would lead to a massive imbalance and cause all the components to just wrench itself off.

Not forgetting that it was the ARMA technician that came down to install the entire kit. The workshop just did the air filter.

[lightning]

photo of support bearing strut:


Photo evidence that the supercharger turbine broke into pieces and flew outwards, hitting the screw:

[lightning]

if it was a FOD, do you think the damage will be so crazy?
anyway here is the incident report from our side of the story, you guys can be the judge.


Arma Supercharger Incident Report
Background

The incident occurred on 19 Oct 2011 at around 2300hrs in Singapore. The charger kit had been installed for about 3 months prior and the car was always driven around local roads and never raced nor tacked. At the point of failure, the ambient temperature was 28 Degree Celsius. The engine was working at normal operating temperatures and the approximate rpm when the compressor failed was at 3400rpm. The failure was so drastic that the metal shrapnel cut the transmission fluid cooling lines and the radiator heater hoses. The car was towed back to shop.

Facts about the case

Pieces of the broken charger and associated plumbing was recovered and collected. The following series of pictures are of the plumbing and of the compressor blade and housing.





Looking at the compressor wheel closely, you can see the grainy crystaline structure of the turbine blades that indicate a casting process was used to create the blade. The blade pieces in question that the ARMA representative brought up was these 2 photos.



Our conclusion


The primary cause of the failure was material fatigue that started from a hairline of fissure crack on the turbine blade. The crack slowly developed until the spinning blade could not hold itself together and thus broke off. This caused the turbine housing to be destroyed. The shrapnel had 2 kinds would of energy levels. The spinning blade pieces would posess the (1) high velocity but low/medium mass projectile while the housing itself would be the (2) low velocity high mass type. These 2 kinds of projectiles would give different kinds of damage as they would be either the “cutting” or “smashing” effects. The evidence of this is seen here. The ATF pipe was severed with a relatively thin 1.4mm cut which indicates that a piece of the turbine blade had stuck the pipe.




Meanwhile at the intake charge pipe, the point of impact suffered a smashing blow as you can see from the cross sectional photo. The outer surface is heavily indented and sunken while the side facing the engine block has torn the welds holding the pieces together.





As for the damage to the 2 pieces of turbine blades that the ARMA representative mentioned, There could not be a foreign object being injested into the intake as the air filter was whole and did not have any holes in the media. The screw indentation in the blade was a result of an impact to the charger housing clamping bolts. As the turbine blades broke off, it shattered the housing into pieces and characteristically, the fault lines occur at the bolt holes.









This breakage tore off some bolts and also left a couple of bolts in place. These bolts are the M4 variety and it perfectly matches the indentation. Thus as the bolts stood out from the flange, they were subsequently struck by the turbine blades and this left the imprint.









To dispute the ARMA hypothesis of a foreign object entering the compressor wheel, the bearing support was very conspicously free of any strike marks as any injested object would be clamped between the spinning blade and one of the 3 outer bearing supporting struts, and there would be visible damage, but there was not.



Thus the point of failure still revolves around material fatigue and that the testing protocols for each piece of turbine blades that leaves the foundry or manufacturing plant is less than satisfactory. The other possibility is a drop in material quality that was changed by the supplier that yielded less than satisfactory strength.

To cope with the immense inertia forces, it is suggested that the material itself be altered and that the 47000rpm design parameter be increased to about 60000rpm to provide about 80% more design headroom to allow for material fatigue and manufacturing tolerances.

[onephattai]

Originally Posted by lightning

Based on the arma report, their diagnosis pointed out towards a FOD ingestion. Their assessment does not hold ground as the entire charger assembly was ripped off the steel bracket. Thus any damage to the rest of the remaining blade core cannot be ascertained to FOD ingestion or any post damage spinning. The intake pipe was fairly intact compared to the charger compression housing.

Their report pointed towards damage at 4 points and this is an unsupportable theory as there is no corresponding damage in the sides of the charger support bearing strut. I cannot fathom the possibility of a FOD hitting a blade spinning at 20000rpm and yet still not hit 1 pc of the support struts. The damage shown in the picture could have occurred when large chunks of aluminum flew around in that corner of the car. The chunks could have bounced around the corner and the residual spinning energy of the blades could have hit the blades.

there is no possibility of a FOD entering the charger as the air filter was perfectly intact. The original filter provided by ARMA was too large to fit under the bonnet. The filter is still in the shop and it is still crushed and flattened. That was the reason why we had to change to a smaller filter. K&N is a reasonable brand, don't you think? Both filters are present and can be verified for their integrity.

As for being unable to verify the exact item that hit the blade in the previous set of pictures, we were able to match the screw thread imprint with one of those bolts on the charger housing. So after we disprove that initial hypothesis, another possibility comes out. Now it is the reminder of the turbine core. The entire steel charger frame was bent. Even the charger assembly was ripped off from the frame. Other than a catastrophic failure, how else can such sturdy structures fail too?

So from the looks of it the possibility of the blade failing due to material fatigue is higher than any FOD ingestion. That would lead to a massive imbalance and cause all the components to just wrench itself off.

Not forgetting that it was the ARMA technician that came down to install the entire kit. The workshop just did the air filter.

So did they cover the damage for you?

[lightning]

i believe that throughout this whole journey i have been very patient and kind to them, and very very supportive. But after they sent me this report, they did not even bother to reply my emails. even till now. And are unwilling to accept or to review the evidence that i have sent them. They have not managed this crisis and were very quick to point fingers. When their so called mechanic came down to the workshop in Singapore, took out his F***ing pipe and started smoking. they spent less then 10 mins. They did not inspect the damage thoroughly. Do you think that is professional? or are they just here to point fingers and find an excuse and F*** off?

[lightning]

Originally Posted by onephattai

So did they cover the damage for you?

not at all. they kept saying it was the problem of the filter. should i sue K&N then?
wtf right

[lightning]

Anyway, my workshop has a reputation to upkeep, definitely cleaner than Arma's. You guys can go and check it out at the bmw-sg forum and see what type of reputation they have. Singapore is a place with a lot of BMW owners, and i believe that they are competent enough to carry out this project.

So by blaming us, Arma is not only disregarding the reputation of R2D Autoworks, but also the reputation of K&N. right?

[RupertPupkin]

Those photos scream crappy Home Depot tool style casting

DOes not look like it was made from very strong metal regardless of what caused the actual failure.

Hate badly cast metal with a passion.

[FrankiE90]

lightning just started reading ur misfortune with arma.
what a shame at what happened.

i don't think arma is gain'n any fans as
of now.
hopefully they'll be some median and a quick resolution.

[geekwilson]

Originally Posted by AW325xi

In the report, ARMA also claimed that you modified the air intake and painted the tubing. Is that true?

BTW, I'm still not sure how a foreign object could get into the supercharger that's going to do that kind of damage. The ONLY way I could see that happening is if a bolt was left in the intake tube AFTER the air filter and it bounced around and eventually led to being ingested by the supercharger.

Is it probable the mechanic who modified the air intake left something in to air filter he did not know.
who knows

[mapleridge]

Originally Posted by geekwilson

Is it probable the mechanic who modified the air intake left something in to air filter he did not know.
who knows

He ran the car for months with that filter on it.......So "something" would have had to sit in there for several months and then all of sudden one day made its way into the SC. Sorry. That is impossible.

[geekwilson]

Originally Posted by mapleridge

He ran the car for months with that filter on it.......So "something" would have had to sit in there for several months and then all of sudden one day made its way into the SC. Sorry. That is impossible.

i don't believe "something" fall in to filter and still ran couple months either,i think every one like me would like to know the true . this is a goddam farce who knows whom telling the true.

[mike-y]

lightning, do you have pictures of the filter that you used on the car, showing it is still intact?

[t1mmy]

Seeing some new lost post arma supporters on these boards with less than perfect english

juts sayin, think what you will

i like conspiracy theories