[WeekendWarriorz]

Originally Posted by pokeybritches

The G-Power aesthetics and appearance of quality are in a different league. It makes as much or more power up through 6k rpm. I'm not sure why more people don't consider their kits. I guess it's because they are conservative when it comes to advertising numbers, and horsepower sells (even though customers actually want torque and just don't know it). FWIW, My G-Power Z4M made 50 ft-lbs more at the wheels than my VT2-500 Z4M through a good portion of the powerband. Now that I've added stepped headers to both and a custom tune has been dialed in on the ESS car only, they are closer, but G-Power still wins on torque. I'd take 50 ft-lbs of torque in the midrange over 50 hp at redline all day any day.

The VT2-525 is max available on the Z4M without going custom, and it takes some know how to move beyond the basic kit. Belt slip becomes an issue and custom tuning is required. ESS quality is good, and I've only had minor issues with boost hoses coming loose. I've had leaks develop in the coolant lines for the G-Power manifold, which led to the manifold running low on coolant. So, ESS has an advantage in that the failure mode is less airflow and a richer mixture vs the air-to-water failure mode of ineffective cooling.

I would strongly suggest you consider the G-Power kit unless you're set on modifying it further. I was running Pilot Super Sports and couldn't put the power down in 2nd gear below 60 deg F. More power wouldn't do anything without addressing the traction issues.

I mean I didn't even consider G power as an option due to them being a Europe based company and the blower is small and doesn't have room to expand on the setup. Also I'm not a big torque fan and want that top end power coming from a FBO e85 135i. I'm aware that the kit name is 525 for ESS and VF570 for VF. But what no one has mentioned is that they offer upgraded pullies/software for those trying to expand their kits, you just need to contact them. I have a buddy here on a ESS 525 kit in a e46 then bought a 79mm pulley for $250 from Ess which is either the 550 or 575 upgrade from them. Same software and put down 554whp. It would make the most sense for me to go with VF since they're down the street from me but reading their reviews of Non existing support has made me look deeper into ESS and people say their customer service is great