N54 vs N55

[oman135]

enjoy what u have

[Aries932]

Originally Posted by ianf2002

The fifth-generation M3 will be powered by a 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline six-cylinder engine that's believed to develop around 335kW of power from lower revs than today's model. Also expect a higher torque figure that's available almost off idle for greater flexibility and fuel efficiency...

What ever engine it will be, I'm sure N54 fans will go on how better the N54 is than the next gen M3's

Can you cite where you got this information...because I am 99% sure the engine for the new M3 has yet to be announced.

[GerryL]

Originally Posted by Aries932

To believe that claim, you’ll have to wash your brain of the preconceived notion that more is better, because in place of two smaller turbochargers working alongside one another, BMW’s new turbo six goes to work with one single, albeit twin-scroll, turbocharger pumping in air. One thing that does carry over from the outgoing twin-turbo engine, though, is BMW’s attention to detail and the engineering team’s fight against turbo lag. As such, this new engine uses a very clever exhaust manifold and turbocharger design that is essentially a concentrated twin-turbo design. Inside the manifold, the front three cylinders are completely divided from the rear three, so while from the outside it appears that gas from all six cylinders is routed through one exit to the turbocharger, there’s actually a wall inside splitting the air in half. That splitting of air is continued right into the twin-scroll turbocharger housing.

The idea of this system is to split the pulses of exhaust gas so that regardless of where the engine is in its firing order, there’s always good pressure and as such, reduced lag. Additionally, the design allows for a lower exhaust gas counter-pressure buildup at low engine speeds, again reducing lag. It’s like having two turbochargers but without the complexity and like having one, only without the drawbacks of having to use one large, lagging turbo in place of two smaller ones. The best of both worlds.

.

Just so there's no confusion, twin scroll turbos, designed to keep opposing pulses from cancelling each other out, are neither new or a BMW development. In fact, Toyota was using them 20 years ago in the 1990 MR2 and Celica turbos which was an engine related to their then IMSA and other racing programs. Others have used them as well. I do agree that it is one more step in optimizing efficiency and as such is used more for fuel and emission optimization, which are of course prime engineering properties.

[Vectors2final]

Is the new twin-scroll a design of Borg-Warner? The DV is located on the Compressor housing and that is the same as the Borg-Warner EFR turbo design... which could lead to the availability of an actual "upgraded" turbo option as BW is hitting the aftermarket world by storm now. To me, that's really exciting because buying N54 turbos with clipped fans and PnP housings isn't worth the change they're charging.


EDIT: http://www.turbos.bwauto.com/press/n...=272&year=2010

Looks like I was right, and we may see some bolt-on options in the aftermarket world soon.

[Focusedintntions]

Originally Posted by Aries932

Can you cite where you got this information...because I am 99% sure the engine for the new M3 has yet to be announced.

The guys at insideline with edmunds.com said the next m3's engine will be based off the n55...go read the article where they dyno the 1m..it's the last paragraph of it.

[Pain]

Just curious, anybody know what size the "n55 twinscroll single turbo" is? It looks way bigger then the n54 twin snails.

[Dackelone]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ianf2002
The fifth-generation M3 will be powered by a 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline six-cylinder engine that's believed to develop around 335kW of power from lower revs than today's model. Also expect a higher torque figure that's available almost off idle for greater flexibility and fuel efficiency...

What ever engine it will be, I'm sure N54 fans will go on how better the N54 is than the next gen M3's

Originally Posted by Aries932

Can you cite where you got this information...because I am 99% sure the engine for the new M3 has yet to be announced.

Errrrr... that could have been from my old post (see link bellow) Oct/2010... But my info was for the new 1M. Some have speculated that the new M3 might also get a version of this engine. Who knows, right now it's all just rumors.

BMW 1 Series M Coupe 340hp Confirmed! US version (or F30/F32 M3) gets 451hp.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=457707&highlight=pyrat+332




Getting back to hard facts: N54 vs N55... one thing I noticed at the Welt 1er meeting was that the N55's have gold reflective insulation heat shields around the signle turbo while N54's have silver heat shields. I just found that interesting, I know gold is better for insulation.


Dackel

[Prof T]

Originally Posted by oman135

Both are good engines . Stock n55 feels better . ! I have seen a n55 with 380 whp !

Originally Posted by Shawnski

Vs my '11 n55. Truly apple vs orange as my '08 had the auto and my '11 has a manual. Seat of the pants and numbers don't lie though, it's a half second slower to 60 mph. The n55 is also considerably slower to 140.

I think that the N54 is underrated and the N55 is cheaper to manufacture. Any wonder why the N54 is used in the M One?

X2
But, I would be happy with any 1 series BMW. It's just a great DD.

[cstavaru]

So does anyone know if the N54 pistons are forged ? I read a rumor stating that they were forged, which would explain the insane power levels supported by the N54. I see that they are made by Mahle. I sent Mahle an email and they said they can't tell for sure unless I send them the "code" found on such a piston. So does anyone have this important piece of information ?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by cstavaru

So does anyone know if the N54 pistons are forged ? I read a rumor stating that they were forged, which would explain the insane power levels supported by the N54. I see that they are made by Mahle. I sent Mahle an email and they said they can't tell for sure unless I send them the "code" found on such a piston. So does anyone have this important piece of information ?

I don't think BMW would use forged pistons in a street car aplication. Forged pistons would cause the engine to use more oil (bc the piston to cylinder tolerence gap has to be greater than a cast pistons) and forged pistons make more rattling noises when cold and have a shorter engine life to to rocking in the cylinder bore.

I thought I might have taken a picture of the pistons nunbers on the few N54 and N55 motors on display at the Welt - last year. But I did not see any numbers in my old photos. But here are a few. Btw.. you can not even tell the difference (visually) between an N54 forged crank and the steel N55 crank.




N54


N55


N54 HPFP


N55 HPFP


N54 forged crank


N55 steel crank


x35d diesel turbo six



More engine pics here....

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=437692&highlight=n54+pdf




Dackel

[markt_sa]

Amazing info gents. Really good reading. I would love to see some similar informatrion on the DCT box. Anyone out there who knows??

[evilstib]

Originally Posted by JHOOPS2

I think mileage is a non issue. I average 30-31mpg on long trips with my N54 and JB4 on map2.

I'd love to know what you dud to get this. I get 27-28 mpg...

[JHOOPS2]

Originally Posted by evilstib

I'd love to know what you dud to get this. I get 27-28 mpg...

Nothing really. I just drove easy, and didn't get into boost during the trip. It's the light foot mod.

[rader1]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

I don't think BMW would use forged pistons in a street car aplication. Forged pistons would cause the engine to use more oil (bc the piston to cylinder tolerence gap has to be greater than a cast pistons) and forged pistons make more rattling noises when cold and have a shorter engine life to to rocking in the cylinder bore.
Dackel

When doing research for my buddy's turbo ss build we emailed mahle(his piston supplier) and inquired about the "loose bore" at cold start problem. And they claim that hasn't been an issue for a few years, metallurgy has advance by miles from where it was 20 years ago. I think it was the % of silica(similar to a hypereutectic) that has been tweaked. I know GM uses forged pistons in their turbo cobalts, I'm sure if GM can make it work BMW can to. I'm not saying for a fact that they use forged pistons, but I'm almost certain of it

[Superfly]

BMW's complete designations of the engines are not the same (cf : dackelone pdf) and a part of the answer is here...

[Dackelone]

for some great tech and pics!

[highbrowed]

Why would you bump a thread over 3 years old?

[darkrom]

If you are stock and want to stay stock the N55 makes about the same power and is supposedly more reliable.

If you are going to do any mods go with the N54. A JB4 brings it to 400 hp at the crank as easy as can be. The twin turbos respond amazingly to mods.

[GR1P]

Originally Posted by darkrom

If you are stock and want to stay stock the N55 makes about the same power and is supposedly more reliable.

If you are going to do any mods go with the N54. A JB4 brings it to 400 hp at the crank as easy as can be. The twin turbos respond amazingly to mods.

This is old thinking. The n55s power output is only limited by its turbo and tuning.

We are already seeing big power coming from upgraded stock framed turbo setups, with more advancements on the horizon.

-------> http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1018556

[darkrom]

What are the current high end power numbers achieved on a N55 motor? I thought the motor itself could only handle so much before needing to be built? I could be wrong thats just what I've heard.

[GR1P]

Any thread with the pure stage 1 or VTT dynos

[darkrom]

You didn't answer my question though. Does the N55 motor need to be opened/built to handle the 500+ HP that you can get easily with the N54?