Just got my JB+ for N55

[bogart]

Just got my JB+ for the N55... pretty damn excited!!

[onlyar18]

Grats, let me know how it goes. So glad n55 is getting love

[bdoooh]

Let us know how it is! So the JB+ can be ran without getting the JB3(4) for the N55? I was JUST wondering this last night...and was going to post a thread about it today... You may have answered my question.

[mitch55]

NICE..Let us know how the throttle response is.

[bogart]

Originally Posted by bdoooh

Let us know how it is! So the JB+ can be ran without getting the JB3(4) for the N55? I was JUST wondering this last night...and was going to post a thread about it today... You may have answered my question.

Will do.. I'm heading out on my lunch hour to install it!

Yes, it can be installed on the N55 by itself. It just plugs into the MAF sensor on the intake at the back of the engine bay. Very easy to install and uninstall when going in for service.

[Vlaze]

bogart, didn't realize you lived in STL as well. I ordered a JB+ on Friday, hopefully mine arrives soon. I'm eagerly awaiting your report/review

[bogart]

Originally Posted by Vlaze

bogart, didn't realize you lived in STL as well. I ordered a JB+ on Friday, hopefully mine arrives soon. I'm eagerly awaiting your report/review

What color is yours? What part of St. Louis? You should keep your eye out on the Midwest part of the forum, because we have a pretty good scene here, and go on drives occassionally.

[bdoooh]

Originally Posted by bogart

Will do.. I'm heading out on my lunch hour to install it!

Yes, it can be installed on the N55 by itself. It just plugs into the MAF sensor on the intake at the back of the engine bay. Very easy to install and uninstall when going in for service.

That's pretty sweet.. If you like it, I might end up getting that as my very 1st mod when I get my car this July.. It'll get me through until Cobb releases their AP for the N55s.

[oman135]

Congrats !
waiting for the review !

[Vlaze]

Originally Posted by bogart

What color is yours? What part of St. Louis? You should keep your eye out on the Midwest part of the forum, because we have a pretty good scene here, and go on drives occassionally.

White, red leather, M package. I live in Maryland Heights. I'll scope out the Midwest part of the forum. Let us know how that JB+ is doing

[christopherkriens]

Just got back after installing one of these, this thing is fun! Don't notice it much until about 3,000rpm, then it's on. The best part is I have a service appointment in the morning and I just need 5 minutes to pull it out. Definitely a little more exhaust odor, probably from the cats getting hotter. It makes me hate my run flats- Great first impression.

[bdoooh]

Originally Posted by christopherkriens

Just got back after installing one of these, this thing is fun! Don't notice it much until about 3,000rpm, then it's on. The best part is I have a service appointment in the morning and I just need 5 minutes to pull it out. Definitely a little more exhaust odor, probably from the cats getting hotter. It makes me hate my run flats- Great first impression.

Does it maintain the smoothness of the car? Or does power kick on rapidly?

[Diver]

I wonder about this gadget. My best guess is it alters the information from the MAF sensor to make the engine see less air, as if it was at high altitude. That probably allows the turbo to make more boost. Only then the mixture might be on the lean side, because there is more air in reality than what is measured. That is a bit risky.

As for Cobb, is ever going to happen for the N55?

[Mike@N54Tuning.com]

Originally Posted by Diver

I wonder about this gadget. My best guess is it alters the information from the MAF sensor to make the engine see less air, as if it was at high altitude. That probably allows the turbo to make more boost. Only then the mixture might be on the lean side, because there is more air in reality than what is measured. That is a bit risky.

As for Cobb, is ever going to happen for the N55?

The air/fuel ratio is spot on as the N55 uses a wideband o2 sensor full time.

Mike

[bogart]

Well here is my initial review:

1. I optioned for express delivery last week, but they were out of stock until this week, so I didn't end up getting it until today (not so bad). I wish someone called to let me know, but that didn't happen. I ended up contacting Terry, and he told me the deal. It came with just the parts and no instructions what so ever, but pretty much everything you need is online. The CAN Tool is way more difficult than the JB+ (and the CAN tool isn't that difficult to begin with, haha).

2. To change settings you have to unscrew two screws and take the plastic box apart, which is another feature I did not like, but it works. When you open the box, you take out the circuit board and turn the blue "resistor" with the arrow on it. It comes factory set at 50%. There are little dashes that tell you where 0, ~17, ~34, 50, ~67, ~84, and 100 percent are located, with a - and + to tell you what direction you are turning it in. I bumped mine up to about 67%, and put it back together.

3. The install is supposed to be easy, and for most N55's it will be about 5 minutes (3 minutes of that is waiting for your ECU to "go to sleep". I will get back to that in a bit. So, you pop the hood, shut the doors and trunk, and then lock the car and wait a bit before unplugging the MAF (if you have comfort access, move the key far away from the vehicle, like back inside your house). Open the hood, unplug the MAF (which is dead center in the back of the engine bay connected to the air intake), and then plug one side of the JB+ into the wire and the other into the MAF. It can only be done one way, so it is idiot proof. Back to my connector. Mine was not the typical "press the clip and pull type" like shown in the video on their website. It has a tab that has to be lifted with a small flat head screwdriver and then you can pull the connector while lifting the tab off the MAF. Who knows why the connector is different...

4. So tuck the JB+ away nice and neat, it fits perfect under the HVAC cowling, and start her up. Next I played a little bit with the CAN Tool, which I still haven't figured out completely, but I got it to recognize the model car I have (since the same CAN is used on multiple bmw's), and I setup the shift light and fuel gauge to show boost instead of fuel level. (unfortunately I wasn't able to see if boost increased past stock, because it reset back to showing fuel level... so I have to figure that out tomorrow hopefully... will report back)

5. Now to the part you have all been waiting for, the drive. Well, starts like a champ and runs as smooth as if the JB+ plus wasn't there at idle. Throw it in D, push over to manual mode, down shift into first, and push on sport mode and off you go (DCT users only) I haven't drove on roads yet to get it past 50 mph, but 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gear feel incredibly different. The throttle response, to be honest, feels different. It is almost a little twitchy if you are used to the throttle without the JB+ (if you have owned the N55 for 6 months or more). The take off is smooth in 1st gear, but definitely more abrupt if you are not paying attention. 1st gear feels about the same except for the initial take off, and maybe feels a little stronger. 1st gear without the JB+ just felt a little weak in general.

6. Now for the best part, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gear (up to about 50 mph)... I'm sure 5th and 6th will feel a lot better too once I get on the highways tomorrow. Just a note, because I forgot to mention, I have the BMW performance exhaust and I run 93 octane, everything else is stock. When shifting from 1st to 2nd at about 6k rpm, the intensity of 2nd gear comes rushing at you, and the power feels endless. It pulls very very hard from 2nd thru 4th, but at the same time I kept thinking to myself, this is sooo smooth. There was no jolting or rocking, it felt like it came from the factory like that (and probably how it should have come from the factory). The noise seems to be a little different too, both of the engine (diverter valve) and of the exhaust. The high pitched whine of the turbo is more audible, same thing with the diverter valve doing its thing at high boost pressure. The exhaust grumbles and pops some more during upshifts and downshifts to get rid of some of that unburned fuel.

7. I'm going to be collecting data including a dyno of before and after, and after being at multiple different set points on the JB+. I'm also going to gathering fuel efficiency info, just because that is somewhat important to me, and a lot of people (especially with 93 being at about $4/gallon). Anything else people want to know, just ask. One other note, after I installed it, I started and drove the car three different times, and each time it sort of has gotten better and better, as in more powerful, more throttle response, more smooth.

8. In conclusion (of my initial post, there will be many more to come), I think it is the best bang for you buck (besides the e93 m3 anti-roll bar, which I just ordered today) for the E82 N55. For approx $400, you can get the JB+ and CAN tool, both with a 5 minute plug and play install, which is awesome! The best thing about it is you can remove it in 30 seconds before bringing your car in for service, and it is just a little part, not a ton of wires.

[bogart]

Originally Posted by Diver

I wonder about this gadget. My best guess is it alters the information from the MAF sensor to make the engine see less air, as if it was at high altitude. That probably allows the turbo to make more boost. Only then the mixture might be on the lean side, because there is more air in reality than what is measured. That is a bit risky.

As for Cobb, is ever going to happen for the N55?

I believe you are on the right track, except for the lean part. The JB+ does trick the MAF to sense less air, but what this does is keeps the air coming through the turbo, without opening the diverter valve as soon/often, hence increasing the boost pressure due to the increase in air. The diverter valve operates according to what the MAF senses, so it is a pretty simple gadget. The adjustable resistor basically allows you to trick the MAF to sense more or less air, creating less or more boost. The O2 sensor stays the same, so the fuel to air ratio is consistent. The boost is created inside the intake manifold, between the turbo and cylinder head, and the diverter valve maintains that pressure according to the MAF. When the valves open, more air is compacted into the cylinder due to the increase in boost, so the direct injected fuel inside the cylinder compensates for the increase in air pressure with more fuel, therefore, keeping the fuel to air ratio the same. Since there is more fuel and air compacted into the cylinder overall, it creates more power. That is why such a small device, creates so much power. The only negative would be a decrease in fuel efficiency, but probably not by much.

[bdoooh]

Originally Posted by Diver

As for Cobb, is ever going to happen for the N55?

It will happen.. Just gotta be patient. My guess would be probably sometime in the spring of next year..

[NYC6]

Good review Bogie.

Just dont understand why you didnt wait on the report until after you were able to spin it up higher than 50mph!
Guess we'll see that in installment #2.

[Diver]

Originally Posted by bogart

I believe you are on the right track, except for the lean part. The JB+ does trick the MAF to sense less air, but what this does is keeps the air coming through the turbo, without opening the diverter valve as soon/often, hence increasing the boost pressure due to the increase in air. The diverter valve operates according to what the MAF senses, so it is a pretty simple gadget. The adjustable resistor basically allows you to trick the MAF to sense more or less air, creating less or more boost. The O2 sensor stays the same, so the fuel to air ratio is consistent. The boost is created inside the intake manifold, between the turbo and cylinder head, and the diverter valve maintains that pressure according to the MAF. When the valves open, more air is compacted into the cylinder due to the increase in boost, so the direct injected fuel inside the cylinder compensates for the increase in air pressure with more fuel, therefore, keeping the fuel to air ratio the same. Since there is more fuel and air compacted into the cylinder overall, it creates more power. That is why such a small device, creates so much power. The only negative would be a decrease in fuel efficiency, but probably not by much.

Pretty damn clever, especially when considering that one of BMW's objectives was to make it impossible to use piggyback ECU's on the N55. This is almost the electronic equivalent of a bleeder valve on the waste gate control.

[bogart]

Day Number 2:

1. Started up this morning just fine. Played with the CAN tool before leaving for work and finally got it to work correctly. Realized that there are separate settings for N54 and N55. I noticed when switching back and forth that the settings I had (like displaying boost where the fuel gauge is) was changing back and forth, so I decided the one that showed boost (0 psi, or No fuel) was the correct N55 setting... phew... The drive was especially fun, because there is a pretty nice road I typically use as my morning track, and I got it up to about 90 mph and utilized all gears.

2. I did notice a few subtle things today. In 1st gear (manual mode), without the JB+ it typically winds up pretty quick through the RPMs. With the JB+, 1st gear seems to travel a little slower, taking longer to reach 6-7k RPM, but feels stronger. The other thing I noticed was that gears seem to hold RPM longer when you let off the gas. Say for instance, I'm on the highway in 6th gear and traffic comes to a stop, I'm at about 2k RPM, and I let off the gas. Well, where it typically would drop quickly, causing the need to downshift pretty quick, especially if braking, now the RPM sort of stays still and floats, allowing you to get back on the gas in whatever gear you are in at roughly the same RPM you left it. Now, it is not perfect, and does not seem consistent, but it definitely helpful in a lot of situations. I think it the car is still adjusting to the change.

3. Sort of a disturbing find. I'm traveling on the highway in the left lane at about 20 mph in 1st gear... haha (rush hour)... and traffic comes to almost a dead stop, so I peak over in my mirror and there is an opening, because for whatever reason the middle lanes in St. Louis move faster than either the left or right on a 3 lane highway.. very odd coming from NY where if you are not traveling at a high rate of speed in the left lane you are going to hear about it. Anyways, I punch the gas and turn to sneak in and there is this huge lag/hesitation, which never happened before especially in 1st gear, manual mode, and sport mode. Usually 1st gear take-offs at about 5mph are very quick. Well, I say huge, but it was probably very short, maybe a second or two, but I pressed the gas and nothing happened then the car jerked forward. Well, by this point the car was right up on me, and I wasn't all the way over, because I hadn't matched their speed... so I moved back over and tried again, this time it worked, but the hesitation when I wasn't expecting it was somewhat disturbing. Hopefully this will go away.

4. Last, but not least, my average mpg for the day was 19.5... typically I averaged about 21.5, but this was over the 6 months I've had it. I will take a longer average over a week and report back. Overall very happy with the JB+ so far.

[Kamal]

Originally Posted by bogart

4. Last, but not least, my average mpg for the day was 19.5... typically I averaged about 21.5, but this was over the 6 months I've had it. I will take a longer average over a week and report back. Overall very happy with the JB+ so far.

I think your fuel economy is going to suffer over the next week (probably few weeks) as you'll be eager to tap into that newfound power!

I got the Cobb AP last week and the power on the 93 octane map is absurd... but it's also expediting the demise of my fuel pump.

[Vlaze]

Hey one thing I wanted to ask you is why you turned the dial up to around 67 before trying it out on 50. From what I've read, the N55 version is not like the N54 version where turning it up gives more power. It is supposed to be used for fine tuning. If your lag in first does not go away, I would try setting it to default first and see how that works.

I should be getting mine tomorrow, so I'll report back on how it works for me. I'll probably stick with default setting on it first to see how it works out.