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To address the allegations laid against us by Jordan Russ of Import Motor Werks, formerly M Powerered Automotive, please see as follows:

Jordan purchased a Level 2 SC kit for his E92 M3 from Active Autowerke, it was installed at our facility in August, 2010, mileage 24,345. In October, 2010; approximately 6-7 weeks after, we were informed that his engine blew . We immediately requested pictures of spark plugs, etc., and also to look at the ECU as this will also provide information on what went wrong; all were provided along with the request from Jordan to return the ECU to stock.

Real evidence lies within the stored ‘Shadow Memory’ of the ECU. Active Autowerke never suggested that Jordan take his car to BMW to claim any kind of warranty, as we know it would be a useless claim because the shadow memory would be checked and the data would show cause of engine failure. Here were our findings when we viewed his ECU:

The Maximum engine speed recorded indicated 8705+ RPM when the factory rev limiter is set to 8300, and Active Autowerke clearly set the rev limiter to 8100RPM for the supercharged cars.

He was not at 6000 RPM when the engine failed.

The throttle position showed 36% opening and not 100% opening when the engine failed, this would indicate that the engine most likely was in a deceleration mode. Active suspects a driver mis-shift going from 4th to 5th gear and hitting 3rd by mistake. Why? Because the road speed at the time with the 36% throttle opening indicated a 207 KM/hr speed (128 MPH). If the supercharger created excessive load on the engine to break the connecting rod, the shadow memory would most likely indicate that the throttle would be closer to 100% opening where the maximum supercharged power is developed.

He claimed that his car was pushed on the dyno to 190+ MPH, the gearing on this vehicle makes it impossible for this to happen; it allows for maybe 183-185 MPH at 8150 RPM, this is the rev limit that was set by Active to the SC. In addition, Active Autowerke’s Mustang dyno does not allow for road speeds above 160 MPH.

He said he drove the vehicle for only 1,200 miles, the recorded mileage in his ECU was 26,183 (42231 KM); therefore 26,183 less 24,345 = 1,838 miles driven after the SC install. If the SC system was the problem, damage should have occurred within 200 miles and not after 1,800 miles.

All his spark plugs showed that the engine had no problems with any kind of improper tuning that would lead to “meltdown” due to lean mixtures or improper ignition timing, also, the pistons were not overheated due to ‘meltdown’, ‘meltdown’ is indicative of poor tuning, too low a fuel octane number, lean fuel mixtures..

The engine connecting rod that failed clearly showed that it was still free to move on the crank pin journal, it was also free to move on the small end where it is attached to the piston; this was confirmed by Jordan when he was asked, his pictures also supported this. This verifies that lubrication was sufficient and the failure was not due to the connecting rod “seizing” against the crankshaft rod journal.

There was no evidence of valves floating or broken due to contact with the piston of the damaged cylinder.

In summary, E9X M3’s equipped with Active Autowerke’s Level 2 SC have run on the race tracks for driving and racing events, of which there has been no engine failures. Dan Schaut ran his 2008 BMW M3 equipped with the Active Autowerke Level 2 SC system in the 2011 One Lap of America event placing 1st in his class. In this race, cars are subjected to maximum use of power under the most rigorous condition for 7 consecutive days and covering over ~~4,000 miles of road and track. The E9X Active Autowerke supercharger system in Level 2 configuration has with stood the test of maximum reliability and at the same time delivering maximum performance under rigorous conditions and has shown that our SC system is well engineered and manufactured.

In conclusion, Senior Technician, ‘Scrappy’ and Technical Director, Karl, in looking at the recorded data in the “Shadow Memory” of the engine’s ECU along with all of the stated observations, have concluded that the damage done to the engine was due to “driver’s error.”

After no determination was shown for fault due to the SC system, an agreement was made for reimbursement for the cost of the system. Evidence of this reflected in the fact that both Import Motor Werks and Active Autowerke have mutually enjoyed a year of business relations. Recently Jordan emailed and demanded us to pay $25,000 or he would go to the forums. Although sympathetic to his loss as no one ever wants to ever have to pay for a broken motor, Active Autowerke cannot accept liability for damages it did not incur.

Active Autowerke is a reputable BMW tuner and is now in its 31st year of business. We have sold innumerable forced inductions kits since 1995 and have always stood by our products.