My ESS TS2+ w/ FI cams install

[Dirtboy]

Ok, it started out with me dropping the car off at the dealer to get the Schrick FI cams installed. This was March 13th. Then they call me back to tell me that the exhaust cam was damaged. There was a piece of metal that wasn't ground off in the finishing process. This metal was coming in contact with the bearing ledge. So the cam had to be sent back to Schrick. Two weeks later, March 27th, my car is done.

I immediately drive my car to my shop and rip out the DME to ship to ESS. Then a co-worker and I install the front mount cooler behind the bumper and the water pump for that cooler. Sorry, no pics of this because I forgot my camera...

That was Day 1.

Here's Day 2:
Car's in the bay ready for surgery.


Disconnected intake and fuel rail wiring.


Fuel rail disconnected and power steering reservoir installed.


Intake manifold disconnected. (this was a pain, you have to remove the DISA valve and throttle body first to get at a 16mm nut underneath the manifold that connects it to the block)

[Dirtboy]

Now here's where I started to mess things up...

Stock manifold removed and ready to tape up wiring harness. (I went ahead and taped up the wires just how they laid in the original plastic box. Big NO NO... You'll see later...)


I had parts layed out all over my shop, on my desk, in my locker, and in my spare car...


Ok, ready for the Twin Screw supercharger... Right?


Supercharger's in and torqued down. Remeber those wires I taped all up?


Well, when I taped up all those wires how they originally laid, the lengths of the individual harnesses were too short. The ICV harness was pulled too tight and the throttle body harness was about 4 inches too short. Sooooo..... I got pissed and called it a night. Went to the store and got a 6-pack and finished it off at home.

Day 3.

Out with the supercharger.


While pulling it out, the gasket got hosed. Co-worker went to the back to start making me a new gasket.


Finally got smart and enlisted the help of a cherry picker to do the heavy lifting. Up to this point, we've been man handling the supercharger...

[Dirtboy]

Here's how you should tape up the wires. Each connection should be taped up separately.


While I was at it, I lengthened the connections on the fuel rail harness. One is an air intake temperature sensor and the other is some other sensor.


With all that taken care of, supercharger goes back in and all the connections fit.


I go to intall the stock air box and this is what I find.


I would have to wait till the next day to trim that up.

[Dirtboy]

Day 4

This day was just about trimming up the intake and making final connections. Those were the coolant lines running to the manifold and the PCV line.


And here's the final product.


Now I just have to wait for the DME to show up from ESS and start this baby up. It's Easter weekend right now so I will probably have to wait till some time next week for it to show up.

All these days (with the exception Day 2) I've been working have been after work for about 4pm till 8-9pm. Day 2 I worked for 8 hours. I hope all this work and pain (I have cuts and scars on my hands and arms now) was worth it.

[Julz69]

wow very nice. your car looks amazing.

[GG///M3]

wow very nice. your car looks amazing.

+1. What did the Ess kit cost you?

[agu845]

Great looking kit in a great looking car

Give us some more details on this kit please!

Wait I think it's this kit, no? http://www.esstuning.com/default.asp...at2=114&id=246

[Dirtboy]

Thanks.

Yup, that's the kit. But I got the TS2+, which bumps up the psi to 8.5 and tunes it with FI cams. This is the kit you get if you have headers.

[agu845]

Be sure to report back once you have her running.

Have fun, and be careful with cops, you are gonna be tempted to fly.....

[Dirtboy]

Be sure to report back once you have her running.

Have fun, and be careful with cops, you are gonna be tempted to fly.....

Yup, I'll do a sort-of trip report when I get back from the Ring. Don't have to worry too much about cops over here. Speed cameras are another story though....

[Dirtboy]

FINALLY!!!

My DME showed up today around 5pm and I got it installed. Started the car up, no probs what-so-ever. Took her for a little drive and...

HOLY SH!T!!!!!

First gear is pretty much useless, and I've got the 2.93 rear end... I tried my hardest not to floor the thing through all the gears, I was kinda successful with that...

I ended up driving about 50 miles today on mixed roads. I kept the speed below 100 on the autobahn (I was doing 97-99mph ). Hit the twisties in some of the small villages around here. The thing pulls like there's no tomorrow... Slipping tires 1st through 3rd gears... I KNOW I'm gonna need a LSD and a new clutch soon.

Tomorrow I'm gonna get the rest of the break in miles done and then Sunday it's off to the Nürburgring. I'll try to come up with some sort of trip report for that... And then Monday, back up to the Nürburgring! I love living in Germany!

[Juicy Double]

Wieso sprechen sie so gut English

I envy you, I am always debating moving to ''die Heimat''.

Nice to see your car complete and running! Looks to be a fantastic all around car! How much more than than the stock ts2's 305whp do you estimate to be putting down?

[Dirtboy]

Wieso sprechen sie so gut English

I envy you, I am always debating moving to ''die Heimat''.

Nice to see your car complete and running! Looks to be a fantastic all around car! How much more than than the stock ts2's 305whp do you estimate to be putting down?

ESS claims 365whp from the same engine on their site:





...oh, and I speak good english cuz I'm American... ...but I guess I should learn German...
... cuz my wife's German ....

[dredder]

shoudnt the power - torque cross at 5252rpm?

[ZimDoc]

shoudnt the power - torque cross at 5252rpm?

Yeah it should but again the graph isn't set up to be square. Notice that the Hp range is different then the Tq. range.

[SiGmA]

Yeah it should but again the graph isn't set up to be square. Notice that the Hp range is different then the Tq. range.

Are you sure? It seems to me that the graph goes from 0-500tq/hp.

[328iJunkie]

Are you sure? It seems to me that the graph goes from 0-500tq/hp.

TQ is in Newton Meters not Ft pounds, i think this is why its messed up looking. (thats why it looks like 500 tq when its really not that much, i dont know the conversion factor...)

[Dirtboy]

450 N-M = 332 ft-lb so on this graph this engine has 328.27 ft-lbs of torque to the wheels...

[274]

Awesome write up.

Thats a sick amount of power!! On the long straight of the ring, let us know what MPH you get up to .. or should I say kilometer per hour.

[Dirtboy]

Awesome write up.

Thats a sick amount of power!! On the long straight of the ring, let us know what MPH you get up to .. or should I say kilometer per hour.

I actually get faster on the autobahn. On the Ring I'm usually only about 110-120mph in the fast sections. On the autobahn, I bury the needle... My speedo only goes up to 155mph and the needle goes past that...

[paul e]

Anybody whos interested in comparing these dyno numbers to their own, be sure and note that the posted numbers here are modified by a DIN correction factor. On several runs I checked, DIN correction often produces Higher results than even No correction at all, let alone the more austere SAE correction factor that is the defacto standard.

[Dirtboy]

Back from the Ring...



No problems with the TS at all. The power sterring reservoir spit out alot of fluid all over the engine, but it did that before. My son came up with an easy fix. I'll post pics of that when I get the parts.

Driving with the TS is like driving a whole new car. I was able to keep up with the CSL's and some Porsche's (until the corners ). I used to have to down-shift to 2nd to make up the hill at Exmühle, but now I can just floor it. For some reason, DSC hasn't been kicking in as much like it used to. And the sound at 5000-6000 rpm...

The only thing slowing my car down now is me. I know my car can go faster than I can drive it...

Coming back home on the autobahn I was hanging with a 911 turbo for a bit and had a 540 trying to keep up with me. The car can get up to 140+ mph so easy now. I love this thing!

Sorry no vids and lap times. Video on the Nürburgring is not allowed (although I know someone personally who did it ). Plus, I don't have a video camera... yet... And I don't time my laps on the Ring. It's too distracting to have to worry about how fast you're going. You can read a good opinion on lap timing at the Ring here: http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/laptimes.html

[byron]

very nice! looks like a great kit! are these available in the states?

[Dirtboy]

very nice! looks like a great kit! are these available in the states?

Yes, there are a few people in the states who have this setup.

Just check out esstuning.com

by the way, my car's U.S. spec too...

[Juicy Double]

I actually get faster on the autobahn. On the Ring I'm usually only about 110-120mph in the fast sections. On the autobahn, I bury the needle... My speedo only goes up to 155mph and the needle goes past that...

I'm sure that a car with power like yours could hit 140mph on the döttinger höhe.