just wait for the f10, reports say the v8 will get turbos too

 

If anyone wonts to keep their children (and their children) alive and well
I hope the L4 and L6 diesels will be noticed in US soon.
But so also in China and India.

One Al Gore just got the Nobel price, guess for what?

 

I'm not an engineer so I don't know specifics on turbo dimensions in relation to maximum power output. But I do know history and business. You bring up a good point. However, there is at least one other reason why BMW doesn't make the 535 output stronger:

Marketing: BMW knew when they started production on the 535 that it would eat into 550 sales. Who pay more $$$ for a 550 when a cheaper 535 could beat it stock?? Back in the day, the 3.8l turbo in Buick's GNX was at the time considered the most powerful production car motor built yet GM kept it "detuned" in order to maintain Corvette sales.

Furthermore Nissan (Skyline GT-R) and Toyota (Supra) have been prodcing twin turbo setups for over a decade with SMALLER displacement engines and have achieved similar results. Its been documented that with regular maintenance a twin turbo GT-R could produce up to 600hp and last well over 100k miles. I would think BMW would be playing it "safe" with their setup since they don't want to lose face if tuners discovered their twin turbo setup couldn't run as hard as the "ricers".

Although the turbos are small, there is still some noticeable lag - especially when moving from a standstill. Correct me if I'm wrong, but to counter this the turbos would be designed to spool faster.......which sacrifices boost.......which lowers output power. My point here is that the engine was detuned for smoother acceleration, not fear of mechanical breakdown. This is just my opinion though.....

 

Seams too like you really have to load up on options to compare the 550 which comes standard with a lot of extras so at the end of the day the cost is really pretty close and just give buyers more decisions whether to go econo sleeper or v8 beast...in my opinion at least!

 

+1 I agree with that.

And while the original poster are talking about modified 535's lets talk about modded 550 just so we could be even. for $2199 a 550 can throw a set of 3.45 gears which would be the equivelant to 60 lb/ft of torque!!!!

So bottom line is the modded 535 would look sad compared to a 550 with 3.45 gears at about the same modification cost

 

Could you explain a bit more regarding this mod? The 3.45 gears thing, I'm pretty interested in hearing more

 

Remember that 375hp is 375 hp at the wheels which translates to roughly 430bhp at the crank. You would have to invest more than $1500 to reach those numbers though.

Straight line speed isn't everything and you come to a point where you believe the car is quick enough. But yeah, the bi-turbo engine is the current bmw to have if you wish to put down big numbers rather comfortably.

 

JetBlack used to work for Dinan Engineering. Here's what he's referring to: 3.45 Differential

 

Steeper gears in a diff would result in quicker acceleration and LOWER top speeed. The gears would top out sooner and your engine would redline faster.

 

Normally, stated hp ratings (unless specifically noted) are at the crank, not the wheels. Thus 375hp would actually be about 315hp on a chassis dyno, assuming a 15% drivetrain loss