[RiXst3r]

So the I've noticed that the way things go around here is that an item becomes popular, and then all the vendors jump on selling them, and next thing you know, everyone is installing them on their 335...

Early on the hot items were tunes and exhaust systems... then things moved to intakes, dv's, etc... Everyone was making/selling an intake it seemed like... Followed by DP's, then intercoolers were all the rage, and now it seems like meth kits are on everyone's radar.

I know that the easy answer might be a turbo upgrade, but they are not widely available or very cost effective yet... so what is next?

Upgraded fuel pumps?
Internals?
Compressor mods?
Nitrous kits?

Where does it stop... ? Does it always have to be the NEXT thing?

Taking a look at the popular topics, it seems that threads are leaning more towards "my car is broke" type threads... Does this mean that maybe we should be focusing on mods that may not *add* power, yet they help us keep our car running good? Things like Boost gauges, Diagnostic tools, cleaning and maintenance kits, etc... I think these things are JUST as important for any modded car, or else you will never get the full potential out. Do you know your REAL boost? Do you know if you have codes? Is your car running the way it should be???

So what should be the next point of focus? Well, in my opinion... its time to take a look back at mods that every ALREADY has, and start to think about how we can IMPROVE on those mods...

What don't you like about your tune??
What don't you like about your intake??
Was your intercooler too hard to install?

What did your last car have that you would LOVE to have on your 335?

The eyes/ears of people who can give you what you ask for are WIDE open

-Rick

[TurboSid]

fuel upgraded needed

hopefully something that takes e-85

[jhershorin]

Enter the cp-e HPFP thats in testing and the standback that allows full ability to tune the car - and a real tune - 30x30 cell control of timing, boost, throttle, etc.

Rick hits on important points though. A lot of the mods out weren't made to the level of quality they should have been. On top of that keeping a car running is often more important than gaining the power. I like where he's heading with this thread.

[Bagelfast]

everyone should have a Bt cable to clear codes and read them.

Along with the datalogging that goes with it people should understand how to do it and how to read it to make sure there car is runnign right, and at the top of its game getting the most power of out the car.

But i agree there might be improvement in other areas, but i think this is a big area.

[joec500]

Wish List:

1.) Beefed up HPFP
2.) Beefer up HPFP
3.) Aftermarket injector option as OEM options are $300-400 EACH plus you have the dealer to install and calibrate them
4.) HOW TO trouble shoot VANOS issues
5.) aftermarket turbo options that emphasize durability around wastegates or maybe an uprated wastegate retrofit kit
6.) Cleaning kits that can somehow clean off our intake valves
7.) N54 specifically designed hose kits (intercooler, charge pipe etc) emphasizing ease of install and reducing the possibilities for leaks etc.
8.) N54 specific boost leak detector kit

Must haves for tuned motors IMO:

1.) Bav Tech scanner
2.) Boost Gauge
3.) Valentine 1

After all my recent misfire issues, I personally would emphasize durability on my upcoming mods.

[alq80]

i agree with the durability part... i mean, something that can sustain the vehicles like replacement hoses and pipes which come under heavy load with additional boost. and something not too expensive at that!

[ianthegreat]

you wouldn't happen to sell boost gauges?

[RiXst3r]

Originally Posted by ianthegreat

you wouldn't happen to sell boost gauges?

Only in the mornings...

Seriously though... I really want to take a NEW look at some OLD products out there... There seems to be room for improvement in a lot of areas on a lot of products for the n54, and for the betterment of the community, discussing these issues WILL bring along results from the right set of eyes/ears.

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by joec500

Wish List:

1.) Beefed up HPFP
2.) Beefier HPFP
3.) Aftermarket injector option as OEM options are $300-400 EACH plus you have the dealer to install and calibrate them
4.) HOW TO trouble shoot VANOS issues
5.) aftermarket turbo options that emphasize durability around wastegates or maybe an uprated wastegate retrofit kit
6.) Cleaning kits that can somehow clean off our intake valves
7.) N54 specifically designed hose kits (intercooler, charge pipe etc) emphasizing ease of install and reducing the possibilities for leaks etc.
8.) N54 specific boost leak detector kit

After all my recent misfire issues, I personally would emphasize durability on my upcoming mods.

In reply to your wishes -

1) not necessarily beefed up, but one that can handle higher levels of ethanol
2) definitely
3) not necessarily aftermarket in same spec, but aftermarket for an upgraded flow-rate injector (to go with a higher-spec HPFP)
4) someone just needs to duplicate the BMW service information off the GT1
5) this is being sorted out for my car right now, by a company called Turbo Dynamics in the UK. Depending on how it goes, a wastegate retrofit package might be possible, although setting up of the wastegate will still be a bit of a problem as it won't be done in-house
6) this is a problem - although I think the answer is to try and figure out a sure-fire way of preventing the valves from coking up in the first place!
7) good idea
8) good idea


I think the most important point you have made though is about durability. There is little point continually seeking increases in power if the engine or rather the components of the engine don't have the durability or performance to cope with the power boost. I think it is even more important to concentrate on developing the ancillary or supporting components, such as oil coolers, transmission fins etc etc...

So, my list of 'wants' for the N54 engine in particular over and above what's already available -

1) Upgraded water pump
2) Baffled oil pan
3) High duty-cycle wastegate upgrade
4) Transmission cooler for ZF Steptronic gearbox
5) Dry sump conversion
6) Motorsport-oriented oil thermostat

[klipseracer]

Originally Posted by ianthegreat

you wouldn't happen to sell boost gauges?

This should be EVERYONE's first mod. I guarantee you'll agree with me afterward.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=318112


Personally, I would like to have some loping, turbo cams... :

Ignore the terrible video, but just listen Makes a 4 cylinder sound a little beefy. Quite obnoxious as well, but on the N54 with a good exhaust...Yummy.

[u2b]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Li5tT82D9KY&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Li5tT82D9KY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/u2b]

[cn555ic]

Its like everything else in life, what ever comes out is the next best thing...Progression from tunes-intakes-fmic-dps then now the Meth kits...I think after that would be turbo upgrades which is in the near future...Unfortunately most that mod for performance will look for more and more HP and gains, while maintenance of the vehicle is important, its really in the back burner..Right now I can't think of a single thing that I would want other than a upgraded HPFP that is reliable....

[RiXst3r]

Originally Posted by E92Fan

In reply to your wishes -

1) not necessarily beefed up, but one that can handle higher levels of ethanol
2) definitely
3) not necessarily aftermarket in same spec, but aftermarket for an upgraded flow-rate injector (to go with a higher-spec HPFP)
4) someone just needs to duplicate the BMW service information off the GT1
5) this is being sorted out for my car right now, by a company called Turbo Dynamics in the UK. Depending on how it goes, a wastegate retrofit package might be possible, although setting up of the wastegate will still be a bit of a problem as it won't be done in-house
6) this is a problem - although I think the answer is to try and figure out a sure-fire way of preventing the valves from coking up in the first place!
7) good idea
8) good idea


I think the most important point you have made though is about durability. There is little point continually seeking increases in power if the engine or rather the components of the engine don't have the durability or performance to cope with the power boost. I think it is even more important to concentrate on developing the ancillary or supporting components, such as oil coolers, transmission fins etc etc...

So, my list of 'wants' for the N54 engine in particular over and above what's already available -

1) Upgraded water pump
2) Baffled oil pan
3) High duty-cycle wastegate upgrade
4) Transmission cooler for ZF Steptronic gearbox
5) Dry sump conversion
6) Motorsport-oriented oil thermostat

Great post...

Can you expand on some of your reasoning behind the specific thing addressed by each item on your list of 6 you added ?

[ianthegreat]

Originally Posted by RiXst3r

Only in the mornings...

Seriously though... I really want to take a NEW look at some OLD products out there... There seems to be room for improvement in a lot of areas on a lot of products for the n54, and for the betterment of the community, discussing these issues WILL bring along results from the right set of eyes/ears.

I'll bite.

I want a SOLID, RELIABLE, and CHEAP oil catch can. I know it can be done and the time it takes for these companies to "design" one is absurd.

I spent around 40$ total building one for my last car that did not leak and did it's job. Right now our only options are $100+. I'm sure a catch can in the $70 range could be pushed quickly. Hell.. you have all the old RR OCC disgruntled customers to start with.

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by RiXst3r

Great post...

Can you expand on some of your reasoning behind the specific thing addressed by each item on your "top 6" ?

Sure

1) Upgraded water pump

The turbos on the 335i are water-cooled, so upgrading the water pump will help keep the turbos as cool as possible by increasing the flow rate of the water. Marrying this upgraded pump to the secondary water radiator that is part of the BMW Performance power kit, and which will become available as a separate spare part in the very near future, will really help to ensure the longevity of the turbos and help to prevent the heat-induced bearing failures and wastegate distortion that occurs at the moment (see my thread about my turbos that is currently running now - here)

A really well-designed pump should also be more efficient and help reduce parasitic power loss.


2) Baffled oil pan

My car gets used on the track a lot, especially at the Nurburgring, and it is supremely important to avoid any oil starvation. Having a baffled oil pan will help prevent starvation and therefore increases the longevity of the short engine


3) High duty-cycle wastegate upgrade

The standard wastegate (6mm rod pre-2007/8, and 8mm rod post-) suffers a lot from heat-induced distortion, and this leads to the dreaded wastegate rattle and consequent loss of performance. The distortion itself can be seen by scorching on the actuator rods, but manifests itself most prominently in the actuator rod bushing, which deforms and prevents proper operation. If the bush gets too worn, the diaphragm itself won't close properly even if the ECU thinks the wastegates are shut, and you'll still be able to see daylight through the poppet valve. If you can see daylight, that means boost is leaking big time!


4) Transmission cooler for ZF Steptronic gearbox

Again, this is about durability and longevity of the gearbox. When tracking the car hard, the gearbox temperature inevitably rises. I don't know to within what limit the temperature is going to, but I would imagine that it is much higher than normal. Having an upgraded transmission cooler or finned housing would be beneficial in keeping temperatures down.


5) Dry sump conversion

This is a much more advanced upgrade to the baffled oil pan above and is largely an expensive dream! Dry sumping the engine gives the most stable, reliable, and consistent oil pressure possible and eliminates any possibility of oil starvation. Predominantly for race applications, a good dry sump system will also reduce the amount of power lost through the use of a typical wet sump scavenging pump system. A dry sump conversion is already available for the M3 engine (at mega cost) and it would be nice to have this option for the N54 engine as well as it then opens up a whole world of possibilities for using this engine as a fully-fledged race product.


6) Motorsport Oil Thermostat

It would be great to have a motorsport-oriented replacement oil thermostat that operates (opens) at a lower temperature than the OEM equivalent. This will help keep oil temperatures cooler when running the engine hard.

[BrianMN]

About the Intake Valves...what exactly is choking these up? I would figure with direct injection these would be the cleanest intake valves possible. I must be missing something?

[E92Fan]

It's not exactly clear what's causing the intake valves to coke up.

I'll quote from a post I made in the UK section in response to a guy who's N52 engined car has died recently (and which is now in the process of being reincarnated!)

There have been a few cases of excessive carbon build up on the intake valves, leading to poor running of the engine, spluttering, lack of power. It is a more common occurrence (relatively) on the N52 engine rather than the N54, although there have been more and more cases of it happening.

The crankcase ventilation pipe recirculates back into the engine in order to improve the emissions performance of the engine. This air contains vaporised oil particles that are supposed to be removed by two cyclonic filtration units in the cam cover. The filtration system is designed to remove the oil vapours from the recirculated air, therefore leaving a clean burn for the engine. In addition to this system, previous non-direct injection engines used to flow petrol over the intake valves with the result that the petrol kept them clean.

However, there is now a two-fold problem. Firstly because the engine is direct injection, no petrol passes over the intake valves, so there is nothing to keep them clean. Hence why the cyclonic filtration is so important. However there have been signs that this filtration system can get clogged up and fail, and this is normally due to incorrect engine oil being used in the system, although that is by no means the only cause of the filtration failure. Because this system gets clogged up, there is much less ability to 'cleanse' the recirculated air coming back from the crankcase. And so the problem goes round and round and gets worse and worse.

The carbon buildup can happen anywhere along the inlet side of the engine, so the remedy is not always the same between cars.

Cars with catch cans installed run less risk of the valves coking up as the catch can sits inline to the crankcase ventilation hose and helps to collect vapourised oil. But you must check the catch can regularly, as mine filled up completely over a period of 6000 miles and led to me having the cam cover removed to inspect the valves. Fortunately everything was clean, but there was still a hesitancy under acceleration, so I took the decision to replace the cam cover (which contains the cyclones in a sealed unit) and ever since the new cam cover was installed the engine has run butter-smooth with no hesitancy at all. We hacked apart the old cam cover to have a look at the cyclones and they were completely clogged with carbon and oil buildup. Not good!!

[mwahlert]

i want this
http://www.newsouthperformance.com/pod.htm

had one on my mkiv jetta and loved it..

[joec500]

I am curious to see the cost and pics of your valve cover

[GreenPlease]

+1 on the transmission cooler for the auto box. With higher power levels, well... you know, more heat.

Most important mod at this point is an upgraded (and more reliable) HPFP. First one to market has a gold mine.

After that, I'm leaning toward a big single kit (GT30 or 35r). Said kit allows for some creativity with the intake (could run a single pipe with a cone filter on it to the front bumper. Of course this would require new charge pipes (preferably shorter charge pipes that simply run on the left side of the engine bay as you look at the car face on)... /ramble. Just saying that there's a lot of room for creativity with a big single kit.

[GeorgeSmooth]

I think after the meths and dps and in a years time the biggest point of discussion is going to be after market warranty. Once the 3 comes closer to its model life a lot of people will have shifted there cars and all the dudes with the higher mileage cars are going to be seeking warranty policies.

[TurboBimmer]

Given the sheer number of issues, an upgraded / reliable HPFP should be of high priority. Once the warranty of the car is up, that's a potential gold mine for aftermarket suppliers.

Looks like tuning the N54 has come to a point where big jumps in power can only be achieved through more extreme mods like meth injection/turbo upgrades.

As for reliability upgrades, I find it odd that there aren't alot of items available. It's even difficult to find a good quality OCC. A transmission cooler would be nice also. I guess either the demand is too low as most customers still focus on performance only, or the profit margin on such low-cost mods is not attractive

[Craig@SupremePower]

nice thread..