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ESS Supercharger and Software info Z4M

41K views 344 replies 52 participants last post by  Dammmittt 
#1 ·
For anyone interested here is some info on the ESS Supercharger and ECU they have available for the Z4M. For more info on ESS visit www.ESSTUNING.com .

ESS FI stage one kit will be released in March. Retail will be $8,995 and will be upgradeable to stage 2. The kit will use a ASA clutched blower that will shut off below 1500 RPM. This is a nice option for people who use the car for daily driving around town. The ASA blower is quiet. Sound from the blower is only really heard at high RPM's. Stage one kit will make 440HP on 91 octane and 460HP on 100 octane. Stage 2 is $10,995 and will require an intercooler. Stage 2 will make 500 HP on 91 octane and 540 HP on 100 octane. With both kits the car will drive like stock. With both kits the ECU can be programmed to run 2 sport modes one with lower and one with higher octane.

ESS ECU software is available now. The software will raise the rev limit to 8200 RPM. Top speed limit is removed and the car will pick up 11HP on 91 octane and up to 20HP with 100 octane. The sport mode can be memory programmed so it will remain on everytime you start the car. Software is $699.95 and will require you to send your ECU to one of the 3 US dealers they have. To purchase the ECU call (858)314-2954 and they will take car of you.

The first US spec kit will be installed on my car in 3-4 weeks and I will post more info. Any questions let me know :)
 
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#2 ·
Could not find the link to the ECU reprogramming on their site. You're having both the supercharger and the ECU done at the same time? Would be interested to see dyno results for the ECU alone.
 
#3 ·
The ECU would need to be reprogrammed to support the supercharger anyway, just as it is with their current kits. This other ECU flash would be for n/a cars, it sounds like.

Sounds exciting Roman. Have you already taken a baseline dyno on your car?
 
#4 ·
Are those numbers at the wheels or "corrected" at the crank? What kind of dyno are they taken on and what is the stock baseline for comparison on that dyno?

Also what are the torque numbers (including baselines on same dyno).

It would be very helpful to have the numbers for comparison.
 
#6 ·
Wow!

Just did some searching on the ESS site. Checking this dyno chart on a USDM E46. If this is the Stage 1, then all I can say is "Wow"! I'm assuming this is WHP--my old stock 300hp STI put down 240 WHP so 269WPH makes sense. So this is a solid 40% increase in both torque and power. Impressive. And scary! Bet thats a rush to ride in.
 

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#9 ·
The stand alone ECU software is for NA cars. You will have your ECU flashed if you go FI. As far as specifics on numbers I wont know until I install it and dyno it. I do have a baseline when my car was bone stock and I will dyno it on the same dyno. That E46 dyno should be close but we will have to wait and see. ESS im sure will post the dynos they have when the product is released.

I will go stage 2 later in the year when it released. Stage 2 will be late summer.
 
#11 ·
Wow... that's awesome news, and the 540bhp tallies up with what I heard from CA a while back. I can't actually even imagine what 500+bhp would be like in these cars... devastating i think the word is!

Can't wait to see and hear the results from your install.

Do you know if it's a relatively smooth upgrade from Stage 1 to Stage 2? Is it just the addition of the intercooler, and then a new map and smaller pulley (more boost) for the charger?

Awesome though, just awesome.... I have every faith in the M54 to take the boosted levels of power. There's some very hard driven E46 M3s out there with superchargers on otherwise standard engines, and they just take it, day after day...
 
#12 ·
In the original design stage 2 was going to require a new intake manifold along with the intercooler and software. ESS decided to include the upgraded manifold in the stage one kit to make it a very easy jump to stage 2. All that will be needed is the intercooler / pullies and ECU flash. the stage one kit runs 4.5lbs of boost and the stage 2 kit runs 6.5lbs.
The blower was also changed out to the clutched ASA which is a better blower then the one they were going to origianally use. This is what bumped the cost of the stage one kit from the original expected retail price but it makes for a much smoother upgrade. When I asked about running higher boost I was told " The engine and the car can handle 600HP but to be honest you wont need more then 500HP our test car is plenty fast trust me "

As far as reliability they have 30k miles on their test car running 500 + HP and they said the car and the kit have had 0 problems. They said they run the car as hard as they can and have put some impressive runs on the ring together with their professional driver during testing. I am also very excited to see what this car will do with 500HP :rofl:. We had a discussion the other night about the CSL M3 that did 7:22.9 on the ring using their VTR kit. Some pretty interesting stuff about the driver that did that run and how he did it.
 
#13 ·
How much is a re and re again on the S54?:rofl: All the power to you guys considering this. IMO the car has all I need and then some stock - must be an age thing, but if I somehow felt possesed to want that kind of power, I would just buy a Z06 or stick with BMW and go for the new M3.:dunno:

ROM3N - keep us updated with the results.
 
#23 ·
Don't disagree. And not to knock what Rom3n is doing here, but been down this road a few times, most recently with a 400whp Subaru STI. Also recently had a Z06 for a week and can honestly say that 500hp is completely useless for the street in a 3200lb car. I also think it will kill the fantastic balance of this car.

However, this might just be a very simple bolt on that is worth doing.

Having said that I'm definitely interested and following the progress. And I won't say no to a ride in it when its done.
 
#14 ·
If the ESS software came with an shark injector stlye downloader I would buy this today. The when I have to go in for service I could just flash it back to stock and have no worries. I guess I am just going to have to wait for the Dinan software so I can keep my warrenty even though I would much rather have the ESS software!
 
#15 ·
Don't kid yourself with DINAN - problems can still void your BMW warranty - they're not actually associated with each other.
 
#19 ·
If ESS tells me that the Driveline on the car will handle the boost levels they are doing their R&D with with no issues then I trust them. if they put 30k hard miles on the test car then im sure my daily driver will hold up. If not then thats the price you pay for modding your car its no different then adding aftermarket suspension , ECU or cutting the roof off that also can void warranties. If I was worried about warranties my car would still be stock :D. But I am lucky to have a very good relationship with the GM of my dealership " who is one of my customers " and he turns his head to my modifications anytime I have issues.

Im not condoning or trying to convince anyone to FI there car or say it is a 100% safe thing to do so If anyone is worried about the build quality of the car or warranty then do not add FI to it. im just putting the info out there and letting others know what is available and what I plan to do with the car.
 
#27 ·
How different is the running gear in our Z4MCs to an E46 M3?

CA Automotive here in the UK have been running their Supercharged M3 on an AA 540bhp kit for approx 50-60k miles. I got Roy to take me out in it at a BMW meet last summer (when they were talking to me about offering my car as the dev mule to ESS), and he drove it VERY hard. It was also fecking quick! lol

When we got back to the meet, I asked them what else they had done to the car, and he said that apart from an uprated clutch, everything was standard (engine and transmission wise) and that it was driven on road and track pretty hard all the time.

If it can stand 50k miles of the abuse he was giving it, then I'd say that most of us are safe (I know I don't drive my car the way he did!)
 
#28 ·
I dont know for fact but what I was told by the engineer from ESS is that the majority of the drivetrain in the Z4M is derived from the E46 M3. He was personally involved in the development of the kit and said the car has no issues running the boost. I asked him point blank if anything in the stock car would have issues or would need to be upgraded and he said no. He said the power delivery of the kit is so smooth linear and quiet that the car "Drives like stock" and it does not feel like a typical boosted car where you all of a sudden get a large thrust of power.
 
#29 ·
I think that starting at stage 1 is a good move and 440 hp is a 30% increase over stock...so I'm sure it'll be extremely fast. If and when I become unpoor I think, for me anyway, FI would be the last mod. I think I'd try to wring all the NA hp I can out of the car with software, intake, exhaust, headers, and cats before boosting it.

That said, I'm anxious to see how it turns out :)

:bow:
 
#37 ·
I think that starting at stage 1 is a good move and 440 hp is a 30% increase over stock...so I'm sure it'll be extremely fast. If and when I become unpoor I think, for me anyway, FI would be the last mod. I think I'd try to wring all the NA hp I can out of the car with software, intake, exhaust, headers, and cats before boosting it.
I think a LOT of money gets wasted that way. Wringing every last bit from a BMW motor is expensive; they don't leave a lot on the table. It seems like people wind up paying $5000 or more for a paltry 20hp or less, once they've done the intakes, exhausts, chips, diffs, and cams. Which usually all have to be removed when the owner finally decides to go FI and spend the same amount of money for 4 times the power.
 
#30 ·
So the Stage One is 4.5 lbs of boost and not the 6lbs per the dyno graph I posted. So you're probably talking about 370 at the wheels. Still big numbers but could be perfect if the delivery is smooth.

Palantiron, by balance of the car, I meant power to handling--not weight distribution. I think the M Coupe is riding that line perfectly. And I disagree about the throttle, there's nothing more annoying than having to hold back on putting your foot in it. Some of the best fun I've had in a car recently was mashing the throttle to the floor spanking a Mini Cooper S. And some of the least fun was having to hold back in a Z06.

But again, I'm watching this with great interest.
 
#31 ·
So the Stage One is 4.5 lbs of boost and not the 6lbs per the dyno graph I posted. So you're probably talking about 370 at the wheels. Still big numbers but could be perfect if the delivery is smooth.

Palantiron, by balance of the car, I meant power to handling--not weight distribution. I think the M Coupe is riding that line perfectly. And I disagree about the throttle, there's nothing more annoying than having to hold back on putting your foot in it. Some of the best fun I've had in a car recently was mashing the throttle to the floor spanking a Mini Cooper S. And some of the least fun was having to hold back in a Z06.

But again, I'm watching this with great interest.
Correct Stage one is adding 80HP to the wheels so Depending on the dyno it would put you around 360 - 380.
 
#32 ·
Very very excited to see your results. Already been speaking to a friend about this. Although I won't be going ahead just yet, now that it's become a real option it makes it all the more tempting!

Maybe something for next winter... ;)

Can't wait to see some pics of your install!
 
#41 ·
If everyone is so worried about the change in weight on the nose. Simply get some coilover shocks, go to a race shop and have the car corner weighted with you in it. it will handle better than stock and it will go like the dickens.

Lets not kid ourselfs. If this was a racecar and the FI was legal, it would be done. weight % can be sorted.
 
#46 ·
That would be sweet :) who has a NA kit that can get 50-70HP out of the S54 ? I know of one piggy back software program that was made to get HP out of the S54 M3 it was done by HPF I think. it did get good numbers "35hp" on 97-100 octane but if I remeber it was 5-6k.
 
#45 · (Edited)
Your comment about weight I also had thought of when discussing the system with the designer so I asked. He said the ASA blower is smaller and lighter then systems like the Vortech. He said the kit without a intercooler is 25 - 30lbs. Now that being said I will verify it when it ships in. I do remember holding the blower last year at the bimmerfest booth they had and it was pretty light. It felt like is was only about 15-20lbs. Almost everything I have posted has been what I was told so the information I have supplied is hearsay until I can verify it.

But when you think about it all you are doing is replacing your stock intake manifold which I cant understand why it would weigh more then 5-10 extra pounds. You are replacing your throttle bodies maybe 3-5 pounds and adding the blower 15-20lbs. Im sure adding an intercooler, oil cooler and a larger blower could add an additional 50 - 60lbs easy.
 
#52 ·
Your comment about weight I also had thought of when discussing the system with the designer so I asked. He said the ASA blower is smaller and lighter then systems like the Vortech. He said the kit without a intercooler is 25 - 30lbs. Now that being said I will verify it when it ships in. I do remember holding the blower last year at the bimmerfest booth they had and it was pretty light. It felt like is was only about 15-20lbs. Almost everything I have posted has been what I was told so the information I have supplied is hearsay until I can verify it.

But when you think about it all you are doing is replacing your stock intake manifold which I cant understand why it would weigh more then 5-10 extra pounds. You are replacing your throttle bodies maybe 3-5 pounds and adding the blower 15-20lbs. Im sure adding an intercooler, oil cooler and a larger blower could add an additional 50 - 60lbs easy.
-I'm looking forward to seeing how you build progresses. I'm hoping my skepticism proves unwarranted.
 
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