Atacama Yellow 35is build thread

[1536Z4]

My tuner informed me of his preference after I bought the plugs..so will try them next time.

That would be a good reason

High boost tunes eat plugs n coils very rapidly on N54s..

Ok didn`t know that

 

[B21]

My tuner informed me of his preference after I bought the plugs..so will try them next time.

That would be a good reason

High boost tunes eat plugs n coils very rapidly on N54s..

Ok didn`t know that

Yes I asked my tuner about plug gaps then it went downhill! :thumbsdown: :rofl:

N54s well known for munching through plugs n coils for reasons I can't articulate..first port of call on a misfire..before the injectors..fault code reader just shows 'misfire' when its plugs n coils without differeniation..hence blanket approach to replacing both on a tuned motor.. :tumbleweed:

No harm in asking!

 

[B21]

Started looking at a glossy screen to repalce the idrive screen..nothing wrong with it, especially in car play mode..but looks dated and doesn't match the glossy ID4 cluster..


So started looking at Android head units..made the mistake of going for a 'big one'..technically fits..but not in a way that suits an E89

Well my first attempt didn’t go too well..

The unit was lovely ..but..it was way too big for the cabin of an E89..

Fortunately the seller was happy to accept a return bar import fees..

 

[B21]

I got the smaller Android head unit..fits more neatly in the iDrive display space..

Did quite extensive audio testing and the audio quality from its aux output is pretty good..feeding the output via a USB DAC to the aux of a decent amp or taking the USB output straight into a USB capable amp were both excellent.

You do need to use certain Android music players to get the best and there are some hand off issues when swapping apps that use sound but pretty good.

Ran out of time for this year so will look at fitting it over the winter.

 

[B21]

Following on from the decision to always carry a space saver wheel with attended jack etc this made the rear of the car sit low..

367 mm is the Ohlins recommended height from the bottom of the front and rear wheel arch to the centre of the wheel.

I was sitting at around 350 front and 340 rear.

Found I've run out of preload capability on the rear..so settled for around 355 all round.

I'll investigate a higher spring rate for the rear when I take them off for a service at an Ohlins service centre this winter.

Handling is now a bit nicer and bumps are not coming though as bad on the rear.

Took 7 attempts to even all 4 corners up..

 

[B21]

Several folks have asked following the bigger turbos and tunes 'well how fast does it go?'

There are 3 issues with performance testing the car..

1) Where I live there is no access to a long, flat, open wide fast road to do any performance testing..this invalidates using a GPS data logger such as Dragy to come up with some standard figures as gradients impact the numbers.

2) The 0-60 is pretty brutal on the powertrain..somewhere north of 600 bhp there's a real danger of snapping drive axles and a bit further damage to the DCT box on full on drag starts.

3) Calculations show that with the curret gearing, how the engine revs out and now holds peak power that the car given room should do between 190 and 200 mph..but that needs a lot of room.

I'm contemplating next year doing some high speed runs at Elvington.

However to paraphrase .since I'm not a Stig..we do have the Stig's Italian cousin.

I have a friend with a Yellow 35is in Rome..he's going down the same broad route..

Same CSRF down pipess, TTE500 turbos, Wagner EVO3 FMIC, tuner, similar turbo inlets,outlets, charge pipe and DCIS vs Mr.5 airbox mod..he doesn't have a LSD or big bore exhaust.

Engines tunes are very close.

He's now done some initial Dragy 100 kmph to 200 kmph acceleration figures (62 mph -125 mph)

And its pretty consistent around 7.78 seconds..

If you correlate the findings its pretty much linearly related to real BHP that any car produces..aerodynamic drag and subtleties don't really start to play that much in that time, distance and speed.

For comparision


E85 30i 20+ secs
G29 M40i (EU) 12.3
Z4M 12

Enjoy..


And here's a list of other stock cars

4.2 - Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport - 1183hp
4.6 - Koenigsegg Agera R - 1130hp
4.8 – Bugatti Veyron - 1001hp
5.0 - Koenigsegg Agera - 953hp
5.5 – Koenigsegg CCX - 806hp
5.7 – Koenigsegg CCR - 806hp
5.8 – Mosler MT900 GTR - 600hp
5.8 - Ferrari F12 - 740hp
5.9 - McLaren 12c - 625hp
6.0 - Porsche 918 - 795hp
6.1 - Mclaren F1 - 635hp
6.1 - Porsche RUF RT12 R - 750hp
6.2 - Pagani Zonda F - 602hp
6.3 - Lamborghini Aventador LP-700 - 700hp
6.3 - Porsche 911 GT2 RS - 620hp
6.4 - Porsche RUF RT12 S - 685hp
6.4 - Porsche Carrera GT - 612hp
6.5 – Pagani Zonda R - 750hp
6.7 - Ferrari Enzo - 651hp
6.8 - Ferrari GTB 599 - 612hp
7.0 - Mercedes SLR 722 - 650hp
7.1 - Corvette ZR1 - 638hp
7.2 - Porsche 991 turbo S 2013 - 552hp
7.2 - Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670 - 670hp
7.2 - Mercedes SLR Stirling Moss - 650hp
7.2 - Mercedes SLS - 563hp
7.2 - Mercedes SLR - 626hp
7.2 - Audi R8 V10 Plus (2013) - 550hp
7.3 - Porsche 911 997 GT2 - 530hp
7.4 - Ferrari 458 spider - 562hp
7.4 - BMW M6 (2012) - 560hp
7.4 - Ferrari FF - 660hp
7.5 - Porsche 911 Turbo S (2011) - 530hp
7.6 - Ferrari F430 Scuderia - 510hp
7.7 - Lexus LFA - 560hp
7.8 - Lamborghini Murcielago - 580hp
7.8 - Nissan GT-R (2012) - 550hp
7.8 - BMW M5 (2012) - 560hp
7.9 - Corvette C6 Z06 - 513hp
7.9 - Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0 - 500hp
7.9 - Porsche 911 Turbo PDK (2010) - 500hp
7.9 - Porsche 991 GT3 - 476hp
8.0 - Ferrari F50 - 520hp
8.0 - Ford GT - 550hp
8.0 - Viper SRT-10 2008 - 612hp
8.4 - Ferrari F430 - 489hp
8.4 - Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera - 530hp
8.4 - Aston DBS - 517hp
8.4 - Porsche 996 GT2 - 460hp
8.4 - Porsche 997 Turbo auto - 480hp
8.6 - Porsche 997 Turbo manual - 480hp
8.6 - BMW M6 V10 - 507hp
8.6 - Jaguar XKR-S - 551hp
8.7 - Mercedes SL65 AMG - 612hp
8.7 - Nissan GT-R 2008 - 480hp
8.7 - Lamborghini Diablo VT - 492hp
8.8 - Audi RS6 - 579hp
8.8 - BMW M5 V10 - 507hp
8.8 - Mercedes C63 AMG Black - 457hp
8.9 - Mercedes S65 AMG (2008) - 612hp
9.0 - Porsche 996TT X50/Turbo 'S' - 450hp
9.0 - Porsche 997 GT3 RS - 415hp
9.1 - Lamborghini Gallardo SE - 519hp
9.1 - Audi S8 - 520hp
9.4 - Porsche 991 Carrera S - 400hp
9.5 - Bentley Continental Supersport - 630hp
9.6 - Panamera Turbo - 500hp
9.6 - Aston Vantage (2009) 517hp
9.6 - Wiesmann GT MF5 - 507hp
9.6 - Cadillac CTS-V - 564hp
9.7 - Porsche 996 Turbo - 420hp
9.9 - Mercedes E63 AMG -525
10.0 - BMW 760 (2010) - 544hp
10.5 - Audi RS5 - 450hp
10.6 - Audi R8 (2006) - 420hp
10.6 - Cayenne Turbo (2011) - 500hp
10.8 - Porsche 993 turbo - 408hp
10.9 - BMW M3 E92 - 420hp
11.2 - Aston Vanquish S - 528hp
11.6 - Audi RS4 Avant (2012) - 450hp
10.2 - Porsche 996 GT3 - 360hp
11.0 - Audi TT RS Plus (2012) - 360hp
11.6 - Mercedes SLK-55 Black (2006) - 400hp
11.8 - Jaguar XKR (2006) - 420hp
11.8 - BMW X6 M - 555hp
11.9 - BMW X5 M - 555hp
11.9 - Ferrari F355 - 380hp
12.0 - Porsche Cayman S - 325hp
12.1 - BMW Z4 M - 343hp
13.7 - Dodge Challenger SRT-8 - 477hp
12.3 - Cayenne Turbo S (2008) - 550hp
12.4 - BMW E46 M3 - 343hp
12.5 - BMW Z3 M - 315hp
12.6 - Ford Mustang Boss 302 LS - 443hp
12.7 - Mercedes ML 63 AMG (2008) - 510hp
13.3 - Honda NSX-R - 280hp
13.3 - Audi S5 - 354hp
14.4 - BMW M135i F20 - 320hp
14.6 - BMW M3 E36 - 321hp
14.7 - Cayenne Turbo (2004) - 450hp
14.9 - Mitsubishi Evo IX - 290hp
14.9 - Mitsubishi Evo IV - 279hp
15.3 - Ford Focus RS (2009) - 305hp
15.3 - Audi TT-S - 272hp
15.7 - Nissan 370Z - 330hp
16.0 - Jeep SRT-8 - 426hp
16.2 - Renault Megane RS (2009) - 250hp
16.4 - Subaru WRX STi - 280hp
16.4 - Seat Leon Cupra R - 265hp
17.0 - Supra Turbo - 284hp
17.9 - Audi TT 3.2 (2007) - 250hp
18.0 - Mitsubishi Evo X MR - 295hp
18.0 - VW Golf GTI VII - 230hp
18.4 - Mazda 3 MPS (2009) - 260hp
20.8 - Mini Cooper S works (2004) - 200hp
21.0 - Mazda RX-8 RS - 231hp
23.0 - Honda Civic Type-R (2007) - 201hp

 

[B21]

Comfort access failure!

Comfort access is a number of additional capablities added to E89s in addition to the normal key fob things.

The technologies and parts were widely used on a number of other BMW cars..but rarely fitted to the E89.

The only two obvious ways to see if you have comfort access (apart from a VIN check) is to see if each door pull has 3 raised ridges moulded into the handle AND if the fobs have a removeable non rechargeable battery CR2032..these two features define comfort access.

So what does comfort access do, if its working properly?

You can raise the roof on the fob..not possible with the standard system

You can unlock and lock the car by touching the 3 moulded lines with the fob in your pocket

You can start the car without inserting the fob into the 'slot'

Not earth shattering.

However it turns out its not a very reliable system, either on E89s or elsewhere.

The most common failure is the electronics in the door handle (quite complex with a microprocessor) fail..often resulting in an unexplained current drain warning / manin battery going flat if left..

Also remote operation of roof/windows/locks all start to go wrong in various ways..

In my case a red herring of current drain that I associated with the fittingof the ID4Cluster was my downfall..

The roof wouldn't open on the fob, a high current drain was shown on iDrive ..

I fitted a new battery..tried various things with matters getting worse..

I then noticed that when I touched the driver door handle with the car parked and cold that it was warm to the touch.

I've used a thermal camera to show the image and temperatures..nealry 50c on the driver door and 25c on the passenger door..with the rest of the car at 16c..

Its an expensive problem to fix..each door handle is one unit at £500..

I bought a second user one for £100 with view to replace..but needs painting and that process potentially damages the ability of the door handle to 'sense' touch..

Current (pun) plan is to remove the door handle and simply disconnect the lead that provides power and gets data from the handle.

There's a second connector for the extended lighting which I'll leave plugged in..

 

[Nictrix]

I had one fail on my previous X6.
Symptoms were door locking and unlocking randomly and could take sometimes a dozen attempts to keep it locked.
I'm sure the replacement then was around £350 including paint but that was around 3 years ago.

 

[B21]

I had one fail on my previous X6.
Symptoms were door locking and unlocking randomly and could take sometimes a dozen attempts to keep it locked.
I'm sure the replacement then was around £350 including paint but that was around 3 years ago.

£460+vat was the cheapest i found new and they cancelled my order , BMW aren’t supplying them..

 

[B21]

Another year another MOT ..79k miles....30k miles in my ownership in 3 years..not surprisingly no obvious issues..

 

[B21]

Well the Lord giveth and taketh..

Shortly after the MOT I took the car to a BMW ndy in Hexham to look at a coouple of leaks..

I had clear fluid from what looked like the gearbox on the garage floor AND dirty engine oil also..

The DCT leak turned out to be another leak from the sump..they assert they fixed it with a new BMW plastic plan..

The first engine oil leak..which I suspected would be tricky looked to be a turbo oil feed /drain pipe..

These are bitches to get to..sure enough it needed the subframe removing to get to..

Turns out the Indy in Darlington that fitted the turbos had inserted the pipe at an angle and it was seated properly resulting in O ring failure..

Sadly it turned out that wasn't the only leak and my beloved German TTE500 turbo has an internal oil leak..

So a very protracted delay to now ship that to Munich for repair..of course no one in the UK will touch it due to possible TTE only parts..

Pics are of old OE parts which I’m going to ship to be upgraded as well..

 

[Reamesy]

Not the news you wanted I’m sure. It’s a good job you have use of another car. On the bright side, if the o ring hadn’t failed it could have been ages before you spotted the internal leak.

 

[B21]

Not the news you wanted I’m sure. It’s a good job you have use of another car. On the bright side, if the o ring hadn’t failed it could have been ages before you spotted the internal leak.

Quite so..just feel 'let down' be Germanic quality..so much for ISO9000! :headbang: :tumbleweed: :fuelfire:

 

[1536Z4]

just feel 'let down' be Germanic quality..so much for ISO9000!

That`s a right pain . Hope it doesn`t take too long to get it sorted and you can get out in it again before winter .

 

[B21]

just feel 'let down' be Germanic quality..so much for ISO9000!

That`s a right pain . Hope it doesn`t take too long to get it sorted and you can get out in it again before winter .

Hopefully operational before end August when next sortie to Mull and Kintyre happens..cataract op on Monday so won't be driving for a couple of days..

 

[B21]

The BMW N54 was fitted with two Mitsubishi low pressure (8 PSI boost) TD03 turbochargers.

Cylinders 1-3 and 4-6 each blew exhaust gases through a relatively small turbo..the air from a common airbox was ducted to each turbo individually, then the compressed air was merged into a single duct before going through a single forward mounted intercooler before entering the inlet ports via a single charge pipe.

TD03 refers to the 'frame' size..ie how large the overall castings were that house the turbine and compressor parts..TD03 being small..a BMW N20 engine has a sigle TD04 turbine.

The logic of two turbo chargers was to reduce throttle lag and allow quick spool (up) of the turbos through small turbines and compressors having low mass.

Not much puff was asked for (8 PSI boost) to take and engine that would have made about 250 bhp without boost to 335 (35is) with boost.

In my case at 60k miles I took my turbos of to replace them with two new TTE500 'hybrid' turbos.

They are called hybrid because they are a frankenstein turbo..that is the overall unit is made from an orginal new Mitsubishi BMW N54 turbo, but the turbine wheel, compressor wheel and other parts are designed and supplied by others..

Sadly after 2 years and 20k miles the rear TTE turbo developed an oil leak..there was a leak form the external oil feed caused by the Indy in Darlington not fitting it correctly..(cocked over and nipped the o ring)..but after fixing that more oil came out of the turbo itself..you can see the burnt oil on the clamp that connects the hot section to the cold section.

On examination it has a lot of lateral play and some longtitude play in the bearing..so much so that the turbine plates are hitting the main structure!

After looking at various options I was only really left with one..send it back to TTE in Germany..essentially not repairable by any UK turbo overhaul house due to specific TTE parts.

The distributor said they had sold over 8,000 and only had 20 duff ones..must be unlucky..Indy confirmed all oil feed lines were OK..heh ho..

Now having the orginal 60k mile originals I've decided to get them upgraded as there's a £1,200 saving if you have the luxury/time to send good units back..mine look in really good condition apart from some play in the waste gate hinge..which is a well known weak spot on the stock turbos.

So 2 boxes via Fedex to Germany..1 TTE500 to be refurbed and 2 old OE ones to be converted to TTE spec..at least I shouldn't be off the road for a prolongued period with those as back up..1st world problems..

The pics show the two sets of turbos..you can see that a TTE turbo takes the stock Mitsubishi part new and starts from there.

You can see the bigger turbine wheel and whilst not intially obvious, the compressor wheel is bigger and also has a 50mm outlet vs 47 mm ish OE oulet..turbine speed is up from around 120k to closer to 200k..hence more boost (I'm hitting 21.5 psi peak) but more wear..

We will see what gives..

 

[B21]

So my old original Mitsubishi turbos from my E89 have now come back, upgraded to TTE500 spec and badged as such…

There are two routes to these types of upgrades..take either a brand new Mitsubishi turbo and then gut the internals / bore it out / fit new turbine and impellers, maybe upgrade the waste gate bushes and flaps..the other is a brand new Chinese turbo with new bits..not sure which is the best route..given installation, tuning etc I’m pretty much wedded to the hybrid route ..

My blown turbo and its sister are due back late September..no response to my multiple queries on what caused the failure…not good.

The turbos are handed so 4 turbos make two pairs…I’ve got a hot swap pair going forward…

That will avoid a 8-9 week downtime..hopefully..

Out of interest the upgraded set now are TTE serial numbers 425/426..the old set are 227/228..that means they’ve only sold 210 pairs of these..and they’ve sold a 100 pairs in the last 3 years..

That’s not much compared to some of the American based hybrids..

 

[B21]

£2,250 later ..not including the price of the turbos..back on the road..that’s the price for a decent Indy to remove and refit turbos plus a DCT new sump and oil change..if you can’t afford to play…feeling smoooooth…n quick..

 

[1536Z4]

Good to see it up and running ready for NC500

 

[B21]

Good to see it up and running ready for NC500