2016 Porsche Macan Turbo - H&R Spring Install

We installed a set of H&R Springs on this 2016 Porsche Macan turbo

Wheels taken off, old springs coming out.

H&R Sport (Red) side-by-side with OEM spring. The H&R sport springs provide a tasteful drop which makes your car look more aggressive while maintaining a tight, smooth ride. A lot of owners assume the ride will be harsh, but was pleasantly surprised by the smooth ride quality.

While the vehicle was here, we also had the wheels Powder Coated for the customer in triple bronze.

The 42nd Mitty at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta

Rich and some of the team at EAG got the opportunity to go to the 42nd Mitty at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. If you’re not familiar with The Mitty, it is a series of races between various classes and groups ranging from classic European race cars such as Alfas, BMWs, and Porsches to racing prototypes. There was even older “stock” cars and GT Modern cars out racing in their respective classes.

It couldn’t be a better time to be there as there was great weather and the guys were camping right by the main straight (turn 9) where cars were nearing close to their respective top speeds. Every morning there was no need for alarms as racing began right on schedule and the roaring by cars made a pleasant wake up call for the guys.

Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta is such a great racing venue as you have the freedom to roam around and check out the different areas of the track. The “esses” is a favorite as you could see and hear the cars race up hill through the curves. Another great spot that a lot of the guys enjoyed was the turn at the end of the main straight (turn 10A). It certainly was a treat to hear all those race cars down shift through all the gears after nearing top speeds.

While there, not only were you limited to just seeing the races, but you were able to go down to the paddock where all the different classes of cars that are racing being prepped and staged. The guys got to be up close checking out all the cool cars.

Be sure to check out the gallery below!

1973 Trans Am Super Duty 455

With only 252 produced and in Brewster Green on Dark Saddle, this numbers matching car was purchased by a customer after a medium quality restoration.  EAG performed an inspection on the vehicle knowing the new owner enjoys his cars the proper way - by driving them.  EAG removed the complete interior, correcting some mismatched upholstery and had the turned aluminum dash restored.  The engine had a tick and was removed and sent to Butler Performance, where it was rebuilt with originality and reliability as the end goal.  The correct Quadrajet carburetor was restored, and internal components brought up to Butlers exacting specifications. Finally, the engine was set up and tuned on Butlers engine dyno where it produced 502hp and 583 ft/lbs of torque.

Stay tuned to hear the engine when complete!

Fabspeed Full Exhaust

We just installed some Fabspeed headers w/sport cats on a 2004 Boxster. Car also has Fabspeed catback, along with IPD w/74MM throttle body, cold air intake, and Softronic Flash.

We are Fabspeed and Softronic dealers.

2004 Porsche Boxster - Fabspeed headers w/sport cats with Fabspeed exhaust. Cold air intake, and IPD w/74MM throttle body.

2004 Porsche Boxster. Fabspeed exhaust system. We have performed several upgrades to this car. LN Engineering IMS bearing, Deep sump, Bilstein PSS9 coilovers, Softronic Flash, IPD w/74MM throttle body, and Cold air intake.

VMR Wheels

VMR offers high quality wheels for your VW, Audi, BMW, Pontiac, and now Japanese fitments at an affordable price! Our very own cars have VMR wheels. Give us a call and we can price out a set for your ride!

BMW N52/N54 Headbolt and Exhaust Cam Wear TSB

N52/N54 Overlook

If you are reading this you maybe wondering what is a N52 or N54? These are motor designations that fall in certain BMW models. N52 is a naturally aspirated Inline-6 engine. N54 is a twin turbo charged Inline-6 engine.

N52 Equipped BMWs

• 2006+
• 325i, 328i, 330i
• 128i
• Z4
• X3
• X5
• 528i, 530i

N54 Equipped BMWs

• 2007+
• 335i, 335is,
• 135i, 1 ///M

• Z4
• 535i

Now that you know if your car is equipped with one of these motors. We will delve into some of the issues that may or may not occur during your ownership.

Check Engine Light is On

Your check engine light pops on one day while driving. You have the codes ran at the dealer, local shop, part store. You are told you have a 2A82 Vanos Intake, 2A87 Vanos Exhaust faults. Sounds like gibberish doesn’t it? These two faults can cause your BMW to run poorly. They can cause rough starts, rough idles, and run down on power. BMW has released a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) for these faults. A TSB is not a recall, but a recommend repair on a known issue.

Some shops will tell you right away that both Vanos units must be replaced! This is not the case!! The first step we do is pull both units out and clean them from oil sludge. Most of the time this should take care of your Check Engine Light.

My Engine Light is Flashing On and Off

If you have had both Vanos units cleaned and your engine has come back on a few days later flashing at you from time to time. You most likely have the same fault again 2A87 Vanos Exhaust. This time we won’t have good news unfortunately. You most likely have excessive exhaust camshaft wear like the pictures below. If you are having your Check Engine Light come on. Have us take a look at it. We can tell you what is going on with your N52/N54 motor and give you an estimate on what it will take to resolve the issue.

My BMW Leaking Oil

You’ve noticed some oil spots in your garage or on your driveway. Wondering where it is coming from exactly? Give us a call! We can pin point where it is coming from. N52s have aluminum cylinder sleeves and magnesium blocks. These cars have aluminum head bolts. And unfortunately they like to pop due to being stressed and hot and cold effects. BMW has also over torqued these bolts from the factory. We don’t torque them to factory specs so this issue won’t happen again.

If you have an oil leak coming from your N52 motor it is a good chance a headbolt has let go and the rest are soon to follow. We can diagnosis the issue and give you an estimate on the repair. This N52 motor pictured below is currently getting its headbolts replaced. 

Give us a call or shoot us an email to schedule an appointment! We have BMW Master technicians that can help diagnosis your N52/N54 and all BMW models.

M60/M62 Timing Chain Rails

So you have a M62 4.4L V8 stuffed under the hood of your BMW 540i, 740i, 840ci, or X5? Starting to smell some oil?Starting to notice it puff some smoke out of the exhaust? Noticing you have to top off your oil more than usual? Most likely you have a combination of issues going on. One your V8 probably has over 100,000 miles on it. Two it most likely is seaping oil from the timing covers and the oil seperator has failed.

If you expect to keep your M62 motor running for another 100,000+ miles start budgeting now for Timing Chain/Covers maintenance. These motors are known to leak from the timing covers, oil seperators to go bad, and even break timing rails!! Don’t screw around with this if you plan to keep your V8 BMW for a long time. Our shop use to have a 2001 740i Sport that had 240K miles on it before it was sold. It had this very same preventive maintenance done to it as well around 170K.

Below are some pictures showing what all is involved. New timing chains, gaskets, valley pan, oil seperator, oil, coolant, etc. Call for an estimate!

CH3CKM8

Shortly after the new year it became time for Andrew to start searching for a new a car. He can’t ever make up his mind. It went from E39 M5 to E46 ZHP to probably a Yugo at some point or another. It’s a bit ridiculous. One day a customer came in with a 335i and JB+ upgrade. Customer was gracious enough to let us take it around the block and see what the Juicebox was really all about. Needless to say we were impressed and that day was basically what made up Andrew’s mind.

The search began, but in typical Andrew fashion it was pickiest of the picky. The search first started for an E90 335i with a Lemon interior. Lemon interior option is extremely rare and wasn’t really on the option list when ordering. Now on the LCI models the option is known as Oyster. Lemon interior is white seats and leather door inserts with black dash and carpet. Then to top it off it had to be a 6spd. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. To this day Andrew still states that he thinks the E90 body looks more aggressive than the E92 coupe body.

One morning searching auctions for other automobiles. A white on red 6spd coupe arrived at the auction lane that morning. Rich brought it to Andrew’s attention and said there are no pictures OR condition report, but it should be in the price range we are looking at. Andrew wasn’t sure about red interiors. Felt it was too much red, but agreed to at least see what happens. So around lunch Andrew pulled up the auction online and watched it come up on the block via the webcam. So here we are looking at this car from the ceiling through a fuzzy camera. Manheim didn’t get the color listing wrong. It’s definitely white…. hmm, maybe a Mtech front bumper? We see black wheels (yuck). The auctioneer starts the bidding spouting out numbers and then finally somebody starts the bid. And hits the button to place his bid, then it hangs. Nobody else bids. Auctioneer doing his damnedest to get somebody else to go. He hits the hammer, SOLD to European Auto Garage. Andrew is excited, but a bit nervous not knowing a thing about the car.

Over the weekend we get into contact with a transporter to bring the E92 from Dallas, TX to good ole Knoxville. What felt like one of the longest weeks of Andrew’s life. Transporter tells us the car will be picked up Wednesday and arrive at the shop Friday. Mother nature had other plans. Once again just like a year ago. Nasty thunderstorms rolled through Tennessee with lots of wind, hail and rain. A bit worried about the car, but hoping maybe he is behind the storms. We get a call saying it will now be Saturday and in fact he is behind the storms. A sigh a relief there, but still very anxious to see the car. Saturday morning arrives and we have a Cars and Coffee event that day. We were told it would arrive at end of C&C at 12. Get a call around 11 saying it won’t be till 3. The WAIT was killing Andrew.

3:00 arrives and the truck rounds the corner. There it is on the back of the trailer. And when we say Andrew was beside himself, he truly was. Cloud Nine hit. He yells “Those black wheels….THEY ARE VOLKS!!!” And then he came back to earth very briefly to realize everything else it had. “Are you kidding me!!!! Front AND Rear Brembo GT big brake kit!!!” Quad exhaust system, AC Schnitzer roof spoiler, Vorsteiner trunk spoiler and front lip, Alcantara black headliner, short throw, ZHP knob, RPi front mount intercooler, BMS dual cone intakes (filters missing?). And not to help Andrew’s big flipping head at this point. The trucker fills it with stories about the trip to Knoxville. He stopped at a BMW dealership to drop off a few cars for them. All the sales guys were excited to see the white 335 only to find out it wasn’t theirs. Truckers were on their CBs complimenting how nice it looked. He said the CB chatter was non stop and that the few Porsches he had on the trailer never even got a comment.

Car is now off the truck and by this point Rich has already gotten the phone call about it and is racing over to see it. Rich thought Andrew was just so excited that it was just some exaggeration. Rich pulled into the parking lot and came to a dead halt and yelled “ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” Rich pops the trunk to find a box and opens it. A set of Macht Schnell catless downpipes. Andrew definitely hit the jackpot. Car immediately got pulled into the shop and up on a lift to see what else was hiding. Turns out it was sitting on some Bilstein PSS9s and had front and rear H&R sway bars.  And now able to look at the quad exhaust setup a bit better. It started out as some exhaust and then had a different set of mufflers welded onto it. Knowing this car had to have been on E90Post, Andrew did some digging. Turns out it has a Britalman exhaust with custom mufflers. This 335i doesn’t sound like any other 335i we have heard.

So first things first were getting some cone filters for the intakes. Ran to the local auto parts store and bought two 3″ K&N cone filters. Once the filters were installed Andrew was able to give the car a good test drive and see if it had a Juicebox or some sort of piggyback on it. Turns out the car was also equipped with a Vishnu Procede as well!! The Volk Racing TE37 in matte black finish are 19×8.5s in front with a 19×10.5 in the rear.

So now that the amazing story of how this car was acquired is out of the way lets get to the details. It is a 2007 BMW 335i, Alpine White on Coral Red with a 6spd manual transmission. When car arrived it only had 40,000 miles on the clock and yes it came with all the upgrades mentioned for a STEAL. Now some stuff needed to be addressed. The clutch was toast. It was slipping. An angel eye bulb was out. Left rear tail light LED strip was done. The car kept setting Vanos faults just cruising down the highway.

So we here immediately put the wheels in motion. A clutch was ordered up. Just a factory one for now. When we pulled out the old one it was toast, but the flywheel had some interesting wear on it. Andrew ordered a set of Arc White angel eye bulbs from BMS as well as a JB4. The brake pads were gone. So Andrew ordered up some Carbotechs. The Vanos solenoids came out  and were cleaned and reinstalled. The vanos faults would still come back during normal cruising and would send the car into limp mode. We decided to first bring the entire car up to date coding wise. Andrew forgot to turn the Vishnu off and it coded right onto the Vishnu (whoops). Andrew was a bit annoyed by that because with a JB4 if it is turned on the Autologic can not read the car. It’s interesting the more expensive piggyback doesn’t have this feature, but yet has VIN locking? So JB4 was installed into the car and the coding was redone and brought up to date. Vanos faults and boost pressure fault have not come back since. No telling if the Vishnu was truly at fault, but do have to wonder.

The car is still on its original high pressure fuel pump and injectors. Hopefully it’ll stay that way (but highly unlikely). One thing we did address with coding is the wastegate rattle. It was obnoxious on the car and still is on start up. But before the coding on deceleration you could hear them rattle. Between 7/06-7/08 BMW released a firmware update to help with the rattle. It has made a tremendous difference with the rattle on deceleration. No notice in decrease in performance or anything either.

BMS has been working on new firmware for the JB4 to make a more dedicated E85 map. Andrew has been testing these new firmware updates. On 93 alone the new updates are very very impressive. With a 50/50 mix of E85 its bonkers. An easy 17PSI is hit and literally just pulls like a train. The car has not been dynoed yet, but cars with similar upgrades and 50/50 mix are in the neighborhood of 410whp/440wtq. 

So you maybe wondering the car has basically everything what does the future hold for this car? Well the curb rash has got to be fixed on the Volks and will get re-powder coated matte black with new updated Red Volk stickers. At first he wasn’t a huge fan of the Volks on a BMW. But it blends his passion for Japanese cars as well as his passion for BMW. A BMS Methanol kit will be added for more POWAHHHH, as Jeremy Clarkson would say. You can never have enough power. More coding tricks up the sleeve just to add some unique touches to the car. But the most radical upgrade for the future will happen once the car is paid off. The stock quarter panels will come out for some M3 quarter panels to fit those 10.5 wide wheels correctly. And will also get a Mtech rear bumper with diffuser. Andrew isn’t very keen on the Vorsteiner front lip as well. M Aero lip is planned to make the front end a bit more aggressive looking and more flowing. Alcantara shifter boot along with E-Brake boot to match the rest of the alcantara interior. And plans for a M3 instrument cluster to go in as well to spice the interior up a bit more. 

The day Andrew bought this 335i he probably should have bought a lottery ticket or played some poker in Vegas. Just extreme luck. Stay tuned for more developments on this car and see whose ego will wind up biggest in the shop.