George Smooth
Drag Race Newbie
- Location
- South Africa
I would go with the 5psi.
7
BMS JB Stage 1 Released
- Thread starter George Smooth
- Start date
I would go with the 5psi.
So the drive home was fun. 1st and 2nd gear can engage TC whenever you step it down. Even the previously limp D mode is more drivable with the extra boost. The short shift points still suck but the mode is more useable for standard city driving.
S mode, well... Wow. Pulls hard from the turbo spool up through shift in all gears. That set you in your seat feeling is increased (butt dyno). I have to say this is going to make the car so much more enjoyable as a daily driver.
Winter may require a change to map 0 in order to get around on trashy days, but I can deal with that.
S mode, well... Wow. Pulls hard from the turbo spool up through shift in all gears. That set you in your seat feeling is increased (butt dyno). I have to say this is going to make the car so much more enjoyable as a daily driver.
Winter may require a change to map 0 in order to get around on trashy days, but I can deal with that.
George Smooth
Drag Race Newbie
- Location
- South Africa
BravoMike
Go Kart Champion
- Location
- Indianapolis
That's one way I plan on using Map 0 as well and another reason the JB1 is so appealing to me!
I guess I'll give a quick update, waited to make sure I was there for signature (maybe that an option on the future lol since most of us want it there right away) installed on a 2015 a3 8v 2.0t. Was surprised to open the package that it didn't come with instructions and the letter said that enjoy my new bmw hardware. Little underwhelming but found the directions online m hooked it up. Harness itself is loose in package & the black hosing was broken in a few places but shouldn't affect the wires.
Like others said, it's pretty straight forward & plug D was the hardest but managed to get it from the top inclined once I uses a screw driver to leverage the clip out because it was hard with just fingers. I warmed the car up n took it on a 15-mile drive. Take it with a grain of salt because it's 114* out right now jn Phoenix lol
Car seemed a little confused at first (ex: shifted at 5,500 rpm on full throttle) seems to have smoothed out after a bit. I'm going to put a few zip ties on to keep the wiring in place, might be a good idea to include a few. Anyways, power seems to come on strong after 3,000 rpm n almost feels like surging. I think I need to have it acclimate more as it almost feels like you can notice as the jb1 decides to kick in after a moment. First time experience with such piggyback modules so not sure what's normal or not. It has more get up n go & the quattro is nice as it just effortlessly builds speed. I like the idea of it being a sleeper, I got a good deal n got it well equipped for less than that of a gti. I'm interested to see it over the next few days n I'll report back.
So far I'm impressed with the performance of unit. Definitely works the engine more but by no means feels like it is stressing it. Feels like a larger displacement engine rather than just pumped up boost. Provides the added kick I was looking for in the car, impressive considering its price point & performance now with what you can compare it to in the range. With launch control, I have no problem believing it should do a sub 5 second to 60mph. I previously had a mk6 gti so the quattro puts the power down a lot better.
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Like others said, it's pretty straight forward & plug D was the hardest but managed to get it from the top inclined once I uses a screw driver to leverage the clip out because it was hard with just fingers. I warmed the car up n took it on a 15-mile drive. Take it with a grain of salt because it's 114* out right now jn Phoenix lol
Car seemed a little confused at first (ex: shifted at 5,500 rpm on full throttle) seems to have smoothed out after a bit. I'm going to put a few zip ties on to keep the wiring in place, might be a good idea to include a few. Anyways, power seems to come on strong after 3,000 rpm n almost feels like surging. I think I need to have it acclimate more as it almost feels like you can notice as the jb1 decides to kick in after a moment. First time experience with such piggyback modules so not sure what's normal or not. It has more get up n go & the quattro is nice as it just effortlessly builds speed. I like the idea of it being a sleeper, I got a good deal n got it well equipped for less than that of a gti. I'm interested to see it over the next few days n I'll report back.
So far I'm impressed with the performance of unit. Definitely works the engine more but by no means feels like it is stressing it. Feels like a larger displacement engine rather than just pumped up boost. Provides the added kick I was looking for in the car, impressive considering its price point & performance now with what you can compare it to in the range. With launch control, I have no problem believing it should do a sub 5 second to 60mph. I previously had a mk6 gti so the quattro puts the power down a lot better.
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BackRoadRunner
Passed Driver's Ed
- Location
- Upstate NY
Any tips on getting plug d off? I can't seem to get it to let go! Been at it for 30 minutes and it won't budge! It wiggles but won't release. I have tried pushing in but it won't move either direction. What am i missing?
George Smooth
Drag Race Newbie
- Location
- South Africa
Thanks for the review and recommendations.
Did you disconnect the battery when you fitted it or let the car go to sleep?
Does it get hotter than 114 there?
George Smooth
Drag Race Newbie
- Location
- South Africa
Try pressing down in the on the inside of the clip with a flat head screw driver or a table knife (not sharp) and if you have one but don't use that to pull on the plug back it will break the clip.
The plug sometimes creates a vacuum and needs patience, pushing it in normally releases it.
BackRoadRunner
Passed Driver's Ed
- Location
- Upstate NY
Thanks, that is what i just did and it released easily. The screwdriver blade was the trick, at least for mine.
On the topic of letting the car warm-up, does this JB have the built in oil temp protections like the JB4 unit? i.e. JB won't allow additional boosting until your car is properly warmed up?
I found this to be a hugely helpful feature on the BMW, particularly when added to the visual flash of the indicator lights on the dash telling you 'all systems are go'
I found this to be a hugely helpful feature on the BMW, particularly when added to the visual flash of the indicator lights on the dash telling you 'all systems are go'
George Smooth
Drag Race Newbie
- Location
- South Africa
On the topic of letting the car warm-up, does this JB have the built in oil temp protections like the JB4 unit? i.e. JB won't allow additional boosting until your car is properly warmed up?
I found this to be a hugely helpful feature on the BMW, particularly when added to the visual flash of the indicator lights on the dash telling you 'all systems are go'
No. That will require Canbus access to read the oil temp so its something we can look at with the JB4.
I let the car sit for a little over an hour with the hood up before installing. Might get a little hotter but not too much, probably will hit 120ish before summer is over!
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hdizzle
New member
- Location
- United States
Some thoughts after installing and taking it for a spin...
Install was pretty straightforward. I positioned the JB on the edge of the battery tray, and ran the harness under my injen intake. Disconnecting the harness to position everything initially made this much easier. I may secure the JB to something using zip ties, as right now it's not tied down.
Plugs A B & C are really straightforward.
I actually spent like 15 minutes just looking for Plug D.. I was looking at the wrong section of piping initially
Once I had a grasp on the plumbing, I finally spotted D, under the A/C compressor. I don't know if anyone else had difficulty locating D, but maybe the instructions should be more clear as to where it's located. Or maybe I'm just a bit slow.
Removing D was actually pretty easy for me. I was able to do it one handed from the top of the engine bay. Getting the JB harness components onto D was a breeze after removing the stock plug.
I connected the unit to my Macbook using bootcamp into Windows 8 and installed the JB4 software using the link on the first page. It connected without issue, but I want to mention that the User Adjustment tab was slightly different than the one used for the tutorial on the first page of this thread. The "Boost Failsafe PSI" was referred to as something else, similar, but different enough that it took me a minute to figure out that that was the place to adjust the boost.
I set mine for 5psi. My only mod is the Injen intake but I have access to Shell 93, so I want to take advantage of it!!
Driving impressions:
When you're not in boost, the car drives exactly the same as stock, which is a good thing. My car is a daily driver, and I don't want to sacrifice drivability in any way. When pushed into boost... man, the car really comes to life!! The difference, to me, was dramatic compared to stock. Mid and high range really push you into your seat and keep you pinned until red line. So much so that the traction control light flashes sometimes in second and third.
Driving on the highway in 4th - 6th gear is so much more enjoyable now. The power is there waiting for you, and as soon as you step on it you'll almost immediately feel the torque that's on tap as you propel forward and pass other cars effortlessly.
One thing that's really important to mention is that the power delivery is completely smooth. Someone else mentioned that they could feel the unit trying to activate or something, but I noticed absolutely no hesitation or "transition" as the JB takes effect. You wouldn't know the JB was there based on the way it drives. It's silky smooth.
I'm very happy I waited for this unit. I'm looking forward to tinkering a bit more and mayyybe adding a downpipe to squeeze a bit more out of the car.
Nice work George.
Install was pretty straightforward. I positioned the JB on the edge of the battery tray, and ran the harness under my injen intake. Disconnecting the harness to position everything initially made this much easier. I may secure the JB to something using zip ties, as right now it's not tied down.
Plugs A B & C are really straightforward.
I actually spent like 15 minutes just looking for Plug D.. I was looking at the wrong section of piping initially
Once I had a grasp on the plumbing, I finally spotted D, under the A/C compressor. I don't know if anyone else had difficulty locating D, but maybe the instructions should be more clear as to where it's located. Or maybe I'm just a bit slow.
Removing D was actually pretty easy for me. I was able to do it one handed from the top of the engine bay. Getting the JB harness components onto D was a breeze after removing the stock plug.
I connected the unit to my Macbook using bootcamp into Windows 8 and installed the JB4 software using the link on the first page. It connected without issue, but I want to mention that the User Adjustment tab was slightly different than the one used for the tutorial on the first page of this thread. The "Boost Failsafe PSI" was referred to as something else, similar, but different enough that it took me a minute to figure out that that was the place to adjust the boost.
I set mine for 5psi. My only mod is the Injen intake but I have access to Shell 93, so I want to take advantage of it!!
Driving impressions:
When you're not in boost, the car drives exactly the same as stock, which is a good thing. My car is a daily driver, and I don't want to sacrifice drivability in any way. When pushed into boost... man, the car really comes to life!! The difference, to me, was dramatic compared to stock. Mid and high range really push you into your seat and keep you pinned until red line. So much so that the traction control light flashes sometimes in second and third.
Driving on the highway in 4th - 6th gear is so much more enjoyable now. The power is there waiting for you, and as soon as you step on it you'll almost immediately feel the torque that's on tap as you propel forward and pass other cars effortlessly.
One thing that's really important to mention is that the power delivery is completely smooth. Someone else mentioned that they could feel the unit trying to activate or something, but I noticed absolutely no hesitation or "transition" as the JB takes effect. You wouldn't know the JB was there based on the way it drives. It's silky smooth.
I'm very happy I waited for this unit. I'm looking forward to tinkering a bit more and mayyybe adding a downpipe to squeeze a bit more out of the car.
Nice work George.
OK, so after stalking this thread and another here & there... I've decided to pull the trigger on this JB unit. Not sure if you're tracking sales, but I may be the first one in Australia.
Won't get it in my grubby paws for a while though, having it sent to NYC where my sister will bring it back on the way home from holiday. Gives me a couple more weeks of anxious reading time
Won't get it in my grubby paws for a while though, having it sent to NYC where my sister will bring it back on the way home from holiday. Gives me a couple more weeks of anxious reading time
I have owned 2 BMW 135i's and I have been using Terry's JB3/4 for years and I can honestly say you guys are in good hands. Amazing online support and quality products, well done George Smooth and the Burger Motorsports team. I cant wait to see what you can do with this platform