stephens

Saber
I concur, the Renntech kit makes a 30rwhp improvement on the dyno, from the examples I have seen.

I saw the same results from Powerchip, intake tube and BMC filters only. The pulley gave another 30rwhp improvement over that. These are measured improvements on the same dyno, double checked on a second dyno, run by a friend.
The Renntech kit for $5K gives the same HP increase as the $2K Powerchip Gold, according to the dyno. That is an observation, not an opinion.

saber

Stephens,
Now I understand your point. I orginally thought you meant that the performance increases from an ECU and pulley change were not good. You now clarified, that the performance increase is good but Renntech is expensive compared to other alternative sources. Did I get it right?

saber

By the way, 515 is 46hp greater than 469hp not 30, unless whp is different than US hp. Did you register that torque increase to 618? That is huge and the range was impressive. Does the powerchip ECU enhancement result in similar gains for torque?

stephens

Saber
The first rule of dyno tuning is don't worry about peak numbers or trying to calculate peak crank horsepower. It is the before and after run on the same dyno that counts. There are numerous examples, showing the Renntech kit to produce a 30-40rwhp gain. The Powerchip Gold shows a 10% torque improvement at the rear wheel. The E55 shows around 450lb ft of torque at the rear wheel on a Dynojet dyno as standard, so increasing to 500 is only a 10% increase.
A Powerchip AND a pulley together showed a 70rwhp increase on my car, at around 2/3 of the cost.

saber

Stephens,
Thanks for the input. The dyno results for the torque numbers I cited were not peak, the RPM range was impressive. I am at work and do not have the actual results by RPM so I will not quote because I try to be 100% accruate with numbers. I will agree that your set-up cost less, I will not agree that my buddies dyno results are an anomaly nor that the Renntech reps I have spoken too, misimformed me. They consistently demonstrate similar improvements to the ones you have talked about. Again, I have no relationships with Powerchip or Renntech hence I have no vested interest. I do not know if higher octane is available where you are located or any of the other vaiables that could lead to the poor results you obtained using Renntech products. I do appreciate your views and information.

Regards

jambee888

Where it matters I believe is the post-sales support and warranty.

RENNTech warranties their products and associated/affected components for 2 years from the date of install. If installed by an authorized dealer, sometimes the warranty extends up to the remaining life of your factory warranty.

To cite an example, RENNTech warranties my engine for the equivalent of 4 years, 50k miles through the authorized dealer that installed it... should I have problems and it not be covered by the factory because of the pulley kit and software installed.

I have yet to see what the Powerchip/BMC/etc. combo have to say about their warranty if the engine blows up.

To me, that's peace of mind and I don't mind paying the extra bucks for it.

stephens

Saber
My bad, the torque figures I used as a baseline were Evosports which are about 10% higher than normal. Most stock E55 see around 400lb ft at the wheels.
The Renntech pulley/ECU combo seems to give a 10% hp increase and a 20% torque increase, Powerchip Gold with filters and inlet mods gives 10% increase in hp and torque. The Powrchip Gold Pulley ECU and pulley gives almost 25% hp increase and 30% torque.
To be fair to Renntech, this is all they claim, so the kit is designed that way.

t-bone

My thoughts exactly.

jambee888

Is it me hallucinating but the car seems to develop MORE POWER as the days go by since the upgrade... is that the adaptive feature of the ECU adjusting to the power?

saber

That maybe the case. I am not sure yet. I installed kit on Saturday and did not get to dyno yet, however, I had several races against my buddy's 97 viper on Sunday. At one point we stop accelerating at 174. I was in the lead by about a car. I was taking most of the early races and the Viper was winning most at the end. All within a car length or 1.5. I am thinking that heat build-up is a problem. I only put on about 60 miles since the ECU upgrade and I am not sure if it was fully calabrate yet. Any thoughts on how to improve from here?

theboogers

d### saber that sounds impressive. have had a chance to measure the pulley size you installed? thanks

saber

Not yet but I will. I intended to do it the easy way and measure it for the board before I installed but I did it in a friends garage and in my zeal I forgot my measure and he did not have a soft tape measure available and I did not even consider that I could just use a rope. In additon, I am taking my car to a raceway on Saturday so I should have offical slips on Monday.

theboogers

the diameter will help. and the circumfurance would be also best. did you change just main pulley or water pump pulley also? thanks

saber

Only the main and the supplied belt was very similar in length

Stephen04E55

Saber,

Please tell us how difficult the install was overall. Did the radiator have to be removed to access the crank pulley? How difficult was the old crank pulley to remove and was a special puller necessary? Thanks.

stephens

Ahhh
That explains alot. The standard water pump pulley will not fit with the crank pulley I use, suggesting it is larger, giving more boost, which is where the additional power comes from.

theboogers

stephens- again can you measure the diameter of the pulley or pulleys you used for the upgrade? the comparison of sizes would be helpful to others on the board. thanks

saber

A few comments,
First, Stephens, your step-up is clearly the most powerful best one available. You have the biggest stick on the block. I am concerned about engine stress and maintaining overall drivability. My goal is to make the car the fastest it can be within the limits of good engine reliability and with the least major changes possible. After discussions with various techs on the subject and my owe research, the new ratio I went with is the highest power without putting undue strain on the engine. Clearly, there are many other performance options you could opt for if max horsepower is the main concern. Maybe nitrous is a good alternative…..

Now to answer your questions, Stephen04E55. Overall the installation was very easy and I highly recommend the package to anyone who wants to increase their cars performance significantly (see above comments, with certain limits).
First remove the air intake assembly and related tubes.
Unbolt the center radiator support piece. (six screws)
Remove the plastic flooring under the engine (three pieces with screws)
Unclip the electric fan and snap out (from the clips on the fan) the hoses connected to the bottom of the fan. None of the hoses have to be removed just unclipped and moved. Snap off the electric fan harness and slip the fan out.
Remove the access hatch under the car in the bell housing and remove one bolt from the torque converter. Replace bolt with a longer bolt to lock the engine from spinning.
Remove belts and loosen bolt in crank pulley with a breaker bar. Pulley can be pried off using two screw drivers it is not a tapered pulley hence a puller is not required.
Replace with new pulley and torque to 200 foot pounds. Than tighten bolt another 90 degrees because it is a “stretch” bolt.

Please feel free to contact me directly if any more guidance is needed.

sfa1509

I have an 00E55, normally aspirated. I have just gotten hip to the idea of performance mods. I have skimmed through this thread to get a sense of the possibilities. Hard to tell which of these apply to the supercharger 55s vs. mine.

What are the best bang for buck performance mods for <US$2k?

I live in the Los Angeles area (South Bay). Does anyone know of any tuners around here for this stuff? I am willing to take on some of the work myself if it does require extensive mechanic experience.

My car doesn't seem to have the thump off the line I would expect. I can't get the tires lit by simply stomping the throttle (which I have been told I should be able to do). Anyone have any thoughts?

I have the told the Mass Air Flow sensor could be bad, but wouldn't necessarily show up in the normal OBD II diagnostics. How do I check this out?

Sean

BlackC230Coupe

Ok, i know u guys dont wanna hear about a C230 in the E55 forum...........but.........i have the renntech ECU and pulley upgrade on my C230 and its a very noticable difference in power. I belive the ECU and pulley gives more power on the E55 then my car, so it will be even better. Cant go wrong with Renntech.

stephens

Sean create a new thread for your query. Mostly W211 owners will be reading nthis thread as it only applies to the factory supercharged cars. You'll find plenty of suggestions on how to make your E55 go fast around here. Welcome to the board.