Let's talk charge pipes

[Dat Aus]

I have just purchased myself a JB4 so I'll be needing to upgrade the charge pipe.

I'm not particularly fussed about having a BOV and I'm happy to retain the stock diverter valves.
At the moment, I'm leaning towards the BMS CP.
I have read some average reviews about the Cobb.

Does anyone have any experience with the eBay charge pipes?
In particular, the BP Racing.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IntakeTurbo-...pWfR7i&vxp=mtr

There are also other eBay specials for around $100. I'm a strong believer that you generally get what you pay for but does anyone actually have any experience with a cheap eBay CP? I don't see the point in spending over $300 if the $100 option will be just as good.

[kprocivic]

any metal chargepipe will be fine. The one you posted though is a terrible design with having a place for diverters and a bov. If you went with that you would have to block off the bov attachment, which is just another thing that will leak.

[Dat Aus]

I see.

So there generally don't tend to be any quality issues with the cheap Chinese Cps?
I've also noticed that many seem to have meth bungs. How would I go about blocking the meth bung if I don't intend to run meth?

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Since I'm a vendor my opinion always comes in biased. So I'll stick with facts.

We sell a handful of charge pipes a week. I've also seen on several occasions the chinese cp's not fitting well, however not all of them are created equal. Even big names like Cobb had and still have problems with fitment on their CP.

That being said, for a little more the VRSF has been a good buy with good fitment. I'd recommend that.

Also, most that come with meth bungs come plugged.

Another runner up on the budget CP's is the Phoenix which had a few hurdles in the beginning but they seem to have been ironed out as of lately.

I personally run an Evolution Racewerks and it comes highly recommended of course.

[Dat Aus]

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

Since I'm a vendor my opinion always comes in biased. So I'll stick with facts.

We sell a handful of charge pipes a week. I've also seen on several occasions the chinese cp's not fitting well, however not all of them are created equal. Even big names like Cobb had and still have problems with fitment on their CP.

That being said, for a little more the VRSF has been a good buy with good fitment. I'd recommend that.

Also, most that come with meth bungs come plugged.

Another runner up on the budget CP's is the Phoenix which had a few hurdles in the beginning but they seem to have been ironed out as of lately.

I personally run an Evolution Racewerks and it comes highly recommended of course.

Thanks for your feedback. I'm not usually one to go for budget parts but I've been shopping around and the reputable parts are not cheap. BMS will be $317 shipped and the ER is $335 shipped. With the current exchange rate, that's AU $421 and $445 respectively. That's a lot of money for what is essentially just a piece of aluminium tube.

Glad to hear the cheaper options are decent. I'll look into the VRSF as I haven't come across that one yet.

[kyubiii]

I was recently just in the market for a cp and ended up going with VRSF. The install went smooth and no issues thus far. In doing reasearch, I read a few threads that mentioned the Cobb cp had fitment issues.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by Dat Aus

Thanks for your feedback. I'm not usually one to go for budget parts but I've been shopping around and the reputable parts are not cheap. BMS will be $317 shipped and the ER is $335 shipped. With the current exchange rate, that's AU $421 and $445 respectively. That's a lot of money for what is essentially just a piece of aluminium tube.

Glad to hear the cheaper options are decent. I'll look into the VRSF as I haven't come across that one yet.

VRSF is the most popular one we offer and pretty sure in the platform too.

Originally Posted by kyubiii

I was recently just in the market for a cp and ended up going with VRSF. The install went smooth and no issues thus far. In doing reasearch, I read a few threads that mentioned the Cobb cp had fitment issues.

[Dat Aus]

Sent you a PM, Jeff.

[ShocknAwe]

There are 4 good options. I'll list them below in no particular order. The BMS "Cheap Chinese CP" is the one you want if you just want a metal pipe which fits well. It's been through several iterations and all the crappy chinese hardware is switched out to US quality and individually test fitted on a N54 throttle body at the BMS warehouse. CP-e and ER have their obvious attraction. They are both highly reputable well engineered, pioneering parts with quality finish. If you like "pretty" parts, the ER is the way to go. VRSF used to be the go-to cheap option for quality, but I'm unsure why anyone would do that now that BMS offers their chinese pipe in both OE DV and 50mm TiAL options.

CP-e/BMS
BMS "Cheap Chinese CP"
VRSF
Evolution Raceworks

[TX135i]

I just had my second stock pipe blow up in the last 12 months. Car is stock and I am easy on it. Pulling out of a gas station into traffic and very moderate throttle and boom. I'll get it changed under the extended warranty and then end up buying one of these I'm sure. The clip is gone so I'd have to buy one of those anyway so I'll get the one from the dealer replacement. This is ridiculous for a known issue like this not to be fixed by BMW.

[titium]

Originally Posted by TX135i

I just had my second stock pipe blow up in the last 12 months. Car is stock and I am easy on it. Pulling out of a gas station into traffic and very moderate throttle and boom. I'll get it changed under the extended warranty and then end up buying one of these I'm sure. The clip is gone so I'd have to buy one of those anyway so I'll get the one from the dealer replacement. This is ridiculous for a known issue like this not to be fixed by BMW.

on the plus side atleast you know your car is holding boost.

mine went on an aggressive throttle lift off (stock tune). scared the crap out of me how loud it was.

[heist_tub]

Just wait for a used one to pop up in classifieds, can get quality for cheap

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by TX135i

I just had my second stock pipe blow up in the last 12 months. Car is stock and I am easy on it. Pulling out of a gas station into traffic and very moderate throttle and boom. I'll get it changed under the extended warranty and then end up buying one of these I'm sure. The clip is gone so I'd have to buy one of those anyway so I'll get the one from the dealer replacement. This is ridiculous for a known issue like this not to be fixed by BMW.

I usually tell people to get the free warranty replacement and then swap in the aftermarket.

C clip is commonly lost when it blows.

If you get the VRSF CP it's offered with a C clip too if you want a spare.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

There are 4 good options. I'll list them below in no particular order. The BMS "Cheap Chinese CP" is the one you want if you just want a metal pipe which fits well. It's been through several iterations and all the crappy chinese hardware is switched out to US quality and individually test fitted on a N54 throttle body at the BMS warehouse. CP-e and ER have their obvious attraction. They are both highly reputable well engineered, pioneering parts with quality finish. If you like "pretty" parts, the ER is the way to go. VRSF used to be the go-to cheap option for quality, but I'm unsure why anyone would do that now that BMS offers their chinese pipe in both OE DV and 50mm TiAL options.

CP-e/BMS
BMS "Cheap Chinese CP"
VRSF
Evolution Raceworks

You forgot ETS and Active Autowerke

[Trptguy]

does the chinese come with caps to block off the old DV connections?

[dsocold]

i ordered the cobb cp without thinking twice cause i thought cobb made decent parts after reading about all these fitment issues i regret not buying the vrsf i should get the chargepipe today hopefully it fits well, if not im gonna make it fit somehow.

[bNks334]

Just throwing it out there that I just installed the map performance chargepipe (N55) I found on amazon.

It was $195. It fit perfectly. It even included a new gasket and c-clip. I also liked that it used a coupler to connect to the intercooler rather than straight aluminum. This allows the engine to flex without stressing the connector.

It also appears to have a shallow meth bung. It's a little closer to the intercooler than on other chargepipe though. I won't be using it anyway.

[thavipr]

i bought a ER cp from another member on the forums. easiest install, looks good, and performs well.

heres the install:

[Dat Aus]

I have ordered an ER charge pipe through another forum member. Hopefully it will be here soon.

[neepertech]

Dude, passing along a little edumacation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-ring

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hose_clamp

[LeMansBeauty]

Originally Posted by dsocold

i ordered the cobb cp without thinking twice cause i thought cobb made decent parts after reading about all these fitment issues i regret not buying the vrsf i should get the chargepipe today hopefully it fits well, if not im gonna make it fit somehow.

I ended up ordering a cobb cp recently too. I bought it even after reading the fitment issues and Im still happy with my purchase. Im not sure what everyone was talking about regarding fitment issues, but I was able to get mine in within 5 minutes after everything was out of the way. Didn't scratch the crap out of the charge pipe, and didn't have much problem, just had to use a little force and it went right in.

[Enfiftyfore]

Originally Posted by Dat Aus

I have just purchased myself a JB4 so I'll be needing to upgrade the charge pipe.

I'm not particularly fussed about having a BOV and I'm happy to retain the stock diverter valves.
At the moment, I'm leaning towards the BMS CP.
I have read some average reviews about the Cobb.

Does anyone have any experience with the eBay charge pipes?
In particular, the BP Racing.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IntakeTurbo-...pWfR7i&vxp=mtr

There are also other eBay specials for around $100. I'm a strong believer that you generally get what you pay for but does anyone actually have any experience with a cheap eBay CP? I don't see the point in spending over $300 if the $100 option will be just as good.

Ebay usually makes the highest of quality products. You can't go wrong with them.