JET's 335Xi

[JET]

Well, I am finally going to do the first mods on my 2011 335Xi sedan with the N55 engine. I am not going to be doing anything too crazy. I really like the ride and handling on it already, so just adding some more power. My goal is an 11 sec daily driver that behaves like stock.



Stock power is ~280whp/320wtq on a dynojet
Stock 1/4 is ~13.6@102

The first thing I am doing is adding a JB4 piggyback tuner with flexfuel wires (it can autotune to ethanol content!) This mod has been shown to bump the power to 370whp/435wtq on the same dyno as above when running E40 (fuel pump isn't big enough to run pure E85).



This is a direct injection engine so there is no fuel going over the valves and oil tends to coke up on the intake side of the head some. This is much better in the N55 than the N54, but is still an issue. So I am also getting a specially designed billet oil catch can.



The stock charge pipe (upper intercooler pipe) is plastic and tends to blow apart at higher boost levels so I will be getting one of those pretty soon too. The turbo will be basically maxed out. There is development on 5 different turbo options from 3 companies going on right now. The first hybrid is out and maxed out at 480whp so far. I am waiting to see what happens with the others, the smallest one that is just a compressor wheel is set to do on the dyno any time.

I figured most of you guys aren't in to the 335 scene at all so you might find it interesting. I want to get this thing on the dyno sometime to do a baseline and moded run to see where I am at.

[asshanson]

I like these cars. Do you expect mid 12's out of the current tune, and then high 11s with the turbos upgrade? Do these have an ethanol sensor stock, or is that something you need to add? How well does direct injection work with real e85?

I'm generally unfamiliar with direct injection, is that a mechanical or electric pump?

[JET]

Originally Posted by asshanson

I like these cars. Do you expect mid 12's out of the current tune, and then high 11s with the turbos upgrade? Do these have an ethanol sensor stock, or is that something you need to add? How well does direct injection work with real e85?

I'm generally unfamiliar with direct injection, is that a mechanical or electric pump?

Yeah, hoping for mid to low 12's with just the tune (not bad for $475!) It is a single turbo on the N55 and I think the $2500 option is going to be good for 450whp and will be what I go with. Bigger FMIC is the only other thing I will need along with a low pressure fuel pump.

Direct injection in these is electronic for the feeder pump and 3 stage piston on the high pressure (3000psi). The low pressure pump is the one that runs out first and most people just throw an inline 255 helper pump in there.

I also forgot to mention is has the Valvetronic 3 in it, which has full control of valve lift. The throttle body in the car is only a safety device and is wide open all the time for better fuel efficiency. Intake amounts are controlled by valve lift.

[carltalon]

Sounds like a cool project. Definitly a lot of new stuff to learn. Do the direct injection injectors have any problems with the high fuel pressures like some of the diesels do?

[evotuner]

Wow, didnt know these cars were that modable. Those are some hefty numbers I'm excited to see them and see this thing at the track!

[turbotalon1g]

Excited to see this. Might be a good frum roll machine.

[Goat Blower]

Wow, that is impressive. Another way I've seen to keep the valves and injectors clean on a direct injection engine is to suck a can of cleaner directly into the intake manifold. I did it on my 2.0 turbo 2009 VW Tiguan and it made a huge difference. They're also known for deposits on the valves and injectors from DI. That mod alone was worth about 19 butt dyno whp.

[cmspaz]

Super excited to finally see progress on this thing! It's gonna be a rip, we'll have to see how this minimalist bimmer build stacks up against a minimalist Evo in the spring.

[Shane@DBPerformance]

Can you custom tune the JB4 unit?

[JET]

Originally Posted by Shane@DBPerformance

Can you custom tune the JB4 unit?

Nope, no custom tunes on it but it has 7 different maps and 2 or 3 of them will autotune themselves quite effectively. You can set boost targets of course. I am pretty pumped for it to get a little more boost too!

[mark4g63t]

That's pretty neat. I like it.

[Mark Leasure]

Very cool car, great bang for the buck mods too. I rode in a friends lightly modded 335 and I was very impressed, lots of torque down low in the RPM band.

[goodhart]

Cool. I like seeing other platforms and whats done to them

[C3L1CA]

Looks like a cool project!

Any more pics of it?

[JET]

Thanks for the support guys! Here are a couple more pics, there are a few visual mods I want to do also. Delete the stupid amber fender reflectors and put a small trunk lip on at the minimum. And eventually a CF rear diffuser, but they are $600.

[scheides]

Very cool! Glad to see you finally modding this thing a bit, will be cool to see it out and about on the new setup. Basic mods puts these thing as fast as a pump gas stock-turbo evo on the street, maybe moreso with the flexfuel stuff, didn't know it could do that! Very very cool!

[Speedfreak]

Nice potential, should be a fun car.

BTW, what are the best forum's/sources of info for these cars? My buddy just bought a '11 335d and I think those have potential as well.

[simulatedwood]

Hey Jet,
The car looks great, is this a auto or manual? Interested to see with e85 and stock turbos what it makes.

I just bought a 08 335i auto rwd a month ago. So far I am loving this thing as a dd. Found a open source freeware flash software from bimmer boost using a Bavarian Technic cable. Sucessfully flashed a tune for cobb stage 1 AP to my car for basically free. Have you looked into this at all? I believe using tuner pro you can tune as well. The flash tune is such a difference on these cars it is crazy even on pump gas, but be sure to replace the plugs if they have anywhere near 30k miles on them or the car will experience misfires.

[JET]

E90post is the best forum I have found and they do have a 335d section. Bimmerboost is pretty much garbage, I can't stand that forum (at least the N55 section).

Originally Posted by simulatedwood

Hey Jet,
The car looks great, is this a auto or manual? Interested to see with e85 and stock turbos what it makes.

I just bought a 08 335i auto rwd a month ago. So far I am loving this thing as a dd. Found a open source freeware flash software from bimmer boost using a Bavarian Technic cable. Sucessfully flashed a tune for cobb stage 1 AP to my car for basically free. Have you looked into this at all? I believe using tuner pro you can tune as well. The flash tune is such a difference on these cars it is crazy even on pump gas, but be sure to replace the plugs if they have anywhere near 30k miles on them or the car will experience misfires.

Mine is an N55 instead of N54, so the chassis is the same, but the engine/turbo/ecu is different. You should really look at the OFT flash for yours. Very cheap and gives you control over most of the ECU. Your stock turbos are a little laggier than my single, but they have better top end. New plugs 4k miles ago. Mine is also a 6AT, tranny shows to be solid up to 500wtq once you hit 550 it definitely starts to shorten the life. There are some upgrades available. Have you flashed the tranny with the Alpina software yet? Do you have paddle shifters?

[simulatedwood]

Good to know information, I thought the open source worked for the n55 as well, but I know very little so far on this newer bmw stuff. The transmission has not been flashed, what advantage would that give? The car is a a sport package with the paddle shifters. My plan currently is to change out the oem transmission fluid for redline d4 as the car is nearing 93k miles.