[Sumptuous Hummus]

Hey guys, looking to take on a project in the near-future and looking for some advice.

my 2011 528i has good low end torque, but is gutless for such a large sedan past 4500RPM. I am looking to give the high-end a much needed boost.

the ecu in this vehicle cannot be tuned, so I will need to find someone that can work their way around it and do a custom tune. as far as I know, you cannot just replace the ECU with a tuneable one in this car.

my mod plans as followed:

I currently have an exhaust system (secondary cat delete and high flow muffler)
I plan to get supersprint replica catless headers, put the secondary cats back on and replace current muffler with a 1 series PE (M performance muffler)

next, for suspension I will be purchasing sway bars and a bilstein b12 kit.

looking to replace awful open-differential with a LSD. I suspect I will need a longer final-drive due to the extra power.

I have style 269 rims on right now but need to replace the tires with something OEM sized, as the current tires were for a 335i. I am thinking of using firestone indy , 245/45/19 front 265/40/19 rear.

I will also need a transmission remap.

I think my OEM brakes will be strong enough for the extra power (I am thinking roughly 350hp all together, not sure on torque levels) but perhaps I will upgrade the pads. not sure yet.

as of right now, the only thing holding me back from doing all of this is the lack of a readily available tune for this car. if i can get that sorted out, would this project be feasible?

thank you in advance for any ideas or suggestions.

[Ickdeep]

Can't really give any advice but I wish you all the best for this build. I'd really like to see this one come through.

[Sumptuous Hummus]

Originally Posted by Ickdeep

Can't really give any advice but I wish you all the best for this build. I'd really like to see this one come through.

thank you. not having much luck so far, but if i can find someone to figure out this ECU it will happen. it will be expensive though.

[Ickdeep]

Not to pull down the idea but have you done a rough budget estimation for all those listed items? And how does that number compared to selling the car and upgrading to 550i/M5?

[lsturbointeg]

from being on this site for quite some time there's not a whole lot you can do for the 528i? it gets to that point where how much are you willing to dump into the car just for that extra say 100hp? you're better off starting with a 535i or even a 550i and start there. even with the 535i can be limiting from guys posting here but it's far better than what anyone has been able to do with the 528. but i understand you have to work with what you've got. good luck!

[Sumptuous Hummus]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

from being on this site for quite some time there's not a whole lot you can do for the 528i? it gets to that point where how much are you willing to dump into the car just for that extra say 100hp? you're better off starting with a 535i or even a 550i and start there. even with the 535i can be limiting from guys posting here but it's far better than what anyone has been able to do with the 528. but i understand you have to work with what you've got. good luck!

I don't want to go the same route as everybody else. I can easily trade it in for a 335i which is far bette suited to how I drive, but I do enjoy the NA. I want the feeling of linear 7000rpm power, something unique and rare. here in Canada finding a RWD car (which was a requirement for me) is like a finding a unicorn. I couldn't find a 535i so I drove the NA 528i and was impressed with how torquey and responsive the n52 felt below 4000rpm even compared to the n55. Only revving to 4000-5000 in the N55 do you really feel that my little 28i motor is just not enough. The feeling of power all the way steady to 7k is what I'm going after with this build.

Now if I can't find anyone to tune my car (no luck so far) then I'll be happy enough with the mid range torque of this engine until I get something faster. I'm holding on to the last of the NA's regardless.

[lsturbointeg]

just did a quick search and really couldn't find anything anyone really did to a 528 except exterior modification. but here's one member who posted this recently regarding the 528

Originally Posted by STR8-6IX

unfortunately we have an untuneable ECU.. so no power in the near future if ever.

we do have a 3 stage manifold, but the third stage is not properly optimized (4500rpm+) which is why we have 221 ft/lb of torque, but only 240hp.

with a tune, high flow exhaust and catless headers you are looking at roughly 280-285HP and almost 250 ft/lb of torque (crank) which would be enough for a car of this size. prices for this would range from $1500 with installation (absolutely cheapest) to roughly $2500 at the very most expensive, with catted legal good quality headers. is it worth the $2000? I dont know, maybe not for everyone but for me it is certainly worth the naturally aspirated goodness with headers. anyways, since its not doable I deleted my secondary cats and upgraded the muffler (you can hear the exhaust now, but still a touch too quiet, roughly 5hp gains from this)

I have simple done other things to make me happy with the car. tinted the windows, exhaust, etc. will one day install coilovers.

what colour is yours inside and out? mileage? I am at 75k miles silver on beige interior. love the car

[Stück]

I've built a couple supercharged BMW's over the years, and I'd venture to guess I'd be one of few here that can speak from actual experience on the subject.

My last daily was a 2001 530i with a ESS Twinscrew supercharger. Instant boost thanks to positive displacement, peaking at 12psi, and making 400hp/450tq on a internally stock M54b30. I would expect a N52b30 with the same sort of treatment to make better numbers since it has a much more advanced head and valvetronic.



My other blown car was a 1991 318iS, S52b32 swapped with an Active Autowerkes C38 Rotrex centrifugal supercharger on it. Completely different power delivery, essentially NA down low with gradually building boost as the RPM's rose up to again about a 12psi peak at redline. This car made 400whp/325wtq. Plenty for a 2600lb E30, but not altogether impressive all things considered.



Pretty much all the N52 kits out thee are Vortech centrifugal based kits, and inherently suck because of it.

If you're going to try to pave your way into something new and unique for an F chassis N52 do it well. Find yourself a 2l twinscrew blower and either fabricate or adapter an integrally aftercooled intake manifold to suit the N52 engine. Design and fabricate the appropriate belt drive, and then find someone to do a proper tune on the car. Anything less is going be be money wasted IMO.

[Rallo]

I’m curious about super charging. I found this bolt on super charger. Anyone used it or familiar with it?

ESS N52 VT1 Supercharger System (Gen.2)
https://esstuning.com/ess-n52-vt1-su...-system-gen-2/

[OrcaPod]

Sumptuous Hummus. please keep us posted . I also got my 2011 528i last year for the same reasons as you. Had to go to Montreal to buy it as I couldn't find any decent cars in GTA. Probably i'll not do any mods but still l'll be interested to hear your progress.