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My review of ESS Tuning VT2-650 on my BMW E60 M5 (S85)

83K views 119 replies 36 participants last post by  b00sted4v 
#1 · (Edited)
From order to delivery
I was one of the pre-release customers, that had the kit installed on my E60 M5. I ordered my kit in late February, after about a month of discussion back and forth, with Asbjorn at ESS Tuning, in USA. I was unsure if I should go for the VT1 or the VT2 kit, since we have rather cold climate in Sweden and the inter-cooler isn't exactly for free. But if doing this, I thought it would be best to get the complete kit, with inter-cooler and all, so VT2 was my decision. Not going to rant about this, but it's worth mentioning: -don't let any other dyno curves than standard boost, decide for you which kit to get (VT1 or VT2). If you want to have any warranties on this, you will not be able to get any custom setup with over-boost, raised rev limiter, or such. Not yet anyway. So have your expectations set for 600 chp for VT1 and 650 chp for VT2 and anything above that is a free bonus for you and you will not have any disappointments.
The installation was done at ESS Tuning facilities in Norway and my contact person was Hans Kirkerod, who also did the actual work on my car. The kit was delivered to Norway on time and the car was dropped of as scheduled, at the 9<SUP>th</SUP> of April. Hans was very friendly and took the time to explain the different parts in the kit and how the installation process would be carried out. The only thing I felt that they sort of kept me from seeing was the dyno room. I guess they had some development project that they didn't want to share.
The installation process should have taken about 6-7 work days, but since it was just the second time the installation was done on an E60 M5, it took a bit longer. I was informed of the progress during the whole installation, which was good. I also got the base line dyno curves (three runs) and then the before/after comparison dyno, before making the payment. My opinion was that they could have the car as long as they felt they needed, if it meant the results were better.
About 2½ weeks later, I picked up the car at the same place. They had hand-washed the car prior to installation and it look as good as it did before. No scratches or any other blemishes. I'm a very picky person when it comes to my beast and I could only find some minimal surface rubs on the trunk lid spoiler. (I never touch the spoiler when closing the trunk lid, I grab the license plate holder or the inside handle) It took about 5 minutes to polish them off, by hand. Most customers wouldn't even have noticed that, but I did the whole polishing process by my self on this car, so I know every square inch of the bodywork. When picking up the car, Hans told me about the service routine of the supercharging unit and he had packed all my stock parts in the trunk, nice and tidy in separate boxes and plastic bags. Very nice! Since the payment was already done, I got the key back and just hit the road back home.

My impressions of the car, so far
The installation looks good, almost like if it was stock products. I would like to have had the opportunity to have the intake manifold without the ESS Tuning logo, but hopefully it won't be any problem getting the car through our mandatory yearly inspections.
The Power-button (near the gear lever) is disabled after installing the VT-kit, for several reasons. I don't mind this, it's just one less button to press when wanting to go fast.
I was very happy to discover that my fuel economy (mpg) was about 8% better after the VT2-kit was installed. I had about a 400 km long drive both ways, so I got a pretty good indication of this. This is of course when driving normally. Under heavy load/WOT it's a bit more thirsty than before, but that's expected.
I have had one minor issue since the installation and that is the car wanting to stall when started up if the engine still is very warm. It might be self adjusted over time, but it might also be the ICV valve. However this valve is not replaced when installing the VT-kit, so it might just be a coincidence. Since I know this “habit”, I can just apply some throttle right after starting the engine, and it won't stall.
Other than the added power, somewhat louder intake noise and just a tiny bit of whistling from the supercharger/waste gate, the car behaves almost like stock, which I like.
The ECU seems to still be in it's adapting state and the car performs better every time I use it. The gear shifts are somewhat slower than stock (I have the ESS SMG tune as well), due to more power to cut before shifting, but it's not that bad in S6 mode, if I avoid hitting the rev limiter.

Performance
My car got a 167 rwhp (approx 196 chp) gain from this tune, so I think the price/performace value, is unparallelled so far :applause:.
My car performed a bit on the lower side when it was stock, but it performed pretty well with the tune. If you have a very good stock performance, I think it might be possible to reach 700 chp, but don't take my word for it. Aim for the 600/650 chp figures and you'll not be disappointed.
Of course it's easy to feel the added power, but since it's 507 hp stock (European version) and now about 690 hp, with similar power-band, the difference is not as noticeable as one would think. The real difference can be seen with a Vbox or just by looking at the speedometer when going WOT. In the drivers seat you have the steering wheel to cling onto and in fact I did that so hard now, that I changed gears unintentionally, but as a passenger you can really feel the brute force pulling you into the seat back.
My car launched in a pretty controlled manner before (not talking about using the built in launch control now), hardly spinning even in 1<SUP>st</SUP> gear, if opening the throttle with some caution. Now I'm able to spin the wheels in 1<SUP>st</SUP>, 2<SUP>nd</SUP> and 3<SUP>rd</SUP> gear, if I feel like doing that. So it's absolutely more powerful than before. But spinning the wheels at over 60 mph on a public road, is a bit scary, so be careful.
I have not been able to test the top speed yet, but it keeps pulling good even past 320 km/h (200 mph). My guess is that it will do about 350-360 km/h (217-224 mph), if the conditions allow it.


I will keep adding my comments to this review, so make sure to follow the progress.


Links to video clips on YouTube (full description is on YouTube site)

Engine bay overview: BMW E60 M5 with ESS Tuning VT2-650 Supercharger, engine bay overview - YouTube

Some revving: BMW E60 M5 with ESS Tuning VT2-650 Supercharger, some revving - YouTube

Approx 0-200 km/h first attempt: BMW E60 M5 with ESS Tuning VT2-650 Supercharger, approx 0-200 km/h, first attempt - YouTube

Approx 0-250 km/h first attempt: BMW E60 M5 with ESS Tuning VT2-650 Supercharger, approx 0-250 km/h first attempt - YouTube

Approx 0-250 km/h second attempt: BMW E60 M5 with ESS Tuning VT2-650 Supercharger, approx 0-250 km/h second attempt - YouTube

Approx 120-300 km/h: BMW E60 M5 with ESS Tuning VT2-650 Supercharger, approx 120-300 km/h - YouTube

Please, do NOT post these links anywhere without my permission! Thanks for understanding.
 
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#3 ·
Thanks for sharing. Congrats on your upgrade - sounds amazing.

The slower shifts doesn't make sense to me. I usually drive in S5 - would a typical - say 3 - 4k rpm shift from 2nd to 3rd be slower, or are you just talking about WOT?

An idea for the power button - install a valve controlled exhaust/bypass and make that the controller.

Cheers
 
#4 ·
Yes, I'm talking about shifts at WOT. Under "normal" conditions, it's as quick as before.

Have an offer from a German company to have one of their bypass exhausts fitted on my car, if they are allowed to have it for 5 days to customise it and for Dyno research. So yes, that crossed my mind :)

Thanks for sharing. Congrats on your upgrade - sounds amazing.

The slower shifts doesn't make sense to me. I usually drive in S5 - would a typical - say 3 - 4k rpm shift from 2nd to 3rd be slower, or are you just talking about WOT?

An idea for the power button - install a valve controlled exhaust/bypass and make that the controller.

Cheers
 
#7 ·
Subscribed
 
#23 · (Edited)
I have a "new revision" of the VT2 kit, according to ESS Tuning. It was the first one of the new revision. The intake pipe/tube is re-designed and has a larger cross section. Therefore it gives better flow with only one air filter, than the "old" version did with dual/two air filters (DCI).
 
#10 ·
Now that's a REVIEW! amazing :)
 
#12 ·
Fantasticó
 
#13 · (Edited)
Great nice to see another member join the club :M5thumbs: And where is that aother intake cone ?????? I would not call that a DCI but more like an SCI setup :hihi:
 
#25 ·
Could you (or anyone else with VT2/VT1 and DCI) take a slide caliper (or just a tape measure for the circumference) and see what diameter your DCI intake pipe is, for comparison? Thanks
 
#24 ·
Thanks :)
Sure I can, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to record the speedometer and the exterior at the same time :rolleyes:

Man kan ju inte behålla allt roligt för sig själv!

Fantastic, plain awesome!! Can you please record the speedometer next time you´re out to have some fun? I would love to see the tacho go mental :D

Tack för att du delar med dig!!
 
#16 ·
Great Review and congrats on the kit. Car sounds like its a beast. Pics please :)
 
#26 ·
We only have concrete on air strips in Sweden. At least as far as I know. :(
But if I find one, I'll give it a try. Thanks for the tip!

amazing setup, looks great

try to find a concrete road when your doing pulls from a dead stop, it will hook much better
 
#21 · (Edited)
If you look at the intake pipe crossing from the driver's side, it is "crush-bent" in a few places to make it fit (like beating in a spot in one primary pipe of a header to clear the steering box in the olden days of hot-rodding). I would bet that ESS found some dyno numbers to be low at high flow rates, and figured that pipe wasn't providing enough air by itself since it is about 2/3 diameter of the rest of the pipe in one spot. Hence the extra intake added directly behind the SC. When I asked "why not just use one big filter directly behind the SC and get rid of the cross-pipe?" ESS told me there was not enough room there for a big enough filter. So long story short the DCI setup allows the SC access to the amount of intake air it needs at the highest flow rates.
 
#27 ·
Here are some quick and dirty (literally) photos of the engine bay... enjoy.

-Looks like I should clean up in here yawnnnn
 

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#29 ·
You guys are killing me with your "me toos" on the VT2 kit. It's all I can do to keep from ordering one up!

I want to wait until after December 2013 as that's when my factory warranty runs out. At that point I will need to decide whether to swap into an F10 M5, or keep this thing and pour another 25k into it (VT2, BBK, Extended warranty).

Speaking of warranty - do the companies cover the car with a bolt on supercharger kit?
 
#30 ·
Looking at your intake - the pipe diameter is the same except that
it is shorter and uses a 90-degree silicon coupler.

I don't see the vacuum hoses from the oil separators
though - maybe it's hidden and relocated?

It is true the new pipe is not crush bent - maybe it's
making the power this way!
 
#31 ·
I am too lazy to get off the couch, walk over to the garage and measure the pipe :tonquesmilie: Maybe I will do it tomorrow morning if I get the urgh to LOL
Kenneth did you post a dyno chart? I just want to see the power curve.
 
#32 ·
Haha! Ok, but I'd be very happy if you did measure it in the near future :)
I can still feel the car getting faster and faster (it's not my daily car, so I have used it about 7-8 times after the VT2 instal, due to crappy weather for a while), so I don't know how it corresponds to the current power output.
One thought here: should the ECU really be this slow to adapt?
No, I don't think I posted it. But here it is...
 

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#34 ·
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