Supercharger - pro's and con's?

[M@r]{]

I'm toying with some ideas about my current 'fleet' and one of those ideas involves fitting a supercharger to the Z. The reasoning? I love the Z, but I miss that blistering performance I had with the Elise. This idea involves me selling the RX7, the trailer and all the other spares. So for me to be satisfied I need to have something special. Also with that sort of power (450ish?) I could potentially use it for th odd drift day satisfying that particular craving too.

Although on the face of it it may seem a bit silly, particularly at this stage in my life (getting married, family planned etc) but I would only be looking at putting half the money from the sale of that lot into the Z, the other half will be paying off wedding expenses etc. Also bringing down the number of cars down by one. I can justify anything

So, as for Superchargers on the S54, are they liveable day to day? Does it affect fuel economy a lot? The car will be my daily, using it to travel to clients so will spend time sat cruising on our glorious motorway network at 75mph. So at cruise are they significantly worse? My car has 70k miles now, is this a concern?

As for getting these fitted? I think they are about £5k to buy (CA Automotive), how much should I allow to get it all in? I've seen some on Ebay for around £4.3k? ESS? Any good?

 

[tomscott]

You might have trouble with the insurance. A lot of people who have decided to go this route and no insurance companies would touch them. But worth a look to see what they say and how much it will cost.

Beware with a higher milage car too.

 

[pvr]

And you will not be able to sell the car as nobody wants to touch it. I think the last member with an ESS (GWatson) had to take it off and sell the car as standard again.

 

[Dev]

I know it's not his 'daily' driver, but doesn't beedub run a Z4MR with an ESS Supercharger?

 

[M@r]{]

Insurance not a problem. Remember I had an Elise that went from having a K Series 120bhp na engine to a Audi 20v Turbo putting out 250bhp! Insurance was not a problem. I've also got an RX7 that has almost doubled its bhp by heavily modified internals, one large turbo, additional injectors etc etc etc. Again no problem.

Benefits of being 38yrs old, no convictions and living in the lowest risk area possible

Removing and putting back to standard if I want to sell is expected so not worried about that

 

[Beedub]

akaik their isnt another z4m running the ess stage 2 + kit in the uk... or even the stage 1 for that matter.... i wish another uk buyer would come on this ride with me so ive got someone to build ideas with, ive gotten pretty friendly with afew american owners now that i actually talk to on skype weekly..... ESS have developed this kit over 10 years on the m3's their track record and knowledge is legendary in the bmw FI world....

Gwatson had a z4 3.0litre kit i think ........Edit.... gwatson had a 3.0l Ts ess kit....

i can gaurantee however if i wanted to strip this thing off i could sell the kit within an hour for solid money..... would i ever do that NO WAY>>>>

ok mark, fuel econ is terrible on boost, the car has the m5 v10 injectors :-( off boost i can match the stock cars mpg figures....

costs are very decieving i found..... by the time youve purchased your kit and installed it ect ect you looking to add a quite abit to the bill.... i think in installs alone ive spent 4k easily..... In stage 2+ form the pretty much the whole front end of the car was removed, it was a solid week of work.....

selling on??? i very nearly sold this car after recieving an offer i was stupid to refuse really.... i would never split it from the car and i understand it will take longer to sell but it WILL sell for sure.....

the vt1 kit will net you 440 hp, the stage 2 500hp then stage 2 + kits (methanol/water injection) around 540ish bhp.... this car with 540hp feels ludicrous... meth can be turned off with puts you back to around 500-510bhp.... 500 feels just as silly but more deal-able with.....

i service the car yearly.... But if im honest its the best money ive spent, the car is an absolute blast..... its turned a car i love into a car thats a true one off.... put that into a car that ive had from 2007 and spent all its life with me, its like new and still only 11k miles from its weekend use.... i wont sell it, sometimes i do get the urge but i wont....

interms of driving you wouldnt no its their if you just pootle around, it drives exactly the same as your car does, just faster, part throttle, on throttle, off throttle everything is stock like delivery.... i can spin the tyres in 1-3rd pretty easily.... if its warm i can hook at the top of 2nd.... the car sounds like induction raw with massive whooooooshhhhhhh.. lots of blow offs, pops and whistles from under the bonnet, lots of fire from the exhausts, lol its a real event.... i travel to my sprint track in convoy with afew of the members, the one member has a v8 r8 which is can dispense with very very easily..... its turned the z4m from sports car performance into a new league of performance. its been a costly road however. Would you like to come and see the car and ill spent a few hours with you and run you through the complete build..... its something i researched heavily for about a year then have carried on over of the past years.....

ess customer service has been faultless....

and simpson have made it a pleasure to be apart of.... put simply.... if i could have all my money back would i??? NOT on your nelly..... the best money ive spent in a long time.... do your figures and work it out properly, ive had some shocks along the way that i did not factor in in the initial build price.... ive also upgraded lots of engine components now, catch cans, meth, kevlar hosing, ss murray clamps, billet s/c wheels ect ect.......plus alot more.

also add in costs for better brakes ect ect and supporting mods to the car in general....

 

[ga41]

The only one on here with a supercharged Z4M is Beedub. There are plenty of North American Z4M's with blowers though and from what i read daily drive-ability is unchanged! Might have trouble selling on as pvr said but if you won't be in a big rush i'm sure you will find the right buyer who will take it as is.

Personally i think that our M's are strong enough as it is. It's the weight that's killing them, if i could have a sort of Z4M Superleggera with an M3 CSL engine and about 150kg less it would be the perfect sports car for me. I *could* convert mine to something like that but i would lose too many creature comforts to get there and it's a car that ideally i'd like to keep for a great number of years. Even though it's a bit tatty...

 

[Beedub]

mark feel free to drop me a pm, ill send you my number so we can talk on the phone if your serious. ive gone through 3 difference variants of the ess kits now and have been actively involved in the installs to part selection, i can really help you keep costs as low as possible....

 

[SUUNTOBOB]

This car sounds awsome - have you any pics?

 

[Beedub]

This car sounds awsome - have you any pics?

yeah lots..... let me dig some out..... i cant edit the pics so some will be irrevelant to this subject as im at work and the server doesnt let me use photo-bucket..... i cant see what im posting as im copying it from an earlier thread..... when i get home ill post the others.... The car has just turned 11k miles.... its strictly a weekend toy, it is as new..... but i promise it gets lots of proper use cars produces around 540ish hp with meth on (via sport button) car makes 507hp without meth. my aim was to build a "sprint car", lots more bits coming for this car, i honestly think i could sell this car pretty easily to be honest, admittedly not much bmw left now..... ive owned it for 5 years now..... still makes me smile like the day i collected her from bmw.... well maybe alittle more now

wheel clearance is alittle tight for my liking but ok... will need to keep an eye on this....

 

[Beedub]

once i get home ill remove the irrelevant pics and post up engine shots.... all i can see now is red X's so i cant see how many are "s/c" related. sorry.

 

[Beedub]

also mark one more thing..... i run this car on optimax with shell 110 race gas mix.... i have a 100 ltre drum in my shed..... the car will have severly hampered performance on 95 octane... the car runs "apla N management" which is mafless, the same setup used for the CSL m3.

 

[M@r]{]

Thanks for all the info, you're a star And it sounds awesome!! As a rough idea how much would someone have to 'put aside' to have a stage 1 supplied and fitted with all recommended supporting mods?

 

[RankBajin]

I was seriously considering a carbon fibre airbox and alpha N tune but when i found that the cost was nigh on £4k I decided that bhp/£ it was just too expensive so have decided to save my pennies and put it toward supercharging my Z4MC at the start of next year (funnily enough Roy at CA was very encouraging! :evil: ). I'm thinking of just the basic set up so 'only' 440 bhp or so. Then again for the expense involved I could p/x the Z4 and get something far more powerful to begin with.... however I'd love to hear the experiences of more UK owners with supercharged cars.

 

[Beedub]

{"]Thanks for all the info, you're a star And it sounds awesome!! As a rough idea how much would someone have to 'put aside' to have a stage 1 supplied and fitted with all recommended supporting mods?

I think to install and buy a stage 1 should be do-able for 5.5-6k, at this ill be able to help you turn this into a stage 1 + kit with meth, this will net you 470 bhp easily.... Basic stage 1 is 440 hp but comes with all the foundations for future upgrade packs....

The s54 is forged and very very strong, its germanys 2jz.

I did mine in a group buy.... Im pretty sure i may be able to get you a discount



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[pilchardthecat]

I'm with ga41 on this - the z4m doesn't need more power, it needs less weight.

I'd much rather have 150kg less than 150 bhp more

 

[gwatson]

And you will not be able to sell the car as nobody wants to touch it. I think the last member with an ESS (GWatson) had to take it off and sell the car as standard again.

Yeap that's right.. although I did take a desposit on the car when it was supercharged, but the guy couldn't sell his car. My supercharger ended up in Canada.

(p.s floating on this forum again as looking for a Z4MR shortly)

 

[ga41]

And you will not be able to sell the car as nobody wants to touch it. I think the last member with an ESS (GWatson) had to take it off and sell the car as standard again.

Yeap that's right.. although I did take a desposit on the car when it was supercharged, but the guy couldn't sell his car. My supercharger ended up in Canada.

(p.s floating on this forum again as looking for a Z4MR shortly)

Will you be supercharging that as well??

 

[Beedub]

I'm with ga41 on this - the z4m doesn't need more power, it needs less weight.

I'd much rather have 150kg less than 150 bhp more

Im thinking 540hp with weightloss. Perfect.... The car probably is at its best a 400 hp however.... Its just doesnt need 500 plus hp.... But i wanted it sooo.....


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[gwatson]

Haha, probably not no. At the time the difference in price between a 3.0 and new Z4M was massive so it was a no brainer. Since the supercharged Z4 I built a track prepared M3, I've learnt there is a lot more to straight line speed and bhp boasting figures. Even though £\bhp it makes no sense, I'd have a genuine CSL airbox installed. The noise, the throttle response would be to die for. Lets be honest, the Z4M isn't slow as standard.

If you want to improve performance, I'd go for a 4.1 diff ratio, played around with a few ratios in the track car and it made a huge difference to performance, made the car a lot more responsive and eager to drive. I will definitely make this change with the Z4M.