Lotus99

The N54 is not "plagued" with so many problems... Come on. that is a serious exaggeration.

And many of the problems were fixed already quite easily, thru recalls. I would know since besides the wagon that I had for a few years, I've got an N54 powered 335 that's going strong after 8 years of ownership, and have been on the N54 forums forever. The extra power (and modability if you want) of the N54 easily outweighs some of the problems. It wouldn't be such a ridiculously popular engine otherwise.

shawns321

sorry I didn't mean to use such a broad generalization.
I've just heard a lot of stories from my mechanic and forums about reliability issues.

That's reassuring to know because I've been considering a 2010 535i but have been reluctant for said reasons.

ucsbwsr

Of course you are entitled to your engine preference but let me offer some insight on the N54 based of my experiences. Some of the N54s faults include:
- carbon buildup
- water pump
- turbos and wastegate issues
- HPFP
- Injectors

...less severe issues are more dependant on maintenance, type of use, etc. The ones listed are almost guaranteed to fail during the lifetime of the vehicle. In all honesty the list isn't THAT bad, the water pump sucks as it doesn't slowly die, it fails dramatically. It often leaves you stranded and needing a tow.

The trade off is the N54 is fairly efficient and can make very respectable power with bolt-ons and serious power with upgraded turbos and bolt-ons. On stock turbos and bolt-ons you can expect 475whp and 500+rwtq. Upgraded twin-turbos or a large single turbo make 500-800whp possible, all on the stock N54 engine. The best part about most of the bolt-on mods in comparison to stock is they not only up performance but up efficiency since it is a boosted car, on 91oct I can get ~30mpg on the highway and a consistent 20-23mpg with normal spirited driving, on 91oct my wagon is probably making 440whp 20-30mpg and 440whp? OK! lol
I usually run a E35 blend which means about 6.5gal of E85 and 12gal of 91, which produces 545awhp and I get a 16mpg with HARD driving.

I wonder what type of leather the ventilated seats have, sometimes the quality and comfort of the leather is compromised with cooling and heating features are added.

There is a lot of gain from PROPER retrofitting. In this car it looks like he swapped the steering wheel trim to "M" trim and the shift knob is replaced with an weighted/shorty ZHP knob. The steering wheel is also sport and could have been oem on the car depending how it was optioned, it looks to be heated by how ugly the steering wheel is. Also, haven't seen that interior trim before, might be "individual" but it may also be vinyl.

Evan

Lotus99

Well said Evan.

Yes, it's true at some point the turbos will go, maybe earlier than some other turbo cars, but doesn't every car have some weakness that it's famous for? My water pump went, just as you said, but I figure the pros IMO far outweigh the cons of this car. It was a total blast to drive. Doing a carbon walnut blast every 60,000 miles doesn't seem like the end of the world to me. If you're that averse to things needing to be fixed, then a Japanese car is probably the way to go.

And you don't even need to bolt anything on if you just want a bit more power, nor do you need to be into modding the car, since it's so ridiculously easy to tune it. If 70 HP or so for $500 to $800 (a Cobb AP tune, priced used to new) isn't a total steal that just can't be passed up, I don't know what to say! Some other piggy back tunes are a bit more involved in terms of installation, but the Cobb tune, you literally plug it into your OBD port, wait 20 minutes, and voilà you're done!

Who doesn't want a bunch more power for cheap?

Lotus99

OK, generalizations are never good... I agree with you that those old school colours would rarely look good without a modified car to go along with it...

Something about them on a newer car that just is painful on the eyes...

ucsbwsr

You can get a used JB4 for $350 and not only does that give you a similar power bump, it offers datalogging, code reading, and a slew of other features which are pretty clever and convenient.
Money well spent and hands-down the most comprehensive and valuable tool for the N54 motor IMO.

Evan

Lotus99

Those are all the same features that the Cobb provides. And you can read and clear codes right on the unit. No laptop required. Logging also. Then take the files off the unit with a USB cable at home. IMO, after having had both a piggyback and the Cobb, there's no way I'd go back to the hassle of a piggyback, running a cable into the car for logging, and taking the car apart every time to get to it.

Especially if someone is a little shy about modding and pulling their car apart. While we've taken apart the car dozens of times and it seems like nothing, there's no way I'd recommend a newb to take off the cowl, tackle getting to the ECU and taking apart its harness to install a JB unit, when you just need to plug the Cobb into the OBD port and that's it.

It's not an issue anymore also, due to warranties being over for the N54, but I never looked forward to the hour of uninstalling my tune before service appointments, and then reinstalling it.

A Cobb is like the Apple iPhone. So simple and elegant in its execution, updating of maps, software, etc. And a V2 can be picked up for the same price as the JB4. I can't think of a good reason why someone would go for a JB4, as someone getting into modding who wants a totally zero hassle experience. Just reading about all the different JB boards, resistors, etc. gave me headaches.

bmwmonkey

MHD offers a tune on par with Cobb and JB4 for less than 1/4 the cost.

Lotus99

Right... I forgot about the open source options that came out a couple of years ago. I don't know much about them though, hence why I didn't mention them. I didn't think they're as plug and play as the Cobb? MHD has only been out for a year, if I'm not mistaken. You need to have an Android phone for it, right? Which if you don't, then you might as well get the Cobb...

With the Cobb, they even know which ECU model (and I'm not talking just MSD80 vs 81 - much more specific) you have, and have created maps for it. There's like 30 maps for the N54, from gas type, to specific mods, etc. Is MHD that evolved ? Or is it built for enthusiasts who like to tinker and get to know how it works?

You've got a large support system behind you too with Cobb. You can even send in logs and they'll analyze them for you.

I just don't see as a newb especially, just to save a couple of hundred $, why you'd go thru the hassle of other tunes, especially piggy's.

bmwmonkey

MHD is in fact easier to use than either Cobb or JB4 and the MHD community is larger than the Cobb users. Cool thing about MHD the maps can be used in conjunction with the JB4 which is very flexible for the hard core tuning crowd who used MHD as a backend flash.
MHD Flash Discussion - N54Tech.com - Your Source for International Turbo BMW Racing Discussion

MHD updates their maps very frequently and support is nearly real time. I'm very happy with the stage 1 tune. I have no need for logging so this made the most sense for me with the lowest price point. I used my regular Samsung S5 phone to flash. A lot of people use tablets which can be obtained for less than 60 and have everything displayed on it.
Found a decent Android for JB4 Mobile (and MHD). - N54Tech.com - Your Source for International Turbo BMW Racing Discussion