M54. Let the foolishness begin.

[PiercedE30]

Yea, I think they released it on the 1st of the month. I know there was a post over on BF.c (FI section) about the release last week.
Best thing about it - ~$350 bucks for the chip and USB cable. This is pretty much going to be the Hondata for the BMW world. It pretty much means that the SharkEDIT software that was delayed and pushed back and never brought to fruition is now never going to happen.

[pporcaro]

so i just found this thread today, and....













sweet chocolate christ is this awesome

[hoveringuy]

Cam timing.. DONE!

So, last time I went to the dyno had some some unanticipated results from retarding the exhaust cam that led me to wonder if my static cam timing was correct. That led me to an exhaustive search to find the data on what stock M54's are supposed to look like.

Unfortunately, the factory specifications weren't helping me because I measure the cams electronically and have no idea where my lobe centers are.

I measured two M54's directly with my circuit and found that the intake cams were 13 degrees off from where mine was.

The smoking gun??

I thought so, but I pulled my motor apart and re-timed my cams to a gnat's ass and only changed (advanced) my intake cam by 3 crank degrees. I was still 10 degrees off. Or was I?

I finally measured another M54 today and learned that the ECU was commanding 10 degrees of advance at idle, which is not a documented feature. So, my motor is timed perfectly and was only off by a few degrees all along.

I'll be ready to go back to the dyno in a few weeks, I've recently upgraded to an M3 muffler from regular e36 muffler and am waiting for a TRM tune to round things out. I'm still expecting 210-215 wheel HP out of this motor without getting into cams or long-tube headers.

The M3 muffler is nice! Sounds great and it seems to pull better. Not surprising, since the e36 muffler was only engineered for 2.5 litres.

Meanwhile, the car is a blast as a DD and the standalone VANOS circuit works so well that I forget that I have it.

[e30polak]

So, last time I went to the dyno had some some unanticipated results from retarding the exhaust cam that led me to wonder if my static cam timing was correct. That led me to an exhaustive search to find the data on what stock M54's are supposed to look like.

Unfortunately, the factory specifications weren't helping me because I measure the cams electronically and have no idea where my lobe centers are.

I measured two M54's directly with my circuit and found that the intake cams were 13 degrees off from where mine was.

The smoking gun??

I thought so, but I pulled my motor apart and re-timed my cams to a gnat's ass and only changed (advanced) my intake cam by 3 crank degrees. I was still 10 degrees off. Or was I?

I finally measured another M54 today and learned that the ECU was commanding 10 degrees of advance at idle, which is not a documented feature. So, my motor is timed perfectly and was only off by a few degrees all along.

I'll be ready to go back to the dyno in a few weeks, I've recently upgraded to an M3 muffler from regular e36 muffler and am waiting for a TRM tune to round things out. I'm still expecting 210-215 wheel HP out of this motor without getting into cams or long-tube headers.

The M3 muffler is nice! Sounds great and it seems to pull better. Not surprising, since the e36 muffler was only engineered for 2.5 litres.

Meanwhile, the car is a blast as a DD and the standalone VANOS circuit works so well that I forget that I have it.

Glad to hear! Your work on this swap is truly inspiring! :D

[hoveringuy]

benchtop dyno

So this is pretty cool...

http://performancetrends.com/download.htm#eapro

I had nothing to do at work yesterday so I downloaded the demo of Engine Analizer Pro. It's a full version of the software that expires after 10 days. It will model your engine accurately if you take the time to give it the right data.

I spent some time configuring it and with my cam specs the software calculated 235hp. Very close!

I played with changing cam duration, cam lift and saw how the power changed. Neet-O!

I played a lot with advancing the intake timing and was rewarded with a nice plot that shows a shift in power to lower rpm's. I gave it different amounts of intake advance, all the way up to 20 degrees, and plotted the perfect advance vs rpm graph.

I played with retarding the exhaust timing and COULDN"T GET MORE stinking POWER anywhere over the stock setting!

This is just a software simulation, but it completely matches what I saw on the dyno and I'm really starting to wonder what exhaust VANOS is good for. It doesn't seem to help with peak power, even though the motor feels livelier with some exhaust retard.

So, 20 degrees of variable intake VANOS=good. DISA, good. Aluminum, great.

Exhaust VANOS, not so much.

I think this motor will make 240 crank hp with the stock cams, 250 with ZHP cams and around 260 with Schrick. More with proper headers and a 3.5" MAF.

PEI330CI is making over 250 whp on his M54...

[2002maniac]

I thought exhaust vanos was good for emissions. Is that about it?

So it seems like this project could be alot simpler if you could just lock the exh vanos and run a stockish OBD1 setup.

cool!

[hoveringuy]

I thought exhaust vanos was good for emissions. Is that about it?

So it seems like this project could be alot simpler if you could just lock the exh vanos and run a stockish OBD1 setup.

cool!

It is good for emissions... they use it as a replacement for EGR valves because they can use for internal exhaust gas recirculation.

In may case, I'm not convinced so much that it helps peak power, but I do feel that it helps part-throttle driveability a lot. It reduces pumping losses or something like that.

I'll keep it retarded about 5 degrees at mid-rpms and have it off at higher rpms.

I'm still learning how to use it.

[Court M3]

Just got to Bremerton. Can't wait to see this car.

[hoveringuy]

I'm phsyched...

TRM multi-tune is on the way, my next dyno session should be really interesting.

The car is already running well, I'm excited to see what TRM can do over my generic Dinan S50 tune!

I also have the version 3.0 VANOS controller CAD files ready for Malaysia to fabricate my first dedicated circuit board. Final measurement is 2" x 3.4". The ultimate version will be around 2" x 2".

e30S52 has also graciously agreed to flog my car at the e30 picnic and give me some feedback.

[e30s52]

O I am excited :D

[e30polak]

So this is pretty cool...

http://performancetrends.com/download.htm#eapro

I had nothing to do at work yesterday so I downloaded the demo of Engine Analizer Pro. It's a full version of the software that expires after 10 days. It will model your engine accurately if you take the time to give it the right data.

I spent some time configuring it and with my cam specs the software calculated 235hp. Very close!

I played with changing cam duration, cam lift and saw how the power changed. Neet-O!

I played a lot with advancing the intake timing and was rewarded with a nice plot that shows a shift in power to lower rpm's. I gave it different amounts of intake advance, all the way up to 20 degrees, and plotted the perfect advance vs rpm graph.

I played with retarding the exhaust timing and COULDN"T GET MORE stinking POWER anywhere over the stock setting!

This is just a software simulation, but it completely matches what I saw on the dyno and I'm really starting to wonder what exhaust VANOS is good for. It doesn't seem to help with peak power, even though the motor feels livelier with some exhaust retard.

So, 20 degrees of variable intake VANOS=good. DISA, good. Aluminum, great.

Exhaust VANOS, not so much.

I think this motor will make 240 crank hp with the stock cams, 250 with ZHP cams and around 260 with Schrick. More with proper headers and a 3.5" MAF.

PEI330CI is making over 250 whp on his M54...

^ He also has a fully built motor.

Love what your doing. Keep us posted on the results! :D

[Edev]

Bump! Daniel has been telling me about your swap and what you've done.

[hoveringuy]

Bump! Daniel has been telling me about your swap and what you've done.

Yeah, we did some car swapping. It was fun. e30s52 also took it for a good drive. Having never driven an S52 before I'd be speaking out my ass if I made any comparisons, but their impressions were encouraging.

I also started assembling the components in my new circuit card (see above a few posts) and there's already some errors that will need a revision 2 to fix. The problem with CAD files is they sent me EXACTLY what I ordered. The bastards!

The good news is that the TRM multi-tune rocks! I've got my WOT A/F ratios in the 13 range at WOT from around 14.5-15 before.

Ebay headers on the way. Another session on the dyno in 2 weeks with M3 muffler, ebay header and TRM tune. 215 wheel hp??

[e30s52]

I drove the car on sunday. It felt just like the s52 up too around 6000 rpm's. Around that range is the only diffrence I felt between the two. The M54 did have more torque in the lower rpms. The car was perfect though. It felt just like a stock but with tons of power.

Thanks again steve!

[jrdeamicis]

Thats great to hear. Im really interested to see where this car can go.


I love the amount of ground work that has been put it into this. It has a place near my heart :)