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ESS Claims Headers Will Destroy N52 Engine
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06-01-2018, 11:12 AM | #1 | |
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ESS Claims Headers Will Destroy N52 Engine
Reading up on the ESS supercharger for the N52 engine when I saw this message at the bottom of the page:
Quote:
https://esstuning.com/ess-n52-vt1-su...-system-gen-2/ |
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06-01-2018, 11:18 AM | #2 | |
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06-01-2018, 11:27 AM | #3 | |
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06-01-2018, 11:34 AM | #4 |
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there is a back story to this which is somewhere in the N52 section. One member purchased the ESS supercharger kit when they first came out , this member already had AA headers installed. ESS was unable to tune the car to work correctly with the AA headers. ESS went back and forth with the customer trying to make it work without any luck , then ESS blamed the headers , made the customer removed the headers and everything worked out
However, since then , we have seen other members running AA headers with the ESS supercharger kit , BPC was able to tune the ESS supercharger with AA headers, Bob at BPC mentioned that they found out what the problem was with the tuning and they were able to resolve it. So ess is full of s** on this one as it has been proved that it was a tuning issue on their side Also there is a lot of members running AA headers without any issues , I have been running them for about 2 years and my car hasn't explode yet. There are other members that have been running them for a lot longer than me. There are other member that have been tracking with headers . You could even do a search on the N52 forum to see if anyone had an engine blown because of the headers , I do not recall seeing anyone blowing anything with headers. Only issues that you may see is the erratic idle , which usually goes away after a driving cycle , or ends up being someone forgot to plug something back in when doing the installation . The truth of the matter is ESS is not capable to come out with a proper tuning for their ESS supercharger and AA headers. If you are planning on doing this combo, I would highly recommend talking to BPC ESS do not want to bother spending more time on their tuning , so they just take the easier way out on this one. They probably have other projects on the go to even bother Last edited by rick100; 06-01-2018 at 01:30 PM.. |
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Indyeah141.00 Big Mexican Women99.50 |
06-01-2018, 12:16 PM | #6 |
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if thats what they say...i would just stick with the stock headers.
I dont think its really worth your time to try to get it work and risk blowing up your engine. Headers on a supercharger do not yield as large benefits compared to a turbo charger since the supercharger is crank driven and not driven by exhaust gases like the turbo. you would probably make more power going to a smaller super charger pulley or larger intercooler. but at $4700, it would probably be cheaper for you to trade in your car and just buy a 335i, unless you really really love your 328i. In the used market the difference between a 328i and 335i is around $2-3k from what i seen. |
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06-01-2018, 12:33 PM | #7 | |
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Other guys have full suspension upgrade, and other mods done to their cars So its not easy to just say trade a 328 for a 335. There are a lot of factors to consider. For someone that has a stock 328 and that has not done any maintenance or upgrades to their car , and they know the car will need some major maintenance done sooner or later, or for someone having issues with their 328 , sure the trade is worth it , there isn't much risk involve. Also keep in mind , maintenance on an older 335 can be pretty expensive. If I had a FBO RWD 6 speed 328 that has been reliable , I would consider the ESS supercharger. The car would be a beast , specially around the track |
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06-01-2018, 12:33 PM | #8 |
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Let me clarify. I'm not looking to actually do a forced induction conversion. Was just curious what was out there and found this supercharger and the worrying message at the bottom. I've got AA headers going in soon and wanted to ask you guys about this "O2 feedback" issue they are talking about.
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06-01-2018, 12:42 PM | #9 | |
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Its up to you i guess. When you start adding FI to a NA car...your basically re-engineering the whole car. Things can break or other things needed to be modified to be able to deal with the extra power. I would personally just rather pay the extra $60-100 a month to have a car already engineered from the ground up to have turbo from BMW. I tried added FI to hondas when i was younger...it always ends up being more expensive then you think and other things break or need to be modified that you didn't think needed to be done. It can turn into a head ache of its own vs dealing with maintence items of 335i, that is already known and have improved oem replacement parts for. There comes a point where your just better off moving to a higher plateform then you try do massive modifications. Me personally, i wouldn't go back FBO and tune, anything more then that i would move to a higher plateform. |
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06-01-2018, 12:50 PM | #10 | |
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bad AFR in FI applications = engine go boom. if your not going FI, i wouldn't worry about it. |
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06-01-2018, 12:55 PM | #11 |
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Case and point the N52 is an open deck block. You can do whatever you want to the head and surrounding systems but at the end of the day the block wasn't made for boost. I'm going FBO and then leaving it alone as you suggest. I would sooner LS swap it than boost it
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06-01-2018, 12:57 PM | #12 |
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yes but you are comparing a turbo to a supercharger
supercharger is a lot more reliable , less moving parts, easier installation the guys running the ESS supercharger have been pretty happy. At the beginning there were some tuning issues , but they have been resolve for the most part There have been a lot of progress in the aftermarket scene for the N52 engine. One member with full bolts on is running on par with stock 335 number 0-60 ( 5.2-5.3 sec) . If you want to move to massive numbers I can think of better platforms than a 335 that would cost less and be a lot more reliable. Honestly for tracking a solid 300 whp with a good suspension set up , good brakes , a nice set of tires and somewhat reliable is more than enough to have a lot of fun . There is not need to have a 400 whp , vas majority of people wouldn't be able to control it anyways If we are talking about drag racing , unfortunately there are much better platforms out there, C6 , any V8 muscle car ... Like I said , to me , it all depends on how much money you have already invest or dump on a car to see if a trade in for an unknown condition car is really worth it. Unless I was upgrading to a whole different car or a m235 , even 435i , m3 or 335 IS , is not really worth the trade Now if someone came here and ask which one is better to purchase and he wanted power, no doubt , get a 335 from the start, specially now with such low prices |
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06-01-2018, 01:00 PM | #13 | |
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I really wanted to get a higher mileage brz for $10k and do a ls swap in that. Basically make a 2800lb corvette. I did the math for it, and i didn't like the numbers i saw. |
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06-01-2018, 01:03 PM | #14 | |
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Unfortunately they found tranny is good up to 350 whp ,after that N54 tranny is a better option. Thats why I think 300 whp on the ESS supercharger has been pretty reliable thus far, still have not heard of any blown engines or trannys |
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06-01-2018, 01:05 PM | #15 | |
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06-01-2018, 01:14 PM | #16 | |
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Hell, BPC turbo'd their N52, which is now making over 500whp. Look up BPC project Alice. |
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06-01-2018, 01:27 PM | #17 | |
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but i'm past my mass mod days...i'd rather just have something straight out of the box and add a tune and call it a day. |
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06-01-2018, 01:29 PM | #18 | |
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But end of the day, its your car. you can do whatever you want. |
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06-01-2018, 01:35 PM | #20 | |
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I've had both turbo charged and supercharged cars. There pros and cons to both, it really depends on the manufacturer in how long they want to design there parts to last. theres a cost to value ratio that every manufacturer chooses. In terms of plateform you want to use, thats up to your personal choice. Mine was my personal opinion. |
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06-01-2018, 01:38 PM | #21 | ||
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This especially does not mean that running just headers alone will cause you any issues (provided you have a good tune, of course) Quote:
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06-01-2018, 01:40 PM | #22 | |
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