ESS VT2 525 installed

[Nikitas_Z4mcoupe]

Originally Posted by Beedub

definitely, pokey had a picture of his 100 CELL cats Vs the stock CATs and the CPI difference was HUGE, not to mention the pipe diameter was larger with a race cat that was 1/4 of the size of stock, its got to be a close to going De-cat without going the full hog, but you won't believe how much extra noise they make this the stock cats out.

It surely has to lower EGTs by some way too.

Don't forget to look at your spark plugs if they haven't been done recently.

How is the drone with the 100 once? The car is already loud, up to now in a nice way but after wouldnt be too much?

[Beedub]

its horrific. lol.


but with my roadster it is probably just the right side of bearable, but in reality i love the noise!

[Nikitas_Z4mcoupe]

Originally Posted by Beedub

its horrific. lol.


but with my roadster it is probably just the right side of bearable, but in reality i love the noise!

Pure addiction...... I will look into it!!

[pokeybritches]

Originally Posted by Nikitas_Z4mcoupe

Pure addiction...... I will look into it!!

If you want a set, let me know!

[Beedub]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

their u go op.... may not be many of these left tbh... .

[Nikitas_Z4mcoupe]

Originally Posted by pokeybritches

If you want a set, let me know!

Hey, please PM more details and pictures.... thanks

[Beedub]

thanks OP for sending me that discharge charge FREE of charge!! thats what i call forum spirit!! it replaced a really tired looking pieces in my engine bay and really adds towards the install looking as clean as possible :-) I really appreciate that btw, it seems the new silicone couplers ESS are supplying with these kits are superior to what was supplied with mine :-)

[Nikitas_Z4mcoupe]

Originally Posted by Beedub

thanks OP for sending me that discharge charge FREE of charge!! thats what i call forum spirit!! it replaced a really tired looking pieces in my engine bay and really adds towards the install looking as clean as possible :-) I really appreciate that btw, it seems the new silicone couplers ESS are supplying with these kits are superior to what was supplied with mine :-)

You are welcome!! I am glad that you like it.... enjoy!!!

[Beedub]

hows the car running ?? has your new found power broken anything yet?? lol..... if it hasn't... its coming!!!

[Nikitas_Z4mcoupe]

Originally Posted by Beedub

hows the car running ?? has your new found power broken anything yet?? lol..... if it hasn't... its coming!!!

I try to be gentle with the new born beast...
My plan is to change the half shafts and engine mounts to make it strong enough to withstand the extra power.
Did you face any issues with yours? Any suggestions?

[Beedub]

to be honest not much really, i maintain to a really high standard and after recently having a tight clearance on the inlet side, learned to do my own valve clearances, no where near as bad as the mystique behind the illusive clearances... really simple if a-little time consuming.

those half shafts are a good security and lower service intervals , plug changes, just be ON maintenance items.

Engine mounts are a MUST if you can afford to do it now.

[gmd2003]

Originally Posted by Nikitas_Z4mcoupe

I try to be gentle with the new born beast...
My plan is to change the half shafts and engine mounts to make it strong enough to withstand the extra power.
Did you face any issues with yours? Any suggestions?

No need to mess with the half shafts , but i would suggest the vibratechnic motor mounts. My mounts were toast after 20k with half of that being track miles, you could literally see my shifter move mid corner from drivetrain movement . If I haven't broken a half shaft on track in 40k I don't think you will have problem
Unless of course you plan on launching the car with wrinkle slicks at the dragstrip lol .

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by gmd2003

No need to mess with the half shafts , but i would suggest the vibratechnic motor mounts. My mounts were toast after 20k with half of that being track miles, you could literally see my shifter move mid corner from drivetrain movement . If I haven't broken a half shaft on track in 40k I don't think you will have problem
Unless of course you plan on launching the car with wrinkle slicks at the dragstrip lol .

their has been around 5 z4ms thats are s/c with the half shafts fail. All on street tyres ... all supercharged... just something to consider but not a must do right now job.

[gmd2003]

Originally Posted by Beedub

their has been around 5 z4ms thats are s/c with the half shafts fail. All on street tyres ... all supercharged... just something to consider but not a must do right now job.

Really 5 ? I suppose if you tried a bunch of high rpm clutch drops , it's def not a drag car . I'm certainly driving the car as hard as anyone on track and no problems even on r comps , but I do not drag race it . My two cents
George

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by gmd2003

Really 5 ? I suppose if you tried a bunch of high rpm clutch drops , it's def not a drag car . I'm certainly driving the car as hard as anyone on track and no problems even on r comps , but I do not drag race it . My two cents
George

fair enough agree with this...

[Vanne]

man, what a nice read, the vortex is really nice and sounds like its got plenty of power on tap mate
Nicely done.

[Nikitas_Z4mcoupe]

Originally Posted by Beedub

fair enough agree with this...

Thanks guys for sharing your thoughts....
Engine mounts is definately a must with so much power, I can feel the engine moving a lot when accelerating.
Half shafts will be done on a later stage (I will try to avoid spinning the car....lol) my budged is getting low at the moment and I have to install bigger brakes and oil catch can !!!

[Nikitas_Z4mcoupe]

Originally Posted by Vanne

man, what a nice read, the vortex is really nice and sounds like its got plenty of power on tap mate
Nicely done.

Thanks man!!
Really a nice set up, like swapping to a bigger V8 engine!!
ESS did a great job, very happy!!!!

[Cortes2141]

Hey out of curiosity, why the SS v1 stepped headers and the modification to make them work? Also, I had read somewhere (I'd have to dig it up) that stepped headers weren't as good for S/C....your dyno results clearly disagree...I was looking at CSL euro headers and euro section 1....I wonder how the results would compare.

[Nikitas_Z4mcoupe]

Originally Posted by Cortes2141

Hey out of curiosity, why the SS v1 stepped headers and the modification to make them work? Also, I had read somewhere (I'd have to dig it up) that stepped headers weren't as good for S/C....your dyno results clearly disagree...I was looking at CSL euro headers and euro section 1....I wonder how the results would compare.

I was running with this set up before going SC.
At the time of SC installation I was advised from ESS to change back to OEM Euro header as they have noticed in some cars drivability issues. They assured me though that there is no safety issue!!
So decided as it’s not an easy task to swap back to OEM to give it a try with the stepped ones and incase of any issues then to change over.
Probably I was lucky enough and things went smooth......

[Beedub]

hows it running ??? update needed really.

[pokeybritches]

Originally Posted by Nikitas_Z4mcoupe

I was running with this set up before going SC.
At the time of SC installation I was advised from ESS to change back to OEM Euro header as they have noticed in some cars drivability issues. They assured me though that there is no safety issue!!
So decided as it’s not an easy task to swap back to OEM to give it a try with the stepped ones and incase of any issues then to change over.
Probably I was lucky enough and things went smooth......

The main reason is the O2 sensors are in slightly different locations as compared with OEM, and the alpha-n tune is very sensitive to hardware changes. ESS tends to tune somewhat aggressively. A custom tune would be ideal.

The car will run fine with stepped headers (I have two supercharged Z4M's, both running two different kinds of stepped headers). ESS will tell you otherwise, because ESS and Evolve don't get along, and Evolve sells Supersprint products (which used to be the only stepped headers in town).