By 8 Must-Have Mods for the BMW 335i E90
In this article, we’re going to be covering the must-have mods for the E90 335i. They came as sedan, wagon, convertible, or coupe so there was a lot to choose from, but they all featured the turbocharged six-cylinder power plant. The N54 engine from 2007–2010 was a twin-turbo, and then in 2011, they introduced the N55 which went to a single turbo twin scroll. Both are exceptional platforms for producing big power with simple bolt-on mods and we’ll list the ones we think you ought to be considering.
VIDEO: 8 MUST HAVE MODS FOR THE BMW 335I E90
Charge Pipe
One of the more common problems on this platform is that the charge pipe can start to get brittle and it can break and that’s just going to start happening on some of these older vehicles now this means you’re going to get a boost leak you’re going to lose power it’s just not going to be quite as reliable and it could turn into a problem for you in the future so an inexpensive fix for that is getting an aftermarket charge pipe that’s made out of something better like aluminum or steel.
VRSF
VRSF offers a great option for under $150 that’s made out of powder-coated aluminum and they offer it in multiple configurations — you can, on the N54, stick with the stock diverter valve setup or you can go to a blow-off valve which is not a performance decision, it’s just whether or not you want that cool-sounding blow-off valve. When you’re going to a blow-off valve there are two different flange types to choose from whether you’re going HKS or the TiAL/Turbosmart setup. On the N55, it doesn’t have the diverter valve or blow-off valve on the charge pipe so it’s just one nice and easy decision.
BURGER MOTORSPORTS
Another great option is available from Burger Motorsports for around the same price now this is made out of machined aluminum it’s powder-coated black just like the VRSF and it comes with the options of the diverter valve setup or the TiAL and Turbosmart blow-off valve but they don’t offer an HKS BOV for this one. It also features, just like the VRSF, two ⅛” NPT bungs which you can use to pipe in water meth.
ETS
At the top end of the spectrum is going to be the ETS charge pipe. This does not come in a diverter valve option you’re going to need to go with either an HKS or a TiAL/Turbosmart blow-off valve, but it’s made out of 304 stainless steel which is a much tougher material a more expensive material to work with. That one is going to set you back around $250 and is available in brushed, flat black, or gloss black.
Intercooler
On any boosted application, one of the most important things you can do is keep the air going into the engine as cold as possible. When the air passes through a turbo, it gets very, very hot since the turbo is being spun by exhaust gases which cooks the air coming through there. That’s why you have an intercooler. It takes the air that’s coming off of the turbo, now pressurized, and helps cool it back down before it enters the engine. The cooler the air can be, the more dense the air is with oxygen, and the more combustion you’re able to get. Aftermarket intercoolers are often able to do this a lot better than stock intercoolers.
VRSF
You’ve got an option from VRSF, it’s gonna set you back around $380, and it’s a 5” intercooler. It’s the same size as stock, but it’s gonna drop intake temps about 20°F–30°F just by performing a little bit better with a higher efficiency core.
ETS
ETS makes a great 5″ option as well that can drop intake temps up to 45°F, but that’s going to set you back around $690.
MISHIMOTO
Our favorite comes from Mishimoto. This is an upgrade from a 5″ to a 6″ intercooler that packs into that space without any cutting or modification required. It can drop intake temps up to 50°F, but it’ll set you back around $790.
Now there are other options you can go to a 7″ or an 8″ if you’re looking for those big power applications, but those are going to cost a little bit more and they’re going to also require that you cut and modify the area where it’s mounting. We’ll cover in our cooling mods video all three of those options. As far as power gains go, you can expect to get anywhere between 5–15hp depending on how you tune. The Mishimoto intercooler, having more volume than the others, is going to allow you to push up to that upper end of that spectrum of power gains just a little bit easier.
Downpipe
One of the biggest areas of opportunity for power gains is going to come from an upgraded downpipe. On your N54 you’ve got twin turbos so it is going to be two separate pipes, and on the N55 it’s one. There are lots of great options out there that’ll flow more exhaust gases help your turbo spool up quicker and produce 15–25hp gains depending on how you tune and whether you go with a high flow catted version or with a catless version, which of course is going to be a touch louder. If you go with a high-flow catted version, it’s still going to give you a more aggressive deep tone but won’t be quite as racy, dry, and loud as a catless option. We put this mod after intercoolers deliberately. Things are going to get hotter when you run a downpipe so make sure you do an intercooler first to help keep things cool.
ARM AND CTS
If you’re in a state where you’re lucky enough to do that catless option, two very popular options are available for under $300 from both ARM and CTS. CTS makes an option for the N55 and ARM only making an N54 option. Both of these gonna produce up to 25hp.
VRSF
VRSF offers a huge range of options in catted, catless, N54, N55, and you can even get them with high-temperature coatings. Those are going to range anywhere on the low end from $275 on up to almost $600 — the catted options being the more expensive of the two.
Tuning
You’re definitely going to need a look at tuning as your next must-have mod. As soon as you start messing with things to do with intake and exhaust, you gotta be tuning and making sure that you get the right air-fuel ratio, spark advance, and all the things necessary to keep the car running clean and maximizing power gains from the mods you’ve invested in.
MHD
MHD makes an option that’s really user-friendly. It’s $300, plugs in the OBD2 port, and it talks directly to your cell phone. It’s got off-the-shelf tunes, it’ll let you quickly get a tune for intake or exhaust for example, and keep the car running clean — super easy and friendly to use.
JB4
Burger Motorsports is kind of the champ in the tuning space, and they make their JB4 tuning module. This is the tuner’s favorite, especially for those high horsepower builds. This module is going to be a piggyback module that lets you do anything and everything you would like to do with this car set it back around $500 — $200 more than the MHD, but it’s going to let you do anything you could possibly want to do.
Wheels and Tires
One of the most obvious mods for any build is wheels and tires, not just because they look good, but because this is literally where the rubber meets the road. This is how you’re putting the power to the ground, and how you’re getting around corners quickly with confidence, and of course, it also makes the car look fantastic. A lot of our customers like to buy wheel and tire setups they can just bolt onto the vehicle and not have to do any sort of fender rolling.
If you want to know what the most popular setup is for this application, a lot of people are doing a staggered setup with a 19X9.5” wheel in the rear and a 19X8.5” in the front, both using a +35 offset to get that nice flush look. You could pair this with a 265/35 rear tire and a 235/35 front for a nice meaty staggered setup. If you want to go with a square setup, just go 19X8.5 all the way around and choose the tire size that works best for you there.
When it comes to wheel designs like what kind of wheel you want — cast, forged, flow-formed wheels — there are so many options on designs, colors, and all that we couldn’t possibly cover it all in this video. We have all kinds of options at Motoroso, and we love helping our customers pick a great set of wheels and tires for their vehicle, so go ahead and hit us up at Motoroso.com on live chat or toll-free at 833.MOTOROSO for help finding the best setup for you.
Coilovers
Now that you’re making a little more power and you got some sticky tires to put that power to the ground, let’s start talking about how you can improve the handling performance of your 335i. BMWs handle pretty well from the factory, but it is still factory suspension, and you’d be surprised how good a set of coilovers can make your car feel. On top of ride quality, you start to gain a lot more control over the way that your suspension feels. It’s going to give you ride height control so you can actually set exactly where you want the car to ride. Instead of putting lowering springs where you have to choose a fixed amount to lower the vehicle, you can set coilovers in a wide range of lowering amounts. You’re also going to gain controls like rebound damping and compression damping so you can control the way that the shock moves through its compression and rebound stroke, really dramatically changing and enhancing the way the car feels on the street or on the racetrack, giving you the control to do both.
BILSTEIN B14
For under $1,000, you can get yourself into a set of Bilstein B14s. These are going to give you that ride height control of 1.2″–2” of total lowering front and rear. These do not have any sort of adjustable damping controls they’ve chosen a setting that they think is good for aggressive street driving while maintaining comfort and a good blend of the two.
BC RACING BR SERIES
For just a touch over $1,000, you can get yourself into a set of BC Racing BR Series coilovers. These are going to give you a wider range of ride height control between 1.0”–2.0” total front and rear, and then you also get one damping adjustment control. That’s going to adjust rebound and compression damping together in the same direction which makes it very simple to operate — it’s just a twist of the knob which makes it very quick to adjust. Gaining that level of control in a shock that’s just over $1,000 is an awesome feature set. That feature set goes even deeper on the BC Racings because it also includes a camber adjustable top plate that gives you ±3° of camber adjustment so you can get that stance looking exactly the way you want it.
KW VARIANT 2
If you want to get a little more serious about your suspension take a look at KW Suspension’s Variant 2. This is a company that makes motorsports technology at the highest level and trickles that technology down into their street line — it’s available to the public. This product’s going to set you back around $1,800. Don’t get sticker shocked though because this is going to come with some seriously awesome technology. It’s going to give you a wide range of ride height control, a damping control knob that moves rebounding and compression damping together, and it features their twin-valve technology which emulates high speed and low-speed compression damping. That means the shock is going to respond differently to the different types of shock inputs that are coming from the road whether those be rolling undulations or sharp bumps so you get that motorsports level of technology on your 335i, making it capable of performance street driving, comfortable cruising, or taking it to the track.
Cold Air Intake
Getting back into making a little bit more power, one of your next must-have mods is going to be an upgraded cold air intake system. This is a great way to flow more air into the engine, it’s a good complement to the intercooler, and you’re going to hear the turbo spool up a little bit more to enhance the sound of your 335i.
BURGER MOTORSPORTS
This can be as simple as replacing just the filter like from Burger Motorsports for around $95 their N54 solution is literally simply a dual cone filter and for the N55 it’s about $200 and it comes with a few extra couplers and piping, but mostly reusing the stock piping.
INJEN
For a little bit more, you can upgrade to the Injen short ram intake which is going to feature 6061 aluminum piping which is much tougher and better looking than that plastic intake piping from the factory and that’s going to set you back around $450
AFE
For around $500 you get the aFe MagnumFORCE which is made out of roto-molded plastic designed to flow the air as smoothly as possible. This product also includes a heat shield which is going to help keep that air as cool as possible going in which is always a good thing.
Braking
With all that additional power and handling you’re going to want to now start looking at how to improve your braking performance. Again, from the factory brakes are pretty good on this BMW, but as usual, the aftermarket offers great options for upgrading, and you at least want to look at upgrading pads. Pads are going to work with the factory rotors to actually just improve the braking performance and get you past that you know good enough for daily driving into good enough for hard street driving and the occasional track day.
BRAKE PADS
For around $150 you can get yourself into a set of Hawk HPS pads or something like the StopTech Sport pads, both of which will support a little bit of light track to use and be still be excellent on the street without making too much pad noise.
The next level of performance is going to come from replacing the rotors at the same time as the pads. Getting a kit of rotors and pads means you’re going to have a rotor that’s going to be more resistant to heat and warping because it’s made from a much better grade of iron. You’ll also find features like slots, cross-drilled, or both combined to help release gases that are coming off the pad and keep the face of that pad clean, maximizing the contact surface area between the pad and the rotor. This is going to be the best way to get street performance and track-day performance without having to go to a full big brake kit.
R1 CONCEPTS GEOMET KIT
On the budget end of the spectrum, you can get into a set of R1 Concepts GEOMET rotors and sport pads for under $600 all the way around the whole car. This is going to be a better set of rotors that you have three different options of cross-drilled, slotted, or cross-drilled and slotted. This is gonna be a great upgrade for well under $1,000.
HAWK TALON HPS KIT
A little further up the food chain is gonna come from Hawk. The Talon HPS brake system is gonna be about $800 front and rear, and it’s gonna give you the option of either drilled or slotted rotors. These are just going to provide a little notch extra performance.
If you know that you want to do some track-day driving, we recommend stepping up to the StopTech Sport system. This is going to give you again three options in your rotor style you can get either drilled, slotted, or cross-drilled and slotted. It’s going to come with their sport pads and this is going to stand up to some extra punishment at the racetrack.
BIG BRAKE KIT
If you want to step up to the pinnacle of braking performance you can possibly achieve, you’re going to want to look at getting a full big brake kit. This means replacement calipers, stainless steel braided lines, custom rotors, all of the above. All this is highly configurable and if you go to a bigger rotor, you have to work your wheel around it and so things can get a little bit technical. If you would like help configuring a big brake kit for your 335i, don’t hesitate to reach out to us on live chat at Motoroso.com or call us at 833.MOTOROSO.
Water-Methanol
One of our last must-have mods is not necessarily a must-have, but this is one of our favorite ways of making big power at a very cost-effective price point, and that is water-methanol injection. This is effectively a way of taking a blend of water and methanol that’s injected into the intake system of the car, dramatically reducing the intake temperatures which increases the density and effectively raises the octane of your fuel around 20 points depending on how it’s tuned. This can be accomplished at a very reasonable price point and can have huge gains in the power output of your E90.
BURGER MOTORSPORTS
A simple kit is available from Burger Motorsports again for around $450 you can get either a one or two-gallon tank and it integrates nicely with their JB4 tune.
For around $550 you can get the Snow Performance kit. Snow Performance is a leader in water-methanol injection — it’s really what they specialize in. The kit is a very simple kit that comes with a nice seven-color led display control unit.
SNOW PERFORMANCE KIT
But if you really want to go up to the pinnacle of water-methanol, we recommend the direct port injection kit from Snow Performance. This is going to set you back around $1,250, but this includes a CNC machine direct port injection plate that you mount directly onto the head that shoots that water-methanol right into the source maximizing the performance gains that you can get, making it the most efficient water-methanol system available.
That water-methanol system is going to help keep everything cool and perform better, but if you want to dive deeper into all the cooling options deeper than we’ve gone in this article, head on over and watch our specific 335i cooling video. We’re always here to help you with all your mods, so don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Thanks for reading.
