Tyler from DFW, TX - PS/2 135is

tsanford

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Apr 15, 2020
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Hey SS, I'm Tyler and from the DFW Area in Texas. I'm a BMW CCA member and compete in the Lone Star Chapter Autox events and soon to do my first HPDE event.

I owned my E series N55 DCT 135is for almost 2 years now. I'm FBO and my most recent mod was my Pure Stage 2 Install. I have a custom 93 Tune from Wedge pushing somewhere around 450 at the moment. I chose PS/2 because I didn't want the lag of a single turbo that may have effected my autox times.

I spun a bearing on MHD stage 2 last year, and had a low milage engine resealed and installed for me shortly after. Diagnosis was a leaky injector that flooded the engine. The oil stunk of gas.

Since then I've been watching the live data and logs like a hawk. I installed brand new Injectors and Coils less than a month ago. I change the plugs every 4-6 months on average. No issues at the moment and Wedge says my logs are looking great with no corrections post PS/2 Install.


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I joined to read up and get more info on the following topics:
- Fueling Upgrades (To push PS/2 with E85)
-- Tuner recommends PI with Stage 3 LPFP and A1C1 Controller (I've read horror stories of this setup)
-- Looking for DI route HPFP Upgrade and/or LPFP upgrade
-- Whats better HPFP setup? XDI, FX, Dorch?
-- HPFP flow required to push PS/2 with E85?
- Oil management (Don't need to spin another bearing)
-- Upgrading / changing my oil pan with baffles
-- Possible Accusump install
-- Dual oil cooler upgrade / setup (I have hot weather package with single oem oil cooler)
- LSD upgrade (Most cost effective route)
-- Can I take an lsd from 1m and plug and play myself
-- Am I forced to go with an aftermarket company
-- Do I need to have my current setup machined or modified
- Brake Upgrades (I have m-sport brakes, not looking to spend 6k+ on bbk)
-- 2 Piece rotor upgrade, race pads, steel brake lines enough (a single AutoX lap turns my rotors blue!)


NXFP6034.jpeg
 

doublespaces

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Oct 18, 2016
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I moved your thread to the N55 section where you can get more visibility.

-- Tuner recommends PI with Stage 3 LPFP and A1C1 Controller (I've read horror stories of this setup)
-- Looking for DI route HPFP Upgrade and/or LPFP upgrade
-- Whats better HPFP setup? XDI, FX, Dorch?
-- HPFP flow required to push PS/2 with E85?

@SpoolPerformance is a vendor here, feel free to shoot them an email about the FX!

I can't remember which year N55 gets the cam pump but I assume you have that figured out already since you're talking about FX. I thought a few E Chassis N55 vehicles have the same rotary style HPFP as the N54, but thats about as far as my knowledge goes on that subject.

What kind of power are you looking to make?

- Oil management (Don't need to spin another bearing)
-- Upgrading / changing my oil pan with baffles
-- Possible Accusump install
-- Dual oil cooler upgrade / setup (I have hot weather package with single oem oil cooler)

The factory cooling systems on these cars get overwhelmed very easily as you probably know, you're likely to get various stages of limp mode based on these temps, at least on the N54 I know you do and I can't imagine its any different for your car. Are you looking to piece one together yourself or buy something off the shelf? Evolution raceworks makes a competition oil cooling kit if you want something plug and play: http://www.evolutionracewerks.com/node/133

Also we have @MDORPHN who has a nice 1M and does OneLap of America, he may have more information: https://bmw.spoolstreet.com/threads/onelap1m-aka-mdorphn.6126/


Here is a good thread about cooling. It is N54 related but a good chunk probably applies to you:



- LSD upgrade (Most cost effective route)
-- Can I take an lsd from 1m and plug and play myself
-- Am I forced to go with an aftermarket company
-- Do I need to have my current setup machined or modified

Maybe a better question is, what kind of LSD do you want? I believe your options are clutch, helical, plate and maybe more. @MFactory is a vendor here and they offer a couple of those options. The LSD on the E chassis uses more or less the same pumpkin as the other n54/n55 vehicles, with very minor differences from what I recall. If you just need the LSD you could grab it from any of those sources and plop it in, although I believe if you've got a manual you have to deal with the whole welded/bolted ring gear issue. I think bmw even sells a BMW Performance LSD, you could swap an E9X M3 lsd as well which is involved. The main difference between the pumpkins is the pinion size when it comes to international markets, and the big diff vs little diff comparisons. For more information on the LSD subject you can read this thread: https://bmw.spoolstreet.com/threads/mfactory-lsd-group-buy.2774/

For more information about big diff vs little diff: https://bmw.spoolstreet.com/threads/swap-188mm-auto-pumpkin-for-215mm-diff-cover-options.1561/

- Brake Upgrades (I have m-sport brakes, not looking to spend 6k+ on bbk)
-- 2 Piece rotor upgrade, race pads, steel brake lines enough (a single AutoX lap turns my rotors blue!)

If you don't have a 2 piece rotor, there is the F30 M Performance upgrade that I think still applies to your car. The fronts are bolt on, the rears, for your purposes, you need to have the calipers machined by someone like @EOSpeed to accept new mounting brackets. You can then upgrade to the E9X M3 master cylinder to even out the brake pedal feel from the piston size difference. This will get you two piece rotors but the clamping force itself I wouldn't say is a revolutionary step up. I'd say its largely cosmetic plus the 2 piece rotor and perhaps some braking but I haven't done any tests. Oh, changing pads is a easier too.

You can read about that upgrade here: https://bmw.spoolstreet.com/threads/diy-f30-m-performance-brakes-on-e90-e92-e93-guide.2941/

I'm unsure if there are any factory 'style' two piece rotor designs from the aftermarket, if so then you should probably just do that with some nice brake pads, it would be a lot cheaper anyway.

As for the brake lines, I did a guide on the ECS brake lines for a 335i here:

 
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houtan

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Nov 2, 2017
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135i N55 DCT; PS2
Doublespaces pretty much covered everything.

one piece of advice I will share is to listen to your tuner. I’m sure they are aware of the fueling upgrades for your car. If they are recommending port injection over any of the other solutions, there may be a reason why. But I would double check with them.

I am also n55 PS2 but with the older style pump and recently installed PI controlled by AIC. The aic is old, but it works. I am not convinced of the current hpfp add on so I went PI
Still dialing the tune in but car is absolutely flying right now.

my logs are public here: datazap.me/u/houtan.

i forgot to turn off traction control on the last set of logs but there are a few PI logs you can see.
 

Asbjorn

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Mar 10, 2018
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- Oil management (Don't need to spin another bearing)
- Upgrading / changing my oil pan with baffles
- Possible Accusump install
- Dual oil cooler upgrade / setup (I have hot weather package with single oem oil cooler)

You can log oil pressure with MHD on N55. If you do an oil baffle, do us a favor and do some oil pressure logs before and after where you brake hard (ABS activated) from high speed to almost stand still. Those logs would help us once and for all determine if those baffles work. So far all we know is that the problem is not as bad on my baffled N54 compared to my friends non-baffled N55.

Accusump is the only solution to this that we know works. I am still trying the "make the oil sump larger"-route, but that's just because I'm stubborn like that. Another solution is the M2 engine.

Dual oil coolers is highly recommended against. What you need is a large aux radiator and a large oil cooler, one on each side. You will also need a large DCT oil cooler, but the radiator is the main bottleneck imho. So many people do dual oil coolers because they don't know how high their water temps get, or dont realize how tiny the stock radiator is, even for stock power.

There's another guy also called Tyler (tyspeed) who did a racing M2 with N55, dct and pure turbos. He posted some videos where you can watch his oil and water temps on track. They go pretty high despite the car running two M4 aux radiators.

And in general, dont use a street tune on track. You want to run less power and more octane so you have headroom for when the iats climb etc. What you can do is ask wedge for a 91 tune, finish the tune, and then run that tune with 93 on track. Don't waste time or try to save money by thinking you can have a say 93 tune that is ok both on street and track. It will take too much testing to get there, and you will end up with a tune that is neither here or there. You get the idea.
 

00svt

Lurker
Apr 30, 2020
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Tyler! Hey man I'm local, nice car! Come by our shop at Texas Track Works. If you're in the racing scene im sure you've heard of us. I can advise and help you with anything you need! We are actually parting out an n55/dct 135 that got flipped right now.

I'm also building one of likely the highest hp n55 cars around. Doing some custom billet bits, maybe even the crank. Gonna be wild! Shoot me a message or call the shop and ask for Johnathan.

Take care.
 

tsanford

Lurker
Apr 15, 2020
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@doublespaces I appreciate the massive reply of information! Gonna go through everything you posted as see what my options are.

@houtan my tuner said the limitation are the injectors themselves which max out at about 550. He has the n55 ps/2 record of 580, but needed PI. I’m looking for ~500, and we agreed on DI route.

I ordered the Dorch stage 2 HPFP, Precision 2.5 LPFP Kit with Walbro 530, and Spool Ethanol analyzer kit with complete steel braided fuel line replacement from tank to pump.

@Asbjorn That m2 is sick and crazy in the burn pit! I watch my oil pressure frequently after reading the accusump thread and I see mine dip into the low 30s almost daily... I’ll look into upgrading to a CSF radiator, transmission cooler, and big single oil cooler upgrade! Thanks for the info!

@00svt Johnathan, thanks for the offer. I’d love to come check out the shop and hear any knowledge and advice you’d like to share. Ive heard of the shop for sure, but haven’t been before. I’d like to see the build you have going, and see if I can incorporate any of your upgrades into my build. So many shops are not into sharing advice or helping those who like to DIY.

Thanks again for everyone who posted and shared information. It took me a while to get back. I don’t check here too often, but I may have to visit more frequently!

regards,
Tyler
 

Asbjorn

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Mar 10, 2018
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@Asbjorn That m2 is sick and crazy in the burn pit! I watch my oil pressure frequently after reading the accusump thread and I see mine dip into the low 30s almost daily...

You can log the oil pressure with the manual logging option in MHD, and do some easily repeatable tests such as emergency braking from 150km/h to 0. Because we know the N55 cannot handle this with the stock oil sump, and we do not know if a baffle helps. I recently removed the rear wall on my baffle because I never had any problems on accelleration anyway. So now my baffle it is simply acting as a roof, which probably doesnt do much because it isn't tight around the oil pickup.

I’ll look into upgrading to a CSF radiator, transmission cooler, and big single oil cooler upgrade! Thanks for the info!

Oh god please no! Do not get the CSF radiator, it is not worth the money at all. What you need is a larger radiator surface area which is only possible through a larger aux radiator.

Here's a comparison of the tiny csf radiator vs the area added by the two aux radiators I installed below it and on the side.

790658324.jpg

Although I added this much area, I am still slightly below the total radiator area which was made available for engine cooling (not iat cooling) on the M4. It is the best configuration I have had among all the radiators I have tried. Keep in mind though that the power output of my engine is only around the same as an M4.
 
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houtan

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Nov 2, 2017
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@houtan my tuner said the limitation are the injectors themselves which max out at about 550. He has the n55 ps/2 record of 580, but needed PI. I’m looking for ~500, and we agreed on DI route.

I ordered the Dorch stage 2 HPFP, Precision 2.5 LPFP Kit with Walbro 530, and Spool Ethanol analyzer kit with complete steel braided fuel line replacement from tank to pump.
Nice! wedge is the best tuner for n55 so you’re in good hands.

i am not familiar with the newer style hpfp options but it sounds like you should have enough fuel to get there. I was there with the old style hpfp and meth with e30.

also, do you have an m4 flywheel?
 
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