Looking for a supercharger kit for e92 m3

[LV-E92M3]

Originally Posted by biglare

Most vendors will offer an upgrade to the Stage 3 kit I would think.

[BMRLVR]

Originally Posted by Ferre86

This RPI full system chance to throw a cel light ? its a pretty straight system though..

Wah???

[ryan@ActiveAutowerke]

Here are some pics of the Active Autowerke E9X M3 Supercharger Kit











Customize your own kit. PM for more details.

[Andrew@LutzPerformance]

I have had the opportunity to see and talk with the guys at AA about their system for the E9x M3. And I must say everything from the smallest details to the fact that they have spent over a year refining every part of their system. I would not be hesitant at all to recommend this system to any of our customers. If anyone local to Tampa or outside of Tampa has any questions feel free to contact me at anytime.

To the OP Good luck on your F/I choice!

[Jameson@Alpine]

Not sure what you've decided, however if you're getting into Gintani, PM for the best deal.

[bmwrjs]

Originally Posted by termsheet

I just installed the ESS VT-575 a few weeks ago. I was doing the same research you are about 2-3 months ago and this is what I found. There are basically 4 kits out now. GPower from Germany, ESS from Arizona/Norway, AA from Florida and Gintani from SoCal. VF is also developing a kit, but I don't believe you can buy it. There may be more. Again, this is my research and it may not be completely accurate.

Several GPower owners around the world have reported motor failures including a couple in SoCal. I do not know if the flaw in this kit has been remedied but I read enough stories on the topic that I decided to stay away from GPower simply because I value reliability above all else.

If you read enough posts, including other forums, you will learn that there is a lot of drama between the ESS camp and the Gintani camp. In short, the Gintani camp accuses the ESS camp of inflating dyno numbers arguing that their kits don't produce as much power as advertised. There is also some dispute from Powerchip that the Gintani software was developed as a derivative of the GPower software. This arises out of a former Powerchip employee leaving to start OE Tuning who provides software for Gintani. Some believe that a couple of Gintani cars had failed motors and attributed the failures to the Gintani kits or the OE Software. There is more, but my version of someone else's bad drama won't help you find out which kit is best for you so I'll leave it at that.

The amount of time people spend on these forums defending the kit they bought and attacking the others led me to the realization that no one on these boards will probably ever agree on the "best kit". So, I made a few phone calls to try to develop my own opinion.

The Gintani customers on this board rave about their service. I am in SoCal so I liked the idea of doing business with a local shop that has a good reputation. I had a good conversation with Gintani about their kit. They have a meth option which I like because it means more power on our crappy 91 gas. The negative takeaways for me were 1) They had installed less than 10 kits 2) They tune all sorts of cars besides BMW (I like focus) and 3) At the time they didn't even have a website (they did have a facebook page). For me the lack of a website made me question just how serious they were as a company. I just checked and they do have a website now.

I also called ESS. I liked that all ESS did was BMW. During our call Roman said they had over 60 e90/92/93 kits installed and had not had one reported engine failure. That one statement carried a lot of weight with me because again, I value reliability.

After speaking with both companies I feel like I could have done business with either one. Both seemed very knowledgable, Gintani perhaps a bit more enthusiastic. I think both companies will stand behind their products. I just had a little more confidence in the ESS kit because of their BMW only focus and the number of installs. I just wish they were local. Also, I was not trying to squeeze every last HP out of the car. My thinking was that even if it is true that the Gintani kit produces a bit more power and the ESS numbers are inflated, I didn't care because I value power less than I value reliability. This is why there are different kits for different people.

Shortly after I purchased the ESS kit, AA announced their kit. Again, I like the fact that they have a meth option. I also know they thoroughly test their kits having had so much experience supercharging e46s. I would have given AA a hard look had the kit been available when I was ordering. Specifically I would have probed on how many kits had been tested, installed, etc. to gauge what kind of reliability I could expect.

Finally, different people value different things.

Some want the absolute most HP because they are going to the drag strip, rocking vBoxes down the toll road or mexico, or some other reason. I think all other things being equal, meth equipped kits will make more power on bad gas. At this point no one really knows which kit makes the most power because no one has used the same gas on the same dyno on the same day with the same supporting mods on each of the different kits. It's all hearsay with uncontrolled variables. There is someone trying to organize a dyno day with representation from each company, but as one might expect even this has created loads of drama. You will be shocked to learn that getting all of the different companies to show up on the same day is proving difficult. Motives are being questioned by all parties and it's the customers that lose. It's too bad because we all want to know that the best mods are for the price and our individual tuning objectives. Since I would have loved knowing which kit does produce the most power, all other things being equal, when I was buying, I will try to make my car available if the dyno day ever comes together as one example of an ESS VT-575.

Some people are tight on cash and are looking for the most bang for the buck. I think the ESS VT-525 kit shines in the value category.

Some people care about how the kit looks. Appearance is subjective. I could care less what the kit looks like because I don't show off my engine.

Others, like me, care about reliability. At the time of my purchase, with the information I had, I felt like ESS had the best probability of being reliable. So that is the kit I bought. The right kit for you will depend on which factors you value. Do your own detective work. You may care about something I haven't even thought about. Anyway, hope that helps.

Where did you have your ESS Supercharger installed? I am in SoCal as well!

[GBX]

Originally Posted by Raz@Gintani

Here is a video that one of our customers Drew (DLSJ5) made for our stage 2+ S/C kit. We also offer a stage 1 and 2.

can you PM me a price and specs on your stage 1 kit?

[monkeyhead]

Originally Posted by termsheet

I just installed the ESS VT-575 a few weeks ago. I was doing the same research you are about 2-3 months ago and this is what I found. There are basically 4 kits out now. GPower from Germany, ESS from Arizona/Norway, AA from Florida and Gintani from SoCal. VF is also developing a kit, but I don't believe you can buy it. There may be more. Again, this is my research and it may not be completely accurate.

Several GPower owners around the world have reported motor failures including a couple in SoCal. I do not know if the flaw in this kit has been remedied but I read enough stories on the topic that I decided to stay away from GPower simply because I value reliability above all else.

If you read enough posts, including other forums, you will learn that there is a lot of drama between the ESS camp and the Gintani camp. In short, the Gintani camp accuses the ESS camp of inflating dyno numbers arguing that their kits don't produce as much power as advertised. There is also some dispute from Powerchip that the Gintani software was developed as a derivative of the GPower software. This arises out of a former Powerchip employee leaving to start OE Tuning who provides software for Gintani. Some believe that a couple of Gintani cars had failed motors and attributed the failures to the Gintani kits or the OE Software. There is more, but my version of someone else's bad drama won't help you find out which kit is best for you so I'll leave it at that.

The amount of time people spend on these forums defending the kit they bought and attacking the others led me to the realization that no one on these boards will probably ever agree on the "best kit". So, I made a few phone calls to try to develop my own opinion.

The Gintani customers on this board rave about their service. I am in SoCal so I liked the idea of doing business with a local shop that has a good reputation. I had a good conversation with Gintani about their kit. They have a meth option which I like because it means more power on our crappy 91 gas. The negative takeaways for me were 1) They had installed less than 10 kits 2) They tune all sorts of cars besides BMW (I like focus) and 3) At the time they didn't even have a website (they did have a facebook page). For me the lack of a website made me question just how serious they were as a company. I just checked and they do have a website now.

I also called ESS. I liked that all ESS did was BMW. During our call Roman said they had over 60 e90/92/93 kits installed and had not had one reported engine failure. That one statement carried a lot of weight with me because again, I value reliability.

After speaking with both companies I feel like I could have done business with either one. Both seemed very knowledgable, Gintani perhaps a bit more enthusiastic. I think both companies will stand behind their products. I just had a little more confidence in the ESS kit because of their BMW only focus and the number of installs. I just wish they were local. Also, I was not trying to squeeze every last HP out of the car. My thinking was that even if it is true that the Gintani kit produces a bit more power and the ESS numbers are inflated, I didn't care because I value power less than I value reliability. This is why there are different kits for different people.

Shortly after I purchased the ESS kit, AA announced their kit. Again, I like the fact that they have a meth option. I also know they thoroughly test their kits having had so much experience supercharging e46s. I would have given AA a hard look had the kit been available when I was ordering. Specifically I would have probed on how many kits had been tested, installed, etc. to gauge what kind of reliability I could expect.

Finally, different people value different things.

Some want the absolute most HP because they are going to the drag strip, rocking vBoxes down the toll road or mexico, or some other reason. I think all other things being equal, meth equipped kits will make more power on bad gas. At this point no one really knows which kit makes the most power because no one has used the same gas on the same dyno on the same day with the same supporting mods on each of the different kits. It's all hearsay with uncontrolled variables. There is someone trying to organize a dyno day with representation from each company, but as one might expect even this has created loads of drama. You will be shocked to learn that getting all of the different companies to show up on the same day is proving difficult. Motives are being questioned by all parties and it's the customers that lose. It's too bad because we all want to know that the best mods are for the price and our individual tuning objectives. Since I would have loved knowing which kit does produce the most power, all other things being equal, when I was buying, I will try to make my car available if the dyno day ever comes together as one example of an ESS VT-575.

Some people are tight on cash and are looking for the most bang for the buck. I think the ESS VT-525 kit shines in the value category.

Some people care about how the kit looks. Appearance is subjective. I could care less what the kit looks like because I don't show off my engine.

Others, like me, care about reliability. At the time of my purchase, with the information I had, I felt like ESS had the best probability of being reliable. So that is the kit I bought. The right kit for you will depend on which factors you value. Do your own detective work. You may care about something I haven't even thought about. Anyway, hope that helps.

It is now 2013/14, has your opinion on SC changed ?

[Phanto///M]

Nothing like digging up a 3 year old thread lol.

[Chriskm3]

Originally Posted by Andrew@LutzPerformance

I have had the opportunity to see and talk with the guys at AA about their system for the E9x M3. And I must say everything from the smallest details to the fact that they have spent over a year refining every part of their system. I would not be hesitant at all to recommend this system to any of our customers. If anyone local to Tampa or outside of Tampa has any questions feel free to contact me at anytime.

To the OP Good luck on your F/I choice!

Agreed. As always went a step above perfection. But were always ridiculed for being underpowered compared to others. Not anymore. Good job AA

[meez]

Buy mine, you can't beat the price.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=921290