DocRace ST install review and walkthrough on a 2009 N54 335xi
The preparations for and the install itself took me roughly 6 months. I had limited time to work on the install, because of family obligations.
Trying to find a N54 sedan with xdrive, manual transmission and lower millage took a while. I already own a 135i, I’ve modified for the road course. I bought this 335 for the purpose of doing a ST. I bought this car from a E90 post member out of Pennsylvania. I made the mistake of not having a pre purchase inspection done. Because even though the seller answered my questions well and made me feel comfortable. After I got the car and started going over it for appropriate maintenance, I could tell the absolute bare minimum necessary was put into maintenance and service. He didn’t even drive it hard enough to realize it would kick into limp mode, because the vanos solenoids and HPFP sensor needed replaced, along with it being on its original spark plugs and coils. The valve cover had been leaking oil all over the place for who knows how long. The engine bay was caked in oil. on the 1,000 mile drive home the car kept kicking into limp mode, if you’d floor it.
I am by no means an experienced mechanic. Just self taught car hobbyist. So this is part of the reason it took me so long and the difficulties and frustrations I had along the way.
To summarize my review/experience with the Docrace kit. Overall impression is good. Very high quality fabricated manifold, and almost everything you need as for high quality hardware and pieces. The staff at Docrace were responsive, professional and helpful to my questions.
The main negatives, were mostly just due to the lack of space to work and fit things. The biggest frustration was the fitment, placement and position of the wastegates and dump tubes. (Docrace made a good effort to help me with this). As it took me almost 3 days to get the wastegate/dump tube installed. One dump tube I never actually got installed. There is significantly less space for the wastegates and dump tubes on the xi cars because of the front axle.
The next major issue was getting the copper nuts tightened on the custom exhaust manifold to the engine. The bends of the exhaust runners right off the head exhaust ports made it almost impossible to get a torque wrench on let along a small open end wrench. One nut was not even on the entire way. I believe this could have been a little easier had I removed the entire engine from the car.
The next issue was the angle of the mount for the turbo. When I went to install the downpipe off the back of the turbo and link the downpipe to the factory exhaust under the car, I could not get the downpipe to flushly sit againts the back of the turbo, without aggressively forcing the downpipe into the engines valve cover. I made it work, but I’m not happy with the fitment. Instead of the angle of the turbo mount, it could be the downpipe’s angles slightly off, or my own failures of not installing it correctly.
The final issue was the relocation of the coolant expansion tank. This was a nightmare and I actually dented the car’s hood, because the tank sat up so high. Docrace, provides a fabbed bracket to hold the tank. But the lack of space, not the bracket was the problem. The main issue being the bottom sensor and drain tube of the expansion tank would run into the plastic wheel well and other things below. I had studied photos of other people having this installed on their cars. But I couldn't make it work and spent 3 days working on it. I finally gave up and bought a 335d tank off a buddy. The 335d tank fit and sat lower, so i could close the hood, however it gets in the way of the charge pipe. I had a docrace charge pipe installed, so I had to take it out and heat it up and bend it to make it fit with the tank.
I was shocked that after all of this the car actually started after 6 months up on jack stands and ran fine on the test drive. The noise the turbo and exhaust make now is absolutely amazing when the turbo spools up. I decided on a 6062, one size smaller then the popular 6266. Just because I don’t plan on hitting higher power levels and wanted a slightly faster spool, if achievable.
If I were to do this install again, I probably would chose just hybrid turbos over the single. Especially if the hybrids were more reliable.
Ordered the kit.
Extra cost for the ceramic coating.
Got the subframe off with our having to completely disconnect the steering rack. Different from the rear wheel 335’s. All you have to do is unbolt the steering rack from the subframe and you cans wiggle it out of the way and keep it connected to the hub ball joints. Makes it easy to remove the subframe. There weren’t any good YouTube vids out there showing this.
I followed the ECS tuning N54 turbo removal video and the one done by Budget bimmers.
Both excellent videos. Also the Docrace ST install video by budget bimmers is the best out there. Just a few things I did differently with the steps of install to not run into the same problems they had.
This stud socket is an absolute must. I tired the two nut technique on the broken studs and couldn’t make it work.
I decided to move this plastic window washer tube so it wouldn’t melt from the turbo downpipes.
This freeze plug was a pain trying to get hammered in.
Oil and coolant plugs. Obviously install this stuff before the exhaust manifold.
Oil drain fitting for the single turbo.
Custom Docrace coolant pipe installed and turbo oil feed line.
Not sure if wrapping the manifold will cause any problems with the ceramic coating?
The arrow above shows the one stud I was unable to tighten the copper nut on to. Apparently people have modified wrench’s to fit but I wasn’t able to. So the nut on that one is not tight at all.
New extra long studs installed. They come with the kit.
Had to cut this stud down in order to have room to thread the copper nut on it with the manifold in place.
Turbo oil return line installed.
Water pump assembly back installed.
Now onto the charge pipe and expansion tank relocation.
Used the lower stock charge pipe bracket to mount the power steering reservior above the alternator.
I could not get the tank any lower to clear the hood like everyone else. The bottom sensor on the tank kept hitting the plastic fender liner and the drain tube wouldn’t go down any lower.no space for this setup.
This is how the waste gates and dump tubes are supposed to be positioned. Easy with the engine mount off.
There’s just no space in the arch of the engine mount for all this stuff.
Took off this shield to try to increase space.
The heavy duty clamps for the wastegates to manifold are a must but aren’t these clamps Unnecessary for the dump tubes? No pressure there. But these clamps wouldn’t fit in this space. I could not make this work. As you can tell the dump tubes are just hanging there without the clamps on.
Was able to fit everything in this incorrect position.
This is the final setup. Missing a dumptube. I’ll have to figure out something later.
Not easy to get the O2 sensors tightened on.
You have to take apart both housings for the turbo in order to install it and clock it the right direction.
Look at the angle. No wonder the downpipe ran into the valve cover. Just limited space all around.
Oil feed and oil drain fittings installed.
Very limited space to get a wrench on the back of both sides of the housings to tighten the nuts. Took forever, not easy.
Do like above first before install in the car. Other wise you can’t get the O2 sensors on or the heavy duty clamp in the middle. Leave the clamp loose so you can adjust piston.
See how the downpipe runs into the valve cover. Not sure if this will cause a problem later?
The clamps that came from burger motorsports and doc race were slightly small and was a big pain to try and install over the tubes on the intercooler and up pipes. I had to modify one of the t-bolt clamps to make it fit.
Jb4 installed to run with the MHD backend flash. Be careful and make sure to install the JB4 single turbo specific firmware and the correct MHD flash. It took a bit of reading on the internet and it was not straight forward. Will get custom tune later.
One step colder plugs..
Trying to figure out how to keep the wires from melting without having to re run wiring everywhere..
I gave up on the normal 335 expansion tank so now trying the 335d expansion tank.
Again very limited space to fit the tank.
Had to heat up and bend the charge pipe to make room to fit the 335d tank. Probably should have bought the vrsf charge pipe that’s meant for this.
Had to cut some of the engine cover to make it fit. Then covered the plastic engine cover with gold tape to try and protect it from melting.
Amazed the car actually started and ran well on the test drive. However, it smoked quite a bit from the manifold.
Special thanks to Tyler, Eric, George, Luke and Elliot for the help during the install.
The preparations for and the install itself took me roughly 6 months. I had limited time to work on the install, because of family obligations.
Trying to find a N54 sedan with xdrive, manual transmission and lower millage took a while. I already own a 135i, I’ve modified for the road course. I bought this 335 for the purpose of doing a ST. I bought this car from a E90 post member out of Pennsylvania. I made the mistake of not having a pre purchase inspection done. Because even though the seller answered my questions well and made me feel comfortable. After I got the car and started going over it for appropriate maintenance, I could tell the absolute bare minimum necessary was put into maintenance and service. He didn’t even drive it hard enough to realize it would kick into limp mode, because the vanos solenoids and HPFP sensor needed replaced, along with it being on its original spark plugs and coils. The valve cover had been leaking oil all over the place for who knows how long. The engine bay was caked in oil. on the 1,000 mile drive home the car kept kicking into limp mode, if you’d floor it.
I am by no means an experienced mechanic. Just self taught car hobbyist. So this is part of the reason it took me so long and the difficulties and frustrations I had along the way.
To summarize my review/experience with the Docrace kit. Overall impression is good. Very high quality fabricated manifold, and almost everything you need as for high quality hardware and pieces. The staff at Docrace were responsive, professional and helpful to my questions.
The main negatives, were mostly just due to the lack of space to work and fit things. The biggest frustration was the fitment, placement and position of the wastegates and dump tubes. (Docrace made a good effort to help me with this). As it took me almost 3 days to get the wastegate/dump tube installed. One dump tube I never actually got installed. There is significantly less space for the wastegates and dump tubes on the xi cars because of the front axle.
The next major issue was getting the copper nuts tightened on the custom exhaust manifold to the engine. The bends of the exhaust runners right off the head exhaust ports made it almost impossible to get a torque wrench on let along a small open end wrench. One nut was not even on the entire way. I believe this could have been a little easier had I removed the entire engine from the car.
The next issue was the angle of the mount for the turbo. When I went to install the downpipe off the back of the turbo and link the downpipe to the factory exhaust under the car, I could not get the downpipe to flushly sit againts the back of the turbo, without aggressively forcing the downpipe into the engines valve cover. I made it work, but I’m not happy with the fitment. Instead of the angle of the turbo mount, it could be the downpipe’s angles slightly off, or my own failures of not installing it correctly.
The final issue was the relocation of the coolant expansion tank. This was a nightmare and I actually dented the car’s hood, because the tank sat up so high. Docrace, provides a fabbed bracket to hold the tank. But the lack of space, not the bracket was the problem. The main issue being the bottom sensor and drain tube of the expansion tank would run into the plastic wheel well and other things below. I had studied photos of other people having this installed on their cars. But I couldn't make it work and spent 3 days working on it. I finally gave up and bought a 335d tank off a buddy. The 335d tank fit and sat lower, so i could close the hood, however it gets in the way of the charge pipe. I had a docrace charge pipe installed, so I had to take it out and heat it up and bend it to make it fit with the tank.
I was shocked that after all of this the car actually started after 6 months up on jack stands and ran fine on the test drive. The noise the turbo and exhaust make now is absolutely amazing when the turbo spools up. I decided on a 6062, one size smaller then the popular 6266. Just because I don’t plan on hitting higher power levels and wanted a slightly faster spool, if achievable.
If I were to do this install again, I probably would chose just hybrid turbos over the single. Especially if the hybrids were more reliable.
Ordered the kit.
Extra cost for the ceramic coating.
Got the subframe off with our having to completely disconnect the steering rack. Different from the rear wheel 335’s. All you have to do is unbolt the steering rack from the subframe and you cans wiggle it out of the way and keep it connected to the hub ball joints. Makes it easy to remove the subframe. There weren’t any good YouTube vids out there showing this.
I followed the ECS tuning N54 turbo removal video and the one done by Budget bimmers.
Both excellent videos. Also the Docrace ST install video by budget bimmers is the best out there. Just a few things I did differently with the steps of install to not run into the same problems they had.
This stud socket is an absolute must. I tired the two nut technique on the broken studs and couldn’t make it work.
I decided to move this plastic window washer tube so it wouldn’t melt from the turbo downpipes.
This freeze plug was a pain trying to get hammered in.
Oil and coolant plugs. Obviously install this stuff before the exhaust manifold.
Oil drain fitting for the single turbo.
Custom Docrace coolant pipe installed and turbo oil feed line.
Not sure if wrapping the manifold will cause any problems with the ceramic coating?
The arrow above shows the one stud I was unable to tighten the copper nut on to. Apparently people have modified wrench’s to fit but I wasn’t able to. So the nut on that one is not tight at all.
New extra long studs installed. They come with the kit.
Had to cut this stud down in order to have room to thread the copper nut on it with the manifold in place.
Turbo oil return line installed.
Water pump assembly back installed.
Now onto the charge pipe and expansion tank relocation.
Used the lower stock charge pipe bracket to mount the power steering reservior above the alternator.
I could not get the tank any lower to clear the hood like everyone else. The bottom sensor on the tank kept hitting the plastic fender liner and the drain tube wouldn’t go down any lower.no space for this setup.
This is how the waste gates and dump tubes are supposed to be positioned. Easy with the engine mount off.
There’s just no space in the arch of the engine mount for all this stuff.
Took off this shield to try to increase space.
The heavy duty clamps for the wastegates to manifold are a must but aren’t these clamps Unnecessary for the dump tubes? No pressure there. But these clamps wouldn’t fit in this space. I could not make this work. As you can tell the dump tubes are just hanging there without the clamps on.
Was able to fit everything in this incorrect position.
This is the final setup. Missing a dumptube. I’ll have to figure out something later.
Not easy to get the O2 sensors tightened on.
You have to take apart both housings for the turbo in order to install it and clock it the right direction.
Look at the angle. No wonder the downpipe ran into the valve cover. Just limited space all around.
Oil feed and oil drain fittings installed.
Very limited space to get a wrench on the back of both sides of the housings to tighten the nuts. Took forever, not easy.
Do like above first before install in the car. Other wise you can’t get the O2 sensors on or the heavy duty clamp in the middle. Leave the clamp loose so you can adjust piston.
See how the downpipe runs into the valve cover. Not sure if this will cause a problem later?
The clamps that came from burger motorsports and doc race were slightly small and was a big pain to try and install over the tubes on the intercooler and up pipes. I had to modify one of the t-bolt clamps to make it fit.
Jb4 installed to run with the MHD backend flash. Be careful and make sure to install the JB4 single turbo specific firmware and the correct MHD flash. It took a bit of reading on the internet and it was not straight forward. Will get custom tune later.
One step colder plugs..
Trying to figure out how to keep the wires from melting without having to re run wiring everywhere..
I gave up on the normal 335 expansion tank so now trying the 335d expansion tank.
Again very limited space to fit the tank.
Had to heat up and bend the charge pipe to make room to fit the 335d tank. Probably should have bought the vrsf charge pipe that’s meant for this.
Had to cut some of the engine cover to make it fit. Then covered the plastic engine cover with gold tape to try and protect it from melting.
Amazed the car actually started and ran well on the test drive. However, it smoked quite a bit from the manifold.
Special thanks to Tyler, Eric, George, Luke and Elliot for the help during the install.
