E53 X5 4.6is 2003 to twin turbo charge it or supercharge?
 

Hello everyone, I just bought a 4.6is 03 model few weeks ago. The car is in a pretty good condition just some very minor faults that i have already started fixing up. I bought the car a) because i have always loved them and b) to have cayennes and RR sports etc looking at the lovely backside of the 4.6is.

So my question is; to twin turbocharge the car or supercharge? Has anyone done anything similar or in the process of doing it. Id love to hear your thoughts. Ill have some pics up of the car very soon.

Thanks!

Sounds like a cool idea, but it may require even more maintenance due to the excess load being placed on the motor/internals...

Don't Do It....


keep it the way it is just do Bolt Ons stuffs...and Preventative maintenance is a must than making more power to our X5

You would be better off just buying an X5M.

I did tons of research regarding your question. I didn't go either route. The reasons being that unless you can find a Dinan kit there is nothing out there that is designed for the 4.6 engine. That means there will hardware that must be fabricated that adds significant cost and downtime. It is difficult to find someone that will do the necessary changes to the tune and I couldn't find anyone with past experience doing so.

Since I don't have the equipment or the expertise to do the fabricating and that much additional power could grenade the engine if not done right, I costed it out with those I deemed experts. There was a local shop that would go either way. I also spoke to STS. Both estimated the cost would be 10 to 12 thousand dollars and three plus weeks to do the install. With STS I would have to take it or have it shipped to their headquarters. Neither was comfortable giving me an estimate of how much or how long it would take to tune it nor what the gains would end up being.

The route I took was nitrous and meth injection. The cost was less than 1/3. The performance gains in HP and torque are greater and adjustments are easily done at very low cost. The nitrous has been in place for over a year. Current shot is 150. The meth is there to increase the fuel octane so the risk of a lean condition is not a concern. I haven't broken anything on my engine or running gear. Thus far there is no indication I have compromised reliability.

I now feel comfortable working on and making adjustments to the system. I have done some upgrades for convenience, safety and additional gains. I have planned out what I would need to do to increase the shot to 200 though I currently don't feel the need for more. It's a thrill every time I use it.

I drove several X5Ms even one with the Dinan mods before I invested in nitrous. It is a totally different animal to me but I am somewhat interested in owning one since more engine and driveline mods are available to get it the way I would want it. I would not sell the 4.6 and would continue to add performance.

Looking at the location money possibly isnt an issue??

If I had come to the conclusion that the overall risk/reward going to turbos or supercharging was better I would have done so.

I forgot to mention that all possibilities stress the engine more. Nitrous only does so when it is fired. One of downsides I have learned is you have to prepare to use nitrous and there is that tank to refill.

Oh come on, just because the guy is in Dubai doesn't mean he's rich...lol!

Yea I know......It was a long shot.....I fugured we would never hear from him again so why not? LOL!

Do you have a build thread about your nitrus system? Just curious...

If that's true, I wouldn't get 10 years old car at all. :D

There is no build thread.

As mentioned, I had the original install done by a shop experienced modifying BMWs and nitrous installs. Since it was breaking new ground I wanted to be sure all safety factors were as they should be and I was maximizing gains. It was a good decision based on the involved testing the shop did get to the 150 shot. I was there most of the time so I am now comfortable doing upgrades or repairs even an install from scratch. There are a couple of pictures in my album of the initial configuration but none that are current.

what are the hp gains on the nitrous setup??

I posted the dyno figures early on and got nothing but responses that I was exaggerating, paraphrased as it being a lie. Since then they have improved.

I'm hard enough on myself, not going to invite anyone else to contribute.

Yea I hear you on that. Why can we all just be mature.

I'm no expert on nitrous but is it just a plate that goes behind the throttle body or a fully plummed system? What shot are you running?

I know I'm thread jacking but I have a feeling the op has one post and he won't be retuning.


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Shot is 150 with the meth bumping that up further.

I would be interested in seeing how much the exhaust dumps increase dyno #s.

Thanks for all the replies guys especially bcredliner. Am still doing the research on what to do and also going to look into the nitrous option.

and yea well said no need to jump to that kind of conclusion just cause i live in Dubai.

Seeing i bought the car at an extremely good price though i have budgeted around 10k usd for mods. Just need to make sure the garage i go to knows exactly what they are doing (which out here unfortunately is pretty rare).

Again thanks for the input people.

Once I have done the timing chains I will do some dyno runs. Without the nitrous the results could be better without open exhaust since Dinan exhaust is already low restriction. I would expect improvement with nitrous.

I apologize, just making a joke. I actually quite jelous. It hasnet been above 20 in the last three months! No matter what you do make sure you take lots of pictures so we can follow and live vicariously through you.

Twin turbo it! Haha

Haha? What's that mean?

This isn't in an x5 but it is an M62.

But I also like the idea of a twin turbo setup. Not with huge turbo's though.

nah they wont be big turbos iam thinking 2 x garrett gtx2871r. Can you please explain a little at what parts we are looking at in that beautiful engine picture?

Looks like a Vortech centrifugal supercharger install to me.

I make joke. ;)

Yep, sure is. Definitely belt-driven boost happening there.

Here's my project....

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5554/...ae8d1f5c_b.jpg

Procharger driven M60B40 4.0L 500+ projected RWHP
M62B44
M62B46 (are all derivatives the same basic block)

What appears to be a great idea can go sideways pretty quickly on an unsupported platform. This unfinished project has cost me over 4x the original projected budget, 12x the amount of time projected to finish the job and the targeted RWHP was missed by over 100 ponies! All this from a supposedly reputable shop that was confident in selling the job to me and was supposed to know what they were doing. I will also add that funding the build was never the issue.... HOWEVER, after a year and a half of missed completion dates (they initially told me 6 weeks) and missed performance targets, I finally had all I could take and sold the stupid money pit to someone on the opposite side of the country for pennies on the dollar. The current owner seems to have extensive knowledge about this type of project and has professional help from Miller Performance. I still haven't learned if the car ever got sorted out or not...

:dunno:

My $25k (or so) investment in the aforementioned supercharger project was not a drop in the bucket when you consider the millions that BMW spent on R&Ding their Twin Turbo M cars before bringing them to market.

Bottom line is that what you are proposing to do is also on a non supported platform. If you pursue this, be prepared to spend a TON of money (even if you have the skills), have a lot of patience and you STILL may not ever get it right!

My advise would be to buy the Dinan supercharger that was designed for the vehicle or just go buy an X5M and be done with it.

Good luck.

Oh... and by the way, the pretty M62 pictured above mine also had issues, took years to build and I think it is still being sorted out to this day.

You may want to ask the owner how much he spent on that project as well!

I am not trying to be the naysayer, I'm simply trying to provide a realistic viewpoint from someone who has already been there, done that and got the stinkin' t-shirt.

The guy with the 540i RMS build (pic with red valve covers and manifold, above) isn't done, or hasn't updated in a LONG time.

Being the OP is in Dubai, I would search for a certified Dinan installer, then price a swap off a used and/or totaled Dinan X5 (INCLUDING a rebuild of the wear parts).

That covers the removal/rebuild/install costs.

Now locate the donor vehicle, not hard at all in Dubai (high perf, limited production vehicle owners in the area change vehicles like underwear, and I would bet a few have been totaled).

That would cover the donor parts cost.

All it takes is searching, money and time!

Indeed! He and I both have experienced horrible tuning issues and belt tossing problems. I'm pretty sure he started his build way before mine. After a year and a half, I cut my losses; He is still sorting his out. Not enough R&D is the common issue with non-supported platforms, so the owners end up being the guanine pigs and footing the headaches.

...and the bills.
:rolleyes:

shiiiiiiiish shiiiiiiish----Nitrous purge

BigM62
His supercharger build has passed the 4 year mark and he's still having major issues, dispite having RMS tuning, a Dinan engineer and other professionals trying to help him with the project. Apparently he ended up blowing the engine due to poor timing after only 600 miles..... Needless to say that he is very unhappy.
(He posted his angst 2 days ago on Bimmerboost).

I'm not saying what OP has proposed cannot be done, I'm simply offering words of caution from my own personal experience and the experiences of others that are attempting or have attempted to do this. Be very careful!!!

I would do Dinan or ESS, or nothing.

Proven kits or nothing with these vehicles, I'm not being a guinea pig.

Indeed! If one can buy an off the shelf system from a reputable tuner with proven and safe results made specifically for your vehicle, I would say go for it!
I have learned my lesson: I will NOT go down the road of an unsupported platform ever again.

Or find out the details of how someone went down a different road successfully.

Sometimes.... it pays to just keep it simple.