ESS 525 kit

[Nicholas1996]

By that logic, the stock, M3 engine is laggy

I mean, yeah kinda. Works good around a track but on the street I wouldn’t say the s54 is great. Still wouldn’t trade it for anything.

[Obioban]

I mean, yeah kinda. Works good around a track but on the street I wouldn’t say the s54 is great. Still wouldn’t trade it for anything.

I don’t think you know what lag is. The s54 is one of my he least laggy gas engines ever sold. No turbo engine can hold a candle to it in lag.

[Nicholas1996]

I don’t think you know what lag is. The s54 is one of my he least laggy gas engines ever sold. No turbo engine can hold a candle to it in lag.

Maybe lag isn’t the right term. But making all the power at the top isn’t exactly a nice torque curve for the streets either. To each their own though. I turboed my s54 and I love it.

[Nicholas1996]

Now a turbo setup, that has actual lag :P

Sure does. But also has a nicer torque curve above 3800 rpm, and the car spends most of its time above that anyways, on the street and a track.

[Obioban]

Maybe lag isn’t the right term. But making all the power at the top isn’t exactly a nice torque curve for the streets either. To each their own though. I turboed my s54 and I love it.

The high torque instead of high RPM HP is the main reason I find my EV and e39 M5 boring to drive hard. The "earned" horsepower of the S54's NA/SC power band makes driving it hard way more rewarding to me-- and my torquey cars don't even suffer lag. I don't think I'm unique in that, if you consider all the cars considered to be best driving cars-- Integra, S2000, NSX, McLaren F1, Porsche GT cars-- they're all low torque, high revving cars. Ferrari even artificially limits torque on lower gears on their turbo engines, to keep the high revving NA driving experience.

But, good news for you: with the world going turbo and then EV, every car will have your preferred power band going forward.

[bmw m3 s50]

Any reason you’d go sc over turbo?

Retain, the natural feel of the s54. Even though supercharging is the least efficient way to make extra power, it does retain the engines characteristics. It simply moves the power band upwards on the hp graph without changing the power band.

[bmw m3 s50]

The high torque instead of high RPM HP is the main reason I find my EV and e39 M5 boring to drive hard. The "earned" horsepower of the S54's NA/SC power band makes driving it hard way more rewarding to me-- and my torquey cars don't even suffer lag. I don't think I'm unique in that, if you consider all the cars considered to be best driving cars-- Integra, S2000, NSX, McLaren F1, Porsche GT cars-- they're all low torque, high revving cars. Ferrari even artificially limits torque on lower gears on their turbo engines, to keep the high revving NA driving experience.

But, good news for you: with the world going turbo and then EV, every car will have your preferred power band going forward.

I agree 100% with this post.

Unfortunately, these are sad times in the automotive industry.

[Tigerbimmer]

Patiently awaiting ESS to release the G-series kits for S54 👀.

[Obioban]

What’s a G series kit?

[Tigerbimmer]

What’s a G series kit?

It uses a different supercharger. Supposedly lighter, more efficient and quieter. They've had it for other engines such as the S65 for some time now and looks like they're testing for the S62 based on their social media post yesterday. S54 can't be too far behind...

[Johnvu]

It uses a different supercharger. Supposedly lighter, more efficient and quieter. They've had it for other engines such as the S65 for some time now and looks like they're testing for the S62 based on their social media post yesterday. S54 can't be too far behind...

Someone actually already has this. Look up jde46m3 on Instagram... His car rebuild has to be one of, if not, the most detailed and amazing builds I have ever seen. He got ESS to sent him a 575 kit with the G series supercharger.

[Cubieman]

I am getting more and more interested in these kits but I just feel like it is molesting the the car a bit too much. I've seen pictures more than once of the SC plumbing hitting the underside of the hood and the fact you kind of have to hack up your bumper for the IC doesn't sit too well with me. I guess I could buy a different bumper though if I wanted to go back to stock without runing parts.

I am considering one of these some day, what other items would you guys upgrade to keep the 525 (or 575) from thrashing the rest of the drivetrain though?

[Tigerbimmer]

Someone actually already has this. Look up jde46m3 on Instagram... His car rebuild has to be one of, if not, the most detailed and amazing builds I have ever seen. He got ESS to sent him a 575 kit with the G series supercharger.

He does but the kit isn't publicly available, yet. I'm assuming ESS ran into covid related supply chain issues and postponed release until sufficient parts in hand.

Another option is the VF kit.... Just heard negative experiences regarding their post purchase support. That makes me apprehensive. I think VF and ESS VT-2 kits use the same blower as well.

[Tigerbimmer]

I am getting more and more interested in these kits but I just feel like it is molesting the the car a bit too much. I've seen pictures more than once of the SC plumbing hitting the underside of the hood and the fact you kind of have to hack up your bumper for the IC doesn't sit too well with me. I guess I could buy a different bumper though if I wanted to go back to stock without runing parts.

I am considering one of these some day, what other items would you guys upgrade to keep the 525 (or 575) from thrashing the rest of the drivetrain though?

Perhaps those were the earlier kits.

I was convinced that I was going to go for the typical N/A build with intake, exhaust, cams and tune but the more I read about the issues folks were chasing, the more I started leaning towards a supercharger. The cost difference is negligible and you are well north of 400whp, even with the lower end of these s/c kits. I'm not looking to "upgrade" much per se. I'm refreshing components under the hood with OE replacements (cooling system, oil cooler, vanos etc) and upgraded some of the bushings throughout ownership. monoball rtabs, solid subframe bushings, rest are mostly all oe stuff. Oh and the subframe is reinforced of course. I'm not planning on revving the car to 5k rpms and dumping the clutch at every red light. Just want a fun mountain/weekend car that can hold a candle to some of the newer fast stuff.

[Obioban]

If you want to track, NA is the way to go. FI will cause you to overheat, at least once you’re quick enough that you’re actually pushing the car.

If you want to be faster on the street, and don’t mind the front end weight add, FI is fine (and certainly cheaper per hp).