ESS M3 Supercharger Update

[Lemans_Blue_M]

Originally Posted by BarryC

Rom3n,

Can you summarize the $8995 kit? What's included and the expected hp?

Tried to PM but your box is full.

Thx,
BC

Here are the highlights...

ESS E9x M3 Supercharger Kit - Stage 1 = 540 crank hp (91 octane)

Vortech V3 supercharger
Air-to-air intercooler
Custom cast aluminum intake manifold (that is optimized for boost)
6061-T6 Aluminum supercharger bracket
ESS Forced Induction tuning software

[BarryC]

Originally Posted by Lemans_Blue_M

Here are the highlights...

ESS E9x M3 Supercharger Kit - Stage 1 = 540 crank hp (91 octane)

Vortech V3 supercharger
Air-to-air intercooler
Custom cast aluminum intake manifold (that is optimized for boost)
6061-T6 Aluminum supercharger bracket
ESS Forced Induction tuning software

Would work for me! I'm not terribly interested in 600 or 700 hp due as I perceive more hp = more risk of problems (and heat). So $9k for and additional 125hp sounds good to me...

Thx,
BC

[Green///Hell]

Originally Posted by Lemans_Blue_M

Here are the highlights...

ESS E9x M3 Supercharger Kit - Stage 1 = 540 crank hp (91 octane)

Vortech V3 supercharger
Air-to-air intercooler
Custom cast aluminum intake manifold (that is optimized for boost)
6061-T6 Aluminum supercharger bracket
ESS Forced Induction tuning software

Everything is correct except for the Air-Air intercooler.
The kit has no cooling but it doesn't overheat (if it works in AZ heat is should be good). It is also possible to purchase a kit with all the parts from the stage 2 kit but with a different pulley and tune to run stage 1 power on 91 octane

[DLSJ5]

Originally Posted by PencilGeek

Somebody needs to buy the M3 GTS and have ESS put a supercharger on it!

Agreed!

[SUB-ZERO]

Originally Posted by Lemans_Blue_M

Here are the highlights...

ESS E9x M3 Supercharger Kit - Stage 1 = 540 crank hp (91 octane)

Vortech V3 supercharger
Air-to-air intercooler
Custom cast aluminum intake manifold (that is optimized for boost)
6061-T6 Aluminum supercharger bracket
ESS Forced Induction tuning software

That's a pretty good price if you ask me! I wonder what an install will run.

-SZ

[Lemans_Blue_M]

Originally Posted by Panda///Monic

Everything is correct except for the Air-Air intercooler.
The kit has no cooling but it doesn't overheat (if it works in AZ heat is should be good). It is also possible to purchase a kit with all the parts from the stage 2 kit but with a different pulley and tune to run stage 1 power on 91 octane

Stage 1 has NO COOLING whatsoever?

I thought Roman had mentioned that it did come with a air-to-air FMIC? Hmm...

That would not be an option for me in the Texas heat.

[M3_WC]

Originally Posted by Lemans_Blue_M

Stage 1 has NO COOLING whatsoever?

I thought Roman had mentioned that it did come with a air-to-air FMIC? Hmm...

That would not be an option for me in the Texas heat.

Roman was testing the SC kit all summer here in Arizona.

It was one hot ass summer too. 100 - 110+ degress everyday.

Not sure what stage he ran though.

[sales@ESSTuning]

Originally Posted by BarryC

Rom3n,

Can you summarize the $8995 kit? What's included and the expected hp?

Tried to PM but your box is full.

Thx,
BC

Sorry cleaned up the PM's

Here is the info on our E90 M3 stage 1 kit. Like other stage one kits in our line up its runs low boost and does not require a cooling system. It has been properly durability tested in 100F+ temps. This is a great option for someone who wants a perfectly tuned, easy to install kit that makes great power. This kit includes everything that is in our stage 2 product with the exception of the cooling system and the heat exchanger in the manifold.

VT1-535

535 HP @ 4.5 PSI "91AKI/95RON required"

Introduction price $8,495

Installation by ESS $895

[michaeldorian]

Originally Posted by Rom3n

Sorry cleaned up the PM's

Here is the info on our E90 M3 stage 1 kit. Like other stage one kits in our line up its runs low boost and does not require a cooling system. It has been properly durability tested in 100F+ temps. This is a great option for someone who wants a perfectly tuned, easy to install kit that makes great power. This kit includes everything that is in our stage 2 product with the exception of the cooling system and the heat exchanger in the manifold.

VT1-535

535 HP @ 4.5 PSI "91AKI/95RON required"

Introduction price $8,495

Installation by ESS $895

If we went with the stage 1 kit, would we later in the future be able to add the cooling system and heat exchanger separately?

Do you have the dyno graph for this 535HP kit? I'm interested in how much torque it makes and where.

[Green///Hell]

My guess is you can upgrade but it would be hard since you would have to change airbox as well for the heat exchanger internal one

[mixja]

Earlier in this thread ESS stated that Stage I kit running 5PSI increases intake temps by around 90F...

[05SCM33]

Originally Posted by michaeldorian

If we went with the stage 1 kit, would we later in the future be able to add the cooling system and heat exchanger separately?

Do you have the dyno graph for this 535HP kit? I'm interested in how much torque it makes and where.

+1 on both questions . . . .

[BarryC]

Originally Posted by Rom3n

Sorry cleaned up the PM's

Here is the info on our E90 M3 stage 1 kit. Like other stage one kits in our line up its runs low boost and does not require a cooling system. It has been properly durability tested in 100F+ temps. This is a great option for someone who wants a perfectly tuned, easy to install kit that makes great power. This kit includes everything that is in our stage 2 product with the exception of the cooling system and the heat exchanger in the manifold.

VT1-535

535 HP @ 4.5 PSI "91AKI/95RON required"

Introduction price $8,495

Installation by ESS $895

Thanks for the info. I would also like to know more about the testing of the kit. I know it's been mentioned that the car was driven in 90+ plus heat but what kind of driving? Has the kit been "track" tested in that kind of heat? Here in NC we too have 90+ degree weather and I'd like to know when heat soak sets in with this kit. Is it after driving hard for 5 mins or 30 mins?

Thx,
BC

[sales@ESSTuning]

Our stage 1 kit can be upgraded by adding the cooling system and exchanging the manifold as the VT1-535 manifold does not have a heat exchanger built into it. Below is a dyno we had done of the test car in about 90 deg weather on 91 octane. During this dyno session we did several back to back pulls and the car made very consistant power. The baseline shown is the same car when it was stock. Our production kit will have a little less boost then this test car had during testing.

[sandwood]

apologies if you have explained this elsewhere but what explains the 2nd plateau of the torque curve? I haven't looked at many dyno graphs for this car yet but I thought even supercharged cars would have more of a flat torque curve like the stock motor?

[sales@ESSTuning]

Originally Posted by sandwood

apologies if you have explained this elsewhere but what explains the 2nd plateau of the torque curve? I haven't looked at many dyno graphs for this car yet but I thought even supercharged cars would have more of a flat torque curve like the stock motor?

We wanted to take advantage of the agressive nature of the stock cams to make top end power. The nature of this motor is to make power over 5k RPM so we took full advantage of it. The software used in this car was beta so the curve on the production kit might vary slightly.

[bogdan]

Originally Posted by Rom3n

We wanted to take advantage of the agressive nature of the stock cams to make top end power. The nature of this motor is to make power over 5k RPM so we took full advantage of it. The software used in this car was beta so the curve on the production kit might vary slightly.

How are the AFR's when it turns cold outside (40F and colder)?

Is there still enough fuel to ensure it doesn't go lean?

[sales@ESSTuning]

Originally Posted by bogdan

How are the AFR's when it turns cold outside (40F and colder)?

Is there still enough fuel to ensure it doesn't go lean?

AFR's are perfect in low temps. Original software development was done in Norway where the temps are not exactly ideal during the year.

[sales@ESSTuning]

DCT software development has been finished for our supercharger systems. We have learned alot over the past 6 months. We have learned that the transmission in this car can handle 500 ft/lb tq but it is limited by the software that controls it. The stock DCT software has its limits when used with the added TQ and HP of a supercharger. The stock DCT software has a decent clutch engagement on upshifts but delay's downshifts and slips the clutch a bit to provide a smooth, safe driving expierence. This is ok when the car is making 400 HP but when you approach 575 chp and 390 ft/lb tq the clutch engagement is too slow on downshifts. The result of this is that the motor rev's into high RPM's while the transmissions software is trying to figure out when and how to engage the clutch sometimes resulting in a transmission overheat and limp mode. This happens when you stay under WOT and downshift or you are in D mode and you go WOT and the car tries to downshift on its own. The torque the transmission is receiving is simply not what the stock software was programmed to handle. A DCT equipped car can be run with high HP and stock software but it is very limiting and it would require the driver to be careful and get off the throttle when downshifting or launching the car with lauch control.

There are two fixes for this issue and they depend on how much power you add to the car. The first is for HP ratings of 575 chp and below. This is to have the engine ECU programmed to reduce power during downshifts until the clutch is engaged so that the stock DCT software can deal with the transmission as designed. This was difficult and time consuming to program but it works well and does not require the DCT ECU to be flashed as we can do this in our engine ECU software. The second is to have us flash our custom DCT software into the transmissions ECU. This software increases the speed of the clutch engagement during upshifts and also speeds up the clutch engagement during downshifts providing quicker, firmer shifts without the hiccups. This software allows you to run high HP thru the DCT transmission properly.

Adding custom DCT software to the M3 is difficult as the interface to do so is not a common interface like the one used to flash the engine ECU software. The DCT ECU is also not located in a place that it can be removed and shipped like the engins ECU. This means that we need the car here at our facility to load custom DCT software. Not only is the interface complicated but if you make a mistake while loading the DCT software the transmission will lock up and the car will be disabled. Even if you somehow get the interface to access it the DCT software it is extreamly complex and difficult to work with as the only people who know how its coded work for BMW.

With all of this said this is how we will handle DCT equipped cars. VT1-535 and VT2-575 will come with software to limit power delivery during downshifts and will work great with stock DCT software. Custom DCT software will be available as an option on these kits to customers who have us install the kit. VT2-600+ on a DCT car will require us to do the installation as the car will need our custom software to perform properly. Manual cars have no limits as we have run 700+ HP on them with no issues.

I have been running the final production version of this software in my car for the past week and it is fantastic. Upshifts are firm and lightning quick and downshifts are much better then before. This same custom software will be available in a different version to customers who would like better performing DCT software in their NA cars but as I said this will require us to have access to the car.

[kiloil]

Originally Posted by Rom3n

DCT software development has been finished for our supercharger systems. We have learned alot over the past 6 months. We have learned that the transmission in this car can handle 500 ft/lb tq but it is limited by the software that controls it. The stock DCT software has its limits when used with the added TQ and HP of a supercharger. The stock DCT software has a decent clutch engagement on upshifts but delay's downshifts and slips the clutch a bit to provide a smooth, safe driving expierence. This is ok when the car is making 400 HP but when you approach 575 chp and 390 ft/lb tq the clutch engagement is too slow on downshifts. The result of this is that the motor rev's into high RPM's while the transmissions software is trying to figure out when and how to engage the clutch sometimes resulting in a transmission overheat and limp mode. This happens when you stay under WOT and downshift or you are in D mode and you go WOT and the car tries to downshift on its own. The torque the transmission is receiving is simply not what the software was programmed to handle. A DCT equipped car can be run with high HP and stock software but it is very limiting and it would require the driver to be careful and get off the throttle when downshifting.

There are two fixes for this issue and they depend on how much power you add to the car. The first is for HP ratings of 575 chp and below. This is to have the engine ECU programmed to reduce power during downshifts until the clutch is engaged so that the stock DCT software can deal with the transmission as designed. This was difficult and time consuming to program but it works well and does not require the DCT ECU to be flashed as we can do this in our engine ECU software. The second is to have us flash our custom DCT software into the transmissions ECU. This software increases the speed of the clutch engagement during upshifts and also speeds up the clutch engagement during downshifts providing quicker, firmer shifts without the hiccups. This software allows you to run high HP thru the DCT transmission properly.

Adding custom DCT software to the M3 is difficult as the interface to do so is not a common interface like the one used to flash the engine ECU software. The DCT ECU is also not located in a place that it can be removed and shipped like the engins ECU. This means that we need the car here at our facility to load custom DCT software. Not only is the interface complicated but if you make a mistake while loading the DCT software the transmission will lock up and the car will be disabled. Even if you somehow get the interface to access it the DCT software it is extreamly complex and difficult to work with as the only people who know how its coded work for BMW.

With all of this said this is how we will handle DCT equipped cars. VT1-535 and VT2-575 will come with software to limit power delivery during downshifts and will work great with stock DCT software. Custom DCT software will be available as an option on these kits to customers who have us install the kit. VT2-600+ on a DCT car will require us to do the installation as the car will need our custom software to perform properly. Manual cars have no limits as we have run 700+ HP on them with no issues.

I have been running the final production version of this software in my car for the past week and it is fantastic. Upshifts are firm and lightning quick and downshifts are much better then before. This same custom software will be available in a different version to customers who would like better performing DCT software in their NA cars but as I said this will require us to have access to the car.

MT FTW! JK DCT peeps.

[Tio///M]

Originally Posted by Rom3n

DCT software development has been finished for our supercharger systems. We have learned alot over the past 6 months. We have learned that the transmission in this car can handle 500 ft/lb tq but it is limited by the software that controls it. The stock DCT software has its limits when used with the added TQ and HP of a supercharger. The stock DCT software has a decent clutch engagement on upshifts but delay's downshifts and slips the clutch a bit to provide a smooth, safe driving expierence. This is ok when the car is making 400 HP but when you approach 575 chp and 390 ft/lb tq the clutch engagement is too slow on downshifts. The result of this is that the motor rev's into high RPM's while the transmissions software is trying to figure out when and how to engage the clutch sometimes resulting in a transmission overheat and limp mode. This happens when you stay under WOT and downshift or you are in D mode and you go WOT and the car tries to downshift on its own. The torque the transmission is receiving is simply not what the software was programmed to handle. A DCT equipped car can be run with high HP and stock software but it is very limiting and it would require the driver to be careful and get off the throttle when downshifting.

There are two fixes for this issue and they depend on how much power you add to the car. The first is for HP ratings of 575 chp and below. This is to have the engine ECU programmed to reduce power during downshifts until the clutch is engaged so that the stock DCT software can deal with the transmission as designed. This was difficult and time consuming to program but it works well and does not require the DCT ECU to be flashed as we can do this in our engine ECU software. The second is to have us flash our custom DCT software into the transmissions ECU. This software increases the speed of the clutch engagement during upshifts and also speeds up the clutch engagement during downshifts providing quicker, firmer shifts without the hiccups. This software allows you to run high HP thru the DCT transmission properly.

Adding custom DCT software to the M3 is difficult as the interface to do so is not a common interface like the one used to flash the engine ECU software. The DCT ECU is also not located in a place that it can be removed and shipped like the engins ECU. This means that we need the car here at our facility to load custom DCT software. Not only is the interface complicated but if you make a mistake while loading the DCT software the transmission will lock up and the car will be disabled. Even if you somehow get the interface to access it the DCT software it is extreamly complex and difficult to work with as the only people who know how its coded work for BMW.

With all of this said this is how we will handle DCT equipped cars. VT1-535 and VT2-575 will come with software to limit power delivery during downshifts and will work great with stock DCT software. Custom DCT software will be available as an option on these kits to customers who have us install the kit. VT2-600+ on a DCT car will require us to do the installation as the car will need our custom software to perform properly. Manual cars have no limits as we have run 700+ HP on them with no issues.

I have been running the final production version of this software in my car for the past week and it is fantastic. Upshifts are firm and lightning quick and downshifts are much better then before. This same custom software will be available in a different version to customers who would like better performing DCT software in their NA cars but as I said this will require us to have access to the car.

Absolutely incredible R&D...hmmm I wonder how many more companies have done this type of R&D with this much time invested. We'll see what others have to say!!!

[Green///Hell]

Sounds awesome for all the AZ and local surrounding area cars with DCT, bye bye to Lag

Good amount of R&D going in here, wonder if VF and AA will also come out with similar software pretty soon