[Skydive]

Hi Guys,

My partner and I are looking for Los Angeles N54 candidates who are interesting in GT turbo kit development. Jonathan is the very same mechanical engineer who has designed and implemented several other such notable solutions. He is responsible for the wildly successful R605 and R770 turbo kits which were created as part of his masters thesis at Kettering, when he was an intern at TiAL. (Kettering is a small savant engineering school in Michigan with strong ties and history with the automotive industry.) Those kits have achieved the "impossible", and have become the standard for 2.7T equipped S4s and A6s. There are several hundred of the kits making 600-700+ horsepower on daily cars. Jonathan has subsequently developed kits for the Porsche 996 and 997s, as well as the Nissan GTR. He is wrapping up a couple of supercharger kits for the latest Audi V8s and R8s now, and has slated N54 development for the remainder of the year.

Jonathan and I have been personal friends for more than ten years, and partnered on several projects in that time. He is a master of rapid prototyping and obsessive in his pursuit of the right solutions. He uses a lot of very modern tools and software to turn his projects around quickly. (Think laser arms, CAD, and SLA). He has a very thorough understanding of forced induction combustion dynamics and fueling as well as metallurgy and manufacturing. His kits are designed to be manufactured and maintained. Jonathan is an enthusiast, and an "over-engineer". His kits are flexible such that they can be spec ordered for daily drivers, wide open throttle racing, and everywhere in between. Whatever your spec, the kits are generally run well "inside the envelope" such that turbos are run at best efficiency for reliability and power.

We need one N54 6MT candidate car to assist Jonathan in his development effort. Your commitment would require a total downtime of about two weeks, split one week for measure and research, and one week for test fit and revision. (You can have your car back for six to eight weeks between the first and second week. We would expect to have a production kit ready after about ninety days post fit, depending upon fueling.)

There are several possible compensations available, but if you have a second car or can otherwise afford a couple of one week downtimes, this represents and excellent opportunity to help break very new ground in the community.

(I cannot volunteer my own car because I am physically challenged and I cannot practically drive a 6MT. The kits that come out of this effort will produce power well beyond the limits of the 6AT, so... "no soup for me". I fried three "built" Audi ZF 5HP19FLA Tiptronic transmissions with the R kits, and they are essentially the same gearbox. If I could, you can bet that I would!)

Incidentally, we do not expect fueling to be an insurmountable hurdle. Audi has implemented direct injection as well, so we will be able to apply similar math and experience to the fuel problem.

R&D will be completed at one of two shops in the LA area with all wrenches turned by experienced BMW technicians.

Interested?

Drop me a PM here, and we can explore the possibilities.

Thanks,
-Michael

[import36]

someone jump on this ASAP!! good luck with the project Michael(and Jonathan).

[tunachris]

Sent you a PM.

[Ron1n]

Dude, do this for the 335d, and I'll happily toss my car your way. I can ride the Gixxer 600 to work for a while.

[Skydive]

Originally Posted by Ron1n

Dude, do this for the 335d, and I'll happily toss my car your way. I can ride the Gixxer 600 to work for a while.

...give it a couple of years. There are lots of N54s. Unfortunately we have to make money at this to keep doing it. While it's possible to make stupid power with a Diesel engine, it's not possible to sell that many kits once the work is done, yet.

-Michael

[kiwi29]

If only this was for a n52!

[joshj84]

Whats the estimated cost on this setup? You say there are similar audi one's what do they cost?

[sourphish]

Awesome accomplishments! Dang, I would love to submit my car to you guys since I'm actually going to be out-of-state this Sunday for 30 days anyway...but I'm in the Bay Area...

[Skydive]

Originally Posted by joshj84

Whats the estimated cost on this setup? You say there are similar audi one's what do they cost?

The Audi kits are priced between $3,500 and $6,000. Again though, the factory exhaust manifolds are retained which won't be possible with an N54 kit, so this isn't a particularly good indicator of price, and until we complete initial R&D, it would be a really bad idea to create an expectation.

I can say though, that the design philosophy and manufacturing techniques are well conceived with cost in mind. They will be cost effective and cost competitive. (For example, competing kits for the Audis cost between 25 and 100 percent more that Jonathan's kits do, but they provide performance well beyond any of the other production offerings. This is so true that the others essentially left the market, and tuners began to tune the R kits exclusively.)

-Michael

[Hisam135i]

would be all over this but my car is an auto... and its up for sale lol

[ttbmer]

U got PM. Lmk if u got it

[Ron1n]

Originally Posted by Skydive

...give it a couple of years. There are lots of N54s. Unfortunately we have to make money at this to keep doing it. While it's possible to make stupid power with a Diesel engine, it's not possible to sell that many kits once the work is done, yet.

-Michael

I think you underestimate the diesel enthusiast community here (and across other forums). There are plenty of diesel folks looking for something, anything that pushes their car, aside from the occassional piggyback tune, and the rare ECU tune.

The more folks continue to discount the community, the more frustrated we get.

[Skydive]

There's a lot more to it than that, sir. We have to look at the demographic as a whole. The M57/N57 motor is still relatively new in the North American market, whereas the N54/N55 have much greater market depth, especially among those enthusiasts who are prepared to make significant modifications to their cars. This is due, at least in part, to the fact that many N54s are beginning to come off of warranty, and enthusiasts are picking them up in the secondary market. We have to look not only at the population of folks on a single forum, but the population as a whole.

Of the already small market members, how many of them are willing to drop more than five grand on a major modification that will almost certainly cause significant warranty frustration? Given that most of the 335d driving public are environment friendly and cost conscious, we think the business opportunity is limited, particularly since we need to sell many kits to so that we can amortize development costs. Like you, we are enthusiasts, but we can't afford to do this kind of work just because it's fun!

I love the 335d, and I consider it an excellent choice. Your performance is potential is absolutely there, and in a couple of years, you'll see the aftermarket come on strong.

-Michael

PS: For all of you the enquired... we have our work cut out for us. You will likely hear from us as to next steps before Monday next.

Originally Posted by Ron1n

I think you underestimate the diesel enthusiast community here (and across other forums). There are plenty of diesel folks looking for something, anything that pushes their car, aside from the occassional piggyback tune, and the rare ECU tune.

The more folks continue to discount the community, the more frustrated we get.

[acdHQK713K]

He can have my car but its an auto

[Ron1n]

Originally Posted by Skydive

There's a lot more to it than that, sir. We have to look at the demographic as a whole. The M57/N57 motor is still relatively new in the North American market, whereas the N54/N55 have much greater market depth, especially among those enthusiasts who are prepared to make significant modifications to their cars. This is due, at least in part, to the fact that many N54s are beginning to come off of warranty, and enthusiasts are picking them up in the secondary market. We have to look not only at the population of folks on a single forum, but the population as a whole.

Of the already small market members, how many of them are willing to drop more than five grand on a major modification that will almost certainly cause significant warranty frustration? Given that most of the 335d driving public are environment friendly and cost conscious, we think the business opportunity is limited, particularly since we need to sell many kits to so that we can amortize development costs. Like you, we are enthusiasts, but we can't afford to do this kind of work just because it's fun!

I love the 335d, and I consider it an excellent choice. Your performance is potential is absolutely there, and in a couple of years, you'll see the aftermarket come on strong.

-Michael

PS: For all of you the enquired... we have our work cut out for us. You will likely hear from us as to next steps before Monday next.

I appreciate where you're coming from, especially from a business perspective. I'll just leave it at that. Good luck with your development!

[LAE92]

YGPM!

[Hisam135i]

Wait so this kit will only be developed for 6mt cars or also for AT cars. Or does he just prefer a 6mt to test on?

[LAE92]

Seems like from what the OP stated, its only for manual transmissions, but seems like even at that a clutch upgrade would be needed...along with other suspension upgrades to handle all that power.