3.0 Power Adder Options
 

Hey guys/gals,

Been looking for alternatives to my E53 X5 3.0 but ultimately just love this SAV too much. It's obviously becoming more and more outdated but I've been updating things trying keep my better half happy with modern day creature comforts. One thing I need since I tow my track cars with it a lot, is more tq. I know these motors quite well, and they can definitely handle some abuse but I haven't seen anyone try to supercharge the 3.0 in the E53 chassis. Has anyone tried it yet? I feel like 300 hp / 300 tq at the crank would make this the perfect vehicle all around without sacrificing much in reliability.

I'm local to CES Motorsports in Charlotte NC who builds some of the strongest M5x motors in the country so we've talked about some options but just curious what is out there so far.

Thoughts?

Eh. You’re asking to be stuck at the side of the road doing that. It’s one thing to put a blower on and rip around like Happy. It’s another to put a blower on and go tow.

Sounds like a great job for a V8 :P

What do you think the weak link will be? Right now I'm limited to less than 100hp (calculated through my tuner app) during towing to keep things from getting hot due to RPM. Figure the SC could bring more low end hp so I could keep RPM down even lower during towing.

Absolutely and loved my 4.6 when I had it. Just was a relability nightmare and had to be towed home more often than my track cars lol. Sold it and got its equivalent with the 3.0 and its been an absolute tank of an SAV. I tow a 3800 lb GTR with it and it struggles to say the least.

I think that the 4.6 is the least reliable X5 out there.

What do you mean you are "limited to keep things from getting hot due to RPM?" Are you purposefully slowing down your driving because you think it's too hot, or are you getting warnings on the dash?

Adding more horsepower to the equation (boost or otherwise) would just make an overheating problem worse. Unless your heat problem is just in your head, you probably need to address that first before adding more power (and heat), right?

Most blower options are centrifugal and won't add much of anything for low end torque. Also, I'm not sure why you think that a bunch of boost will add less load / heat to the drivetrain than a few more RPMs?

As for the weak link when going forced induction, well, people usually eat a couple motors when trying to do something unusual. I don't know of anyone who has built an FI M54 for towing. That's VERY different from building an FI M54 for giggles or track. I also wouldn't have much expectation of longevity from the transmission. After that, IIRC, the 3.0i auto got a bunch of downrated other drivetrain parts that I'd want to swap to V8 / 3.0i manual spec.

In terms of getting what you want, you'd want a small turbo setup if the goal is low end torque. But, again, I'd advise against this. You're going to spend a lot of time fighting it.

My X5 trans overheats when trying to stay at highway speeds while towing the GTR. Mainly because to keep up with the flow of traffic I have to give it enough throttle that it downshifts to 4th and my RPMs typically are around 4500+. Increase in RPM creates friction and thus heat at an exponential scale. Hence why diesels are typically so well mannered for towing.

Boost actually doesn't add that much more peak stress to a bottom end. You'd be surprised to find that you'll stress an engine rods and crank from trying to add 1,000 more RPMs than you will adding a few pounds of boost. Of course if you can always get out of hand with adding power, but that's not what I'm going for here.

Thought about this initially as well. Would definitely give the low end tq since the load could build more boost. BUT my turbo cars over the years I've always fought with reliability and heat issues where my SC'd cars have not. I've seen several stock motor M54 from our local BMW shops push 400-450 whp unopened so not too worried about the motor. Just have no experience with the transmission so far.

You are most definitely not going to solve your transmission overheating problem by adding boost so you can have more HP at lower RPM. If you tow a 3800lb car with a 1,500+lb trailer you are right at the limit of the 3.0 auto's towing capacity (5,500lbs). It's far more likely that your transmission is in need of maintenance or at best an external cooler. Then you could just use the throttle normally in your current motor instead of adding horsepower so you can overheat your transmission even more by transmitting more horsepower (and thus more heat) through it.

Why don't you add a transmission cooler? You will need that no matter what, and that's a lot cheaper and more reliable than trying to brew up an FI solution.

As for diesels, well, the thing about them is that they HAVE to be force fed to make enough power to perform well. And they are built from the factory to withstand all that. Also, my diesel truck has a transmission cooler and a trans temp gauge from the factory because, well, they still overheat.

It adds different stress. BMW engines are largely built to withstand revs within reason. The big problem on the M54 is the lack of an oil pump chain guide/tensioner.

Were literally any of those M54s being used for towing? I bet the answer is no.

So it sounds like there are a few deterents on increasing power output on the E53 3.0, but no one has really tried? Surprising to me since the BMW inline 6's of this era are pretty impressive, which I can't say the same for the V8's they made which ESS and dinan made supercharge kits for.

Upgrading the trans cooler will solve the overheating issue, which is fine, but anyone who has towed the max rated load with the 3.0 probably can share my experience with it needing a bit more power.

I literally referenced a member of the forum with a blower on his M54 in this thread. :)

I still think that a well maintained N62 is a much better option that'll give you more of what you want and cost a lot less to get there. And the ZF 6-speed auto kicks the shit out of the GM box that all 3.0i automatics got.

If you said to me "I want a manual X5 and I want to tow with it," then figuring out ways to add power to the 3.0i would be one thing. (And I have towed with my 6MT X5.) But I wouldn't let your bad experience with what has to be the least reliable E53 in existence rule out the V8s completely.

I also tow a camper trailer regularly with my 3.0i/5MT X5. I weighed the trailer last year on a trip home, and it ends up around 4,000-4,500lbs, with a gross vehicle weight of over 9,000lbs fully loaded. So my X5 with trailer is probably slightly lighter than your X5 with trailer, but has a lot more aerodynamic drag on the highway, being a short but full-width and full-height trailer.

Of course with the 3.0 it takes a lot of effort to maintain speed while climbing hills, but I am able to maintain speed on the highway without downshifting. Especially at sea level I don't have any trouble on the highway in 5th gear unless I am trying to go 75mph or there is a serious headwind. (I live at 4,000ft and there's a noticeable difference at my elevation, but still it is possible.) Granted I do not own the automatic trans, but based on this experience I would assume something is wrong with your transmission if it is overheating just trying to maintain speed on the highway with your trailer.

(On a further note: I climb a mountain pass with my fully loaded trailer at least once every year, going up to about 5,500 feet on steep grades in the middle of the summer. These trips always have multiple climbs where I am spending 10 or more minutes at WOT, usually switching between third and fourth gear, at 95+ degrees outside, and I have never had a problem. I'd challenge anybody to think up a scenario that's tougher on a motor/transmission combination than spending ten straight minutes at WOT in between 4,500-6,000 rpm!)

Actually it's the opposite, increased RPM gets rid of heat faster, especially apparent on a diesel. Typical "I tow a race car" thinking.

Went back through but still didn't see this reference, maybe an issue on my end. Can you share again?

Great info, thanks for sharing! My total weight with the GTR and trailer is about 6300 lbs (I know I know), and it goes into limp mode going up hills at anything over 70 mph. I can put around at 60 mph all day long. But it sounds its just some maintenance will fix most of this.

User is Happy. See post #2.

Oh I definitely read that sentence wrong lol

Well you are definitely exceeding the tow rating of your vehicle (it is either 5,500 or 6,000, I think it's 5,500 but I might be wrong).



However a good aftermarket transmission cooler should probably be enough to help you tow that weight reasonably without overheating. Along with regular transmission maintenance.

3.0 Power Adder Options
 

500 flywheel hp on a stock M54 should be treated with a bit of respect. That is a lot of power for that particular power plant stock. I personally worry at times.

The M54 will handle 4500 rpm’s no problem .

E53 RiPPeR
XOuTPoST jUNkiE
ReVELaTiON 22:21

I was riding around in 4.4is the other day, and I can confidently say that, this is the best advice.


E53 RiPPeR
XOuTPoST jUNkiE
ReVELaTiON 22:21

+1

I did the math in.. when was that? 2011? I was set to strap on (intentional euphemism) a blower to my '04 3.0. I'd owned it for 7 years and it had ~100k miles. Of course, I would have followed the same path as I had on my SC'd 540: Brakes, big ass aluminum radi, ALLL the suspension stuff, and for the automatic- an uprated cooler. At the time, I would have dropped north of $12k to prep the i6 *AND* add a blower. SC should be considered the very LAST thing to add after prepping the drivetrain for big changes.

Instead, I found a 4.8is with something like 11k miles. I sold the 100k mile i6 and dropped about $13k more to purchase the 4.8is. I netted WAY more power than the simple bolt-up SC would give the 3.0, and it was EVERYwhere, as designed. The platform was designed for the engine delivering it. With the purchase, I got a ton more bells and whistles, most of which I have since changed or upgraded. :rolleyes:

Of course, in the 12 years and 164k miles since then, I have dropped more than twice what I paid for the car in alll SORTS of silly stuff- including one of those fancy, bullet proof radiators. But, only ab the $ price of my 3.0 was spent on bullet-proofing the cooling, seals, and alll the other stuff. And that's me being obsessive.

I am pretty stubborn, so I would probably still be driving the 3.0 if I hadn't sold it to my neighbor. Their kids handed it down until they sold it last year with something like 230k on it. They were unhappy with the cost of maintaining the i6 as well.

I don't know what's out there now. I have since purchased another N62 (masochist?). It only had 32k when I bought it in 2019. 55k now and she's just as purtty as you please.

Funny story ab that one: Yep. I sold an '01 3.0 with a touch over 130k miles to buy the '04 V8. We'd purchased the '01 3.0 new. The upgrade to an '04 with XDrive, nav and a HOST of stuff beyond the motor cost me ab as much as a blower would. :bustingup

Man.. I like N62 power!! Sweet plant! And the sound… :D


E53 RiPPeR
XOuTPoST jUNkiE
ReVELaTiON 22:21

:thumbup:
It was a nice day today, so I was zipping home a little after dusk in the freshly washed E30. :luv:Behind me then, I see some very white halos, but 'odd,' think I. They're too round to be so white? And what of this obvious odd height? That's no E39? I see a reflection off the under ride protection and think, 'Ahhhh... That's lil wifey in my X5!"

Sure enough, she passed me- windows down (of course) and I got a rare chance to hear what others hear and also see what they see. Damn thing sits as perfect as one of those new Audi SUV Q-what's-it's-nuts(?). I only got to follow for a minute 'cause we were around the corner, but oooo that sound!

Yeah, if I found a plausible N62+6MT+xDrive swap, I'd probably pick up a 4.8is.

It's that MT that gets ya. I wanna do an LS if my motor goes, but I don't wanna lose XDrive. :(

Is your 4.8iS converted to a manual, Propellerhead?

Yeah. But the truth is that I really don't mind the M54. Do I want a little bit more? Sure. But do I really need it? No. And if I were motivated enough to do the work, I have the parts to add a good bit of power.

Think you guys have talked some sense into me. Does the 4.8 have the same timing chain guide issues the 4.6 has? I really miss my 4.6 power, it just broke down too often even with my wife driving (I never hear the end of it). They sound so good tho :(....maybe I'll look for one again, hmm.

N62s eat the valve stem seals.

As I said earlier, the 4.6is was the worst X5 out there reliability wise. Unique engine, unique transmission, all highly stressed versions of pretty unreliable base components. The ZF6 is a great transmission, and the N62 is much better than the M62.

And don't forget that the N62 4.4i has 315hp. You may prefer a lower specced 4.4i with less to go wrong and a little less stressed parts vs. the 4.8is.

Definitely can confirm that, timing chain guide broke while traveling for work resulting in a 220 mile tow back to my garage for repair. Shortly after that the transmission started slipping, not to mention a water pump, alternator, and coil pack failure. Meanwhile I could hop in my over 800 crank hp unopened turbo s54 and drive night and day without one single engine or transmission related issue for the same amount of time :rofl:. I do love the bimmer I6's.

Oh Lawd, I sure wish it was, but no. :(

Can confirm. I did them a bit on the proactive side because of the water pipe issue. At the time, a seal job was ~$6500. They did the seals cause they were 'in the neigborhood' for $3000 added onto the AGA install. Of course, I ended up going pretty deep and replaced most wearables in the general vicinity. But that was something like 6 years and ~80k miles ago. Haven't heard a peep since.

The '04 4.4 though *will* smoke on a hard accel after idle and I am getting some oil consumption. I can *feel* the seals wanting to drop. It's at 55k miles. :popcorn:

I'll throw my two cents in here since I've kind of been thinking of doing the same thing as you are. I've concluded that the M54 engine will be fine with boost provided you don't become addicted to it and overdo it and also provided that your tune is good (never lean). The N54 has basically the same bottom end, 10.2:1 cr and runs 8 psi of boost for ~300 chp from the factory. An M54 with 8 psi of boost properly tuned will do just fine under the rigors of towing.

A small-ish turbo or positive displacement supercharger will be a better match for a heavy SUV like the E53 compared to a centrifugal blower like others have already mentioned. The centrifugal blower won't 'feel stronger everywhere' but will rather come on stronger and stronger as RPM's build with little difference being felt coming off a stop and at lower RPM's. Not really ideal for towing.

Upgrading the cooling and drivetrain is not a necessity, but making sure it they are in tip top shape is. IIRC, the auto 3.0 is rated to 5 or 5.5k lbs while the manual is 6k. Keep your loads within those limits, and don't do extended full throttle pulls at max load, and you'll be fine.

However, if your trans is already heating, it's already slipping, and adding power will make its failure that much quicker. The E53 GM trans is electronically controlled and has a series of clutches and solenoids to actuate gear changes. Once a gear is locked, there should be no slippage, and the heat generated should be minimal (i.e. towing or not, your ATF should roughly maintain engine coolant temps since it is cooled & heated by the engine radiator). If it's heating, it means that you trans is slipping excessively during gear changes, which can be more frequent with towing.

I've also decided that if I go the V8 route, it won't be in a BMW but something domestic with a more robust drive train like a Trailblazer SS or Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT or the like. A little less refined than the bimmer, but they sure can take a beating in the drivetrain dept.

Keep us posted on what you decide to do!

It seems like OP's real issue is that his transmission can't handle the load already. I really don't see how adding more power fixes that.

The GM transmission is configured for extreme sloppiness. BMW uses that torque converter to give the X5 way more oomph than it rightfully should seem like it has. The result is that of *course* it's going to struggle under load.

Edit: That and if you're going to tow with an automatic E53, it's kind of nuts to engineer your own FI kit vs. just pick up an N62 with the ZF6 that will have the power, torque, and transmission to handle it.

How does Sport mode on a 3.0i work with towing? When I need to accelerate aggressively, I throw it in Sport mode.

It doesn't get rid of the torque converter slip - that would make the X5 feel and accelerate a lot slower. That sloppy torque converter is why the E53 3.0i feels so much faster than the E70 3.0si, even though the (only slightly heavier) E70 has a good bit more power.

Adding power won't fix a bad transmission, and I noted that in my post where I said the transmission and cooling need to be in top shape before considering boost.

However, I think you misunderstand how auto transmissions and torque converters work. By 'extreme sloppiness', I assume you mean that the torque converter is loose/high stall speed. Yes, this slippage allows the engine to get into its RPM power range before transmitting power to the transmission, but that is VERY different than a transmission that's slipping due to bad clutches, seals, or solenoids. Once at highway speed, with the torque converter locked and the transmission in gear, there should be no slippage and minimal heat.

In the OP's case, there isn't enough information to tell exactly what's going on since I don't know how and what he's measuring with his temps. It could be the engine is heating from load and since the ATF shares the engine radiator, the ATF will heat, too. The temp gauge will still stay in the center with quite a wide range of coolant temperature change. My point is, you can look at your gauge and see that it's centered but monitor engine or trans temps with an OBD reader and see something different than you expect.

No need to engineer a power adder for the M54 as there are a couple of positive-displacement blowers out there that will do the trick. A V8 will certainly work as well, but the OP sounds like he's experienced the typical unreliability and high cost of maintenance associated with the BMW V8 (and probably the reason the resale value of them is so low). Oh yeah, and everything that we've both said about towing and the driveline applies to the 4.4/4.6/4.8 as well. It's not like those don't eat their share of transmissions, too, towing or not.

Anyway, different strokes for different folks - do what makes you happy :thumbup:

A high stall speed torque converter runs a lot hotter than a locked up torque converter. That's why tow mode locks up the converter as early as possible in a truck. Given that the Aisin / GM transmission is *already* sufficiently marginal that BMW saw fit to reduce the tow rating, I don't see how adding extra stress is a benefit. And my experience with with an auto 3.0i is that it unlocks the torque converter basically any time you're below the stall speed.

As for transmission reliability, well, the ZF6 is by FAR the best and toughest and most reliable auto transmission that you can get in an E53. It is only in the N62 X5s in the US. The N62 has quirks that can be managed. It's the M62, and especially the Alpina variant of the M62 that are awful.

Also, you say that there positive displacement blower kits out there, but are there any actually still in production? Because I did check that and none of the ones that I recall are still available.

And I've replaced mine. Twice. :(

I've replaced mine once, but I live on the surface of the sun and drive like I'm heading to a pool party...

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No, I think only centrifugal blowers can still be bought new for the m54 - now or of production for what, 17 years? You'd have find a pd blower used. But, no way I'd spend $5-7k on a blower for an e53 x5 3.0 these days when the truck is only worth $3-4k at best.

P.s. - ironically, I've never had a problem with the gm transmission in our old x5 3.0 even with a bit of towing (waaay over max rating, but only around town), but the zf auto in our old e46 3 series took a dump at 40k miles. However, the zf6 manual in my old corvette IS a brute!

Dang EOD, How come no invite.!? LoL.. I am trying to get wet.. [emoji12] 🤣🤣


E53 RiPPeR
XOuTPoST jUNkiE
ReVELaTiON 22:21

It's worth noting that they barely sold any PD blowers when the M54 was new. People who wanted blowers mostly wanted the bigger peak numbers of the centrifugal kits, or were turned off by the TS/PD blower price premium.

I mean, if I stumbled across an M54 PD blower kit for cheap, I'd absolutely pick it up. But I can't say that I expect to.

https://arperformance.co.uk/product/...w-stage-2-ts2/


E53 RiPPeR
XOuTPoST jUNkiE
ReVELaTiON 22:21

I wouldn’t discount the M62 motor. Cheap, lots of parts (new and used) available, and tons of donors out there. Put a refreshed M62 in front of a 5HP24 tranny and you’ll have…a “4.4i” at reasonable expense (labor cost notwithstanding, if you aren’t doing the work yourself) that will do whatever you need and run for another 100k, with the usual care and feeding.

ESS doesn't even list it on their web site. I'm very skeptical that it's actually orderable.

Not to mention it costs more than buying a second E53!

Over the years, I have come in contact with some very reputable BMW aftermarket engineers / tuners who have taken time to take a quick glance at OLe’GiRL. And one of the discussions that I was quick to elude to was, should I have gone with the “other” blower. And the quick response was always, No!

The Vortech supercharger fitted to the M54B30 was always the suggested choice. I can’t tell you how many times I have read that ESS blower description LoL.. But what I can tell you is, there is some nonsense in there. The main quarrel I have with it is, the statement that a centrifugal blower is only capable of 1 lb of boost at 2200 rpm. By 2200 to 2500 rpm I am already making 5 - 6 lbs of boost. That is only 2 lbs shy of the max boost of 8 lbs for the TS2. And, with the pulley I have on there now, I am topping out at nearly 12 lbs of boost. That is half of the total boost above what the TS2 has to offer.

The ESS is directly charged through that custom manifold. However, my Vortech is direct charge as well, with a RMS discharge tube of only 4 - 5 inches in length. The blower is damn near connected directly to the throttle body. Believe me when I tell you there is zero parasitic loss.

There were a few choices out there before, definitely not the case today. But after all that I have learned though this process, Vortech V3Si is hands down the best blower in my opinion.


E53 RiPPeR
XOuTPoST jUNkiE
ReVELaTiON 22:21

Good discussion, and I think which is better for you depends on what you want out of your setup. Boost is an interesting measure that I think gets misused from time to time. Boost is caused by an excess of airflow over what an engine is ingesting at a given time. So, for example, take two engines of equal displacement, but one with higher volumetric efficiency (better cams, heads, exhaust, etc.) than the other. Add the same power-adder to both engines, and the higher VE engine will produce less boost but make more power, generally speaking.

Now, compare the twin-screw 'squeezer' to the centrifugal 'blower'. The centrifugal is a fan/turbine blowing air at the motor, and as the delta between what the motor requires and what the blower is pushing grows, boost goes up. Airflow pushed by the turbine is not linear to rpm but follows an increasing curve (to a point). That's why they say it 'builds boost in a linear fashion'. Airflow is actually increasing as a function of RPM. Put a big centrifugal blower on there, and you can build a lot of boost at low RPM, but that may lead to too much boost at high RPM.

I called the twin screw a 'squeezer' because it grabs air from the outside and literally squeezes it as the air moves between the ever-decreasing gaps between the rotors as they rotate toward each other. Unlike the turbo/centrifugal blower, it's not really an airflow thing. The twin-screw is delivering pre-squeezed (compressed) air to the motor in direct proportion to RPM. Size the twin-screw blower right, and you'll get exactly the same boost everywhere in the RPM range (less efficiency losses). It has the exact same effect as a larger displacement engine. In reality, though, the twin-screw blower is sized close enough but not exact, and people will change the pulley size to increase or decrease boost similar to a centrifugal blower, which then introduces a little linearity of boost vs. rpm.

For a truck and towing, etc., I prefer the twin-screw as it produces more torque at lower RPM. But for spirited performance driving (like Happy), the centrifugal makes more sense and will have a higher limit of power.

I was definitely stunned e39, when I slapped those headers on! The amount of low end power that was achieved caught me by surprise.


E53 RiPPeR
XOuTPoST jUNkiE
ReVELaTiON 22:21

Invite?

No one should be mean enough to invite others to join hell. [emoji1787]

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