Transform your N54-Powered BMW With Maintenance and Upgrades While Staying Home
While we’re all staying home to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, we’ve been presented with two choices. Either become one with your couch as you work from home and transition to the TV immediately after, or venture into your garage and be productive. For me, this has been an excellent opportunity to work on some neglected projects, organize my garage, and catalog all the old parts in my storage room. For those of you with N54-powered BMWs, like the early E9X 335i, it might be a great time to take care of some involved projects that would require a few days of garage time. Since you can’t drive anywhere, or shouldn’t drive anywhere, knocking out some maintenance and upgrades now is perfect timing. Namely, all that extensive work like turbocharger upgrades, water pump replacement, coolant flush, engine flush, and walnut shell blasting. |
|
Most of these maintenance services and upgrades should happen at the same time since you need to drain the oil and coolant in order to perform the turbo replacement. Naturally, if you want to go for more power, it’s probably a good idea to make sure you’re starting with a cleaned and refreshed engine rather than one caked with carbon buildup. So, with all this time on your hands at home, we think you should dig in and address that excruciating job that is the turbocharger replacement and walnut blasting. |
|
Vargas Turbo Technologies GC Series Turbocharger Upgrades
If you own an N54-powered BMW, you are likely looking for a bit more power. With the potential the N54 has to put down some serious figures, they are often chosen for that reason. Unfortunately, they do have a few drawbacks with the original design and some of the original equipment. The wastegates rattle, the turbochargers are restrictive, the induction piping is a pain to work with, and the water pumps fail, causing your car to enter limp mode, or worse.
By replacing your factory turbos with the GC series, you eliminate two major issues instantly. The larger compressor and turbine wheels, better flowing housings, and split manifold design make for higher horsepower support (up to 750hp) and an easier install. Naturally, they include new wastegates. They fit like the factory units but offer significant benefits. |
|
Water Pump
With that turbocharger replacement, which is quite involved, you will need to remove your water pump, induction piping, downpipes, steering rack, subframe, and all the oil/coolant feed lines. As such, this is the perfect time to replace your water pump with an OEM unit. Of course, the VTTO kit includes all the gaskets, hardware, studs, and o-rings you’ll need to replace when you pull everything from the engine, but you’ll want to include a new water pump with this kit unless yours is brand-spankin' new. Better safe than sorry. |
|
Fluids
With the coolant and oil drained, you should also pick up some Pro-Line Engine Flush (which we explored in-depth a few weeks back,) some new Liechtlauf LIQUI MOLY oil, a Hengst filter, and some CeraTec additive to keep your engine happy and healthy once you’ve refilled it. Coolant is a no-brainer, definitely snag Genuine BMW coolant to prevent any corrosion in the water lines. |
|
Downpipes
Additionally, the downpipes need to be removed to pull the turbochargers. If you want serious power, the Turner Motorsport Performance Downpipes are an excellent choice to help the exhaust gasses flow more freely and add some noticeable power. With the subframe and steering rack out, this is the right time to make the upgrade if you haven’t already. |
|
Engine Mounts
The removal of the passenger side engine mount is also required. With the subframe out of the way and the engine supported by a Schwaben Engine Support, you can access the engine mounts and replace them with either OEM or upgraded stiffer mounts for less deflection. We have a full article detailing the importance and difference of drivetrain mounts, which you should read before you decide which route to take. |
|
Turbo Side Intakes
To pair with the added convenience of VTTO GC turbochargers, the split manifolds, and more agreeable silicone induction piping, we think this is a fantastic time to consider the Turner Motorsport Turbo-Side Intakes. Not only are they cleaner, but they eliminate the factory intake piping that routes across the top of the engine and over to the intake side. With everything already out, this is an excellent time to make the upgrade for considerably more power and a much cleaner engine bay. Doing so will also reduce the time needed for your next recommended service. |
|
Walnut Shell Blasting
Ok, this is on the opposite side of the engine, but with those Turbo-Side intakes going in, your total job time will be greatly reduced since all that old intake piping and airbox will not be going back in the car. Walnut shell blasting is important because the direct fuel injection system in the N54 does not allow for the intake valves and ports to benefit from the cleaning properties of the fuel. That being the case, a periodic walnut shell blast to clean the ports and valves from built-up carbon is necessary. With the Bavarian Autosport media blaster kit and nozzle attachment, you can perform this critical service at home for a fraction of the cost a dealership will charge. If you’re already going to be taking the turbo side of the engine, and much more, apart, why not tackle this too? It won’t add much more time and will allow you to enjoy your new turbo setup and other upgrades with the peace of mind that you aren’t losing compression to caked valves and restricting performance with coated ports. |
|
Intercooler
This isn’t necessary, but if you are improving the horsepower and upgrading to bigger turbochargers, you should increase your cooling capacity for the charge air to maximize the benefits of your upgrades. There are several options for improved front mount intercoolers available, and this is the right time to do so with the engine mostly apart. It doesn’t require your engine to be apart, but removing the front bumper will only help with access to the engine for the other services mentioned above. You might as well slap a bigger intercooler in there to allow for a more aggressive tune and higher horsepower support. |
|
Software
Speaking of tunes, with the upgraded intercooler, downpipes, turbo-side intakes, and turbochargers, you’ll want to run more aggressive software to maximize their efficiency and account for the higher volume of air, higher horsepower, and different requirements they need. Turner Motorsport Performance Software is designed to work specifically with our applications, but you can also go the MHD, JB4, or Cobb Accessport routes for greater adjustability and potential. These piggyback systems allow you to account for the upgraded parts and help tie everything together so you achieve the most power in the most reliable way with your upgraded N54.
Yes, with the COVID-19 situation keeping us all indoors, this is the perfect time to make your N54 everything it can be and do it the right way by addressing maintenance concerns to boot. With the VTTO GC turbocharger install, you might as well give your N54 the best chance to live a healthy life and live up to its power potential with a reliable base. Of course, you don’t have to make all these upgrades at once, but with the amount of work you need to do and the time you have to do it, the maintenance and upgrades make it worth it. |
|
| | |
