[lioio335]

Hey everyone! So I just made the switch from an american V8 with limited electronics and plenty of space to work on to a 2010 335i.

I really have no idea where to start with a european car as I've always had the V8's to work on. I'd love to have a DD with atleast 400hp that I can have fun with in autocross.

What mods/steps would be best to get to that point? Also, newb question.. I believe the 2010 335i has the N54 turbos?, N55 didn't come out until 2011?

Any help is appreciated!

[Dmacc]

If you pop the hood and it says "twinpower turbo" on the engine, you have an n55.

Search is your best friend, there are also some good stickies on this forum at the top to read into. They will help you out with your decisions

[135Pats]

2010MY is an N54 motor, yes. The 55 twin scroll was an ‘11MY.

400 to the wheels? Or at the crank? Either number will be easy to hit, the former assuming you have access to some octane.

[lioio335]

Looking for 400 to the wheels. Cali restrics pump gas to 91, but i'm sure there's octane around, how difficult (rather expensive) are we talking for 400 on 91 pump?

Lot's of threads and searches, I was just kind of looking for an idea of the type of mod combinations it would take to do this. Start getting cost ideas in my head :]

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by lioio335

Looking for 400 to the wheels. Cali restrics pump gas to 91, but i'm sure there's octane around, how difficult (rather expensive) are we talking for 400 on 91 pump?

Lot's of threads and searches, I was just kind of looking for an idea of the type of mod combinations it would take to do this. Start getting cost ideas in my head :]

Tune, intake, downpipes, fmic, exhaust (optional). 30% e85.

[lioio335]

That's all?, that's a 100HP gain without much work it seems pretty impressive

[135Pats]

Originally Posted by lioio335

That's all?, that's a 100HP gain without much work it seems pretty impressive

It’s very easy and relatively cheap to get 400 wheel out of this platform, the motor and turbos will make it all day long. What’s expensive is keeping it on the road when all the peripheral shenanigans break.

On straight 91 that’s not happening, at least not on a safe tune. You need some octane, as suggested try to find an E85 station near you. It won’t take much, a few gallons to give you some headroom and you can get the numbers you want.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by lioio335

That's all?, that's a 100HP gain without much work it seems pretty impressive

I mean yea but that is every single bolt on modification too.

Tunes range from ~$175 to $895 (most popular being COBB, JB4, OpenFlash Tablet, Procede).
FMIC Range from $400-$1100
Downpipes range from $320-700+
Exhaust range from $750+

You would also likely want to upgrade your charge pipe. It's not a power adder necessarily but the stock DV tend to leak and the plastic charge pipe is prone to cracking under high boost.

You will also need to make sure your spark plugs are new.

Your injectors and fuel pump will need to be up to par also, especially for E85 usage.

You won't know your Low Pressure fuel pump is weak enough until you try and do datalogs.

[force_feed]

Originally Posted by lioio335

That's all?, that's a 100HP gain without much work it seems pretty impressive

Yea, but its not necessarily cheap.

[SINGH_]

My last car was a Chevelle with a LSx swap... my brother had a LS1 SS which was heavily modded/procharged, now has a LS3 C6, and my parents both have Chevys (NBS Silverado, 2013 Malibu). You could say I'm still a domestic guy.

These cars are fairly cheap to mod, but seem to top out quick when dealing with BIG power (700+). Especially when compared to GM LSx/Truck Motors such as the iron block LQ4 I was running. $1,300 into the car and I ran a 12.3 with a 2.0 60ft (bad) on street tires, with a LPFP upgrade I can add some E85 into the mix. Great platform so far, the initial HP gains you will make with light bolt-ons/tune are amazing. There are still a few issues such as fueling but I'm sure they will be solved with time/development. [Updated] Put 30k more of hard driving, Tunes (Alpina TCU, Wedge, Procede Custom)/PWM Meth/Bolt-Ons, Zero issues!

[lioio335]

E92, I had an '00 Trans Am with full bolt ons, ls6 intake, and 3.73 gears was running low 12's.

When you say fairly cheap, i'm not sure, exhausts for these cars seem extremely high priced? I looked at a tune (jb4) for about 500, yield great results, with the supporting bolt ons added seems like it would be pretty quick

[Myrder]

See sig, lots of former lsx peeps here lol.

My car is a good deal faster than my LS1 which is nice. Catbacks are extremely high priced, but you don't need one as they don't offer much power and are mainly sound.

Downpipes can be had for $320-350 from good places and offer good fitment.

[deadmn1337]

Originally Posted by lioio335

E92, I had an '00 Trans Am with full bolt ons, ls6 intake, and 3.73 gears was running low 12's.

When you say fairly cheap, i'm not sure, exhausts for these cars seem extremely high priced? I looked at a tune (jb4) for about 500, yield great results, with the supporting bolt ons added seems like it would be pretty quick

If you need help with any installs to save money, let me know. I am in your area.

[stanlalee]

Originally Posted by lioio335

E92, I had an '00 Trans Am with full bolt ons, ls6 intake, and 3.73 gears was running low 12's.

When you say fairly cheap, i'm not sure, exhausts for these cars seem extremely high priced? I looked at a tune (jb4) for about 500, yield great results, with the supporting bolt ons added seems like it would be pretty quick

Don't concern yourself with an exhaust. Not necessary at all. This platform is as cheap as it gets to 400whp as far as parts required which is how I landed on this platform (although I don't have the 400whp yet). Hell just a common tune and intakes will get you 350whp.

[thyshallsmite]

exhaust is perhaps the most expensive and least horsepower (if any) gain so don't bother if ya not looking for more noise.

[Miller335]

I wouldn't say a an LSx in a modern chassis is easy to work on space wise.
Very tight in there also.

[boost junkie]

400whp is cheap with this car

[lioio335]

I want to avoid that "ricer" sound you hear some cars with. But coming from a deep rumble, I'd like to hear a little something atleast.

It sounds like I will grab the tune (gotta decide which one), new plugs, down pipe, charge pipe, and some other minor bolt ons.

As it was stated before, if I do all of that, will I need to run E85 all the time? Or depends on the tune? There is only one station out here in LA

I'm looking to keep the car daily driver friendly, yet rather quick.

As for the ls1 I had, once you take the A/C out completely and some other things, space opens up quite a bit ;]

[stanlalee]

you need the intercooler. If you want sound muffler delete is next to free and if you're use to muscle car loud you won't find it loud at all. Impossible for a Inline 6 to sound ricy lol.

Most (perceived) common path to 400whp:

BMS JB4 $480
BMS DCI $ 95
VRSF DPs $320
VRSF 7" intercooler $450
Race fuel or ethanol mix equivalent. Not sure what ethanol cost in California but its $0.60 cents cheaper/gallon than premium here.

So your looking at $1345 in parts. If your satisfied with 380whp you don't need the ethanol or race gas.

[lioio335]

Thanks for that little list, I will most likely look into other small things here and there as well as suspension upgrades. Since I'm trying to avoid ethanol (due to inconvenience) what would be the next step to going over 400?

Intake?, anything with the turbos? what other bolt ons are there/how much other tuning is there on these cars, full engine overhauls?

[timmyc]

Downpipes with stock exhaust (all the noise you need):

I wouldn't suggest getting the intakes. I have the DCI, VRSF downpipes, VRSF 7" FMIC, JB4 G5 on stock exhaust. I'm considering taking the DCI off and going back to the stock intakes. The intakes sound ricey as hell (especially if you're coming from American muscle) and the "turbo spool" people think they hear is really just inconsistent sucking as the bypass valve/turbos figure out what to do.

400whp / 430 lb-ft with those mods (but 5" IC vs 7"), 92 octane
Vishnu tune, so JB4 MIGHT give you more power
http://www.extremeturbosystems.com/E...p-Dyno-Sheets/

After installing the 7" FMIC, I noticed a significant increase in turbo lag, possibly throttle response. I've forgotten since the throttle response on these cars isn't very good anyway. Amount of power added was worth it though.

[lioio335]

awesome thanks,
Apart from the DCI, are there other options out there for intake, what about the manifold portion itself?

When you got your jb4, did you then take it somewhere to be tuned?

Last, what type of MPG drops are you guys seeing after the tune and 400whp range? How about stock parts not holding up to the power?