HOW TO GET 500HP FOR LESS THAN $1500 ON A N54

How to get 500hp for less then $1500 in your 335i, 135i, 535, and other N54 powered cars.

If you like this video please give it a like. I’m going to try to make a video once a weeks make sure you subscribe.


MODS
JB4 $475 (100hp)
ARM Downpipes $248 (50hp)
VRSF Intake $89 (20hp)
ARM FMIC $330 (30hp)
BMR Charge pipe $139
Spark plugs and coil packs $180
$1461 for 200hp

[jaronwalling]

You forgot to mention the $1500 in maintenance (parts) before doing any of this.

[DaMovienator]

Guys dont take all of what he said serious! Yes our man out here did many of us/you a good deed probably and while some things he said are right (downpipe, tune power gain) you wont get around 20hp more from just a different air filter... the stock ones are most of the time more than sufficient for such mild tunes... you would need to go into the 700hp and more to actually gain any HP from allowing "more" air into the engine just from a different air filter... the stock ones can provide even more air than the engine can use around 500HP.. so dont let yourself get fooled into buying too much stuff that you wont need... depending on your expected results.
Furthermore a bigger intercooler, while being good for maintaining power over longer periods of time instead of just small pulls, needs to be picked in accordance to your actual flow/air volume that the turbo is pushing. Our man here did say this right.. the reason for it being tho is that too big of an intercooler can lead too a bigger turbo lag because it can take too long to fill and pressurise the system after the blowoff valve releases the pressure. On the other had a smaller intercooler can lessen the turbo lag on the one hand but additionally it would drastically increase intake temperatures, which in turn decreases power output, engine efficiency and make the engine overheat way faster, which again in turn can damage the engine.
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So to sum up:
-- Buy Downpipes/High Flow Cats
-- Buy a slightly bigger/better intercooler (optional, but recommended)
-- Buy a tuning tool (recommendation: MHD Flasher; licence will be bound to the specific car but its A cheaper and B its very intuitive and allows for way easier and more control over what gets written to the engine + idiot proof... you cannot really make anything wrong with it, just make sure to stay honest and if the app asks you e.g. if you have a downpipe installed to not say yes when you dont because it will adjust the values depending on what you tell the app and wrong input can lead to worse driving experience than without the tune... MHD tunes are pretty safe tho. Work like a charm!)

[moejohannes]

This guy gets to the point! Thank god.

[marcusglover]

Thank you for getting straight to the point and thoroughly explaining things making it easy for us non mechanical types. Keep up the good work. You got a new subscriber!

[GoodVibesOnly]

dude! loved this video! so tired of all the “informative how to” vids these days being more like a “day in the life” and full of a bunch of fluff and blabber. Straight forward, simple, and informative. you need to make more vids about n54!

[JarcoPenning]

Be Brief, Be Bright, Be Gone.

well done, awesome video 🔥

[ElRayDelRio]

As a newly proud owner of a 2008 E61 535xi wagon I appreciate you taking the time to provide us noobs with this solid roadmap to mo' powa baybee!

[Jeffco]

I would have saved hours and hours of my time if I had only watched this video weeks ago! Great video! Short and sweet, to the point. And accurate on everything you said! Thumbs up!

[Fatih]

One thing most people ignore are good tires. Grab 4 michelin sport pilot s and you are golden

[JaayyMan]

I think you forgot to mention first you're gonna have to fix any boost leaks. So first a smoke test, then spark plugs, coils and injectors. Those are basically mandatory otherwise your car will either get a misfire or boost leak codes along with limp mode. I know because I had the same problem on just stage 1 MHD.

[blxzing]

Straight to the point, informative, and very very helpful. Thank you so much! :D

[sbohnke]

i have FBO running stage 2+ e30 map and 2step colder NGK plugs and man is this thing a rocket now. one thing people dont ever think about is upgrading the suspension. when i get into boost [20lbs on stock turbos] my front end would lift quiet a bit...get yourself a set of rev9 coilovers for around $550 and thank me later. also other have said it also but maintenance is huge. make sure your injectors are good and maybe upgrade the fuel pump in the tank to stage 2...easy DIY and it will run u about $400 for a plug and play bucketed pump on ECS tuning

[skatepark]

So I’m one of the people that has done this and I can tell you now, it was a LOT more than £1500!
I managed to get upgraded Chinese turbos for £750 (these are the cheapest). You also need the silicone inlets to fit (mine were included). I also bought a VRSF aluminium outlet for better flow (and mine is RHD so it removes the kink in the oem pipe) for £300.
You need an upgraded intercooler. I went VRSF HD which was about £300.
Catless downpipes VRSF £350
Dual cone intake £120
2 step colder spark plugs which are aroun £80-£100. Remember to gap them to 0.22!
Upgraded charge pipe £120
Turbosmart plumback diverter valves £250
3.5bar tmap sensor to read higher boost levels £70
Eldor coil pack £200
Upgraded low pressure fuel pump (I built this myself using a walbro 535 pump) £150.

Then you buy the MHD flasher licence for something like £50, then you need the OBD dongle which was £70.
For Ken (wedge performance racing) to tune it was $400, but then you need to buy another MHD licence to use custom tunes. After that I found that you also need to buy another MHD licence to allow tunes that target more than 20psi of boost.

And then all the other maintenance parts I didn’t mention such as hpfp which was £1, 000 etc, new gaskets, turbo fitment kit, water pump, fluids etc etc.

It’s an expensive game but still cheaper than most platforms.

Would anybody like to tally up this cost for me?

[CosmoCoggs]

I would add one thing... octane boost. I’ve done all the mods (Cobb is my tune) and get 19.5 lbs boost, 596 ft-lbs torque on 93 pump gas and Lucas oil 3x Octane Booster in the tank. 2011 335is

[ALiDTB]

Just picked up my E60 535i I’m about to maintenance, tune up, Buffing then get to adding some mods !!🤩🤩

[RoyalDoesHisBest]

this actually really helps. should be getting an n54 soon and wanted to know the common bolt-on path for these cars. dope vid man thx again

[kevinsinor]

This is an OKAY video. Really depends on a ton of other factors. Maintenance is huge and above all. The condition of the stock turbos should always be taken into account when dialing up the boost or they won’t last very long. The octane of fuel should be considered as well in order to reach that high hp goal. Ethanol will require a few additional models as well. Then things like catch cans, upgraded pcv, oil cooler for non sport models etc. without any of these things you will never see 500hp. And if you live in CA catless dp aren’t really an option unless you thro them on for smog and take them off.

[superk]

And lets not forget that Snow Performance Progressive water/methanol kit. Inexpensive and you can have a Cobb Pro Tuner create a custom map for you. Water/methanol will increase your octane to 110, and cool that charge air creating higher air density. It will also help keep your intake valves clean.

[jeremywhittler]

This all is fine.... I feel a better approach is to update your mosfet with 081 drivers. Run 2 step colder plugs and then a full kit like pure stage 2 or better yet single kit like a borg warner efr single kit. Yes you can make 500 horse (more like 430) with a 1500$ kit and then experience alot of maintenance issues. You will blow your stock turbos quick, and may bend rods and tons of headaches, and end up with a blown motor or a closed deck cylinder. In the end do the mods I listed, run pump gas and get around 550-700 wheel and do it in the end at about the same price or cheaper in the long run. Run ow-40 royal purple and change it about three times at 500/1000/1000 then mobile 1.

[edinlasers]

Get a jb4 FBO bundle comes with everything indulging tunes, inter cooler, intakes, charge pipe, down pipe, BOV