[hcopeland]

So this thread is going to part story time and part history lesson.

Starting with story time: I bought my 2007 e92 335i as my first car back in September of 2017. Within a month it was bolt ons and stage 2 MHD tunes like every other car out there. Here in SoCal I was one of few with an N54. It really hadn't hit the street scene yet. Unfortunately the car lasted until mid January when an injector fail causing cyl 4 to lean out and shatter the piston. As an 18 year old kid still full time in school it took me months to fix it and get the car back. The entire motor swap was done in my front yard by myself. People say that BMWs are hard to work on but I find with the proper sources and information you can figure anything out.

As for the history: The N54 was always doubted as a platform. People in 2010 said the n54 platform would never break 500hp. Now we have cars that are on the edge of breaking 1000whp. This year marks the 10 year anniversary from when RB Turbos first experimented with the N54 turbo upgrades.

So back to the story after the motor blew up I pick up a pair of 2nd hand RB classics from el_noshi. A new motor from a wrecked 2008 335i and fiddled for a week or so until I finally got the car to start. After only a single week of testing and trouble shooting the car blew a turbo seal while I was setting up my jb4. I've finally got to and and Rob at RB got them today opened up the box to a surprise. He gave me a call and told me that these were the original prototypes for what became the 2010 RB (now "classic") turbos. It was the first attempt at a production design of aftermarket turbos for the n54. These things have been rebuilt once and lasted all this time on the original 13t wheels as a prototype: Rob said he was wondering when the day would come where he saw them again. After I got off the phone with him it just seemed like it was a cool thing until I though about it. This is the thing that sparked it all for the N54. I honestly feel guilty if I have them updated to RB Next Gens. Anyways that's my cool story that I felt obligated to share. The first set of upgrades turbos ever for the N54 have resurfaced and to me they are a piece of history.

Thanks for reading my spiel.

First pic is of the original RB Turbo Prototypes
Second is my throttle plate after the engine blew
Third is a pic of the engine coming out.

[Rogue-OP]

Damn! Props for doing that engine swap in your driveway. Cool story with the RB’s; I’ve been eyeing those myself.

[JM98]

I think the issue with the N54 has been people looking for power and reliability above 600hp. I think it makes a great choice for a street car if you are looking at staying under 600whp, anything over that and it gets crazy expensive fast.

[tisdrew]

Agreed ^

Many other platforms have a tilting point where reliability goes out the window without $$$

Hondas/Miatas around 230-275
Subie/Evo are like 350-375
Mustangs around 600 as well
Supras around 700
Volkswagens tilting point is stock XD