[CalAcacian]

I am running the BM3 stage 2 E30 tune on my car with a stock turbo, CSF intercooler, upgraded charge pipes, Dinan intake, VSRF catted DP, and a full Dinan exhaust.

I am thinking about adding the MST turbo inlet and GFB DV to the setup, but curious as to whether it is worth it on my current setup. Any input is appreciated.

[F87source]

Yes it is absolutely worth it imo! The turbo inlet allows so much more flow and is the major restriction in the stock intake tract. Generally people can see 5 whp or more gain with a turbo inlet on a tuned car, along with a drop in wgdc.


The gfb dv+ gives alot better throttle response and imo was one of the best mods I have done.

[///M TOWN]

Originally Posted by CalAcacian

I am running the BM3 stage 2 E30 tune on my car with a stock turbo, CSF intercooler, upgraded charge pipes, Dinan intake, VSRF catted DP, and a full Dinan exhaust.

I am thinking about adding the MST turbo inlet and GFB DV to the setup, but curious as to whether it is worth it on my current setup. Any input is appreciated.

I did the MST first and then 9 months later installed my DV (TurboSmart)

They both are worth doing

The MST turbo inlet is like sucking through a huge straw, and feels less restricted

The upgraded DV is able to hold boost better and isn't prone to leaking like the factory DV

Despite conflicting information I would highly recommend doing both at the same time

I didn't have time to do both initially and I paid the price because I had to remove the inlet to get at the diverter valve's upper bolt specifically

Definitely recommended…

[i531m]

Do they help with the manual cars lag shift?

[F87source]

Originally Posted by i531m

Do they help with the manual cars lag shift?

It does, but not entirely because that is a tuning issue.

[CalAcacian]

F87source and ///M Town (can't get it to tag you for some reason) thanks as always for the good input and experience. Looks like I'm going with both!

[F87source]

Originally Posted by CalAcacian

F87source and ///M Town (can't get it to tag you for some reason) thanks as always for the good input and experience. Looks like I'm going with both!

No problem!

[///M TOWN]

Originally Posted by CalAcacian

F87source and ///M Town (can't get it to tag you for some reason) thanks as always for the good input and experience. Looks like I'm going with both!

You will love your car that much more afterwards… it's really hard to explain

I also just upgraded my cat and again huge improvement and I am running a factory ecu

[CalAcacian]

Has anyone ordered the MST pipe recently? I can't get the MST site to let me check out because it has an error where it won't allow the pipe to be shipped in the US and customer service hasn't been getting back to me.

Any suggested alternate retailers? EAS, who I am using to order my wheels and who does most of my install work doesn't have a relationship with MST.

[AmuroRay]

Originally Posted by CalAcacian

Has anyone ordered the MST pipe recently? I can't get the MST site to let me check out because it has an error where it won't allow the pipe to be shipped in the US and customer service hasn't been getting back to me.

Any suggested alternate retailers? EAS, who I am using to order my wheels and who does most of my install work doesn't have a relationship with MST.

Have you tried XPH or Kies?

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by F87source

Yes it is absolutely worth it imo! The turbo inlet allows so much more flow and is the major restriction in the stock intake tract. Generally people can see 5 whp or more gain with a turbo inlet on a tuned car, along with a drop in wgdc.


The gfb dv+ gives alot better throttle response and imo was one of the best mods I have done.

Any thoughts on the GFB DV+ vs the Turbosmart? The GFB is $140 vs the TS's $246. I'm not worried about the $100, obviously, but I'd like to get the best one I can, as I'm only planning on doing this job ONCE.

[AmuroRay]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

Any thoughts on the GFB DV+ vs the Turbosmart? The GFB is $140 vs the TS's $246. I'm not worried about the $100, obviously, but I'd like to get the best one I can, as I'm only planning on doing this job ONCE.

I personally prefer the TS unit - complete replacement and works well, and doesn’t require you to disassemble the stock part. There were also reports from PURE Turbo that it held boost better, but I’ve not seen any ‘proof’ of it. Otherwise they both should work similar.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

Any thoughts on the GFB DV+ vs the Turbosmart? The GFB is $140 vs the TS's $246. I'm not worried about the $100, obviously, but I'd like to get the best one I can, as I'm only planning on doing this job ONCE.

I prefer the gfb, fitment is absolutely perfect with zero contact on anything (turbo smart harness can hit the water pump hose), it's essentially an OEM+ upgrade. Utilizes all the factory parts that are excellent (the pierburg solenoid which is bullet proof) and replaces the crappy parts (plastic piston). The gfb unit also has been refined for years and years with the piston spring being adjusted and fined tuned so there are no longer issues of compressor surge due to it holding too much boost when off throttle (again I've heard some turbo smart users report they've had compressor surge).


Overall I doubt the turbo smart unit is any better, because it has to function the same way in order to hold some boost between shifts in order to improve response (the use of the piston spring), because there's no way it's able to calculate boost pressure on board as I believe the solenoid power is only on and off so there's no constant power for it to stay on and function in order to do processing. The price difference likely has to do with replacing the entire magnetic solenoid unit (again why when the stock one is reliable and gfb has dialed in their solenoid spring so there no issue with that aspect either).

[AmuroRay]

Originally Posted by F87source

I prefer the gfb, fitment is absolutely perfect with zero contact on anything (turbo smart harness can hit the water pump hose), it's essentially an OEM+ upgrade. Utilizes all the factory parts that are excellent (the pierburg solenoid which is bullet proof) and replaces the crappy parts (plastic piston). The gfb unit also has been refined for years and years with the piston spring being adjusted and fined tuned so there are no longer issues of compressor surge due to it holding too much boost when off throttle (again I've heard some turbo smart users report they've had compressor surge).


Overall I doubt the turbo smart unit is any better, because it has to function the same way in order to hold some boost between shifts in order to improve response (the use of the piston spring), because there's no way it's able to calculate boost pressure on board as I believe the solenoid power is only on and off so there's no constant power for it to stay on and function in order to do processing. The price difference likely has to do with replacing the entire magnetic solenoid unit (again why when the stock one is reliable and gfb has dialed in their solenoid spring so there no issue with that aspect either).

If by refined, you mean corrected because the first units were just not manufactured to the correct specs with too long a spring, sure. But I’ve personally not seen one TS failure.

The DV+ is worth it if you can and have the time to disassemble the stock DV, otherwise, the TS is plug and play and has as solid, if not more so record of performance and reliability

[F87source]

Originally Posted by AmuroRay

If by refined, you mean corrected because the first units were just not manufactured to the correct specs with too long a spring, sure. But I’ve personally not seen one TS failure.

The DV+ is worth it if you can and have the time to disassemble the stock DV, otherwise, the TS is plug and play and has as solid, if not more so record of performance and reliability

The turbo smart unit is a year or two old their track record isn't well established yet. I've seen plently of turbo smart failures and issues (specifically the ECU reporting it's stuck, imo it's likely the agressive boost retention profile causing the compressor surge) on Facebook, never seen a gfb failure.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/BMWN55/permalink/2237869076388135/

https://m.facebook.com/groups/BMWN55/permalink/1571328409708875/

https://m.facebook.com/groups/BMWN55/permalink/2089941777847533/


Here's a video of a smoke test exposing a leak:
https://m.facebook.com/groups/BMWN55/permalink/2206372692871107/

This is extremely common on the n55 group, turbo smarts are literally known for their leaks on there.


And there's more of that on Facebook if you want to look, just search turbo smart or turbo smart leak, and that's only after a 1-2 year production run. This is why I never went turbo smart.


That's the plunger spring, they had to change the length for the m2 units due to the solenoid strength differences. But gfb refined the piston spring to eliminate any compressor surge, something that can and does happen on the turbo smart units.


Disassembly on the dv+ is minutes at best.


So no, imo it doesn't have a better track record of reliability, you just don't see it on the forum as Facebook has a much larger sample size as it's a more used platform with easier media sharing.

[F87source]

I should also mention I am talking about reliability as of now, after revisions and updates were made.

So as of now the GFB DV+ is absolutely bullet proof and fool proof, it has addressed any error codes due to the use of an upgraded diverter valve (plunger spring revision which gfb discovered was needed on the m2 because its solenoid is weaker), it has solved compressor surging with variations of its piston spring. Fitment is absolutely spot on no rubbing on anything, it retains oem electronics which are bullet proof (trusted by major oems like bmw, audi, vw etc), and upgrades the weaker parts like the piston. It was also the first design utilizing the boost transfer to the other side of the piston to increase piston sealing strength which turbo smart alludes to using in their FAQ section, and it has been refined the most.


GFB also has a life time warranty, so any issues they're willing to fix it forever. Turbosmart has a 1 year warranty, so if those electronics (which have only been tested for a year or two since release) prove to not be reliable you will be out of luck after a year.