VF-Engineering Supercharger Kit for the BMW 540i (e39) - Stage 1

Plastic Molding:
VF-Engineering designs and creates patterns for its supercharger ducts. The patterns are cast into female molds at a local foundry. The molds are framed and finished ready for rotational molding. At VF’s plant the molds are mounted on large Roto -Molding machines and charged with plastic powder. Each arm of the machine runs through a heating and cooling chamber whilst being rotated on X,Y and Z axis on a computer programmed cycle. The molding process yields a cavity part with an ultra-smooth interior finish, ideal for airflow.

Plastic is selected for its heat and chemical resistance characteristics and typically most parts are produced from Polypropylene or Polyethylene.

Creating supercharger ducts from plastic gives VF the clear ability to design parts which fit the car and supercharger hardware without being limited in ways that mandrel bent steel is dictated. Supercharger intakes experience a variety of disruptive airflow patterns and require complex shaping to prevent off-throttle burble and backfiring. This is often caused by poor deceleration tuning which is usually overlooked by many. VF-tuned intakes are designed for optimal flow in both directions.

The plastic material external finish is governed by the tools created and VF prefers to apply an even texture to match the OEM plastics in the engine bay. The only way to satisfy the perfectionists market was to employ plastic molding for engineering and not-reverse engineering the ultimate aftermarket product.

In-house CNC Machining:
VF-Engineering designs its products in-house using state of the art CAD (Computer Aided Design) software. All products evolve from an arduous development lifecycle: from prototyping to long term testing and eventual production.

All CNC (Computer Numeric Control) machined production is carried out in-house on Cincinatti Milacron horizontal milling centers and HAAS CNC mills and lathes. VF uses high quality 6061-T6 aircraft grade aluminum for all its billet work.

CNC machining is widely known for repetitive accuracy and speed. The horizontal milling centers at VF run 24hrs cutting on multiple axis with multi head tools.

Sub-contracting work or buying from an outside vendor often leaves a manufacturer at the mercy of others. This is why it is a VF principal to manufacture critical and technical parts in-house for complete control of quality assurance and production lead time.

GIAC chip Tuning:
Chip tuning is the term commonly used to describe re-tuning the ECU (Electronic Control Unit). The ECU is re-programmed with all VF-Engineering supercharger systems to re-calibrate it for a change in engine dynamics, such as ignition timing, knock control, airflow increase, and air / fuel mixture etc. During testing VF engineers work extensively with GIAC (Irvine, CA) engineers to test and monitor engine operation parameters using diagnostic tools. A vast array of data is collected and used by GIAC engineers to re-write ECU code using their own assembly algorithms and libraries and not generic tuning programs.

Modern chip tuning methods from GIAC include serial programming, bench flashing and flashed chip switching. Serial programming is where the new software is electronically overwritten on the OEM software through the OBD2 diagnostic port. Bench flashing is the process by which the ECU can be plugged into a computer out of the car, for the chip to be electronically flashed-in. Chip switching allows the user to choose which program to run by using a handset plugged into the OBD2 port. Different programs would be desireable for example with high octane race gas.

The software tuning process is instrumental for the efficient and reliable operation of the engine with the added supercharger system.

GIAC have been established in the BMW, AUDI, Porsche and VW industry for almost 10 years and support leading products in each market. This includes special projects such re-writing emissions code for the Porsche 959 to pass CARB certification. Regarded by most as the industry leader for chip tuning in the world, GIAC software is the key to the smoothness and driveability on and off-throttle with VF-Engineering forced induction systems.

Cold Air Intake:
Cold Air intakes provide a cool stream of air for the supercharger. The cooler the air, the more efficient the internal combustion process becomes. All VF kits are provided with a cold air intake and air filter box to protect the induction filter from road dirt and rain. VF tooled up to manufacture pipes in high qualtiy polypropolene plastic for weight reduction and thermal efficiency.

Aftercooling:
Aftercooling is the term used to describe the process of cooling the air charge or forced-induction. The air charge produced by the supercharger is warmer than the input charge because of the physical action of air compression. VF performs continuous intake air temperature testing during dyno and street testing. As with most aftermarket supercharger systems, VF testing has shown that aftercooling is not required with induction pressures around 6psi. VF’s BMW kits have been tested on like for like dynos to show similar power to competitors who run intercoolers and greater levels of boost.

VF sets up certain kits in multiple stages of increasing power and typically uses aftercooling with kits running greater than 6 psi. For its BMW systems VF has chosen to utilize air-to-water charge cooling for greater efficiency rather than air-to-air intercooling which is limited to cooling only while the car is in motion.

Dyno Chart Information:
A chassis dynamometer also known as a dyno is typically used to measure the horsepower and torque of a vehicle's engine. For example a rear wheel drive car is strapped to the dyno with its rear wheels in contact with the dyno rollers. The driver accelerates the vehicle on the dyno to a determined rpm in order for the dyno instrumentation to measure power at the wheels. A calculation factor can be used to scale-up the wheel horsepower value to a flywheel horsepower value. Most vehicle manufacturers advertise flywheel values.

Flywheel horsepower can also be measured directly without using a drivetrain loss calculation by removing the engine from the vehicle and testing it on an engine dyno. When tuning a multitude of vehicles this method can be cost prohibitive in the aftermarket.

It can be said that often there is a variation between one chassis dyno and another. A major difference between chassis dyno's is the amount of load they impose on the vehicle. Application of load during dyno testing is important for simulating on-the-road conditions for safe ignition timing and air fuel trims. VF-Engineering uses an in-house Dynojet 224 XLC eddy current load bearing dyno for all its testing. GIAC who exclusively write VF- Engineering supercharger software also test vehicles on their Mustang MD500-SE 4 wheel drive chassis dyno.

The dyno's advertised on the page show SAE power measured at the wheels as this is the exact output displayed by the Dynojet computer. Wheel horsepower numbers are typically scaled up by 15% to arrive at flywheel numbers. Dyno chart numbers have been multiplied by 1.15 to provide estimated flywheel values. SAE is 98.63% of DIN. Power figures may vary from car to car depending on their condition. Dyno charts shown are for manual transmission test vehicles. Test results shown are common for engines shared accross platforms. All tests performed on 91 octane fuel. Power increased at certain RPM points is much greater than peak to peak power comparisons.

Made in the USA:
VF-Engineering products are Made in California, USA. All key elements of VF supercharger systems are made within local proximity. Using all local and US based vendors VF eliminates the in-efficiency of dealing with international suppliers and has tight-knit relationships with its vendors for technical, logistical and after-sales aspects of business. Made in the USA.

The VF-Engineering 3 year warranty protection means you can drive with a peace of mind knowing that your investment is covered. 3-years unlimited mileage on VF-Engineering's product only, subject to terms.

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