[loudenvier]

The N20 engine is rated 185whp from factory, but here in Brazil they sell a flex-fuel version, which will work with any Ethanol/petrol mixture. This is a BIG trend in Brazil, and mosts cars around here are flex-fuel. BMW claims there is no gain in power but owners are getting 208whp when running 100% in Ethanol.

A friend of mine installed JB4 onto his 320i ActiveFlex bimmer and got 80whp added to his machine!!! Initially we were all very skeptical of the results, but seeing that the 320i looks just like a detuned 328i, and considering the 328i is able to get a lot of power from standard tunes, it is not far fetched that the "Brazilian" flex-fuel N20 engine could go even further, as Ethanol is rated around 113 octanes!!!

He recently added a downpipe to his upgrades, removing the cat, and it seems it could easily get around 300whp, but he is getting some CELs and is trying to iron them out before getting the car back on the track again.

If the numbers are accurate, in fact, even if they aren't accurate, the n20 engine and powertrain looks simply AMAZING for tuning aficionados. The sparks plugs and injectors are different than on standard N20... I tried to find more info on wikipedia about the N20 E85, but didn't find anything on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_3_...Petrol_engines

These are the dyno reads before the JB4 upgrade, with everything stock, running 100% Ethanol (already good enough!):



And these are the results after JB4:



I think these results are AMAZING!!! And he didn't even have the downpipe at the time!!! People believe he will be able to pass 310whp without much trouble! His car already leaves behind a stock 335i ...

I was not a fan of the N20 before it was launched... I love my N52 signature sound... But a 320i here in Brazil costs U$ 60.810 and a 335i costs U$ 120.000!!! (N54) You can buy two 320i for the price of one 335i!!! With less than U$ 10.000 you could take a U$ 320i over 310whp and put all stock 335i to shame!

[TomDenmark]

Graphs do look very promising if they are legit. Would love to see a run on normal pump gas on same dyno for comparison.

Was it map5 on the JB4?

I've read somewhere that BMS suggest a max blend of 40% E85. I would like to know if that also applies to the Activeflex? and should it be more like 35% pure ethanol that I think we have here?

I've got the JB4 already, but still awaiting USB-cable, this makes it a lot harder to wait! maybe I will look into buying the ER downpipe in the mean time

[loudenvier]

Originally Posted by TomDenmark

Graphs do look very promising if they are legit. Would love to see a run on normal pump gas on same dyno for comparison.

Was it map5 on the JB4?

I've read somewhere that BMS suggest a max blend of 40% E85. I would like to know if that also applies to the Activeflex? and should it be more like 35% pure ethanol that I think we have here?

I've got the JB4 already, but still awaiting USB-cable, this makes it a lot harder to wait! maybe I will look into buying the ER downpipe in the mean time

This video is of his car, it was made using Torque. He complains that measuring in the dashboard he gets 5.3s 0-100 consistently, but on torque the best he did was 5.6s and the average is 5.8s... I believe he is launching badly. Some power breaking on the start could make the 0-100 better!

Here is a 0-180km/h sprint which is good to see how the car is revving:

[mperformanceworks]

seems like he is using MAP 2 (prob at 20psi)...totally possible with such high octane, but not recommended.

[f30luxline]

Some good HP #'s but torque is low. Everyone showcases HP but torque is what gets you movin'.

[loudenvier]

I don't believe that 404 N.m at 3300 RPM is a low torque figure!!!

[loudenvier]

Originally Posted by mperformanceworks

seems like he is using MAP 2 (prob at 20psi)...totally possible with such high octane, but not recommended.

Why isn't it recommended?

[loudenvier]

I've just checked that his PSI is around 17psi even in map 2, which he uses sparingly.

[Pro]

Originally Posted by f30luxline

Some good HP #'s but torque is low. Everyone showcases HP but torque is what gets you movin'.

torque is low? you should brush up on some knowledge before commenting
torque gets you moving hp keeps you going

[rustyminded]

What if someone installed the injectors for Flexible fuel and didn't use Ethanol constantly ?!

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...16&hg=13&fg=15

[loudenvier]

Originally Posted by rustyminded

What if someone installed the injectors for Flexible fuel and didn't use Ethanol constantly ?!

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...16&hg=13&fg=15

Many BMW owners here in Brazil use Petrol in their FlexFuel cars most of the time. It only makes sense, from a money perspective, to use Ethanol when it's priced at most 70% of gasoline, and that is not the current case. Only environmental-aware people stick to ethanol, or those trying to get as most HP as possible

I think it's pretty common to run on petrol for extended periods of time on the flex-fuel cars. But I believe that the original ECU programming should be a little different than the Petrol-only (I could be totally wrong on this). Maybe changing the injectors only won't give you any gains and could be detrimental to the engine on the middle to long run... (again, I'm only guessing)

[f30luxline]

Originally Posted by loudenvier

I don't believe that 404 N.m at 3300 RPM is a low torque figure!!!

404Nm = 298ft-lbs

Originally Posted by Pro

torque is low? you should brush up on some knowledge before commenting
torque gets you moving hp keeps you going

Torque is low comparatively speaking. When i'm pulling 291/361 at 2900/5200 respectively then yes, these torque numbers are low.

So if I need to brush up on knowledge, school me???

[marcoac14]

What map are you running? You're supposed to run on map 5 otherwise it may be running too lean. Post a few logs on third gear so we can see if you're reaching the target.

[marcoac14]

Originally Posted by rustyminded

What if someone installed the injectors for Flexible fuel and didn't use Ethanol constantly ?!

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...16&hg=13&fg=15

The LPFP and HPFP are also different. I think they are different to cope with ethanol and water (around 2% in Brazil)

[mperformanceworks]

yeap just checked prob. 17psi is about MAP 5 , I run torco and map 5 which should be lower figures. With over 95 oct car is decently quick, about a high 13s car just keeping everything stock and with JB4 stage 2. With dp like OP posted should be a nice ride with 100% ethanol without pushing it too hard. High compression with high octane FTW!