Making a Monster 335D
Thinking of making a monster BMW diesel or just interested to know what went into the one driven by Trey Sikes?
It's not as hard as you might think, this isn't a full blown race car. It still has the full stock interior, stock size brakes, stock wheels, stock body parts/aerodynamics. This 3 series BMW even sports an aftermarket trailer hitch...nothing has been done to reduce the weight.
Mods not necessarily listed in order of importance...
Stickers...this is always the place to start for any stock car aspiring fame, fast 1/4 miles and sick photo ops. The wrap on this vehicle was done by the owner of Wrap Man, Bradley Tourt. The awesome photo was taken by Terry Clark Photo of Rockingham, NC
Here's what the car looked like before the incredible wrap job.
.
All joking aside, ECU tuning is the most important part of making a fast and reliable car these days. Cars are computers...literally...that's what they are. This basic 3 series BMW has over 30 computers controlling every function in it, while higher end vehicles like the X5 can have over 50 computers. You can put the biggest and best turbos in the world on a modern car but without great tuning to go with it, the car may not even perform as good as it did in stock form...let alone improve.
This BMW and most of the fastest European diesels in North America are tuned by the Polish Wizard at JR Auto Performance.
Currently, the car is running a custom Stage 4 tune that works with and without Methanol injection.
Every secret sauce has special ingredients, Trey's car runs ProTurbos crafted by the "Death Metal Squirrel" Pekka Tomppo. These turbos start out as used stock cores from cars here in North America, we ship them to Proturbo in Finland where they work their magic upgrading the bearing on the small turbo and add monster wheels to the hot and cold side of the large turbo.
The stock high pressure fuel pump on the North American M57 engine is a Bosch R70 CP3. While this pump is nearly problem free, except for the occasional failed metering valve, it only provides enough fuel for the JR Stage 2.8 tune. Running it at higher levels will cause fuel pressure problems in the rail, limp mode and Check Engine Lights (CELs). While this code could be tuned out and hidden, that practice is not done by JR Auto due to the high possibility of damage to the expensive fuel system. The solution for more fuel is upgrading to a Bosch R90 CP3 fuel pump, this is a fairly easy mod but must be done by a competent and skilled mechanic.
R70 Pump Removal Video - https://youtu.be/5c9PlWxAWFc
R90 Pump Install Video - https://youtu.be/ndEQRaX97zY
When you double the power of a vehicle, it's not surprising that you'd also need to upgrade its intake and charge air system. Our sponsored car sports an upgraded stepped intercooler and charge pipe kit that nearly doubles the stock cooling capacity and replaces the stock red charge pipe that is usually leaking oil and boost.
https://www.tunemyeuro.com/bmw-335d-step-intercooler-kit-70-increase-in-volume/
Another great option for people that don't mind paying a bit more and want to eliminate the stock quick connectors is the ATM intercooler kit.
Fuel and air are required for making power...coming from the VW TDI world I was aware and skeptical about aftermarket cold air intakes. If you asked my opinion of them before trying out this kit on the BMW 335D I would have told you, "Those kits are a waste of money unless you just want to hear more engine noise, they do not provide more power and the often damage the MAF and provide poor filtration. The ATM Intake Kit for the BMW 335D is a game changer for highly modified cars, benefits include highly reduced smoke at wide open throttle and up to 18HP gain. I'm not going to lie either...the sound from the engine bay is pretty cool. With the CAI installed you can hear the wooshing of the turbos as you blast down the asphalt roads.
An upgraded intake is required for cars with tunes above the 2.8 Race level.
Q. What's shiny, probably made in China and a copy of a competitor's product?
A. Nothing on Sikes car!
Trey runs a BuzzKen full exhaust from the turbos back to the exhaust tips, stealthily peeking out from the rear bumper. The 409 stainless steel downpipe is made from North American milled steel and manufacturing is done in Canada. The catback system features dual resonators providing a great performance sound that is much quieter than a straight pipe but still beefy and comfortable for interior and exterior noise.
If you're going to drive the car at a race track like Road Atlanta, zip down the drag strip at a local spot like Rockingham Dragway or race head to head in the NHRDA World Finals you are going to need/want a Wavetrac LSD, XHP Transmission Tuning, and coding by Bimmergeeks to disable traction control nannies.
The stock harmonic balancer on BMW M57 engines is a weak point, and should be considered a maintenance replacement item if you don't want to be left stranded and calling a tow truck. Go ahead, Google search something like, "335d harmonic balancer fail"...thousands of these critical parts fail each year. The rubber center of the pulley is soft and absorbs engine and accessory vibrations and crank harmonics. In 2017, the Fluidampr company released a M57 balancer made for our BMW 335D and X5 35D, aside from increased reliability it also provides small power gains and drastically reduces the harmonics from the crank which can lead to bearing failure.
Yes that title bar is correct...Tacos. I'm not sure if it's brainfood, motivational reward or another undisclosed insider advantage, but this driver has been known to consume tacos at an alarming rate and frequency; it seems to be working for him.
