S54 Dyno Database

[EthanolTurbo]

Stock 2004 US spec M3 at RRT Racing for a few upgrades. This is the baseline dyno result. Will post the updates after the project is completed.

List of upgrades coming up:

1. Karbonius airbox with operational flap
2. OEM CSL MAP sensor and air rail
3. Schrick 280/272 camshafts
4. SSv1 header, catted section 1, resonated section 2
5. CSL inconel exhaust valves
6. Rod bearing and VANOS maintenance
7. Cleaned injectors

Cleaned injectors are not enough for this setup, you will need upgraded injectors or you will run out of fuel.

[stash1]

^^^ Cool, thanx for posting! Why didn’t they spin it up to redline?

[HanSooloo]

^^^ Cool, thanx for posting! Why didn’t they spin it up to redline?

According to my shop, the dyno people "used wheel speed and calculated RPM". We will see if we can get the original / raw data.

[CrisSilberGrau]

I'll be adding cams to my existing setup. Will go back to the same Dyno same shop for some consistency. Would be interesting to see what the results are. Will post here ofcourse.

[EthanolTurbo]

Finally got my car fixed and dialed in. Dyno tune tomorrow. Car is already fast as hell with the street tune, hoping to pick up more tomorrow on the dyno.

[BBRTuning]

This will be a bit of a long one. I've wanted to build a max-effort S54 for a long time, despite knowing that it's frankly a waste of money for the power they make, but I was able to justify it to myself in that I have designed and sell complete plug-in standalone ECU kits for the E46 (either Motec or Emtron ECU), and I really wanted to master the S54 power and tuning recipe and use it as a kind of demo car for various products I offer. It's getting more and more common in club racing to have high output S54s, and many are running my ECUs, so I wanted to join in on the fun and see what could be done in a streetable package.

I decided to work with Partee Racing to spec an engine build. I really wanted to push the absolute edge of compression ratio, but there's just a limit to what can be done while retaining full Vanos range, or at least without getting into a ton of work with custom pistons that may take several iterations to nail down. Being that I planned to run E85 at least some of the time, I was looking to run 13:1 compression or higher, but it just isn't physically possible with a 288+ camshaft and full Vanos travel. Here's where we ended up:

Main engine details:
Mahle 12.5:1 pistons
Carrillo lightweight rods
WPC bottom end bearings
CNC ported head (exhaust, intake was also cleaned up)
Supertech full "high RPM" shimless valvetrain (lash cap conversion)
Shrick 288/280 all surfaces DLC'd

Other relevant mods:
BBRTuning Emtron plug-in standalone ECU tuned by myself
Bosch 550cc injectors, 5bar fuel pressure
Haimus V1.5 prototype airbox (see notes below)
Dinan 52mm throttles
VAC pulleys
SuperSprint V1 stepped oversize headers
SuperSprint oversize section I/II unresonated
SGT SCZA muffler

The combo of lightweight bottom end and lash cap dual-spring valvetrain is all designed to handle 9000RPM. I really wanted to find a combo that will make power to 8500+ RPM and be reliable at that range, yet run safely on 91 octane and retain full OE driveability with no quirks. Amazingly this combo is perfectly happy on 91 octane (California 91 that everyone says is so crappy - it's not) due to the 288/280 lowering the dynamic compression ratio, and an engine builder who knows what they're doing (proper combustion chamber preparation). I was able to reach MBT without knock with this combo. Having a standalone ECU where you can actually datalog raw knock sensor data at a very high frequency and set the ECU up accordingly goes a long way, as any aftermarket piston will be "louder" than a factory engine and the ECU needs to be adjusted to suit.

As a side note, one of the most shocking aspects of this build is how incredibly the oil temps are compared to the last engine. I used to see 265F+ oil temps (coolant was always 180-185) after 2-3 hot laps at Buttonwillow or Willow Springs, and this was shifting at 7600-8000. With the new engine, making considerably more power, shifting at 8000-8400 RPM, with very similar ambient temps, I wasn't able to get the oil temps over 215F even after a full 20 minute session. I was blown away. I'm actually going back to a stock oil cooler from CSF to pull some (apparently unnecessary now) weight off the nose.


Here's a comparison of my last setup (11.5:1, 288/280 with stock rockers) vs the new engine on a Dynapack dyno. Power gains everywhere, from a combination of the higher comp, head work, and just generally much less internal friction. You can see in both cases there's some sort of airflow limit at the top end that I need to figure out. At the time I still had SuperSprint HJS cats in section 1, so I figured the restriction was either the cats, the SCZA muffler (it's 2.5" but pretty quiet) or the airbox. I later swapped to a catless section 1 to replace the HJS and to my surprise made almost no difference, maybe 1-2HP max. However, the HJS cats are 100 cell so they certainly are not very restrictive. The top end power restriction remained.



I wanted to get actual SAE Dynojet numbers, since that seems to be the universal standard. I hit up Steve from EAS (European Auto Source) who was also interested in doing some testing with me. I wanted to try and find the restriction - the plan was to pull the air filter out, then swap airboxes (he was nice enough to steal his Turner airbox off his E36 S54 track car), and then remove the SCZA muffler completely as a test.

I've been dyno tuning engines for over 15 years now, and I tried to be as objective and scientific as possible. All tests were run multiple times until power stabilized, and the best of each were posted. I also made sure to keep air, water, and oil temps within a few degrees for all runs. ECU is set up to do closed-loop fueling at full throttle and knock control temporarily disabled (but monitored of course), so air/fuel ratios and ignition timing were identical for all runs (except E85 tests where a different ignition table is used). Here are the results.


91 Octane - Haimus Airbox - ITG filter vs. filter removed
Small gains but not worth looking into further. This ITG filter was also not freshly clean. This airbox has always had an interesting power bump around 7000-7500. Note the slight dip around 6400, some of this could probably be reduced some with more Vanos tuning but it was persisent with this combo.






91 Octane - Haimus Airbox vs. Turner Airbox (both with filters)
Alright, making some progress here. Keep in mind the Haimus box I have has an older design trumpet compared to the ones they're shipping now, so results may be different with their newest offering. Turner has an odd dip right where the Haimus comes on strong (may be able to tune out slightly with careful Vanos tuning) but the Turner does pull ahead up top. ~5whp gain is cool, but you wouldn't be able to feel it. I personally like to keep the snorkel which the Turner doesn't have, so I don't think I'll be switching. Power is starting to carry a bit closer to what I was originally hoping for, though..






91 octane - Turner Airbox - SCZA muffler vs Muffler Removed
Well, this was interesting. The old adage about "you need backpressure" has long since been debunked, so I can only assume this is due to some turbulence in the exhaust outlet ending at section II and blowing into the bumper or maybe the proximity of the two outlets right next to each other. It also sounded GODAWFUL. Bottom line, the SCZA muffler is pretty incredible for how quiet and nice it sounds. At this point, we can pretty safely assume the top end "restriction" is not in the exhaust system.






E70 Fuel - Turner Airbox - SAE and STD corrections shown
Next, added E85 to an almost empty tank but was only able to get up to E70. I then adjusted ignition timing for E70 to dial that in. Super stoked with ~383whp SAE on this setup and approaching 400whp STD. Stock engines made 280-290whp on this dyno, so literally +100whp gain is pretty cool! Also showed STD correction for comparison with some of the other dynos on here.







Where do we go from here? Well, I think it's safe to assume there isn't a restriction in the intake or exhaust systems. I really wanted to hit that 400whp mark, and if the power continued linearly to 8500, I'd be there easily. But I'm really quite happy and the car feels insane now especially with the 4.10 rear end. However, just because I've come this far already, I'm talking to Partee Racing about doing a 296/288 cam setup next. Unfortunately this would require limiting the Vanos slightly, but should definitely produce some gains at the top end. Realistically, the low end losses will be relatively small and only at 4500 and below, and of course only at full throttle, so this may be an OK tradeoff.

Here's another S54 race car I tuned, also running my Emtron ECU kit, with 12:1 compression and 296/288 cams (with limited Vanos). Notice how the power carries all the way to 8500! I'm making the same peak numbers as this car, but I think with the extra 0.5 compression and E70 fuel I should be able to beat it (this car was on 100 octane). Accidentally had Torque Y-axis scaling incorrect on this graph.



Dyno run:

[BBRTuning]

Bonus graphs!

BBR M3 vs Steve EAS E36 - EAS's S54 E36 race car, running BW 3" single, 288/280 Shrick, HTE tune, Turner airbox on an otherwise stock engine.





BBR M3 vs Sub2Speedhouse E92 M3 - my good friend Alex Bernstein's E92 M3 track car, with his own designed exhaust, intake, pulleys, custom tune by Epic, and CF airbox. This is the highest HP NA S65 EAS has has on their dyno (they've had a lot). Stock ones make about 355whp SAE here. So close to bolt-on/tuned S65 power! Not sure I can quite call my S54 an "S65 Killer" but we're close guys... haha

[///Mangler]

BBRTuning - Did you work with Nick on the Emtron solution? I would say that the American Racing headers and 93oct (or E85) would get you over the 400whp mark.

T

[cornerbalanced]

This is the highest HP NA S65 EAS has had on their dyno (they've had a lot).

Not true My E90 M3 made 405whp & 300wtq on EAS' dyno (NA).

Very impressive results nonetheless. Happy to see S54s making FBO S65 numbers.

[BBRTuning]

BBRTuning - Did you work with Nick on the Emtron solution? I would say that the American Racing headers and 93oct (or E85) would get you over the 400whp mark.

T

Nick was definitely instrumental on helping me get up to speed quickly with the Emtron platform when I first started using it, but I developed this kit initially for the Motec ECU back in 2020 since no one else offered a true plug-in solution that supported the OEM CAN and didn't require any wiring. I then repeated the concept with the Emtron as that's now the new ECU to have. There's still a few things missing with the Emtron CAN integration but have been working with them on tidying up the last bits of that. They've been great to work with.

I don't think I could ever bring myself to run the ARH headers - I think it's a fantastic concept, just poorly executed. If someone properly designed a true equal length 6-1 header I'd love to try it! I think even the best 6-2-1 headers leave a lot to be desired as the secondary lengths are still very unequal. I know it's mostly a packaging issue but it would be really interesting to see what a true equal length header would do.

Not true My E90 M3 made 405whp & 300wtq on EAS' dyno (NA).

Very impressive results nonetheless. Happy to see S54s making FBO S65 numbers.

Ah nice! Well, that's what they had told me at the time haha. What's done to your S65 and what fuel? Solid numbers!

[CrisSilberGrau]

Thanks for all the work you put into this BBRTuning (and the do re mi you spent dang). Pretty much what we've seen is most setups for the last 1k rpm seem to be flat on power for the most part and just stop climbing. Really interesting to see the Turner do so well, unless you just stuck with it over the Haimus. Wondering if results would differ slightly with the Karb V3 by now I think.

Still a really nice point of reference and really shows you how the compression bump brings the numbers up with cams. Then you have to ask yourself what part of that is the increase in compression and what part is it the lighter internals... S54 math is fun.

[lcrain]

Two recent graphs for my two ECUs for different racing classes. A prior peak run was 329 whp for reference but we did not run it to peak this time around. The first run was tuned for NASA ST/TT3 class and the second is for Gridlife GLTC. Something a little different! Stock s54 with SSv1 stepped headers and a custom exhaust as the only power adders. Tuned by Randy at EPIC.

[cornerbalanced]

Ah nice! Well, that's what they had told me at the time haha. What's done to your S65 and what fuel? Solid numbers!

Shitty 91 octane, MS pulleys, MS intake, BimmerWorld headers & x-pipe, stock muffler, epic tune. Many overlook headers on S65s.

[Wernd]

Stock baseline


HTE tune, karb csl, SS stepped non catted headers, SS sec 1 res, SS sec 2 res, SS sport muffler on 91 octane

[Rre]

Hello from europe,
s54 built - je 12.5:1 pistons, actual cr 12.2:1
Chinesium H beam rods Athena fire ring gasket,
Stock ports and chambers,
Cat cams upgraded valve springs
Cat cams 304 296 cams with 13.75/13mm lift,
limited vanos travel because of ptw clearance
Stock headers
Self made csl airbox copy from glass fiber.
dual 2.5" exaust with x pipe and dual silencers in back.
porsche 911 640cc injectors
Modified flow through fuel rail
Aftermarket motec ecu running alpha-n tune
Fuel is european e98 standart which i suppose corresponds to usa 93 octane
Arp head and main studs
Acl race bearings

Figures shown are flywheel, as per whp i dont remember the exact number, but it was around 370hp.

As on the problem side, it has oil overheating issue and setrab oilncooler and hard set oil termostat isnt helping that issue at all, yes ofcourse we may have airflow issues on the radiator, but analag car with s50 engine and 380 hp has not even a scent of the mentioned problem.

Right now i am suspecting that maybe inadequate combustion chamber evacuation may be at faul - it leaves much residual heat which is heating the piston which then gives off heat to the oil throgh squirters cooling it with the said oil.
Im now thinking of that assumption because the engine breathing sound is a bit weird also the exhaust is quieter than the intake, which per my opinion shouldnt be the case given the only two small silencers it has.
im now thinking of reducing exhaust pipe diameter as well as increase the middle section of the x pipe, which is only slightly larger than the pipe as it is built like 2 pipes crossing each other at 30° angle, with no extra widening at the middle.

Also i would be wery thankful for some advice and open to opinions.