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Been daily driving my 06 E55 for the past 3 months or so. Been loving it so far. Right now it is all stock mechanically with exception of previous owner cut out the mufflers and secondary resonator. I am thinking of doing a pulley, tune and longtubes this spring. Any suggestions on sizes of pulley? Upper or lower? Do I need fuel mods as well? Was also considering an aftermarket heat exchanger and doing the split cooling mod as well. Anything I am missing? Who do you recommend for a tune?
I would start with cooling (bigger HE, secondary heat HE, Superflo pump, spilt cooling) then move to LTH and then a pulley and tune.
Headers before pulley will help reduce the extra heat caused by the pulley.
I have this set up and the car runs very strong (11.6@121 in street trim). I have K&N filters, MBH LTH (race cat, X-pipe, deleted secondary cats, stock resonator back), Renntech 178mm crank pulley and custom dyno tune with cooling upgrades, but stock fueling and TB.
Been running it with this set-up for 10 years/130K miles.
For a daily driven car I would just do longtubes, 83mm SC pulley and a tune. That'd put the car into the mid 500 hp range, which I think is fast enough for a daily driver. For cooling I'd do a bigger heat exchanger (PLM is a good one as it doesn't require additional cutting/drilling) and a pump. I wouldn't bother with hood/trunk tanks and fuel upgrades unless you're going down to a 77mm or smaller pulley. I'd also stay away from throttle body upgrades; some have no issues, others spend a lot of time chasing problems. Crank pulley upgrades are good if installed correctly. There's a very specific procedure so if you have somebody do it for you, make sure 100% that they know what they're doing
I suggest mid-length header (Kleemann or Eurocharge), SC pulley and ECU tune.
I never had cooling issue with my mods. I have upgrade my IC pump 9 years ago with Johnson 30M
I agree with CharlyE500. Go mid-length headers, save some $$ and pick up more torque on the low end for street driving. Add a pulley- preferably an ASP crank pulley- installed by a competent technician with a huge breaker bar at least 4 feet long, tune, and fresh Bosch intercooler pump, enjoy...
I second(third?) mid-length headers, seems like unless you go for MBH or ARH for about ~$3000 you are going to chase rattles/vibrations and the like. Considering the difference in power is about 20rwhp between long tubes and mid length I don't think it's worth it on the daily. Eurocharged headers have been known to hold up years without cracking or leaking even in Chicago winters according to Alex from legit street cars channel. Chinese (XS power, maximizer, etc) LTH have the opposite reputation.
I thought about it long and hard and ended up with a set of Eurocharged mids, haven't installed them yet but after having them over a year on my C55 I have full confidence in them for the E55.
I noticed a significant improvement in power delivery, with no loss of bottom end torque, when I went from mid-length to LTH. The car just seemed to “wake up”, much more beastly. I’m very glad I did it. Oh, and that sound��.
I would start with cooling (bigger HE, secondary heat HE, Superflo pump, spilt cooling) then move to LTH and then a pulley and tune.
Headers before pulley will help reduce the extra heat caused by the pulley.
I have this set up and the car runs very strong (11.6@121 in street trim). I have K&N filters, MBH LTH (race cat, X-pipe, deleted secondary cats, stock resonator back), Renntech 178mm crank pulley and custom dyno tune with cooling upgrades, but stock fueling and TB.
Been running it with this set-up for 10 years/130K miles.
I don't think these cars need any more low down torque... mid and top end is lacking if you look at the torque curve. I agree mid length is probably the best compromise in terms of cost and ease of installation with lower chance of issues later on. 83mm or 80mm pulley with cooling mods. No fuel changes required.
Long tubes, a 80mm clutched pulley and a new set of 550cc injectors. I've done both mid length and long tubes. I went with maximizers and they fit like a glove. I dropped around one pound of boost from the mids. My car became louder, gained 1.8mph at the track with 3200DA and over a car length from a roll. Would I do it again? Hell yeah! Mids were nice but the long tubes give a hell of a lot more torque. The ID of the runner of the mids were only 1 39/64" which is a hair smaller than 1 5/8" and the maximizers are 1 3/4". I don't have before or after numbers but if you want the most out of your exhaust go with long tubes. Do it once and do it right. With bolt ons I made 540whp and 663wtq on SAE dynojet on 91 with 2800 DA at higher altitude. Saw 12psi of boost at peak and 9-10psi to redline to bad air.
Last edited by Das_it16; Mar 10, 2019 at 03:13 AM.
My DD has a pulley, tune, belt wrap & upgraded pump. Been on the fence about LT's with race cats; I don't want any cabin drone. Would love to have a LSD. Not worried about heat soaking
Long tubes, a 80mm clutched pulley and a new set of 550cc injectors. I've done both mid length and long tubes. I went with maximizers and they fit like a glove. I dropped around one pound of boost from the mids. My car became louder, gained 1.8mph at the track with 3200DA and over a car length from a roll. Would I do it again? Hell yeah! Mids were nice but the long tubes give a hell of a lot more torque. The ID of the runner of the mids were only 1 39/64" which is a hair smaller than 1 5/8" and the maximizers are 1 3/4". I don't have before or after numbers but if you want the most out of your exhaust go with long tubes. Do it once and do it right. With bolt ons I made 540whp and 663wtq on SAE dynojet on 91 with 2800 DA at higher altitude. Saw 12psi of boost at peak and 9-10psi to redline to bad air.
Something is off about your results. Your pull started at near 0 rpm, your torque peak is 1500rpm, your horsepower peak is 3600rpm and at 6200 rpm you're barely making 300lb-ft of torque, which is about what a bone stock car would do. If I were to guess the RPM pick up of the dyno wasn't working right or the operator didn't set the correct cylinder count.
Even this dyno chart with only Eurocharged/Kleeman headers redline torque is over 350lb ft near 6500 rpm. Decen gains too, 35rwhp, 40lb-ft, would definitely feel the extra shove.
Something is off about your results. Your pull started at near 0 rpm, your torque peak is 1500rpm, your horsepower peak is 3600rpm and at 6200 rpm you're barely making 300lb-ft of torque, which is about what a bone stock car would do. If I were to guess the RPM pick up of the dyno wasn't working right or the operator didn't set the correct cylinder count.
The bottom line is in time(s) not in RPM.
Here’s another time I went to that dyno This is when I did my return style fuel system and I maxed out my 630cc injectors. AFRs were 12-13. Blue was on 4th gear, the other 2 pulls were in 3rd. The car wasn’t happy at all here. But I still was making decent torque. This was another time before the 540/663 pull.
Left: W211 E55 AMG- FBO tuned by Race IQ Performance
Middle: Bolt on ZL1: CAÍ, long tubes, 2.4 upper pulley, cooling, supporting mods.
Right: 2017 5.0 with
vmp gen 2r blower
82mm pulley
Twin 67mm throttle body
Long tubes
CAÍ
Supporting mods
Dual fan heat exchanger
Tuned by Yolo(Alex at Lund Racing)
645whp on SAE DynoJet
Camera car is a 2015 E63s M157-stock
Here’s the dyno sheet for that white VMP 5.0 mustang I ran.
Last edited by Das_it16; Mar 11, 2019 at 12:10 AM.
How does everyone feel about the stock heat exchanger for these kind of bolt on mods? Should I just do a pump and call it good or do a heat exchanger as well? Split cooling mod is a must?
How does everyone feel about the stock heat exchanger for these kind of bolt on mods? Should I just do a pump and call it good or do a heat exchanger as well? Split cooling mod is a must?
Yes do the pump and heat exchanger. Split cooling isn't helpful.
Here’s another time I went to that dyno This is when I did my return style fuel system and I maxed out my 630cc injectors. AFRs were 12-13. Blue was on 4th gear, the other 2 pulls were in 3rd. The car wasn’t happy at all here. But I still was making decent torque. This was another time before the 540/663 pull.
Here’s when I beat a C6 Z06 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy3i9VwJgoc
As you can see every time my car shifted I get a huge jump forward. This is from my high torque. Torque does help with rolls.
Left: W211 E55 AMG- FBO tuned by Race IQ Performance
Middle: Bolt on ZL1: CAÍ, long tubes, 2.4 upper pulley, cooling, supporting mods.
Right: 2017 5.0 with
vmp gen 2r blower
82mm pulley
Twin 67mm throttle body
Long tubes
CAÍ
Supporting mods
Dual fan heat exchanger
Tuned by Yolo(Alex at Lund Racing)
645whp on SAE DynoJet
Camera car is a 2015 E63s M157-stock
Here’s the dyno sheet for that white VMP 5.0 mustang I ran.
Not used to seeing the dyno represented in time but I see it now. I guess the dyno operator couldn't get the RPM signal and used time/speed instead. Judging by those graphs, mainly that dip just before 100mph,and your runs against the Mustang/Z06 your car should be putting down higher numbers than that dyno shows.
I don't think these cars need any more low down torque... mid and top end is lacking if you look at the torque curve. I agree mid length is probably the best compromise in terms of cost and ease of installation with lower chance of issues later on. 83mm or 80mm pulley with cooling mods. No fuel changes required.
"Compromise" is the key word in that post.
I am at point with my ride that I am not as interested in compromise as much as I once was.
I realize that is not the norm, and completely understand why balancing cost with performance is a good idea with this platform.
Last edited by Worth the wait; Mar 11, 2019 at 11:07 PM.
Absolutely. When people mention mods specifically for daily driving I assume they want quick easy installation with lowest possible complications, header ticking, banging, fitment issues. Otherwise long tubes all the way!
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