Ninjaspartan

Hey Chad, I remeber seeing a Borla catback exhaust for about 3k, can't remember where though. I'm not sure if anyone makes units in NZ for the n54. However a straight pipe from the down pipes was going to cost about 1k for a shop to fab it up for me (I was going to provide own muffler and high flow cat). Ended up just leaving it with cateless downpipes and stock exhaust. Just be careful as they can get really droney and raspy.

Hi, https://www.speedfactor.co.nz/bmw-motorsport-performance-parts/bmw-engine-components/ These guys in Tauranga sell performance parts if you are wanting someone in NZ. I needed rods for my n54 but they would only sell rod with pistons as a set. I think they only had 1 pair which I guess is fair... Ended up just getting bearings/rods/pistons etc from Ebay. https://fcp-engineering.com/en/132-bmw has pretty well priced rods (compared to carrillo). Not sure if anything for M54 but I believe S52 rods work?? not 100% sure though. If you are wanting to make a solid engine there are a couple guides. I can't remember the exact configuration, but I looked into it when I used my 330i. (ended up just getting an 335i n54) I think it was you want the Iron block forn an old m50b28 and the head from m54b30 or something like that.

Hi, Are you just wanting catless downpipes or a full exhaust system? Most exhaust shops would be able to fab something up for you. Catless downpipes and stock exhaust do flow quite well.

Interresting to see how high the pressure drop is on some of those intercoolers. Wonder how much these Aliexpress intercoolers drop charge pressure by? 🤔

I purchased a 5inch intercooler fom Aliexpress. Quality was pretty good. I did need to remove some of the pastic behind the front bumper to fit it. However if you see upgraded turbos in your future the 5 inch alliexpress intercooler is too small.

I didn't realise the S58 was 9.3:1. I lowered the compression on my n54 to try run higher boost pressure on pump gas. Interesting BM has lowered it by quite a bit compreed to the B58.

Hi John Its just tunned for Gull 98. So e10 technically. I have looked at the idea of mixing fuels to get e30 as there looks to be a significant gains to be made. But in my case I'm planning to go water/meth as it would be easier than mixing fuels.

Yup. Factory dme with custom tune. Using MHD to flash the tune.

Hey John, I am running 21 psi with 17t turbos making 460whp and 690nm at the engine. This is on an a built bottom end n54 with 9.5:1 compression. Unsure of timing.

Try using a bit of oil on the oring to help it slide in.

Lots of upgrades out there to choose from for N54, all depends on what your goals are with the car. 17t turbos from Ebay/Amazon/Aliexpress seem to be okay. I have them installed and comming up 15k kms with out any issues. I had them balanced by a turbo shop before installing. @smiddy did a compressor upgrade for them which would be a fairly cost effective upgrade as you use your exisiting exhaust manifold. Not sure how he has gotten on with them.

Not sure there is much you can do, just keep the engine cover on and make sure the foam/padding under the engine cover is good id say. .

VRSF shipping has been fairly reasonbile in my opinion. They are a place in USA that does perfomance parts for n54. I've got a few things from them and its been pretty good so far. (Charge pipe and inlets) Its highly recommend to replace your charge pipe and diverter valves to a BOV or forged diverter values as you are running higher boost. These pipes are plastic and can crack/split due to the higher boost. Also if the spark plugs and ignition coils are old they can cause misfires, so I'd recomend doing them as well, Eldor or Delphi coil are good. OEM Bosch plugs are fine with MHD OTS maps but if you want to go the custom tune route then get NGK 1 step cooler plugs. Most stuff in NZ/Trademe is just china stuff from Aliexpress or Ebay anyway. I did get aliexpress downpipes but fitment was an issue. The 5inch intercooler had good fitment from Aliexpress. (Some intercoolers require you to cut some of the plastic out the bumber for it to fit) I had to do this with mine. If you have big power in mind then get the largest intercooler you can find within budget. I am needing to get a larger intercooler as this is starting to be too small now.

Not that I remember. However I put some bellows in.

When getting any turbo kit make sure it fits RHD.

Thanks for pointing that out. I just used the weight given by VD plus 200pounds for the driver. Looks like VD is a bit higher than what google says 3800 vs 3500. Also I had wrong tire size 255/30/18. Should have been 255/35/18 Used a more recent log and i'd say 475hp is a more reasonible figure ?.

Thats pretty cool! Not sure how accurate they are but I tried VD on one of my logs. I will be going to do a hub dyno this year (hopefully) to see actual figures but 500whp would be nice lol.

Hi Kashish Nice looking the F06 chassis, bit too big for my liking though. I'm not super fimilar with the n55 engine however do know quite a bit about the n54 engine which is similar but do have a few differences. Personally I would use MHD just because of how easy it is to use! I have it with my 335i and its been great. They both give options for custom tunnning which is what you want if going for 500hp. 500hp for the n55 engine is nothing uncommon, just need to have the right supporting mods. There are lots of options for the N55 engine. I don''t think you will get to 500hp on pump gas and stock turbo but you should get close with custom tunning and full bolt on mods Full bolt on mods include large front mount intercooler Alloy Charge pipe Catless downpipe Also i'd recomend High flow air filter 1 step cooler spark plugs It also depends how big your budget is as you can get a larger turbo and get to 500hp with ease. (might need a larger fuel pump with a bigger turbo) Certification is needed when you use any ECU tuning or piggyback regardless! Which I think a lot of people don't realise. So MHD or JB4 will require certification. (I don't think many people acutally do it though)

With Valve cleaner the engine is ment to be up to temp and running when using the cleaner which helps break up the carbon deposits. Logs are great when you know how to read them haha! Only car I have needed to learn how to read them If you can create a datazap.me account and upload logs to that, makes it easier to share with others. 80 TPS is normal I beleive, mine is 81. https://datazap.me/u/ninjaspartan/log-1603093603?log=0&data=3-21

You could also try a chemical valve cleaner as well like CRC valve cleaner.

To make it easier you need to pull the steering rack down. Don't have to disconnet the powersteering hoses etc, just take it off its mounting spot. This will gives you heaps of room to get to the o2 sensors and vband clamps.

A single turbo did cross my mine as well, but ended up 17T turbos and love em so far. The supporting mods are pretty much the same for single or twins, Intercooler, fueling, spark plugs, coils etc.

Looks pretty good, much better than stock! This is what I ended up doing, was a nightmare trying to get it to fit....

Changing down pipes is a bit of a challenge first time doing it. If you don't have something to jack the car up I wouldn't recomend it. It is not super technical but it is a little time consuming. When I've done it I always take the steering rack off the sub frame and it makes the job pretty easy as there is not much space to work with.

Don't let the engine eat a fan belt. ? These engines do require a bit of maintence, and there are a few things that can go wrong and cause some big headaches, but they are very rewarding cars if looked after imo. If you want more power (ECU tunning), MHD tuning is a great cost effective solution and its an app on your phone. As @monkeygod11 mentioned you can get near 400 hp with a few mods which is approaching M3 power..