[JayTriggy14]

Originally Posted by gunnerxq

Honestly it's probably faster then a stock 335i.

Based off of the impressions on the people who have the kit once functional, they compare it to the stock power curve but on steroids. The 335i excels in low torque off the line but falls on its face at 6k rpm on stock tune. The n51/2 makes its peak power and torque above 4k rpms. The ESS kit doesn't add much below unfortunately but its a night and day difference from 3k on.

On a side note: I've been looking into flex-fuel applications like the N54 Fuel-it, and it could have some functionality for the FI N52's. This could provide even more power once there is a tune that compensates for the fuel.

[Zajac1]

Originally Posted by JayTriggy14

Yes it comes with 2 year unlimited mileage warranty program. The kit can put down anywhere from 300-315whp. You can change the pulley size only for the N52 since it uses the throttle body as opposed to the n51 which uses the MAF. The pulley can yield an additional 20whp. I asked BPC in a thread a while back if they can make a custom tune for the ess kit and they said that would be possible so probably more gains are on the table.

Info:
http://esstuning.com/ess-n52-vt1-sup...-system-gen-2/

Add this pulley and if won't be any problems on that kit I think it's worth to buy it. However, why it's hard to find drivers opinions here ?? 2 year warranty it's ok

[Taskmaster]

Originally Posted by W37V

Ha?

Those suckers put down almost 240hp to the wheels. Since it's a turbo, just slap on it down-pipes, JB4 or a tune (or both combined), longer throttle body, and intake. With less than $1500 in parts you will be pushing 300+hp to the wheels.

How is that bad?

When it comes to reliability - I don't think they are any less reliable than N55. They still have same issues as any other DI engine (carbon build-up, etc.). I didn't see anything majorly bad associated with them.

Sound wise, they are horrible. Side effect of direct injection and 4 banger turbo engine. But nothing that can't be improved with a good exhaust.

--------
Or maybe you were tolling. In that case....

N20 engines are pure junk.

No, I'm serious.

With SAE correction, a N20 328i is putting down about 225whp+/- which is about on par with a 330i, or weaker 328i with a 3sm.

With tuning (stage 2) on pump gas, they are in the 260-280whp range, though no one was arguing they can't make power - but they have the propensity to pop when they are pushed too hard.

Combine that with the fact the car falls on it's face after 5500rpm, and sounds like shit - I'll pass on it.

[JayTriggy14]

Originally Posted by Zajac1

Add this pulley and if won't be any problems on that kit I think it's worth to buy it. However, why it's hard to find drivers opinions here ?? 2 year warranty it's ok

From my knowledge and all of the impressions posted on the forum in regards to the Gen 2 kit, the pulley does not pose any problems. The kit has been tested up to 350whp. I would ask Cdutch for his impressions since he has a different pulley. Tom has a good thread with his impressions as well. Just think of the supercharger as the stock power curve but taken up a few notches, its not a turbo with instant torque.

[Zajac1]

Originally Posted by JayTriggy14

From my knowledge and all of the impressions posted on the forum in regards to the Gen 2 kit, the pulley does not pose any problems. The kit has been tested up to 350whp. I would ask Cdutch for his impressions since he has a different pulley. Tom has a good thread with his impressions as well. Just think of the supercharger as the stock power curve but taken up a few notches, its not a turbo with instant torque.

Yeah I know, but from what I red supercharge should be less problematic than turbos. 350whp these numbers looks amazing and I'm just wonder how car feels with that kit.

[JayTriggy14]

Originally Posted by Zajac1

Yeah I know, but from what I red supercharge should be less problematic than turbos. 350whp these numbers looks amazing and I'm just wonder how car feels with that kit.

Yes supercharging would be less maintenance than a turbo. You would only have to service the oil on the supercharger, as well as normal maintenance on the car. Turbos you have to worry about tuning, fuel pumps, injectors, wastegate etc. I would assume from the threads I have read that the car keeps its characteristic below 3k rpm and turns into a monster above that haha. 300-350 whp is plenty for a daily driver, track, or a weekend twisty carver.

[scanspeak]

Rather than engine mods I think there may be better gains to be made by light-weighting it - eg hood, wheels, brakes, seats, etc.

[RyanDavies]

I agree with that a lot.

When you plot thrust curves, 50lbs = the same thrust equivalent (and bigger handling / grip increases) to around 7lb/ft of wtq.

Rotational and unsprung mass matters more. Light wheels, calipers, rotors, battery, seats. (Battery and seats, very easy to save 100lbs or more).

Around 16lbs on a 128 to be saved in rotors/calipers, for around $1K (custom stock-sized Coleman two piece rotors, and some SULEV 330 OEM calipers).

I'm still trying to sort out a way to run a Lithium Ion battery to drop another 15lbs back there from my 21lb Braille equivalent (and produce higher CCA).

There's 15lbs in easy to remove stuff from the car too. Trunk floor, floor mats, rear headrests.

I haven't looked into much else outside of the ST ruleset, but at present, my car is in the mid-2900s w/o driver, and under 2900 is certainly achieveable, even with 17x9s and 255 tires, while being an excellent daily driver still (assuming you find a race seat comfortable for you, like the Soarco Evo is for me).

I'm also curious (maybe BPC will read this) how much more power there is to be gained from an on-dyno tune for 100 octane.

[Taskmaster]

Originally Posted by scanspeak

Rather than engine mods I think there may be better gains to be made by light-weighting it - eg hood, wheels, brakes, seats, etc.

Huge compromise there, and the cost is high.

[hassmaschine]

If you want a light car - the E90 is the wrong platform to begin with. Pete's is pretty light but it's completely gutted. It's not really useful anymore as a street car.

But, I'm sure we're not too far from the day when poseurs are running around in gutted E9x "race cars" that only ever get driven to the nearest Taco Bell after school for work...

[RyanDavies]

Originally Posted by TheAxiom

Huge compromise there, and the cost is high.

I actually think the cost/benefit ratio is better than chasing power (to a point). To gain the amount of power we'd offset through, say, light brakes and a lighter (even the 21lb battery I have, which has NEVER caused issue, and is very cheap), for around $1K, would cost substantially more than that once you get to the peak end of the power development curve.

I spent a good bit of time in Excel last night playing with this. Like I'd said, at my weight/current power levels, 50lbs of sprung mass = approx 7wtq (across 100% of your powerband). Unsprung and rotating mass is harder to calculate using just a thrust curve, but is more beneficial than that level. Yes, if your goal is to obtain a "light" car with all else held equal, sure, you probably picked the wrong platform. But if your goal is to maximize performance per dollar on the present platform, its a route worth pursuing.

I have zero interest in doing anything to the car that makes it a substantially worse street car for me (while I really only do drive mine to/from autocrosses, that did result in over 20K on the car in a year), and I've dropped 200lbs or so without doing that (I put the stock seats back in temporarily, and find the Evos more comfortable). You can pick up a reclining passenger seat (and add a small bit of weight, but much lighter than OE) if easy use of the back seat stays a priority.

Yes, you're well into diminishing returns at this point, but it still matters .

[justpete]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

If you want a light car - the E90 is the wrong platform to begin with. Pete's is pretty light but it's completely gutted. It's not really useful anymore as a street car.

But, I'm sure we're not too far from the day when poseurs are running around in gutted E9x "race cars" that only ever get driven to the nearest Taco Bell after school for work...

Yeah but they won't have an x-ray inspected roll cage. Then again they wouldn't know the difference.

Not completely gutted yet, will finish cage this winter but the dashboard has to remain per STU class rules. Will change out to Euro non-M bumper carriers as well for another 17.5 pound savings.

Perfectly streetable, sort of, and is just as much of a grocery getter as before, sort of...ymmv

[justpete]

Originally Posted by scanspeak

Rather than engine mods I think there may be better gains to be made by light-weighting it - eg hood, wheels, brakes, seats, etc.

A CF hood saves less than you'd expect, wheels are a good way to reduce sprung and unsprung weight but more easily damaged on the street, savings in brakes is predominantly with the rotors (RB for example), seats will save a substantial amount of weight but only if replacing electric sport seats or the like. Getting to four hundred pounds less than stock is pretty expensive although some things can be left off the addition list and savings would approach 500 pounds but it wouldn't be trackable and if not tracking, why bother in the first place? Want power? Get a used, heavily depreciated 335i, it's what all the high school kids are doing...

[justpete]

Originally Posted by TheAxiom

Huge compromise there, and the cost is high.

As Ryan points out the 1ers can drop a lot more weight in absolute numbers for a lot less money although it isn't all that much in terms of percentage. But the chassis lends itself to weight savings nicely and makes for a much better choice of AX and roadrace platform imho. As to expensive, yeah you betcha buddy...

[Zajac1]

Originally Posted by JayTriggy14

Yes supercharging would be less maintenance than a turbo. You would only have to service the oil on the supercharger, as well as normal maintenance on the car. Turbos you have to worry about tuning, fuel pumps, injectors, wastegate etc. I would assume from the threads I have read that the car keeps its characteristic below 3k rpm and turns into a monster above that haha. 300-350 whp is plenty for a daily driver, track, or a weekend twisty carver.

First of all I need to find the car I want and then I will think about ESS Kit.

[Dan Bilzerian]

Originally Posted by scanspeak

Rather than engine mods I think there may be better gains to be made by light-weighting it - eg hood, wheels, brakes, seats, etc.

It probably wouldn't hurt if the fat asses on here lost 10 or 20 lbs too

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by justpete

Yeah but they won't have an x-ray inspected roll cage. Then again they wouldn't know the difference.

Not completely gutted yet, will finish cage this winter but the dashboard has to remain per STU class rules. Will change out to Euro non-M bumper carriers as well for another 17.5 pound savings.

Perfectly streetable, sort of, and is just as much of a grocery getter as before, sort of...ymmv

One day, after I get the grades to get outta this HS I hope or to beat you to taco bell by so far that by the time you're pulling in I'll have already finished my cheesy gordita crunch.

Of course, I'll have to install some serious shift knobs (multiple so passengers can play along) and remove the muffler, but it's going to happen!

X-rays, pffff

[justpete]

Originally Posted by tlow98

One day, after I get the grades to get outta this HS I hope or to beat you to taco bell by so far that by the time you're pulling in I'll have already finished my cheesy gordita crunch.

Of course, I'll have to install some serious shift knobs (multiple so passengers can play along) and remove the muffler, but it's going to happen!

X-rays, pffff

LOL, that's purty funny right thar...

[Taskmaster]

Originally Posted by RyanDavies

I actually think the cost/benefit ratio is better than chasing power (to a point). To gain the amount of power we'd offset through, say, light brakes and a lighter (even the 21lb battery I have, which has NEVER caused issue, and is very cheap), for around $1K, would cost substantially more than that once you get to the peak end of the power development curve.

I spent a good bit of time in Excel last night playing with this. Like I'd said, at my weight/current power levels, 50lbs of sprung mass = approx 7wtq (across 100% of your powerband). Unsprung and rotating mass is harder to calculate using just a thrust curve, but is more beneficial than that level. Yes, if your goal is to obtain a "light" car with all else held equal, sure, you probably picked the wrong platform. But if your goal is to maximize performance per dollar on the present platform, its a route worth pursuing.

I have zero interest in doing anything to the car that makes it a substantially worse street car for me (while I really only do drive mine to/from autocrosses, that did result in over 20K on the car in a year), and I've dropped 200lbs or so without doing that (I put the stock seats back in temporarily, and find the Evos more comfortable). You can pick up a reclining passenger seat (and add a small bit of weight, but much lighter than OE) if easy use of the back seat stays a priority.

Yes, you're well into diminishing returns at this point, but it still matters .

Essentially everything that saves any significant weight is upwards of $1000.
Seats, brakes calipers/rotors, CF body panels, wheels - hell, even a battery is 500 I think for a Li-ion.

In comparison to something like a tune, which is 450-800, and adds 10+whp/tq, intake manifold for 300 for similar gains.

Again, this isn't to say lightweight doesn't help, or that its benefits go beyond acceleration, it's just not cheap.

[JuniorB]

There is also nitrous. A good nitrous system that's dialed in properly can be a great way for an extra 100 at any given time. I have a zex which I believe is measured at the crank so I'm a good extra 75 hp at the wheels. This setup may be more efficient on a single stage intake.

[Taskmaster]

Originally Posted by JuniorB

There is also nitrous. A good nitrous system that's dialed in properly can be a great way for an extra 100 at any given time. I have a zex which I believe is measured at the crank so I'm a good extra 75 hp at the wheels. This setup may be more efficient on a single stage intake.

I doubt it.

[tom.gnade]

I just had an email conversation with someone from RMP Motors

http://www.rmpmotors.com/

who claims they have done 6 sets of cams for the N52. When I asked about the results, here is what he/she said:

"We were able to make 320whp with stock intake manifold. You must use standalone management"