E53 Headders/ Gears?

[2002Silver4.6is]

Hey Warbucks... how about some stats on what you have done to the X to make her faster than the M5! Have you done anything to reduce the weight of your X5?

[mrkbbd]

I find it very easy to believe that a 500 hp X5 beat a cobra, I've raced a cobra in a CLK500 coupe (302hp and 339tq) and owned him...it all goes down to the gearing, most American cars are no good on the top end because it's scary to be in one going at more than 90

[Daddy_Warbucks]

Originally Posted by 2002Silver4.6is

Hey Warbucks... how about some stats on what you have done to the X to make her faster than the M5! Have you done anything to reduce the weight of your X5?

Well... funny thing you should mention this... others have hinted at it too. I guess it shouldn't be a shock to anyone that the X5 is very weight sensitive... meaning that.. even just running the gas tank down to almost empty makes the thing seem a whole lot faster. So is any car. When I go to the track, I do a couple of things:

1. Remove the spare and back floor.
2. Remove the rear seat (just the bottom... it comes out easily)
3. Make a trip to the airport and fill with AvGas (100+++ octane gaso).
4. Never run at the track with more than 1/8 of a tank of gas... even if I
have to carry a 5 gal can with me to refill before leaving the track.

Here's something else about the X5 that, unless you've seriously raced before, you miss... two wheel drive cars with lots of HP and less than perfect tires will SPIN the wheels as they leave the start line in a race. That is incredibly foolish... and sets you at a huge disadvantage to a 4-wheel drive vehicle that puts all the power efficiently to the pavement with little or no wheel spin. I can't tell you the number of times I've looked back after starting a race to see the opponents car still sitting at the line in a cloud of tire smoke. The race is over in the first few feet... because once the X5 gets over 3K RPM (where all the HP is made)... any advantage the opponent would have had is gone. Here's another thing... an automatic will beat a standard 9 times out of 10, and it doesn't miss shifts!

Its incredible how well matched my M5 and X5 really are... yet in the end, the X5 can take the M5. My wife just got her new 335 Twin Turbo convert two weeks ago... we aren't past the 1000 mile break-in period (interesting program... the software keeps the motor in slow mode... messing with the vanos timing, turbo bypass, etc. until 1000 miles have past)... so we don't know what it is capable of. I'm sure we will have a new data point soon!

I'm currently looking for someone with a crashed X5 4.8 that I can buy to build a stroker motor to replace the 4.6...

I could post pictures, but my X5 looks like any run-of-the-mill silver X5. I could post pictures of the HP goodies I suppose...

[Daddy_Warbucks]

Originally Posted by bigfish

DWB,

Thanks for the update. What did the gears, plus install run? Did you have to exchange your stock gears or did you keep them?

I have Dinan working on my 03 4.6is S3, they are reducing the SC pulley wheel diameter to increase boost. They were very reluctant to do this. They say that the engine is strong enough to handle approx 1 to 1.5lbs of additional boost. However the weakest link seems to be the transmission. They believe with the additional HP and torque the tranny with be the first victim.

I should have my car back next week, I will keep you posted on gains. My next mods will be an inter-cooler (technically it's an methanol and water after-cooler) and boost gauge.

This past summer I went to a event held by Los Angeles Chapter of BMWCCA at California Speedway in Fontana. It was two day clinic that gave equal parts of classroom driving instruction and track time. Each participant was paired with an SCCA driving instructor and we got to take our vehicles out and drive them right to the edge. When the DSC is off and the tires are hot, you can get the X5 to allot more then I thought. You are connected to the in-car instructor via a two way radio in your helmet (really cool) they are constantly giving you input, feedback and instruction. These guys and one girl really know what a car can do!

I talked my instructor into taking me in his car for a few hot laps, I was holding onto the harness the whole time, repeating shit, shit, shit as we went down from the banked turn on to the apron at 130mph and that was at least 50mph faster then we had gone in the X. It was worth every penny and I am planning on doing it again this year!

I was one of two X5's in a total of around 90 other cars, mostly M3's & M5's also a couple of P-cars (GT3 R's). It was a good time, the other X5 had suspension problems and had to retire at the end of the first day. But we earned a little respect from the M drivers over the weekend.

Long story short (to late for that) I hooked up with a couple of guys who custom fabricated their own inter-coolers and were running boost gauges. I am going to work them and also another local shop to see what we can come up with for the supercharged X5!


Bigfish

If you get a chance... measure the size of the pulley on your Supercharger and tell me what you are running now. I worked on Dinan too.

I'm also curious if you ever got an intercooler?

[2002Silver4.6is]

Make sure if you guys are playing with smaller pulleys that you have good ignition managment. I am not that familiar how it would be done on the X5 but I wish I had installed a MSD ignition control on my old Expedition with a Pro Charger Supercharger. Went quite small with the pulley and ended up putting hole in two pistons due to pre-detination!!

[Daddy_Warbucks]

Originally Posted by 2002Silver4.6is

Make sure if you guys are playing with smaller pulleys that you have good ignition managment. I am not that familiar how it would be done on the X5 but I wish I had installed a MSD ignition control on my old Expedition with a Pro Charger Supercharger. Went quite small with the pulley and ended up putting hole in two pistons due to pre-detination!!

That's a good point. While MSD isn't particularly suitable for BMWs... there are some brands that are... The existing module can be reporgrammed pretty easily (let Dinan know what you did and they can provide modified code for a pretty huge price), but there is somethign better or so I've found. VEMS makes a completely integrated engine management system that allows you (read that: someone with a lot of time on their hands) do a lot of messing with the programming... And so does AEM (http://www.evosport.com/product/aem/default.aspx) which is a more refined product.

[Daddy_Warbucks]

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[wallyx5]

WarBucks,

Where are the pictures? We all want to see the X. Nice work on the mods

[m5james]

Bump for pics and updates on an old thread.

[petener999]

Still waiting for pics