ESS Tuning Twin Screw Stage 2 (TS2) Supercharger Install Notes
Introduction
I'm a DIY kind of guy, and have maybe moderate experience wrenching on cars. I've done a lot of things at one point or another, probably everything except transmission work. So I feel somewhat experienced, but by no means a professional at all. Anyway, I always knew I would tackle the TS2 install myself, and along the way I took notes on things that you could say might be a good supplement the instructions that ESS provides. So here goes.
I thought the install would take about 12-14 hours, but I ran into some challenges along the way and it took me closer to 16-18 hours. Some of my bigger issues involved snapping a stud on the head when tightening down the new ESS manifold to 22ft-lbs, resulting in the need to remove the manifold which ripped the gasket, so I needed to make another gasket, and then removing and ordering a replacement stud from BMW. Then I found out I had the wrong intake boot, which ESS quickly shipped the correct part overnight.
General Recommendations
Not all installations will go smoothly. Regardless if things go perfectly for you or not I suggest investing in a couple things that can help verify a healthy operating kit once you've completed your installation.
Renovelo Bytelogger - Having a datalogging tool is very important to confirm fuel trims, ignition timing, and if you have a MS45.1 car you can even read your Air Fuel Ratio (AFR) and confirm you're running strong and reliably.
Mityvac vacuum/boost tester - This little tool is very handy in a number of ways. Hook it to your new ESS manifold and you can confirm proper vacuum levels at idle, and boost levels at WOT. If you have any troubles with the kit what-so-ever, knowing you do or don't have a vacuum or boost leak is invaluable to know before you start throwing new parts at the car.
Recommended OEM Parts to Replace
I believe that if your car has any weak components in the system to start with, a supercharger installation will magnify those. So while you're in there, based on my experience with my car that has 100k miles on it, there are a couple OEM parts you may want to either have on hand or replace. I recommend picking up a fresh set of studs and nuts for the intake manifold in case some break. Pre-cat O2 sensors have about a 100k mile service life, and the DME will use those to keep your car running a healthy fuel mixture. I also suggest getting a fresh o-ring for your oil dipstick in case you need to re-seat it. ESS recommends a fresh fuel filter (which more critically includes the fuel pressure regulator that NEEDS to be working right) and a new or good running fuel pump. This is a great time to change your oil filter housing gasket, because its a huge PITA after the supercharger is installed. Clean your ICV and throttle body while they are in your hands (or replace the ICV if you have doubts about its function, its a real pain to change after the supercharger is installed).
Installation Notes
Removing the stock intake manifold
I couldn't get to most of the bolts to remove it as one big piece, so I ended up removing the DISA, ICV, then the trottle body, and then I could get to the lower 16mm nut and remove the manifold
Removing the IAT plug
I had a hard time removing the intake air temperature sensor plug from my stock manifold. I ended up having to use needle nose pliers to grab onto the edge of it while using a screwdriver to release the clip. Had to lube it up to get it into the ESS manifold.
Trimming the top alternator bolt
The bolt I received that secures the new idler pullies to the alternator and oil filter housing gasket from ESS was slightly too long. Some have had their OFHG crack or shatter presumably because of this. The unthreaded "shoulders" were going to just slightly bottom out
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...porary_4_1.jpg
I used a grinder to slim it down
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...porary_5_1.jpg
Now it fits
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...emporary_6.jpg
Intercooler pump
I was initially sent smooth intercooler hoses with my TS2 kit that couldn't make the bends necessary without kinking. That is what initially led to the way I mounted the intercooler pump. But even after getting the ribbed hoses that can flex properly, I still found this mounting location to work better for me. Make sure to keep the mounting bracket low so that the fog light electrical connector will still have room when you mount the bumper.
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...mporary_18.jpg
Intercooler hoses
The instructions didn't say which port on the ESS manifold needed to go to the pump or the intercooler. I contacted ESS and they recommend connecting the upper port on the manifold to the outlet on the intercooler, and the lower port on the manifold to the inlet on the pump. This is more important than I thought. With the hoses in the wrong configuration I couldn't fill the system with coolant and it ran mostly air in there, which makes it useless. Here is the correct configuration.
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...oseRouting.jpg
Fitting the ICV to the ESS manifold
I found this to be difficult to fit properly. The 90 degree hose from ESS needs to be cut down a lot, and even then, the ICV twists in its rubber mount. Its just a weird angle but I guess it works.
Prepping the ESS manifold gasket
The instructions call for using Blue Loctite on the gasket to help it seal. In my experience, 20k miles later when I removed the manifold, the gasket was brittle and crispy everywhere I used the blue loctite. Instead of blue loctite, I recommend something like Permatex High-Tack Spray-A-Gasket Sealant.
Intake Manifold Studs
When I originally installed the ESS manifold and tried to torque it down to the torque specs in the instructions I snapped a stud. I did some research and BMW makes an exhaust stud in an M7x45mm size (BMW part number 07129908199). I can't find any info on the grade of the stud to validate that it is stronger, BUT, the BMW torque specs for these studs are higher than the stock intake manifold studs, so it stands to reason they should be stronger. Also at 45mm they are 10mm shorter than the stock intake manifold studs, which, when you're lifting that manifold in place, you'll come to really appreciate those extra 10mm. And you should be less likely to snap one of these studs.
Installing the ESS manifold
This is not very easy. Take some extra time to lay out the electrical components around the engine bay before you hoof this thing into the car. ICV in the middle, TB and MAF to the drivers side strut tower, and FVV components up front. Whatever length you think you will need for the throttle body and MAF connectors, add a couple inches more. Have someone hold the manifold about 4-6" from its final mounting place to give you a chance to hook up the ICV, FVV vaccum line and electrical connector, and the lower intercooler hose. Then carefully maneuver the manifold into position making sure that the lower intercooler hose routes BELOW the two coolant hoses coming out of the firewall, and be careful not to damage them while maneuvering the manifold into place! I am no professional but I would suggest torquing to something like 16ft-lbs (bentley manual says 11ft-lbs, but its a heavy manifold, so I compromised with 16ft-lbs). I snapped one of the stock intake manifold studs at 22ft-lbs, and yes I verified my torque wrench was accurate.
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...ee9d5ce99b.jpg
Bolting down the fuel rail
When mounting the fuel rail it is best to push it as close to the intake runners as possible while you bolt it down. This is to ensure you can get the injectors angled towards the cylinder head as much as possible. Apparently this can help with some cold starts.
Installing the plastic cover around the brake booster
This is a major PITA. I finally got pissed and used every ounce of force I could muster to twist it in there right. How exactly I did it, I'm not sure, I just know I finally got it down there after about 20-30 minutes of pushing, pulling, sweating, swearing, looking for a punching bag, questioning my choices in life, etc.
Routing the PCV hose
I found the best way was to run it over and behind the top intercooler port on the ESS manifold, and keep it on top of everything. There is room back there even after the cabin air filter tray is reinstalled. Otherwise its hard to get the intercooler hose to gently arch down into the engine bay without kinking.
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...porary_3_3.jpg
Routing the brake booster hose
It wouldn't lay right no matter which way I twisted or tucked it, so I ended up pulling the top section of the brake booster hose off of the Y-junction/valve and cutting off that last 90 degree bend (it's about a 3" length or so that I cut off, including the 90 degree bend). Then I reconnected it to the y-junction/valve and it lays in there real nice now.
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...porary_6_2.jpg
Filling the intercooler with coolant
Not that its difficult, but I'll tell you what I did, not that I'm recommending it, do this at your own risk. I noticed it was filling very slowly, and almost came to a stop, and I was impatient, so I wiped off the end of the hose and wrapped my mouth around that hose and blew into it gently. That forced the coolant down through the pump a bit quicker and allowed me to get a good initial fill on the system. I had to do this a few times until coolant finally dribbled out of the top intercooler port on the manifold. Get it filled, then run the pump for a few minutes per the instructions, and fill again.
Supercharger Oil
I did a lot of research on this. I called Lysholm directly and the correct oil to use is a vortech part number 009028. This is a synthetic oil specifically formulated for twin screw superchargers and is a much thinner oil than the motor oils such as the Castrol TWS 10w-60 that ESS specifies in their instructions. Lysholm says NOT to use anything other than the Vortech 009028 oil, especially not a motor oil. Part number 009028 is about $50 directly from Vortech.
http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...orary_3_11.jpg
Turns out this Vortech part number 009028 is actually Nye Synthetic Oil 605, which is also sold as Ford specification ESE-M99C115-A, and GM part number 12345982. Get the GM stuff, its about $12 for a 4oz/120ml bottle. Perfect.
Experience has shown that 4oz/120ml is too much oil for the charger, you'll have oil come out of the snout of the charger and sling all over your engine bay. From what I can tell, the sweet spot is probably about 3oz if filling from empty.
Startup and first drive
The car took two tries to fire up, and it stumbled quite a bit initially for about 5-10 seconds or so. Then the car settled into a nice easy idle. The first few times I accelerated up past about 3k-4k RPM or so there was a little bit of hesitation. I don't know if that was more air working its way out of the fuel system or if the DME was still learning things, or if the throttle is just a lot more sensitive, but it's gone away once I put 50 miles or so on the kit. These may or may not happen to you, because in my case I had the FPR hose connected to the wrong place initially (I left it connected to the intake tube instead of moving it to the ESS manifold like I was supposed to). After correcting that the car idles perfectly and power is nice and smooth.
Conclusion
I love the extra torque and power that this kit provides. The power gains come on very early (like 2500 RPM early) and it just pulls so nicely to redline. The supercharger whine is very subtle compared to my exhaust (cat-less headers and magnaflow cat-back). The LSD is almost a must, I can't imagine not having it. Rainy days are very sideways, and I've found the 3.07 diff gearing in my car to be pretty much perfect because on dry days I still can use first gear. :)
Parting ways
Another nice thing about this kit is that there really aren't any permanent modifications necessary. But there are a couple parts or changes necessary to return the car to stock, or if you sell your used TS2 kit to someone else. You know, just in case...
To return to stock you need:
About 4 1" hose clamps
New PCV hose (11617533398)
New brake booster hose (34336751108)
To resell the kit you need:
Blue Loctite
Intake manifold gasket
Possibly some longer hoses, since I cut mine to length
ESS Tuning Twin Screw Stage 2 (TS2) Supercharger Install Notes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
derbo
Looks like this is how Au2Bahn did it. (Forgot his name but he used to own a zhp here)
His name is Jon... :thumbsup
Sent from my iPhone5S using Tapatalk
