Aquamist HFS-4, DCI and PTF tune

February 20, 2013, 5:51 pm

≪ Previous: Alpina B3 Flash DIY using WinKFP

My car before the install was 100% stock with a Cobb PTF 94 octane tune. I'm still under extended warranty so this setup was perfect and made good power. It's crazy how just changing the software can wake this car up. However, like so many of you already know, it's never enough and I wanted more.

I didn't want to install catless downpipes or an aftermarket intercooler because of possible hassle from the dealer, I figure they will see removing of emissions equipment worse than some funny lines going into the charge pipe :)

I ordered the following:
- Aquamist HFS-4
- Howerton Engineering 2.2 gal. tank enclosure
- (2) Aquamist adapters for silicone/rubber hose
- HP Autowerks silicone meth elbow
- BMS DCI

Dzenno@ProTUNING Freaks is local to me and was nice enough to tackle the lengthy install. I wanted the install to be clean and DZ kept me updated throughout the day. I dropped the car off early Saturday morning and came by early evening to see it finished. We hit the road for some tuning afterwards. It was a long day and I appreciate the work he did, it turned out great.

I haven't had a chance to dyno it yet since I'm on snow tires but plan to see what it puts down once the summers are on. I can say that the meth + DCI has smoothed out the power band and now it pulls well past 5,000 rpm whereas before it felt like it was falling flat on it's face, it also sounds alot better with the added timing:D

I've had the setup running for just over a month now and wanted to wait before doing a review. No regrets, the install is clean and runs flawlessly. The failsafe is cool and turning the gauge off acts like a quick valet mode. I also ordered some black wire cover to put over the meth lines in the engine bay to make it look cleaner.

Disregard the grim in the pictures, we Canadians are subjected to alot of $#@! on our roads.

Click here to enlarge

I plan to install some M3 rear suspension bits next, aftermarket clutch then DP/intercooler and retune.

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Hot side turbo piping question

February 22, 2013, 5:14 am

≫ Next: Cobb users in the Bay Area. Favor for Stage 3

≪ Previous: Aquamist HFS-4, DCI and PTF tune

So i wondered about the dents in mine when i got it.. But chalked it up to damage

then i saw this today:

http://imgur.com/4iQKUMW

do any of your hot side pipes have identical dents?

Is it removal damage? Rhd thing? Rhd removal damage? (Hitting steering rack when hoisted?.. Then what about the front dent? :/

i was going to buy a new one.. But if they're all going to be like this i'll have to get one made up.. Probably better anyway, but still, super curious now.

thanks :)

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Cobb users in the Bay Area. Favor for Stage 3

February 22, 2013, 12:01 pm

≫ Next: coilovers HELP!!

≪ Previous: Hot side turbo piping question

Does anyone in the bay area have an Access port I could borrow for the weekend. Cobb is sending us one and it was supposed to be here today and did not show and we were supposed to start tuning this weekend as the clutch is broken in. Please let me know, as we can't get going until PTF has the ROM ID and I have an access port in hand. Thanks in Advance.

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coilovers HELP!!

February 22, 2013, 3:30 pm

≫ Next: DIY: ZF6HP21/19 Valvebody removal video

≪ Previous: Cobb users in the Bay Area. Favor for Stage 3

Hi guys..im purchasing a new set of coilovers either sonic or bc for my e90! ....cnt decide which ones are better?

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DIY: ZF6HP21/19 Valvebody removal video

February 22, 2013, 4:23 pm

≫ Next: NEW N54 DCT 1/4 Mile ET RECORD !

≪ Previous: coilovers HELP!!

Here is a Quick video i made on how to remove and re install the valve body. hope this helps. hopefully people with the older pre-03/07 valvebodys can maybe try to upgrade to a newer one and get the flash. best of luck to whoever tries it and update us with your progress!

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NEW N54 DCT 1/4 Mile ET RECORD !

February 22, 2013, 9:44 pm

≫ Next: Convert N54 to A2W (Air to Water) Cooled by Air Conditioner Refrigerant

≪ Previous: DIY: ZF6HP21/19 Valvebody removal video

21 Feet above sea level
75°F Temps
79% Relative Humidty
DA 1188 Feet

Tuner: Lenny @ RENNtech
PSI: 15-16
96 Octane (93 mix)
No Weight Reduction, No DRs, NO Meth, Legal in Most States

11.90 ET @ 114.29 New ET record for the "N54 DCT"

Dragtimes (Beta) ET & MPH Correction : 11.87 @ 114.67 MPH Click here to enlarge

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Convert N54 to A2W (Air to Water) Cooled by Air Conditioner Refrigerant

February 23, 2013, 1:29 pm

≫ Next: Alpina B3 flash Part II: DIY for NOT-working paddles shifters after flash

≪ Previous: NEW N54 DCT 1/4 Mile ET RECORD !

So I made a short post before but it got moved to general. To continue in a more N54 related way, I will say that I don't know a lot about dealing with refrigerants and know only a small bit about Air to Water Intercoolers.

Here is my inspiration:

So a basic A2W kit would include:

A2W Charge Cooler
Water Pump
Water Lines
Custom Charge Piping
A2W Heat Exchanger
Electrical Wires, Switch / Integration

Now if we wanted to make this inline with the existing A2A intercooler, it would have to go most likely after the FMIC and be mounted in some of the free space or inline where the chargepipe is with a bullet style A2W intercooler(Charge cooler). I'm curious what type of extra restriction this would pose on the system and what kind of extra pressure drop we would see. From the units I've looked at, they approximate about 1-1.5 PSI drop.

In Addition to putting this inline with the FMIC, we would need an A2W Heat exchanger to shed off the heat absorbed from the A2W Charge cooler, most likely mounted in front of the FMIC, in a air duct on the Driver side, or a vertically stacked FMIC/Heat Exchanger setup.

Lastly, if we decided to use the Air conditioner's refrigerant to super cool the A2w intercooler, we would need a Evaporator coil/core to cool the water.

The combinations here could be:

1) A2W Heat Exchanger + A2W Intercooler - This eliminates the A2A FMIC
2) A2A Intercooler + A2W Heat Exchanger + A2W Intercooler - This retains the FMIC and adds normal A2W Intercooler and Heat Exchanger
3) A2A Intercooler + A2W Intercooler + R2W Evaporator (Refrigerant to Water) - A2A IC is required when the AC is off to cool the intake charge
4) A2A Intercooler +A2W Intercooler + A2W Heat Exchanger + R2W Evaporator -This is the most complicated setup of all of them and the one I've been thinking about the most.

Questions to solve:

1) How much extra refrigerant plumbing would be added and therefore how much extra refrigerant would be necessary in the system?
2) How much additional stress does this add to the current Refrigerant system with each setup
3) Does this additional stress put our compressor at risk by not being able to keep up and cool the refrigerant in the condenser and potentially sending more hot refrigerant back to the compressor?
4) What kind of extra condensation would this produce and how to manage it
5) What type of electrical is going to be required with each setup to run the A2W intercooler separately from the Cabin AC and how to turn on and off the water pump depending on if there is an A2A intercooler to cool the charge if it happens to be off

Please comment. Just searching through ebay these parts are not all that expensive.

A2W Intercooler with 3" In/Out: $100
Click here to enlarge

R2W Evaporator coil, Read from Packless: http://www.packless.com/products/chi...ator-coils.htm
Click here to enlarge

And Water Pump: $140
Click here to enlarge

A2W Heat Exchanger: $46
Click here to enlarge

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Alpina B3 flash Part II: DIY for NOT-working paddles shifters after flash

February 23, 2013, 9:48 pm

≫ Next: Testing e-tune map from PTF - did 60-130 in 8.18 s in 4th gear

≪ Previous: Convert N54 to A2W (Air to Water) Cooled by Air Conditioner Refrigerant

The Alpina B3 flash has been a huge success so far for performance gains as well as fixing many issues that has plagued the N54 platform for years. It has undoubtedly given the performance gains in which everyone could enjoy. The only minor glitch during the flashing was on new model years in which once the car is flashed the paddle shifters now longer worked, unlike the earlier build model years which didn't exhibit this. This was quite bothersome to me so I had to find a fix as it seemed unthinkable it wouldn't work. The test mule used was a 06/09 build in which Wedge1967 and I helped to fix via Team Viewer because the car was bricked and inoperative due to a botched configuration and files..After many hours getting the car back to life we flashed it to the Alpina B3 flash, and ofcourse the paddle shifters no longer worked. I went back the next morning to work on getting the paddle shifters to work...Here is your solution!

You guys need to use NCSexpert and have the latest SPdaten 48.1 loaded up to both NCSexpert and Ediabas. There are tons of literature on this so do a search on it. If you not comfortable doing this or the actual coding, you can find a local coder and pay to have this coded....

Warning: If you dont have the Spdaten 48.1 udated correctly after doing this coding the car will be Dead!!!

************************************************** ****************************************
There are 3 Parts to this DIY to get the paddles working after Flashing the Alpina B3 flash

******PART 1******

0-Start ignition with cluster lights on
1-Load NCSexpert
2-File (choose your coding file the one that manipulate the FSW_PSW) click ok
3-(F1) Vin/ZCS/FA
4-(F3) SG ausw
5-Choose E89 chassis click ok
6-Choose CAS click ok
7-(F6) Back
8-(F4) Read ECU and pick EGS module click ok
9-wait till nettodat file pops up and then close it out
10-goto work folder and open FSW_PSW.TRC file
11-You will see this and we want to find PADDLES and change wert_00 to wert_01

Click here to enlarge

12- Save the file you just edited as FSW_PSW.man
13-go back into NCSexpert
14-(F2) Change job and find SG_coderign
15-(F3) Execute JOB
16-Close out the NCSexpert software

******PART 2******

Go back to Part I
This time we want to change PADDLES back to wert_00 on step 9

******PART 3******

1-Load NCSexpert
2-File choose EXPERTMODE
3-(F1) Vin/ZCS/FA
4-(F3) SG Ausw
5-Choose E89 chassis click ok
6-Choose CAS
7-(F6) Back
8-(F4) Read ECU
9-Choose EGS and click ok and wait till nettodat file pops up then close it
10-(F3) Execute Job
11-Close out NCSexpert
12-Shut off car take key out and lock the door
13-Start the car

At this point 3 things can happen:

**A)There are no errors and the car starts fine and the paddles are working and your happy!

**B)The car starts but then when you drive off, the shifting of gears are all screwy and changing correctly.

**C)The car starts but you get the dreaded GEAR error and it wont even go into drive at all..
.

If you have either B or C then you issue is the update of the Spdaten 48.1 was incorrectly done...Go back and check installation and start again

I have worked long and hard to get this Alpina B3 flash to where it is now so everyone can enjoy this without any glitches. If you feel that my DIY on Winkfp for flashing Alpina B3 flash and this DIY helped in anyway, and you would like to make a small contribution for my efforts, I would be grateful and appreciate it..If not thats cool too.

My paypal addy is
ccnoner@aol.com

Enjoy the flash!

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Testing e-tune map from PTF - did 60-130 in 8.18 s in 4th gear

February 24, 2013, 12:01 am

≫ Next: Walnut Blasting, plugs, and bonus: rims

≪ Previous: Alpina B3 flash Part II: DIY for NOT-working paddles shifters after flash

Where I live it snows in the winter. Most, if not all of the time. Which means that I have not been able to test out my car after I got the DME software updated to the latest version (I8A0S for my MSD80).

Well, yesterday the roads were finally almost fit for driving, so I started testing. I ended up spending all the day testing, and using up most of Dzenno's time as well.

We finally ended up with a very powerful E50 tune with clean logs, boosting ~20.5 psi midrange, ~19 psi at peak hp and ~17.5 psi near redline (6800 rpm). Neither of us could quite believe how powerful the runs looked for a full weight car with a heavy driver (250+ lbs), so on the last few runs I decided to put the Performance Box in the car to see it the road was indeed flat. It turned out there was a decline of just 0.09%

As a bonus I discovered that the car did 100-200 kmh in 7.07 seconds and 60-130 mph in just 8.18 seconds, in ONE gear (4th) on a flat road with crappy rear tyres. Now this would have also never happened if I hadn't had the defiv diff lockdown kit mounted, the rear end was just so planted, even in 30F temps and with crappy tyres.

I guess since I bought both my COBB AP and e-tune maps from PTF as well as my defiv diff lockdown kit in group buys in here, some credit to Bimmerboost is also in place :handgestures-thumb:

Cars specs are updated in the sig. I've attached a couple of pics. Sticky please resize if neccessary

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Walnut Blasting, plugs, and bonus: rims

February 24, 2013, 9:09 am

≫ Next: Snappety, Snap Snap!

≪ Previous: Testing e-tune map from PTF - did 60-130 in 8.18 s in 4th gear

Decided to share my experience with some "maintenance mods" that I had done. First up is a very thorough walnut blasting, done by the friendly people over at Performance BMW in Chapel Hill, NC for a very fair price of $400.

Keeping carbon build-up is an important part of making sure your N54 / N55 is running smoothly, and will make a noticeable difference in how your car performs.

I've been running methanol in my car for about 20k miles, and while it has been decently good at keeping my valves clean, take a look at how they looked when we got her opened up:

Click here to enlarge

Aaaand the after:

Click here to enlarge

The difference was immediate, but I couldn't really put the car through its paces because of the increasingly bad misfires I was having. Plugs were overdue. I bought a set of OE plugs for about $90 from the dealership, and a tool online for ~$20. An hour later:

Click here to enlarge

Long story short: between the walnut blasting and the new plugs, my car feels brand new. Well, better than brand new, because its modded. Basically, the car has never been smoother or more fun to drive. I HIGHLY recommend doing both of these relatively simple tasks when you hit 40k miles. Plugs should be every 10-20k miles, and walnut blasting every 30k-40k miles, depending on how hard your car is modded and how hard you drive.

Methanol and OCCs can also help extend the intervals for walnut blasting.

Bonus: New VMR701s

Click here to enlarge

Cheers!

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Snappety, Snap Snap!

February 24, 2013, 5:20 pm

≫ Next: Vishnu Single Turbo XI Edition (AWD Single)

≪ Previous: Walnut Blasting, plugs, and bonus: rims

Today, in my infinite wisdom and against all prudent judgement, I decided to replace injector number 3 this afternoon. This exercise is nothing new to me. I've done this two more times already.

So I get busy and then I managed to snap the ASA bolt that holds the injector bracket:

Click here to enlarge

I as able to make 2 complete turns of the bolt before it snapped off.

So this is a pretty messed up situation right now as cylinders 3 and 4 will have no compression at all. This means I can't drive the car.

My suspicion is that in the cold weather (4 degrees Centigrade) there was enough difference in contraction between the aluminium head and the steel ASA bolt. The bolt probably decided to dig in the head and carve a new thread in it. Then it got stuck and then I snapped it off.

Suggestions, opinions and ideas are highly appreciated at this point.

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Vishnu Single Turbo XI Edition (AWD Single)

February 19, 2013, 4:28 pm

≫ Next: JB4 vs COBB AP power delivery, output, etc

≪ Previous: Snappety, Snap Snap!

Well it looks like Shiv is back from the hiatus and has developed an AWD single... No real information posted on the other site; or real world performance stats and it it is still a manual transmission. Could this be the one that runs 10's consistently? 519 AWHP on a Mustang seems solid...

Someone copy the article over...

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JB4 vs COBB AP power delivery, output, etc

February 19, 2013, 4:55 pm

≫ Next: DEFIV Differential Lock-Down DIY

≪ Previous: Vishnu Single Turbo XI Edition (AWD Single)

Could someone please educate me and others on the difference in power delivery & output between the JB4 or piggy vs COBB; so its my understanding that COBB maps adjust fueling, timing and load target for DME to up the boost to generate higher than stock power, while JB4 will trick the DME thinking its targeting higher loads and loop this until desired boost is reached........soooo....my butt dyno and others have noted that JB4 G5 feels faster and delivers more power to the wheels on map2 or map 5 at 14 to 15 psi vs 18.5 PSI on Cobb Stage2+FMIC aggressive, so i am wondering whats the deal ? is the timing associated with jb4 maps that ask for higher loads that advanced vs cobb maps that control actual timing?
JB4 also feels more intense or you can say COBB feels more smooth.

please elaborate.

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DEFIV Differential Lock-Down DIY

February 19, 2013, 6:54 pm

≫ Next: Alpina B3 Flash DIY using WinKFP

≪ Previous: JB4 vs COBB AP power delivery, output, etc

Note: Not responsible for any damage to you or your car,
this worked on my car so will work on yours. Thi kit as been tested over and over countless hours by
Rick@DEFIV. If it doesnt fit you did something wrong.

***This tutorial assumes you know how to get your car secured on jack
stands, if in doubt do NOT attempt this DIY!

Suggestions:

Do NOT use a torch to remove bushings, it is not needed and can deform subframe amd make install of bushing
appear off...they are with in .001" tolerance. They fit PERFECTLY.

Notes:

*I assume you know how to take exhaust, panels ect off.
**The design off this product is the copyrighted by Rick@DEFIV.
***You can use a hole saw to pull out bushings instead of pipe if needed.

Here is the work of art, this kit really impressed me with how close everything fit....I can't imagine the testing
involved to get this to spec. Rick Has some of the best customer service in this bussiness period!

Click here to enlarge

[/B]Removal of differential (I had mine out for wavetrac so I took as many pics as I could):[/B]

Click here to enlarge

Removal of "Front" (smaller)bushings:

Click here to enlarge

Removal of "Rear" (larger) bushing

Click here to enlarge

Installing bushings

Click here to enlarge

Installing Diffetrential/half shafts and driveshaft back in car, some steps are left out since it is basically
reverse order:

Click here to enlarge

Note on driveshaft installation: Tighten in order below!
A. Insert nut
B. Guibo
C. Center support bearing

Click here to enlarge

4th link bushing installation:

Click here to enlarge

I hope this is of help to you guys!

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Alpina B3 Flash DIY using WinKFP

February 19, 2013, 6:58 pm

≫ Next: Aquamist HFS-4, DCI and PTF tune

≪ Previous: DEFIV Differential Lock-Down DIY

DIY Guide to Flash Alpina B3 Flash:

************************************************** **********************************
WARNING...If you dont know what your doing, dont be brave and blindly go into this advanced flashing of software into the TCU module.. If you mess up you can easily brick your tranny module and you will find yourself towing the car to the dealer and looking like a fool. If your not too confident in doing this, either pay someone or just do without it.....WinKFP is a very dangerous tool but yet its awesome and in terms of coding its pretty advanced.. Proceed after reading this warning if you choose to do so...

************************************************** **********************************

This Alpina TCU flash works for model years 3/07 till present. If your production date is before 3/07, your out of luck and cant flash your car! Before you attempt this you should have some knowledge in coding and setting software. You need to confirm INPA software is working and communicating with car. If you dont have INPA communicating, dont move beyond this point and go back and do some more research on getting it to work.. There are plenty of DIY guides for setting up INPA, Ediabas, NCSexpert and WinKFP.

You can purchase a proven cable that works...Please dont ask will this one work as it is cheaper if so...Buy one that is proven!
http://www.one-stop-electronics.com/...&product_id=16

ONE NOTE::: Please no PMs on how to set it up. You have to do some work yourself..

Once you have configured your laptop properly, you need to download Spdaten 48.1 the full version for E89 chassis. Dont download the lite versions as it doesnt have the necessary files needed for flashing modules. There are torrent links around...Look for them! The E89 Spdaten needs to be imported to WinKFP. There are PDFs showing how to get this done, do a search! Once it correctly imported, then you may start the flash using Winkpf.

Here we go:

-Make sure your battery is good if not get a battery charger

-Open drivers door and turn ignition ON (cluster guage on)

-connect cable to obd connector of car

-Load Winkpf software

-Press (F1) comfort mode

-Press (F3) Update ZUSB

-Choose ECU GKE215

-Press (F2) Choose ZUSB

-Choose ECU GKE215 and next to it there will be ZB-Numbers..Find 7615835

-Click ok

-If you have done it correctly so far you will see at the top Assembly Identification number 7615835 and it will automatically reference the magical Alpina B3 TCU flash software 7591971

-Press (F4) Enter VIN ( make sure you double check you have entered the correct VIN numbers)

-click ok

-Press DONE (F8)

-Press (F3) Program

-Pop up window will say you can code the ECU 63 more times, click ok

-Flashing begins and you will have to wait till it reaches 100%

-once it reaches 100% it will pop up again saying you have 62 more times to program the ECU, click ok

-Programming again starts, wait until this reaches 100%

-If everything is done correctly, then you will get a pop up screen saying programming done, click ok

-Shut off car by taking key out. Lock car with key, wait 5 minutes and start the car..If everything works correctly you will not
have any warning signs or check engine lights...Enjoy your newly transformed AT Alpina B3 software

This Alpina B3 TCU flash is a game changer folks, and you would be stupid not to have it flashed onto your car!! Please no pms on how to set this up...Everything is there for you including the most important which is the step by step directions using WinKFP.

Steven 917-939-4980

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