ESS Supercharger review

[Speed Racer]

Well I am sure this is the one mod we all dream about getting. And after much dreaming and saving I finally got one!

I purchased the kit through a group buy which saved me quite a bit of $. The price of these kits sure can do a lot of damage to the wallet. It did take quite a long time to get the kit. ESS was out of the polished blowers and I had to wait for about 2 weeks until they got more in. Then it took about a week to ship.

Me and a buddy started the install the same day the kit arrived. We worked on it for about 4-5 hours that night. The next morning I sent the ECU back to Norway to get reprogramed. Then again that night we put another 4-5 hours into it and finally finished the install late that night. Overall the install was not that difficult but I really think the instructions could have been better.

Now this was the worst feeling, having your baby outfitted with the mod of your dreams but no ECU. It took about a 8 days to get the ECU back.

Later that day I hooked everything up and went for a spin around the block. At first I was a little disappointed with the power. I was expecting a feeling of pure power but instead it felt almost the same as before. I gave it some time and sure enough the car became more and more powerful. After about 200 miles you can totally feel the difference.

When you run it through the gears it just keeps accelerating faster and faster. It was almost scary! You can reach 100mph in what seems like a blink of an eye. Before the SC the car used to bog down and not accelerate too fast past 90mph. Now it just keeps on going. I am sure all of you are firmilar with the way your car pulls in third, well image that kind of pull in forth and fifth. It is a monster!

The SC is almost completely silent at idle. There would be no way you could tell that this car is supercharged unless you lift the hood. At higher RPMs you can hear it a little but not that well.

Some may think that I am crazy but the other day I decided to test the top speed of the car. Well to my disappointment the car cut out at 137mph. So I called ESS and they are sending me a new chip to replace the one I have. For some reason they did not take off the top speed limiter. I know that I am not going to be hitting these kind of speeds every day but it is nice knowing that nothing is holding you back.

I have already had a chance to toast an E36 M3. I can't wait to take on my buddy's S4!

Now I guess a dyno test is in order.

I know JacobNJ also got a kit. If you have any more feedback I would love to hear it.

[Speed Racer]

yet another

[Speed Racer]

a little low

[Speed Racer]

rear

[Speed Racer]

front

[Speed Racer]

brothers

[lilherc79]

OH SICK!!!!! Get me those dyno charts!!!! How much did everything cost??

[Speed Racer]

working on the dyno - maybe another week or so

cost - way too much

they don't tell you about the customs tax when you buy this thing $170 just to get it into the country

the kit was about $5700 with the polished blower and painted tubing

but remember that I got this through a group buy, it would have been at least another $1K if not

[-Ryan-]

awesome post. How hard was the install? Do you condider yourself really mechanically inclined? I always thought an SC would be about the only thing I would pay to have installed but it seems alot of you guys are doing it yourselves.

[Craig]

Great write up bro glad 2 see your happy with it....cars looks great by the way :thumbup:

[UltimateOne]

Great post man....awesome to see some people get their SC's going and running good! Very Jealous:thumbup:

[Speed Racer]

It was quite a pain to install. There really is not that much room in an E46 engine bay. The supercharger just bairly fits in there.

I did make a couple mistakes:
You are required to swap out the dipstick tube with the one they supply. The only thing is that they don't tell you that the old one has a rubber o-ring on it where it fits into the engine. You are supposed to put this on the new one. Well when I took the old one out I guess the o-ring had fallen into the oil pan because it was not on the tube. I had to get a replacement from the dealership. And the dealership sold me the wrong o-ring so I had to go back and get the right one.

Also, there is an oil feed line that goes into the top of the blower. Well I happened to overtighten a brass(very soft) bolt. It broke and I had to order a new one from Vortech - $35.

Am I mechanically inclined? Good question. I guess I am aside from those two incidences.

My friend who helpled me decided that after he worked with me on this he would buy a supercharger for his 2002 Yukon. The kit he got had instructions that put the ESS instructions to shame. If I could make one recomendation it would be to make a better instruction booklet.

[325adam]

good post man. i like the car and the blower looks so good polished like that.

[///ACS330Ci]

Nice!!! Thanks for the write up. Can't wait to see those dyno graphs ;)

[Full Time Hit Man]

Looks good. Make me want a SC for my ride. :thumbup:

[Fisch330ciTopasBlau]

sounds good bro! get those dyno sheets!:thumbup:

[biggiestuff]

and if you get a chance, get us some 1/4 mile times at the track. :thumbup:

[Jake]

HATE U guys, JACOBNJ, VA Funkie, Included.... ;) I can't wait to get mine, when I return to the USA, VA FUNKIE I will surely look you up, for the install location at the prosche Spot When I get back to VA Beach Area. My Ultimate Mod also.

[OPTIMO]

Just curious, but right now, my car hits 130mpg and 6,000 (start of redline). Will the ESS make me run at a lower RPM at 130? Or will it just make me get there faster?

Just curious.

[Speed Racer]

As I understand it, I don't think the SC will change your RPMs. That is directly related to your tire size and gear ratio. What it will do is raise your redline to a 6800RPM limit. So when the ECU decides to actually cut the fuel it won't do it until later, giving you a higher speed.

If you wanted to get to an even higher top speed you would have to change your gears. This would make you accelerate slower, which not many of us want.

[trkmedic69]

Does anyone know if ESS has made any moves to come to the US? At least on a distributor level? My biggest concern is making such an investment in a company that isn't in the country...

[Ed328ci]

Congrats! How does it feel driving around town? Does it take time for the SC to spool up?

Ed:thumbup:

[Speed Racer]

trkmedic69:
ESS has opened a distribution shop down in Florida or they are very close to opening it. It can be a bit of a hassel to deal with them because they are so far away. They do offer a 24hr support telephone number which is nice.

Ed328ci:
Sadly, driving around town it seems like I just coast. No need to use the gas much. Unfortunatly the speed limits don't let me push the car too much but damn it just aches for it. As far as spooling goes, it is not the same as a turbo. My friend has a S4, and driving that you can definatly feel how the turbos have that firmilar 'lag'. My car simply has the power there whenever I hit the gas. The power does get stronger at higher RPMs because it is being spun faster. Which will simply push more air down the engine. Before I installed the kit the car would pull hard when it hit about 4K RPMs. It felt kinda like a little kick in the pants. Well, that kick is still there but even more so than before.

It does get from 0-60 pretty fast but it is incredible how fast it gets from 60-100mph. I can be merging onto a highway in 4th and look down to see that I am going 90-100mph.

I guess it is as close as I could get to having an M3 without actually buying one.

[Orient Blue 3]

Good lord, that is everything I ever wanted in a car right there. I love what you did, rims, smoked lenses etc. Now you need a front addon and your set. Any idea if you can beat an m3 now?

[CrazyBimmer]

So whats the verdit? Worth the money to get it? :pimpin:

[Speed Racer]

Well here are the figures:

....... Stock 330Ci ... SC 330Ci ... M3
HP ......... 225 ............ 330 ....... 333
lb-ft ....... 214 ............ 300 ....... 262

I think if I had a stronger clutch and put my stock wheels back on than yes I could take a M3.

Front add on - yes an RD tornado would be nice.

I might keep going wiht the performance first than go on to the body. I was thinking about a Sachs High Performance clutch and lightweight flywheel. Then some brakes would be nice. You gotta be able to stop.

Worth the money? Hmm, well if you want power - yes. If you compare it dollar for dollar with the return you get with a CAI or ECU tunning, it is the most HP for your money. Nerverless it is a $itload of loot.

[Stealthwagen]

Keep us posted!!

[Speed Racer]

those are the published figures from ESS and BMWUSA

[///ACS330Ci]

When are you taking your car to the dyno? I can't wait to see the figures :thumbup:

[JesseM]

u got any pics of your bb triflo exhaust?

[Speed Racer]

Steve:
I am going to call the place tomorrow to see when I can make an appointment. I will keep you all posted.

JesseM:
Sorry, no other pics yet. I am too lazy or busy. I will try to get you some. I would recommend the triflo anyday. It has a very nice deep tone to it.

[///ACS330Ci]

Sweet :thumbup:

[maynardc]

SpeedRacer, please post those dyno charts when you get them. I was part of the same group buy as you I'm assuming (Kevin Bleckmann?). I dyno'd my car and didn't get the numbers I thought I would. I'm wondering if something is wrong w/ my setup or something. Please let me know asap. My e-mail address is maynardc@earthlink.net Thanks!

http://www.mayno.com/supercharger_dynochart.htm

[X330XCI]

hey bro congratZ on the SC install!! hope to see some dyno figz soon. Your car is stick right? :tongue:

[vincentw]

sweet review, congrats :thumbup:
gotta question...with you running 245/40/19 and 265/35/19...is there any rubbing?
That seems kinda tall for a non M3 E46.
Thanks.

[cncmastr]

I wanna see the Dyno Numbers

[Speed Racer]

Unfortunatly, I never got a chance to dyno it:
http://www.bentickner.com/dead330.htm

[Dukes]

Unfortunatly, I never got a chance to dyno it:
http://www.bentickner.com/dead330.htm
you selling any of the parts?

[kuruptracing]

pretty nice huh bro? i've had mine for a while. definitely worth the money, especially when you beat another m3 and there like wtf, howd that happen? :hmm: ...where do you live? well have fun smoken cars, my favorite part is when it pulls in fifth gear, very very nice!!!

[cncmastr]

What?!! I take it your alright?

http://www.bentickner.com/skycar/PB010003.JPG

[snowboard_barbie]

Glad to see some more ESS supporters such as myself. :) Their customer support I have to say is wonderful. W/O going into a lengthy story I had a problem w/ my unit... (bearings & the impeller). Ofcos, this happend right when there was a show the next 3 consectuve weekends. I explained the urgency to get it back... both Vortech & ESS worked together to have it back to me w/in 6 days! (vortech's turnaround @ hi-season is 10-15 days). I got everything I needed, w/ follow-ups from both sides everyday until I was back on the road. A new blower, overnited... ALL compliments of ESS! :bow: My case is probably unique to some extent.. but nonetheless, they stood behind their customer 120%! I've never seen such a harmonious dealing between 2 vendors. I love these guys! Truly wonderful.

HUGE HUGE Thanks to ESS & Vortech! :thanks: :thanks: :thanks:

And a Huge congrats to you Speed Racer! :thumbup:

[Durgesh]

Huge congrats to you Speed Racer! :thumbup:

Unless I am really confused, has "Speed Racer" just written off his car :yikes: :yikes: :yikes:

Really sorry dude, hope you and anyone else in the car is OK.

What happened?????

Durgesh

[snowboard_barbie]

WHOA! :yikes: :yikes: :yikes: I COMPLETELY MISSED THAT LINK.

I am sooo sooo sorry. :cry: I hope you're doing ok! Pls update us.

[kuruptracing]

damn bro i totally missed that link... i'm sorry to see that happened? did you get hurt at all? i hope you all are ok! howd you hit a telephone pole?


:bawling: :bawling: :bawling:

[ryyster]

damn bro...hope everything is ok with u man.....i just don't know what to say... :bawling:

[kvcicca]

you selling any of the parts?


He did........... www.euromelee.com ......to me.

[Speed Racer]

Yup, the car is gone and has been for almost 2 years now. Luckily the SC was not hurt and found a great home with KVCICCA. I do still have a few parts left:
UUC gauge panel with 3 Autometer CF gauges
Ski bag
A couple good PG3s with tires
instrument cluster with V1 hidden display mounted in it
headlight switch and computer behind it
flashlight
maybe more that I have forgotten about

Now I have a pair of S4s. They are just outta hand when it comes to power.

[Cuore_alfa]

Can you tell us what happend, thanks god you are ok, the imptact looks pretty scary