I hope this is the right section? please move it if its wrong, new guy here, total noob
Name is Chris, all the way from sunny South Africa, I drive a E82 135i N54, had a few guys ask about my build thread so here it is.
I am an Opel (GM Buick kinda) specialist by trade, I run and own a shop that is dedicated to reparing and modifying OPC models (performance Opel cars) I had a friend with a N54 135i that had his car at a few tuners who couldnt seem to get the car to where he wanted it, he asked me to get involved, long story short, we got 603whp out of the car with a single turbo kit I built for him, I was addicted to the car, the power was awesome, it wasnt often I got to drive anything like that, being our regular clients are all FWD 2.0L turbo cars that we rarely push past 400hp. The N54 cars that I work on now are starting to integrate into our main business as I really enjoy this new platform and developing it further seems like the natural way forward.
I was addicted and decided to get one for myself, here she is, around the time I got her, first mods were Breyton Race GTP wheels in matt black and a custom made set of H&R coils
Soon I done the usual carbon goodies, LCI tail light, 1M replica bumper, heres a pic with the first single turbo I built and my car at the races and some randoms. Dont hate too much on the manifold design, its RHD, space is so limited
Eventually I went single turbo, once the novelty of the hybrid turbos wore off, yes I had Hybrids on too, we never got a chance to try them on the maroon one, they suck, single turbo is life!
The car also ran a 200hp shot of nitrous when it was still twin turbo, it goes without saying that this was a lot of fun, when it worked, often the throttle would close depending on how soon I engaged it, or there would be massive wheelspin, but props to the N54 motor, it never missed a beat, in fact to date I have not opened her up after 12 months of nitrous usage on a an almost daily basis. Epic engine. I took the gas out while we were doing the single turbo build, I've recently reinstalled it with a smaller shot (75hp), reason being the GTX is spitting out just about 700hp but I have a tendency to short shift into 2nd or 3rd and drop out of boost, so a dab on the gas gets me going again and back into boost. We have also installed a port injection kit, I'm helping the manufacturer develop it, so I am kinda like a guinea pig, as is just about everything with this car.
Here is a look into the cockpit, some things to show off
- The botton on the hand brake is a line locker for burnouts, works like a charm
- The DCT paddle on right of the steering wheel is for the nitrous
- The grey coil wire, that the power cord for the DCT paddle (i couldnt trace it through the steering wheel ribbon, so I done this instead)
- Gauges on the center glove/sun glasses box, those are AEM tru boost controller and AEM A/F ration gauges, my safety net.
Here's my shopping list of the car as it currently stands
GTX3582R (1.1 bar low boost, 2.1 bar high boost)
Turbosmart 45mm waste gate
Turbosmart bov
HKS dual bar/fin intercooler
Cool Boost port methanol injection kit (1.4 bar)
Cool Boost cp methanol injection kit (0.6 bar)
AEM Tru boost controller/gauge
AEM A/F ratio gauge
Custom manifold
Custom built 3" turbo back exhaust with Mpower back box
Custom charge pipes
75hp NOS kit
B&M launch control and line locker
Custom clutch (330D hybrid)
Custom tune
Custom in-tank cage with Walbro 450
Custom diff mod
So far I have been happy with the car, I have only had to replace the injectors, battery and water pump so far and I fixed the usual oil leaks too, other than that I can happily say its never left me on the side of the road.
Best figures so far are +/- 645whp with out the PI or NOS (she was wheel spinning on the rollers due to only one strap holding her down that we couldn't even strap too tight as the wheels rub the arches badly). I'm hoping to run the car again soon with all the systems active and hopefully hit the +700hp mark, being at 1400m above sea level doesn't help for tuning as we have to crank the turbos to make any decent HP.
I haven't managed to run the quarter yet with this setup, I did however do 12.7 400m with stock turbos, intakes, downpipes and JB4 map 2, next weekend we are headed to the coastal raceway to try and see if we can get 11.5 out of her with the current setup, thats the current N54 record in our country at a sanctioned event.
Hope you enjoyed reading, I hope i didn't forget anything
Name is Chris, all the way from sunny South Africa, I drive a E82 135i N54, had a few guys ask about my build thread so here it is.
I am an Opel (GM Buick kinda) specialist by trade, I run and own a shop that is dedicated to reparing and modifying OPC models (performance Opel cars) I had a friend with a N54 135i that had his car at a few tuners who couldnt seem to get the car to where he wanted it, he asked me to get involved, long story short, we got 603whp out of the car with a single turbo kit I built for him, I was addicted to the car, the power was awesome, it wasnt often I got to drive anything like that, being our regular clients are all FWD 2.0L turbo cars that we rarely push past 400hp. The N54 cars that I work on now are starting to integrate into our main business as I really enjoy this new platform and developing it further seems like the natural way forward.
I was addicted and decided to get one for myself, here she is, around the time I got her, first mods were Breyton Race GTP wheels in matt black and a custom made set of H&R coils
Soon I done the usual carbon goodies, LCI tail light, 1M replica bumper, heres a pic with the first single turbo I built and my car at the races and some randoms. Dont hate too much on the manifold design, its RHD, space is so limited
Eventually I went single turbo, once the novelty of the hybrid turbos wore off, yes I had Hybrids on too, we never got a chance to try them on the maroon one, they suck, single turbo is life!
The car also ran a 200hp shot of nitrous when it was still twin turbo, it goes without saying that this was a lot of fun, when it worked, often the throttle would close depending on how soon I engaged it, or there would be massive wheelspin, but props to the N54 motor, it never missed a beat, in fact to date I have not opened her up after 12 months of nitrous usage on a an almost daily basis. Epic engine. I took the gas out while we were doing the single turbo build, I've recently reinstalled it with a smaller shot (75hp), reason being the GTX is spitting out just about 700hp but I have a tendency to short shift into 2nd or 3rd and drop out of boost, so a dab on the gas gets me going again and back into boost. We have also installed a port injection kit, I'm helping the manufacturer develop it, so I am kinda like a guinea pig, as is just about everything with this car.
Here is a look into the cockpit, some things to show off
- The botton on the hand brake is a line locker for burnouts, works like a charm
- The DCT paddle on right of the steering wheel is for the nitrous
- The grey coil wire, that the power cord for the DCT paddle (i couldnt trace it through the steering wheel ribbon, so I done this instead)
- Gauges on the center glove/sun glasses box, those are AEM tru boost controller and AEM A/F ration gauges, my safety net.
Here's my shopping list of the car as it currently stands
GTX3582R (1.1 bar low boost, 2.1 bar high boost)
Turbosmart 45mm waste gate
Turbosmart bov
HKS dual bar/fin intercooler
Cool Boost port methanol injection kit (1.4 bar)
Cool Boost cp methanol injection kit (0.6 bar)
AEM Tru boost controller/gauge
AEM A/F ratio gauge
Custom manifold
Custom built 3" turbo back exhaust with Mpower back box
Custom charge pipes
75hp NOS kit
B&M launch control and line locker
Custom clutch (330D hybrid)
Custom tune
Custom in-tank cage with Walbro 450
Custom diff mod
So far I have been happy with the car, I have only had to replace the injectors, battery and water pump so far and I fixed the usual oil leaks too, other than that I can happily say its never left me on the side of the road.
Best figures so far are +/- 645whp with out the PI or NOS (she was wheel spinning on the rollers due to only one strap holding her down that we couldn't even strap too tight as the wheels rub the arches badly). I'm hoping to run the car again soon with all the systems active and hopefully hit the +700hp mark, being at 1400m above sea level doesn't help for tuning as we have to crank the turbos to make any decent HP.
I haven't managed to run the quarter yet with this setup, I did however do 12.7 400m with stock turbos, intakes, downpipes and JB4 map 2, next weekend we are headed to the coastal raceway to try and see if we can get 11.5 out of her with the current setup, thats the current N54 record in our country at a sanctioned event.
Hope you enjoyed reading, I hope i didn't forget anything
