Advice for DD MS6

[TDubTheSubBub]

Hello all,

I'm loving my 113k MS6 more and more every day I'm not finding things wrong with it. I can't help but want to do more and more to it. I put a JBR PowerPath Stage II intake on it with Autotech HPFP internals and a Cobb AP running Stratified's OTS tune. Walnut blasted my intake valves clean AF and changed my PCV will I was in there. Ltft in the +20's because f*** me. Took off bpv to find it has no gasket because f*** me. Part throttle knock like everyone else but has hit 6-8 spikes before because you guessed it. But I do love this car.

Rant aside, I would just like some opinions on where I should go from here. This is just a DD for me, no tracks, no launches, no racing of any kind, maybe a show off here and there to someone that drives like an asshole in there BMW. Normal day stuff. I know what I want, for this car to be as fun as possible and reliable as possible. I don't want extreme boost flirting with KR and pushing the thing to its limits. I want a happy medium, having a car I can own for a long time and have fun in at the same time. I know it's getting old but it's MY car now.

So where am I at? When I bought my MS6 it had a RMM and Rear Diff mount, and a CBE. EVERY fluid is brand new(Rotella T6 every 3k or 3 months, AMSSOIL MTG 75W-90 for trans., Rear Diff and T-case were perfect). I ordered lots of silicone tubing and a turbosmart bpv because my fuel trims are f***ed and I know my vacuum lines are all about as flexible and rubbery as a brick. So I know it won't leak but I'll still test it. And I did the stuff I mentioned earlier (cleaned intake valves, JBR intake, Cobb Ap with Stratified OTS tune.) One thing I did just for me was removed the BOSE trash that it had since a door speaker blew out and put in an all custom by me audio system and maintaining the factory head unit (F*** THOSE MOLTEX CONNECTORS!)

So where do I go from here? Should I get an E-tune and call it good? Is replacing the K04 with a BNR S3 in line with my goals or is that pushing too hard on the motor? Should I get a downpipe? Should I run e85 blend? I am not sure where I would hit that happy middle I want. Again, I'm not trying to see how far I can go till I zoom zoom boom, I just want to have a fun car I can work on from time to time and keep it running for a long time. Couple other things I wanted to ask are how can I clean up the shag carpet looking stuff around my engine bay/hood, and how hard is it to change the heater fan? Thing squeals like a pig in the cold.

[Fstrnyou]

With a good intercooler, you can push the K04 enough to be a really fun daily without stressing the engine too much.

[GroceryGtr]

agreed... I'm still running a K04 with no complaints for a DD. Below are my suggestions for a fun DD.

1. ETS or CS TMIC - upping the boost on the K04 is going to shoot BATs sky high, this is a must imho. You can modify the stock tmic plastic cover to allow better airflow. Just take a dremel to it and remove all the 'mesh' and then about a half inch of thg front and back to open it up a tad more.

2. EBC - I like grimspeed, but any of them will work. Drill the restrictor pill out of the turbo housing and run it in interrupt mode. It will require an e-tune to run so do not install it until you get your first map.

3. DP - Long if you dont have to worry about emissions, short with a high flow cat if you do. Lots of people have had good luck with the M1 version off ebay. under $200 for the long version. By far the most restrictive part of the exhaust system. No need to do the rest unless you just want a better sound or you go BT. No way you'll max it on a K04.

4. If you don't have emissions to worry about then remove the VCTS and disable the egr(simply unplug it, no need for the fancy kit unless you need the space). VCTS requires removal of the intake manifold, but is otherwise a free mod as you're just removing the butterflies and rod.

Once you do that THEN get yourself a custom E-tune and you should be tickled pink with the results.

[TDubTheSubBub]

I see an intercooler is a for sure. Would it be worth it for a FMIC or would a TMIC be good for a DD? I don't really want to mess with the emissions stuff. I wasn't sure about getting a downpipe since I've seen it can make the turbo smoke. I don't want that. What all have you done to prevent your K04 from smoking? Mine never has but I am running Rotella 5W/40 just in case.

[GroceryGtr]

For DD I'd go TMIC as you dont get the lag/delay of increased piping volume of the fmic. ETS and CS both offer thicker cores that should be more than adequate cooling. DP won't make the turbo smoke and if you're upping the boost you need to do it.

If you're turbo isn't smoking yet then odds are it isnt going to. Most smoking issues were related to early builds and was solved with a revised banjo bolt that restricted oil pressure. On 95% of cars this was solved years ago. If your turbo starts smoking now I'd say its likely on its way out.

[flapjack]

+1 on the TMIC over the FMIC. Front mount kits for these cars are waaay waaay too big for the stock turbo. You will get considerable and noticable amount of lag compared to an upgraded TMIC and the TMIC is good with big turbos until you get up around a GTX3076R and bigger.

As for the smoking turbo issue, I can give you alot of information based on personal experience. First of all, the stock turbos on these cars are poorly designed and will most likely fail (start smoking) no matter what. There are unicorn speed6s and speed3s that have never smoked up to 200,000+ miles but that is extremely rare. If the turbo starts to smoke, it WILL NOT stop and nothing you can do to the car will stop it completely. Here is the list of things I've tried to stop mine from smoking and how it affected the problem:

PTP Pill (Camcase Breather Restrictor Pill): No Effect
Oil Catch Can: No Effect
Restrictor Banjo Bolt(Bnoon Bolt): No Effect
Raising Idle +100-250 RPM: Smoking Increased
Using Rotella T6 Full Synthetic 5w-40: Smoking Increased Significantly
Using Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5W-40: Smoking Decreased Significantly
Using Valvoline SynPower MST 5W-40: Smoking Decreased Significantly
Re-routing Camcase Breather to TIP Bottom: Mild Decrease in Smoking
Replacing PCV Valve: No Effect

So as you can see the only thing that had a significant effect was changing my oil to a better quality. Rotella is great but it's cheap and there is a reason for that. It is a group 3 oil compared to the pennzoil euro and valvoline mst which are a group 4 oil I believe. I'm not completely sure why those oils stopped the smoking but I'm guessing it has something to do with their ability to hold viscosity when hot better than the rotella.

For having a great, fast, and reliable daily though, I'd recommend a catch can, upgraded top mount intercooler, catted 3" downpipe, 3" exhaust, and a Stratified Custom tune for an E30 Mix. That should be around 310 whp and 340 wtq for a speed6.

[TDubTheSubBub]

I know it's been awhile but i wanted to update where I am at. I've been saving up to be able to work on this guy, thought I'd run my ideas through you all. Since the consensus in the community is that the K04 is gonna die one day for sure, and seeing as how mine has 114k on it now, I'm seriously considering getting a bnr s3 or 4 for my car. Seems like it'd really open up the car without pushing it too hard. I've seen some DD build diaries on here where they have used a s3 or s4 and seem to love it and are still running strong after 40k miles.

So heres my questions:
-Everyone I've seen with an s3 wishes they got an s4 so will the s4 make for a good daily? Or should I risk the K04 crapping out
-TMIC or FMIC (guessing fmic for daily)
-Which tuner do you all like the most, I hear a lot of good things about purpledrank

[KamloopsDan]

I have an 07 MSP6 and have an ETS TMIC. I recently bought a BNR S4 which is being installed very soon.

I contacted Freektune and have the base tune loaded on my AP ready for install day. Cannot wait.

[Thor Hammer]

Originally Posted by TDubTheSubBub So heres my questions: -Everyone I've seen with an s3 wishes they got an s4 so will the s4 make for a good daily? Or should I risk the K04 crapping out -TMIC or FMIC (guessing fmic for daily) -Which tuner do you all like the most, I hear a lot of good things about purpledrank

Get the S4 V2 and don't look back. totally worth it.

I'd stick with TMIC but if you have the funds go FMIC. I suggest TR1035 kit from Treadstone. The lag with the bigger turbo wont be as bad. Though the TMIC is king in terms of instant response. I'll be running my ETS TMIC with a BNR S3.

All the tuners on here are excellent. I like Freektune as he knows how to get the most out of your setup without pushing the motor to extinction.

[5doorsoffury]

Im going to be that pesimistic guy....
Get a used ko4 when that one shits the bed.

Running alcohol e85/meth will make the motor last longer. Heat and kr is the enemy wich alcohol gets rid of.

Save that money in the bank and when the motor goes you can use it for a rebuild. At that point a turbo upgrade will be wayy more fun.

[TDubTheSubBub]

Originally Posted by 5doorsoffury Im going to be that pesimistic guy.... Get a used ko4 when that one shits the bed. Running alcohol e85/meth will make the motor last longer. Heat and kr is the enemy wich alcohol gets rid of. Save that money in the bank and when the motor goes you can use it for a rebuild. At that point a turbo upgrade will be wayy more fun.

I was just thinking that even though the bigger turbo will add more power which means more heat etc, it will ultimately move the torque curve to the right and actually be better for the motor. The bottom end torque seems like it puts a ton of strain on the motor. I drive it like one should, no boost under 3000 rpm etc we all know the rules. It would just be nice to not worry about that so much.

I'm just stuck right now because I have to choose a path here. If i'm staying with the k04 then i'll get an ETS tmic, downpipe, tune it, e30, meth, done. If I go bnr then I have to do fmic ("personal opinion: if I go bnr I need to eliminate as much heat as i can, daily or not"), bigger intake, downpipe, meth, maaaaayyybe e30 (not sure if meth + e30 will push the motor past 400hp which I dont want to do, I just want the cooling properties of it, maybe conservative tune idk) and all the other bells and whistles for a bigger turbo.

My goal is to get over 300awhp, ideally 350awhp, but i dont want to completely max out any one part, which I am sure the k04 would be.

[KamloopsDan]

I have just had a BNR S4 installed into my MSP6 and holy shit, what a difference. I wish I had of done this years ago. It has totally transformed the car.

100% recommended.

[HumbleGhost]

Anyone recommend the BNR S1 for a direct k04 replacement? Or something else? I'm not looking to run crazy high boost but to keep this DD fun to drive and go easy on the motor.

[LenSpeed6]

I'm a big fan of the CorkSport turbo set up, I daily my car (granted I built the motor because it threw number 4 rod) and curretly running peak of 20~21 psi for now, plan on a couple more psi and have no trouble with anything, sometime in the future I will upgrade the TMIC but for the time being no troubles and happy with performance.

[TDubTheSubBub]

UPDATE: My turbo just started smoking lol. Guess I gotta do something now.