My Review of the ESS VT1 Supercharger Kit

[E90///M3`]

Dyno Charts and more pictures to follow in the coming weeks...


I've trusted ESS since the day i tried the beta version of the NA Tune. Even though my version of the NA Tune only had an extra 5-6hp in the midrange, I still enjoyed how much more smooth the car ran. After the pre-MFEST meet @ Oakley Headquarters earlier this year, I got the chance to talk with Roman & AJ about updating my software to the current version they had been distributing. About 30min later AJ accommodated me and re-tuned the car right there! After talking with them at great length about the supercharger kit, i decided to save some money and purchase their kit.


I recently picked up my E90M3 after having the ESS VT1-535 Supercharger kit installed and let me tell you... After having the car for only three days, I've already put over 250 more miles on the car... I'm more happy with my car than EVER!!!


I really don't know how much power i'm putting down quite yet, PLUS i'm still running the stock muffler & x-pipe. I wouldn't be surprised if the stock muffler & x-pipe are restricting the full power of the kit but we'll see once Arqray exhaust finally arrives. I will be doing a before & after dyno run the same day of the exhaust install.


On my way home from picking up the car i decided to reset my gas mileage to see how much of a change there really was. To my surprise, the gas mileage didn't change too much on the freeway. At a cruising speed of 75mph over a distance of over 40 miles, the gauge read 21.2mpg!! During stop-n-go driving during traffic the next day my gas mileage did go down from an original average of 18.4mpg to about 17mpg, which was to be expected.


As for power delivery... to be honest, i haven't had a good chance to really PUSH the car but getting to 100mph is absolutely NO PROBLEM! First gear is almost not even needed cause i'm into 2nd gear in practically no time at all! When going through the gears it's not like an abrupt delivery to the wheels, it feels more smooth as if i didn't even have the supercharger installed! I can't say enough about the car.

One thing i do wanna say about the VT1-535 is that if you're still THINKING about getting the kit or VT2 or even higher... just DO ET!!!!



Here are a few pictures i have during & after the install:



Once everything was test-fitted, we sent the plenum & supercharger off to be painted. Here is the final look of the car as she sits today:







Major props and thanks to the homie Mark for a staying up late doing the install...
Laidback aka Chris, thanks for making this project a success by coordinating everything!
Roman, thanks for shipping everything out so quickly and always being there for any questions I've had before, during & after the install.








REMEMBER, these runs were done on 91 Octane with a stock x-pipe and Arqray Muffler (VT1-535 with 5psi pulley)

[ooowowizstev]

Sooo nice

[SIIK2NR]

cost out of pocket and why did you go with vt1?

[M3Alpine]

awesome man.... paint looks great... enjoy your new power

[forumes]

cograts

EnjooooooooooooooY

but how you removed the ess tuning writing from the top of the mainfold

[Dengel]

http://badcopnodonuts.com/2010/07/08...stormtroopers/

is that you on the left here?

[DLSJ5]

The kit looks great, congrats Jason!

[Green///Hell]

Originally Posted by forumes

cograts

EnjooooooooooooooY

but how you removed the ess tuning writing from the top of the mainfold

buff and sand them down and smoothen out the plenum

Did you go with the full VT1 or VT1 with the cooling installed?

[E90///M3`]

Originally Posted by SIIK2NR

cost out of pocket and why did you go with vt1?

including install and everything? a little under 10k

Originally Posted by M3Alpine

awesome man.... paint looks great... enjoy your new power

you better believe i will!

Originally Posted by forumes

but how you removed the ess tuning writing from the top of the mainfold

exactly what Green///Hell said... i actually have another set of badges that i'm having painted and will place it where it's supposed to be

Originally Posted by Dengel

http://badcopnodonuts.com/2010/07/08...stormtroopers/

is that you on the left here?

ya, John was over at the shop while we were finishing up the installs on both kits and he snapped a few pictures

Originally Posted by DLSJ5

The kit looks great, congrats Jason!

Thanks Drew... i appreciate the kind words

Originally Posted by Green///Hell

Did you go with the full VT1 or VT1 with the cooling installed?

the water to Air intercooler? i wish i could have but i'll just upgrade later when i can save up a little more

[AJ@ESS]

Originally Posted by Green///Hell

buff and sand them down and smoothen out the plenum

Did you go with the full VT1 or VT1 with the cooling installed?

There is no VT1 with cooling, all VT1's are non-IC. The closest intercooled kit to the VT1-535 is the VT2-550.

[Bob MG]

Congrats Jason.. You will see how addictive power is, you will be selling your mom soon to get that VT2 upgrade

[LvnLrg213]

Congrats!

[rAdzM]

Originally Posted by Bob MG

Congrats Jason.. You will see how addictive power is, you will be selling your mom soon to get that VT2 upgrade

lol

congrats Jason!

[KiokenM3]

congrats and welcome to the club

[ersin]

Originally Posted by Dengel

http://badcopnodonuts.com/2010/07/08...stormtroopers/

is that you on the left here?

Blown stormtroopers!




Cheers.

[GBX]

what's everyones feeling on the fact that this blower needs its oil changed about every 7-8k miles? As a daily driver, it just seems like a pain in the ass to me. Granted it only takes 15 minutes (from what i've read), but i'd much rather the blower share its oil with the motor and change that. If it was a weekend car, i wouldn't car so much but as a daily driver, idk. Thoughts?

[LateBraking]

Originally Posted by GBX

what's everyones feeling on the fact that this blower needs its oil changed about every 7-8k miles? As a daily driver, it just seems like a pain in the ass to me. Granted it only takes 15 minutes (from what i've read), but i'd much rather the blower share its oil with the motor and change that. If it was a weekend car, i wouldn't car so much but as a daily driver, idk. Thoughts?

It just sounds to me that you change the oil on the blower at the same time that you're changing your engine oil anyways, at every 5-7.5k miles.

[sales@ESSTuning]

Originally Posted by GBX

what's everyones feeling on the fact that this blower needs its oil changed about every 7-8k miles? As a daily driver, it just seems like a pain in the ass to me. Granted it only takes 15 minutes (from what i've read), but i'd much rather the blower share its oil with the motor and change that. If it was a weekend car, i wouldn't car so much but as a daily driver, idk. Thoughts?

There are several reasons behind the design. First it simplifies the installation process. You do not need to run additional oil lines and tap into the cars motor oil. Also by not sharing the oil with the motor it helps to keep oil temps down during operation. It's a simple process to change the oil in the blower; it only takes about 5 min. Most have it done when the car gets its motor oil changed.

[GBX]

Originally Posted by Rom3n

There are several reasons behind the design. First it simplifies the installation process. You do not need to run additional oil lines and tap into the cars motor oil. Also by not sharing the oil with the motor it helps to keep oil temps down during operation. It's a simple process to change the oil in the blower; it only takes about 5 min. Most have it done when the car gets its motor oil changed.

ok, ya sold me. I just always look for the less maintainence option on a mod like this. The ASA blower i had on my 330ci used the engines oil..it was just one less thing to worry about but this sounds easy enough!!

[mikewads]

Originally Posted by Rom3n

There are several reasons behind the design. First it simplifies the installation process. You do not need to run additional oil lines and tap into the cars motor oil. Also by not sharing the oil with the motor it helps to keep oil temps down during operation. It's a simple process to change the oil in the blower; it only takes about 5 min. Most have it done when the car gets its motor oil changed.

Also, lets say something fails inside the supercharger (like a bad bearing or a gear). Would you want those fine pieces of metal going into your M3s engine oil?

[Ryan@IND]

Congrats and enjoy the car!

[biglare]

Congrats Jason!

The color on the manifold came out nice!

Can't wait to hear your impressions after a few days/weeks and see more pics.