[DR-JEKL]

So I've been sitting on the sidelines for years awaiting for a reliable turbo upgrade for the N54. Recently it looked like the hexons were onto a winner, and I was very close to purchasing a set when the whole meltdown saga occured!

Since then I decided to go ahead and do a bodykit upgrade, but talking to a few guys there seems to be a demand for a nicely fabbed up RHD ST kit.

I know a bloke who has a big HP FPV F6 barra with a heap of custom fabricated components, so I spoke to him about who is fabricator is and what workshop he'd recommend. He has used streamline automotive and fabtech global who are located in Newcastle NSW.

https://www.facebook.com/StreamlineAutomotive/

https://www.facebook.com/fabtechglobal/

I had the opportunity to speak to Dion from fabtech today and streamline's tuner and they seem like a bunch of great guys and are very keen to stray from their bread and butter platforms (evo's GTR's etc) and get into the BMW scene.

At this stage the aim is to produce a top mount ST kit with a precision 6266 gen 2 BB turbo (or turbo of your choice) with a custom stainless manifold all piping oil lines coolant lines fittings wastegate coolant tank relocation kit and also possibly the option of having both plumb back and/or screamer pipe (you can have both pipes fit either and swap at your leisure or preference)
They have the facilities to do everything under the one roof so a drive in drive out package by fitting & tuning service with their own a fabrication, mechanical and a tuning/dyno services.

Other options are hi temp coated manifold turbo housing etc
The aim cost is $8-10k AUD for the kit and fitting/tuning at additional cost.
I know of two guy who have put their hands up and are keen to be involved in the initial R&D of this project.

I must admit I'm not the most knowledgeable individual for the ST conversion but I'm merely participating in this by co-ordinating this purely for the development of the N54 tuning scene (there's no financial kickback for me!) and hopefully rid any other guys from losing big $ on dud upgraded twins...

So is there anyone else interested in a RHD ST upgrade for your N54???

Ive attached pic's of Dion's manifold on an evo to give you some idea of what to expect in terms of finish for the turbo manifold etc and also of the work done on the FPV.

[DR-JEKL]

FWIW I spoke to this workshop in the UK and they wouldn't recommend buying the Doc race manifold and converting it to RHD..

They said if they were to do a RHD TM ST, they'd do a custom stainless manifold and attempt to use a turbo with an internal wasstegate (ala BW EFR 8374)

At least this vid gives you some idea that it is possible to produce a decent RHD DP!

[101Duck]

I wish them luck! haha.


As a performance mechanic and dealing with some of the best fabricators in the country anyone that has seen my car, or seen an n54 all say the same thing "fuck that"

I remember the first one I conned my fabrication shop into doing, they said after that one they will not do another one, it literally costs them money by the time it's done haha.

It's obviously doable, I've done 4 now. But seriously, it's a collosal pain in the rectum.

Well that's not fair, it's all rather simple, if you don't need to fit a dump pipe.
but, we do. and realistically it should be a 3.5" pipe but you can't always get what you want.

I look forward to seeing what they come up with though!

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by 101Duck

I wish them luck! haha.


As a performance mechanic and dealing with some of the best fabricators in the country anyone that has seen my car, or seen an n54 all say the same thing "fuck that"

I remember the first one I conned my fabrication shop into doing, they said after that one they will not do another one, it literally costs them money by the time it's done haha.

It's obviously doable, I've done 4 now. But seriously, it's a collosal pain in the rectum.

Well that's not fair, it's all rather simple, if you don't need to fit a dump pipe.
but, we do. and realistically it should be a 3.5" pipe but you can't always get what you want.

I look forward to seeing what they come up with though!

Yeah I can totally understand it being a massive PITA!

What do you think of the walton motorsports dual 2.25' dual setup merge?

The fabricator said if it takes him 100hrs to do the 1st initial kit he wont charge extra, this will be absorbed by him he would prefer to get it all nutted out and build 10 kits over 2 years then one expensive one off ST setup.

[EB89]

I've always wondered, our cars both N54 and N55 have dual mid pipes back into the muffler, what's better? A single larger pipe or two pipes?

It seems weird that the N55 having a single turbo splits into two at the downpipe.

[bradsm87]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

FWIW I spoke to this workshop in the UK and they wouldn't recommend buying the Doc race manifold and converting it to RHD..

They said if they were to do a RHD TM ST, they'd do a custom stainless manifold and attempt to use a turbo with an internal wasstegate (ala BW EFR 8374)

The annoying thing is that the BorgWarner EFR twin scroll internal gate turbine housing is .92 A/R. The 1.03 A/R housing is a much better fit for our 3L motors. I had a .92 on a 2.2L motor and even on that, it was super responsive.

You can mod the turbine housing itself and put a wastegate on it. My brother's done it a handful of times now including on my last car.

On another note, I think it's super important not to take backwards steps when doing "upgrades" on cars. I think anyone is crazy to do a single turbo kit without doing it twin scroll for example. Twin turbos has exhaust pulse separation, as does a single twin scroll turbo. Single scroll does not and you lose response. Same goes for the turbo itself. I wouldn't settle for anything less than a BorgWarner EFR. The titanium aluminide turbine wheel has incredibly low inertia and you really notice it!

[101Duck]

Originally Posted by EB89

I've always wondered, our cars both N54 and N55 have dual mid pipes back into the muffler, what's better? A single larger pipe or two pipes?

It seems weird that the N55 having a single turbo splits into two at the downpipe.

it's for ground clearance.

twin 2.25" pipes is the same volume as 3" pipe, which is good up to 400hp.



The first manifold setup we made took a lot longer to make than mine, mine is a streamlined log process as it was meant to only ever make 450hp and stay pump98 on my manual 135i as a street/drift hack. But things get out of hand lol.

The original full merge manifold with full 3.5" dump pipe split to twin 3" was done on a mates car. Has a borg warner turbo on a 6at. made 600ish on pump with water meth. has the plates ON SONG, is a brisbane car.

I wish bmw didn't tilt the dumb motor so much haha.

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by 101Duck

it's for ground clearance.

twin 2.25" pipes is the same volume as 3" pipe, which is good up to 400hp.



The first manifold setup we made took a lot longer to make than mine, mine is a streamlined log process as it was meant to only ever make 450hp and stay pump98 on my manual 135i as a street/drift hack. But things get out of hand lol.

The original full merge manifold with full 3.5" dump pipe split to twin 3" was done on a mates car. Has a borg warner turbo on a 6at. made 600ish on pump with water meth. has the plates ON SONG, is a brisbane car.

I wish bmw didn't tilt the dumb motor so much haha.

Do you have any pics of your mani's or dumps? (or is it proprietary info?)

[iliketurtl3s]

Getinq knows someone me in Melbourne with a St setup.

[101Duck]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

Do you have any pics of your mani's or dumps? (or is it proprietary info?)

It's not proprietary info lol, it's a bmw not a space shuttle haha.

I don't have any pics though, I'm not much of a photo guy, I tend to just get in and make it work instead lol.


Also; I've noticed you keep asking about internally gated turbos. Mine I put the gate off the rear housing, if you look for a pic of my engine bay you'll see. Internal wastegates are silly