No Supercharger love for Si? Tuning options...

W

webpain

Member
Hi all,

1. Does anyone know why there are no supercharger kits available for the 3.0Si model? I haven't found anything from ESS or G-Power...
2. Any other companies that do bolt-on SC/Turbo kits?

Also, would that N54 Bi-turbo Awesomness of a 335 fit in a Z4? Would such an engine swap be even be possible in terms of software, engine mounts, transmission?
At the time I bought mine in Germany I had a short conversation with a mechanic who changed the oil (dealer promised to get it changed) and he suggested such a solution over going the supercharger way...

Opinions?
 
GP20 said:
Sell your 3.0Si. Buy a Z4M. [/end thread]
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice but I was actually looking for some thread specific answers...

Selling a car is not always as easy as tuning it. I know there are many different opinions on if its actually worth it but lets just say I really agree with this opinion on this matter. And this is about a 2.5. If the performance gains of a non-Si with something like this are (320-231) 89 HP that would mean that an Si with the same performance gains would do something like about 350HP. For just over 4k (GBP) that such a mod will cost you're probably faster (at least on a straight line) than a ///M (oh dear what have I said! :fuelfire: )

Now any other opinions (especially on the availability of an SC on the 3.0Si and the engine swap possibility) would be much appreciated! :-)
 
You cant supercharge the N52 engine (used in the si) because of the advanced intergrated valvtronic which replaces the throttle bodies.
 
Thanks for the info! Shame that the N52B30 can't be supercharged... Then again I just found this but the site and info looks a bit dodgy and the video is supposedly taken in China... Well wouldn't trust the Chinese (no disrespect, but... come on...) with a supercharger design for my car :D
 
webpain said:
GP20 said:
Sell your 3.0Si. Buy a Z4M. [/end thread]
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice but I was actually looking for some thread specific answers...

Selling a car is not always as easy as tuning it. I know there are many different opinions on if its actually worth it but lets just say I really agree with this opinion on this matter. And this is about a 2.5. If the performance gains of a non-Si with something like this are (320-231) 89 HP that would mean that an Si with the same performance gains would do something like about 350HP. For just over 4k (GBP) that such a mod will cost you're probably faster (at least on a straight line) than a ///M (oh dear what have I said! :fuelfire: )

Now any other opinions (especially on the availability of an SC on the 3.0Si and the engine swap possibility) would be much appreciated! :-)
Click to expand...

If you think selling a car isn't easy as it is, good luck trying to sell a FI'd car. You'll end up with a quicker Z4 than the Z4M without the ability to stop as well. Though of course at that point your gearing is STILL not as aggressive as the Z4M's, so wherever you got that 350HP figure from, the Z4M has essentially more than 350HP once you factor the more aggressive gearing into the equation. Then you'll have to buy a BBK to accomodate all the new extra power. That's at least another $3K USD (you can do the currency conversion yourself). And then there's the extra maintenance and more things that can go wrong with the FI (with the FI, something ALWAYS goes wrong one way or another). It'll still look like a 3.0Si and still won't have the Z4M front/rear bumpers, M hood, quad-exhaust, etc, etc. Then again, when it comes time to selling your car, you either spend money to put the car back to stock or be stuck with selling an FI'd car.

You thought it was stupid when I said simply sell your Z4 and buy a Z4M. But trust me this horse has been beaten over and over since the original Z4um days. At the end of the day it'll be easier and cost you less money to just selll your Z4 and buy a Z4M WHEN a Z4M is available to buy. It's very short-sighted to say oh it's cheaper to FI a Z4 and it'll be quicker than a Z4M while ignoring all the other factors.

EDIT: Nevermind just noticed you're a noob so you probably have no idea what Z4um was.
 
GP20 said:
If you think selling a car isn't easy as it is, good luck trying to sell a FI'd car. You'll end up with a quicker Z4 than the Z4M without the ability to stop as well. Though of course at that point your gearing is STILL not as aggressive as the Z4M's, so wherever you got that 350HP figure from, the Z4M has essentially more than 350HP once you factor the more aggressive gearing into the equation. Then you'll have to buy a BBK to accomodate all the new extra power. That's at least another $3K USD (you can do the currency conversion yourself). And then there's the extra maintenance and more things that can go wrong with the FI (with the FI, something ALWAYS goes wrong one way or another). It'll still look like a 3.0Si and still won't have the Z4M front/rear bumpers, M hood, quad-exhaust, etc, etc. Then again, when it comes time to selling your car, you either spend money to put the car back to stock or be stuck with selling an FI'd car.

You thought it was stupid when I said simply sell your Z4 and buy a Z4M. But trust me this horse has been beaten over and over since the original Z4um days. At the end of the day it'll be easier and cost you less money to just selll your Z4 and buy a Z4M WHEN a Z4M is available to buy. It's very short-sighted to say oh it's cheaper to FI a Z4 and it'll be quicker than a Z4M while ignoring all the other factors.

EDIT: Nevermind just noticed you're a noob so you probably have no idea what Z4um was.
Click to expand...

Oh my, why do you need to be so cocky to prove a point? First of all I got the car in January and thus yes, I'm a noob, sorry about not being around in the good old times of Z4um...
Secondly I never underestimated the pros of a ///M which include better handling, breaking, cornering, gear shifting etc, but on the other hand If you would for once read the damn words, I said that I would theoretically be faster at least "on a straight line". Never talked about anything else m8...
Then again I never said your post was stupid, but more like naive and, well it just didn't answer my question. Yeah obviously getting the proper thing is better, everyone knows/assumes that... Thanks for giving the time to answer anyway

Thanks to peddy and tomTVR for answering the question! Guess I'll just go with an LSD for now and when the time is right I'll either get an Z4M or perhaps just the engine of a sDrive35i/335 :-) (still like the looks of the E85/E86 better than the E89)
 
GP20: Easy on the guy, i actually agree that there is a lot of point to this. Also due to the emission laws in some countries where M's are totally prohibitive. Ive helped with blower projects on 3 cars and a Streetfighter bike and never had a problem. All ended up more fuel efficient and all increased in value more than the sum of the component parts (however i doubt this would be true of a Z4). Maintenance costs of a SC are FAR less than that of an M (almost Nil).

Webpain: The N54 should indeed fit as its the same block size as the M54 and would possibly be cheaper amazingly if you DIY. The Z4 has a much larger engine bay to that of a 1/3 series, but a LOT of research will be needed! Would make a corker of a project though :thumbsup:
 
I am tempted to supercharge my 3.0i. Due to the mileage the resale value is totally ruined, i'd be lucky to get £6,000 for it this time next year. Even the 'basic' 320bhp ESS system would totally transform the car which would cost just over 5k by the time ive improved the brakes. A supercharger would also intergrate with the cars electronic systems perfectly unlike an engine swap. That said i saw a VXR8 with sports exhaust nail it past me yesterday and could handle one of those engines in my car, a much bigger project though!
 
2 examples on ebay uk, so should hopefully be easy to find over in greece too...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-335-335i-SPORT-TWIN-TURBO-PETROL-ENGINE-GEARBOX-ECU-/140467387332?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item20b4823bc4

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-335-335i-SPORT-TWIN-TURBO-PETROL-ENGINE-/140467387293?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item20b4823b9d
 
ha ha. good old GP20 again! ignore him we are not all like that on here, the rest of us are both friendly & helpful. hope you find the info your looking for in your original post.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
If you're going to stick to what you've got then an engine swap is probably your best bet. with the N54 ESS can remap it to:

Part number: 101-83
Top Speed Governor: Removed
RPM Limit: 7200RPM
Fuel requirement: 93US/98Euro
Horsepower: 400 DIN (Stock 306) - 390DIN if used with stock intercooler
Torque: 550NM (Stock 400NM)

You could probably do this for around 4k all in?

Not sure what prices and taxes are like in Greece, but if it's anything like here in the UK then in my opinion it would be better to just go and get yourself an M.
 
peddy said:
If you're going to stick to what you've got then an engine swap is probably your best bet. with the N54 ESS can remap it to:

Part number: 101-83
Top Speed Governor: Removed
RPM Limit: 7200RPM
Fuel requirement: 93US/98Euro
Horsepower: 400 DIN (Stock 306) - 390DIN if used with stock intercooler
Torque: 550NM (Stock 400NM)

You could probably do this for around 4k all in?

Not sure what prices and taxes are like in Greece, but if it's anything like here in the UK then in my opinion it would be better to just go and get yourself an M.
Click to expand...

Sounds like fun. But there is another option-stick with what you got. It is a very capable car in its own right and a great daily driver. :driving:
 
peddy said:
2 examples on ebay uk, so should hopefully be easy to find over in greece too...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-335-335i-SPORT-TWIN-TURBO-PETROL-ENGINE-GEARBOX-ECU-/140467387332?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item20b4823bc4

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-335-335i-SPORT-TWIN-TURBO-PETROL-ENGINE-/140467387293?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item20b4823b9d
Click to expand...

Wow now i could get on board with this. Anyone done a M54 N54 swap yet (in any BMW)? I dont suppose mounting it would be a major problem, nor connecting up the driveline and custom intercooler mounts etc. But what about intergrating the ECU with the cars onboard systems, DSC etc?

Theres a guy who put an S54 into a E46 Touring, it was amazingly simple to fit, almost a straight swap. But the electronics were a total pig IIRC.

EDIT:

Just been doing to reading and it is a massive undertaking. Theres a guy who has taken 2 years and counting to fit one to his E46. If i was going to go to such enormous lengths then id be fitting the 400bhp M5 v8, probably not that much harder to fit and would be far more special when finished.
 
peddy said:
If you're going to stick to what you've got then an engine swap is probably your best bet. with the N54 ESS can remap it to:

Part number: 101-83
Top Speed Governor: Removed
RPM Limit: 7200RPM
Fuel requirement: 93US/98Euro
Horsepower: 400 DIN (Stock 306) - 390DIN if used with stock intercooler
Torque: 550NM (Stock 400NM)

You could probably do this for around 4k all in?

Not sure what prices and taxes are like in Greece, but if it's anything like here in the UK then in my opinion it would be better to just go and get yourself an M.
Click to expand...

I second that and thanks for the ebay links. I reckon that I would get some amount of $$ for the existing engine as well if I sold it so the total would go even further down. Such a project needs a lot of research though and I don't know of a mechanic here in Greece would do this kind of engine swap. Most of them here tune Japanese cars i.e. a friend is planning to get a 1JZ supra engine swapped with his in a Mazda RX-7 wankel which already produces 350+ Bhp. I mean I surely want to retain the lifetime and hasslefreeness (oink) of a stock car but that's probably just a dream.
If I would go that way I would probably do it in Germany...

But anyhow, has anybody on here ever done an engine swap? (even if not with an N54)
 
The only person I know is a guy who swapped his M engine with the CSL,but that's most definitely an easier swap.

I forgot about selling your engine, so yeah, should come down by at least 1k.
 
Γεια σου φίλε! Έλα οι Ελληνόφωνοι! :D

You want to swap an N54 in a Z4 Coupe, it's been done by Hartge back in 2006. They swapped the standard engine for a modified N54 with about 380hp.

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/12/05/the-z4-goes-bi-hartge-biturbo-z30/

http://www.royal-auto.info/archives/187

Best of luck if you take this on and keep us updated! :thumbsup:

edit: just noticed you dont own a coupe! Well an si is still an si. :rofl:
 
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