E9X N55 Built Motor

[9krpmrx8]

I would contact these guys and talk to them about your goals and your budget.

European Mechanics - BMW, Mercedes, Audi, & Porsche

ABR Houston is the leading European repair shop for BMW, MINI, VW, AUDI and ROLLS-ROYCE. See why we have a 4.8 rating on Google with over 390 reviews.

www.abrhouston.com

 

[scrllock]

FWIW, the M2/m235 N55 has a different oil pan/pickup as well. Not a power limit of course but could make a difference in terms of on-track oil starvation. Could also ask @GhassanAutomotive.

 

[switlikbob]

Thanks guys for the info. I'm going to build the motor with parts that I source and use Coyne Performance for machining and assembly. I'm really looking for advice from people who have already done the testing, building, trial & error. Calling another engine builder who I don't plan on paying probably won't be to my benefit. I am curious of the limits and actual breaking point of the stock f87 n55. So far, I haven't found anyone who has useful advice. I wish I spoke German...

 

[luchocamp]

great thread ... any update

 

[houtan]

Bump for updates

 

[ap485]

Any updates? Link to all work and parts used on just the engine build? I'm curious about pistons / rods, new compression ratio, different head gasket / cut ring, valvetrain mods, etc...

I'm probably going to do some kind of build with N55 from my M2, but I am wondering what the differences are between my engine and a standard N55. Rumor was there are s55 internals, but I have yet to see any confirmation. I'm hoping to do a docrace turbo kit. I just don't know if I should build motor first, or let it pop on its own.

As far as I remember it include Closed Deck Conversion, Stock Compression, JE Pistons, Pauter Connecting Rods, King Bearings, Maximum PSI Crank Hub, Stg 3 Cylinder Heads, ABR proprietary valve train.

ABR has plenty of information in the engine builds in their website. See the following links.

https://www.abrhouston.com/performance-engines

https://www.abrhouston.com/build-your-own-n55

If I was you, I’ll build the engine first. It’s still better to pull an engine from a car than to buy one anywhere else. The simple reason is cost. Every part that’s included with a complete engine is a part you don’t have to buy. That being said, you already have the best N55 engine and those are hard to find. The only main differences from a regular N55 is that shares the S55 secondary oil suction pump and oil pan which helps with the oil starvation, and a forged instead of cast crankshaft.

 

[doodlebro]

Does anyone have a source for a builder in or near Colorado?

 

[ap485]

Update:

As some of you may already know my car has been suffering from boost creep for a while. I have tried different things to fix the issue but nothing seems to work. First, the tuner tried different spool times and other variable changes in the tune and it didn’t work. Also, Bigboost sent me a spacer for the wastegate which supposedly helps the gate to open more so, I installed the spacer and still no luck. The problem is the internal wastegate can’t flow enough of the exhaust out due to an increased in exhaust velocity created by cylinder head work. I mean every time I go WOT the wgdc goes to zero (wastegate fully open position) and literally the boost keeps raising with no control. BTW, wastegate has been tested and it’s working as is supposed to. So, looks like an external wastegate is my only solution for boost control.

After long days of frustrations and false promises I decided to get rid of the Bigboost turbo kit and swap it with the new Speedtech kit with external wastegate.

I’ve talked to Jeff@speedtech for several months now about my situation and how his new N55 turbo kit with external wastegate would solve my issue. It’s basically the N54 turbo kit but without O2 bungs in the manifold. Anyhow, Jeff has been really helpful, knowledgeable and was able to answer all my questions and concerns in timely manner. After waiting patiently for a few months, the kit is finally here. BTW, the kit hasn’t been released yet but it will be soon.


Turbo selection:

I’ve been running the BB 3.4 kit with 6564 turbo for almost 2k miles now and I felt that turbo was kind of small for my car. The turbo spools faster than I anticipated, full boost (23-24psi) was by 3200 rpm. Based on that, I knew I have to get a bigger and laggier turbo. BW turbos always has been one of my top selection so, I used the MatchBot calculator on the BW website. After comparing different compressor maps, turbine sizes and A/R’s, I figured BW S369S-XE is the best for my application.


First impression:

This kit is all about quality. It so well designed and looks very promising. The cast manifold is all cnc inside and outside so, no unfinished, uneven or excess casting specially on the inside like other kits. It came with high quality silicone hoses and end flanges are welded very well too.

The kit came with high-grade silicone hoses which should work with high temperature with no problems. Anyhow, I got some DEI gold tape to protect them from the heat. There’s a few places that might get hotter than I would like from being that close to the turbo. Also, I got PTP T3/T4 turbo blanket which fits perfectly in the turbo.

Other Mods:

I will be getting rid of the JB4 and moving on to flash only. Nothing wrong with the JB4, it just difficult to find a good tuner and one that wants to work with JB4 these days. I will be using GFB G-force III to control boost and AEM wideband for AFR safety. Also, I’m planning to run DI only now that I got the SpoolPerformance Helix 4x.

 

[Rob09msport]

Update:

As some of you may already know my car has been suffering from boost creep for a while. I have tried different things to fix the issue but nothing seems to work. First, the tuner tried different spool times and other variable changes in the tune and it didn’t work. Also, Bigboost sent me a spacer for the wastegate which supposedly helps the gate to open more so, I installed the spacer and still no luck. The problem is the internal wastegate can’t flow enough of the exhaust out due to an increased in exhaust velocity created by cylinder head work. I mean every time I go WOT the wgdc goes to zero (wastegate fully open position) and literally the boost keeps raising with no control. BTW, wastegate has been tested and it’s working as is supposed to. So, looks like an external wastegate is my only solution for boost control.

View attachment 30763After long days of frustrations and false promises I decided to get rid of the Bigboost turbo kit and swap it with the new Speedtech kit with external wastegate.

I’ve talked to Jeff@speedtech for several months now about my situation and how his new N55 turbo kit with external wastegate would solve my issue. It’s basically the N54 turbo kit but without O2 bungs in the manifold. Anyhow, Jeff has been really helpful, knowledgeable and was able to answer all my questions and concerns in timely manner. After waiting patiently for a few months, the kit is finally here. BTW, the kit hasn’t been released yet but it will be soon.


Turbo selection:

I’ve been running the BB 3.4 kit with 6564 turbo for almost 2k miles now and I felt that turbo was kind of small for my car. The turbo spools faster than I anticipated, full boost (23-24psi) was by 3200 rpm. Based on that, I knew I have to get a bigger and laggier turbo. BW turbos always has been one of my top selection so, I used the MatchBot calculator on the BW website. After comparing different compressor maps, turbine sizes and A/R’s, I figured BW S369S-XE is the best for my application.


First impression:

This kit is all about quality. It so well designed and looks very promising. The cast manifold is all cnc inside and outside so, no unfinished, uneven or excess casting specially on the inside like other kits. It came with high quality silicone hoses and end flanges are welded very well too.

View attachment 30764

View attachment 30767

View attachment 30769

The kit came with high-grade silicone hoses which should work with high temperature with no problems. Anyhow, I got some DEI gold tape to protect them from the heat. There’s a few places that might get hotter than I would like from being that close to the turbo. Also, I got PTP T3/T4 turbo blanket which fits perfectly in the turbo.

View attachment 30770

View attachment 30771

View attachment 30774

Other Mods:

I will be getting rid of the JB4 and moving on to flash only. Nothing wrong with the JB4, it just difficult to find a good tuner and one that wants to work with JB4 these days. I will be using GFB G-force III to control boost and AEM wideband for AFR safety. Also, I’m planning to run DI only now that I got the SpoolPerformance Helix 4x.

I'm confused if your getting boost creep at wot and your turbo spools at 31xx isnt that good besides the creep. Why go bigger does the turbo creep in midrange than fall off ? Why didnt they just clip the turbo?

 

[ap485]

I'm confused if your getting boost creep at wot and your turbo spools at 31xx isnt that good besides the creep. Why go bigger does the turbo creep in midrange than fall off ? Why didnt they just clip the turbo?

The fast spooling turbo is a good thing indeed but the concern is not able to control the boost. The boost creep is all over the place, it just keep increasing with rpm no matter where I set it at. Literally, the boost input looks like a duplicate rpm input at WOT in the logs. Lol

I rather get a bigger turbo housing than clipping the turbo and that’s another issue. They only have 0.70 A/R housing on that turbo.

The car will be doing lots of roll racing car so bigger turbo will make sense.

 

[Rob09msport]

K got it I just was figuring that turbo wasnt tapped yet but you def built the block to handle a big boy. It's pretty sick how much that porting did.

 

[ap485]

K got it I just was figuring that turbo wasnt tapped yet but you def built the block to handle a big boy. It's pretty sick how much that porting did.

Yeah! It transformed the car into a different animal.

 

[hardparker]

PM'd you about your old Big Boost setup if you're interested in selling it.

 

[MN.BIMMER]

Curious if you've gotten around to installing the Speedtech kit yet

 

[Boldy169]

Is your car running sweet now?

 

[ap485]

Update

Well, I got the car back at the beginning of March. I’m really surprised on how this speedtech kit performs and more importantly I can control boost. Also, I’ll like to give all the credit to ABR for all the work and for always going the extra mile.

The car went through a lots of changes again. First one was removing the JB4 and moving to flash only. I ran JB4+MHD for several years and I have to say flash only is the way to go, you can’t beat consistency and smoothness. BTW, Steven@Wedge is tuning my car now and I’m really impressed. The car is running better than ever and no engine lights in the dash is a plus. The smoothness is amazing. For comparison, I’ve been running solid engine mounts on my car for about two years and I raised the idle rpm to 950 to decrease the horrendous NVH but still didn’t help much with NVH. For some reason, the NVH is minimal since I load the Wedge tune. You can’t tell I have solid mounts anymore.

Speedtech Turbo Kit Installation

The installation was really straight forward. Here are few pics

As I mentioned on my previous post, I was really concerned about how close the silicone couplers were to the turbo housing so I got a turbo blanket and wrap the silicone couplers with DEI gold tape. I’m so glad I did. It made a huge difference in the engine bay temperature. I can empty the catch can now after driving hard without burning my hands. Even IAT’s are much better now. The highest IAT I have seen so far is 108 deg F at stops on hot day in Texas compared to almost 140 deg F when I had the BB kit.

The turbo inlet I received in my kit is from a N54 which is for someone who wants to run MAFless. However, I found an N52 MAF housing online which the N55 MAF sensor fits perfectly. I added the housing between the filter and turbo inlet coupler, and extend the harness to the new sensor location. Below is the link in case anyone is interested in relocating their intake in the same manner.

N52 MAF Housing

In conclusion, I really love the Speedtech kit. The turbo spool is 10x better than my previous BB kit which makes normal driving experience a blast. Also, BW turbo makes plenty of whistling noises and the exhaust note is so different too. It sounds more like a Supra. Lastly, this kit makes the engine bay looks way cleaner.

Fueling Upgrades

I got the Spool Helix 4x installed along with the vacuum plate upgrade and bracket. I have been running E50 and it seems to work the way it should be. The rail pressure stays at 2900-3000 psi across the rpm range. Now, the only complaint I have so far is how loud it is on cold starts. Hopefully, it can be resolve with tuning as I still dial-in the fueling in my car.

BTW, I’m testing another fueling upgrade thanks to ABR. So far looks very promising. I’ll give an update on this in the next few weeks after the testing is done.

 

[KevinC39]

Awesome man. I've got the internally gated EFR7670 and I've got no complaints as well. Looking forward to your next update

 

[9krpmrx8]

Awesome build man.

 

[ap485]

Awesome man. I've got the internally gated EFR7670 and I've got no complaints as well. Looking forward to your next update

Awesome build man.

Thanks guys!

 

[BrianPenn55]

Thanks guys!

Great build. I just sounded the crank hub on my 2013 f30 335 last week Thursday night. The car is currently in the shop now. I will be moving forward with building the motor now since I already had the pistons, rods, and rod bearings already. I wanted to know what head studs and head gasket you used in your build? Any help and advice will be much appreciated. Thank you