Mike's 530i

Dear ESS Tuning,

I have had your supercharger on my 2005 530i 6-speed for 3 years. I paid $6500 for your Stage II kit and it was professionally installed by my local BMW dealer at a cost of $2000.

In my opinion, the system hasn't provided the 340hp/320ft-lb advertised, and the drivability has been poor. You have worked with me on solving these problems since the system was first installed. However, the BMW dealership blammed you and vis versa for the problems. I never took the car to an ESS authorized agent because there wasn't one in my town. I gave ESS the benefit of a doubt because BMW dealer didn't have experience with your systems - although they install lots of Dinan speed parts.

After having the car dyno'ed (see attached), I finally decided to take the car to an ESS agent in August to avoid the "he said, she said" with the dealer. I figured by doing so, the buck would stop with ESS. The car has now been at the shop for 6 weeks and I have spent $2000, which hasn't resolved the problem.

What do I need to do to get my car fixed?

Regards,
Mike

acuteperformance

Wow that pretty low compared to what they advertise. It looks like you're running a bit rich as well, that will rob some of the HP. I hope you get everything sorted out.

Michael
Acute Performance

jasperxli

thats way too low man. i hope everything gets sorted out

John@Motorcepts

did they claim 340 to the wheels or on the fly. If it's bhp, 340 is accurate. What's going on with drivability?

mookish

I don't understand why people do this, why not just take that 10 grand and upgrade to a 545/550?

JAY'545

Take it off and sell it back to them.

tex_phil

+1

Mike's 530i

Hind sight is always 20/20. I had an X5 with the V8 and had lots of problems with it.

I upgraded the L6 because of its legendary reliability and the fact that my car was modified. I didn't want to have to move over all my stuff to another car.

This is such a frustrating situation. The drivability and check engine light are the key problems to me selling the car not the low output. I mean no looker is going to buy a car that obviously doesn't run right and whose check engine light is always on.

I use to love my car and now I hate it. It apparently can't be fixed and no one's going to buy it in the condition it's in. I'm just stuck with it unless I invest more money to remove the kit.

Mike's 530i

Take a look at the drop off at 5000 RPM. It should not be there. This dive in hp can be felt when you drive the car. Also, the car hick-ups a lot even driving down the highway at a constant 70 mph. I have had two guys test drive it and comment they weren't interested because somethings not right with the car.

I didn't mention in my original post that the check engine light is always on for "increased emissions" since the system was installed. The light can be reset, but always returns after a couple of days. ESS has been working with the dealer for years and now with their agent to resolve the issues with drivability, performance, and check engine light, but can't fix it.

I want to sell the car, but no one will buy it. They keep sucking money trying to fix it, but can't resolve the problems. Looks like I'm stuck with it unless I want to remove the system (a couple thousand more) and sell the car without it.

greycoopers

If they sold you a system that doesn't work, and they cant fix it, instead of trowing money into the bottomless pitt, have them remove the system under warranty and sell the car without the system installed...

I suppose that without the sytem on the car, it should go back to normal...then go an get a 550

GL with the fixes..its always a pain when you cant trust your car anymore...