[Nezil]

With the poor fuel and high temperatures we have here in CA, I've decided to give WMI a try.

There are obviously several options for kits, and I've decided to go with the Aquamist HFS-4 system. This will be somewhat similar to the system 963mw posted about earlier this year, but I'm hoping to be able to provide some more photos of the installation once I get to that point, as well as details on my thought process speccing this system out.

Over the last few weeks, I've been sending emails back and forth with Richard @ Aquamist, who has been very helpful, and have settled on the following parts:

• HFS-4 Kit
• 5L Baffled tank and bracket
• Remote Vent Kit
• Low Profile Compression Right Angle Jet Adapters x 2
• 1/8 BSP Swivel-able Compression Fittings x 3

I'm also making the following changes / customisations to the kit:

• 5mm Extended Jets
• 4mm PTFE Hose

[Nezil]

Why 5mm Extended Jets?

Aquamist jets are custom machined and highly regarded, but M8 x 0.75 thread rather than the more typical 1/8 NPT threads found in the US.

Aquamist provides two M8 to 1/8 NPT Jet Adapters in their kit, which can be used directly into a charge pipe if no bungs exist by drilling and tapping 1/8 NPT threads, as long as the charge pipe wall thickness is between 1.6 to 6mm (1/16" to 1/4").

I have an FTP Charge pipe, which comes with 2 1/8 NPT bungs already welded in place. One is near the outlet of the FMIC, and the other just before the MAP sensor. These two locations are good, and I'd rather not have to create new holes in the charge pipe if I can avoid it.

Richard shared this chart that shows the required jet types for each installation method used:

I reached out to FTP and asked the thickness of the charge pipe itself, and the bungs installed and was told 2.1mm and 6mm respectively. I'd hoped that this would mean that I could use standard jets because the FTP bungs were 6mm, but on closer inspection of my actual charge pipe, it looks like the depth is more like 2.1mm + 6mm = 8.1mm, so I'm going with 5mm extended jets.

[Nezil]

Why PTFE Hose?

My original plan was to go with braided stainless AN fitting lines like you can buy from Snow Performance, but once I started researching AN fitting lines, I discovered that these are actually PTFE hose with a Stainless over-braid. The AN fitting itself has a compression fitting on one end for the PTFE hose, and an AN compression fitting on the other end. There is actually an additional potential point of failure if I went with this sort of hose, not to mention that there is also an issue in getting AN converters to the Aquamist fittings which are in most cases Metric or BSP.

After searching around on various forums, I found the following picture on the Aquamist.co.uk forum which shows an Audi motor installed with PTFE tubing, Low profile compression fittings and carbon fiber over-braid (not to be confused with typical braided wrap which will just melt with heat) held in place with glue filled heat shrink tubing.

The carbon over-braid is mostly for show, but will provide some abrasion resistance, and makes the install look more OEM; there is another pipe / cable in the engine bay that has black over-braid, but I'm not sure what it is yet. Will post after I investigate more!

[M2C AW]

Very cool. Kudos on thinking thru the details..especially the jet insertion depth / stream shrouding issues...before your install lol.
That glue filled heat shrink tubing is intriguing...any details ?
Tank and pump in boot...I assume ?
Lots of us will be following your install journey...I’m sure.
Thanks for posting.

[ZM2]

You’re focused on IAT reduction and not fueling, correct?

What are your plans for controlling flow?

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by ZM2

You’re focused on IAT reduction and not fueling, correct?

Great question... No, I'm hoping for a combination of the two, but at least initially, I'm not planning to tune specifically for the additional meth.

When it comes to fueling, you can use meth for a) additional fuel volume (due to limited fuel supply from injectors or HPFP) and / or b) octane. My focus at this point is octane.

As we all know, the HPFP is limited in our application, but on a stock turbo, we're more octane than fuel volume limited. My HPFP is maxed out when I try to increase octane with E85 beyond about E20, though using E85 does work to prevent timing pull.

My hope is that I can use either the Stage 2 93 OTS map or Stage 2 91 OTS map with regular CA crappy 91 AKI pump gas and 50/50 WMI to raise the octane and reduce knock sensitivity (through cooling). Once installed we'll see if that's reasonable by checking logs.

I'm also going to be using two jets, one at the bottom of the charge pipe, with plenty of time for evaporation, which will more aid cooling, and one nearer to the throttle body which will more aid octane... in theory!

What are your plans for controlling flow?

I'm going to be using the Aquamist HFS-4 controller which is different from most of the other controllers on the market in two ways:

1. It determines WMI flow based on injector duty cycle and fuel rail pressure
2. It controls WMI by (low speed) PWM and constant pump pressure

The WMI control is effectively linked to and controlled in a similarly progressive way to the fuel, which should, in theory, make the DME happier because the amount of WMI injected will be always proportional to fuel.

The only thing I don't like about the Aquamist system, and just about every other system out there, is the display / gauge, simply because it doesn't look OEM. I don't dislike the Aquamist gauge per se, I'd just rather not have to install a gauge at all.

The other system I did look into was the BMS, and I *LOVE* the OEM integration that converts the fuel gauge to a boost gauge and the cruise control indicator to a meth flow indicator. I'll make a different post about the reasons I didn't, but still may go BMS at some point...

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by M2MGM

That glue filled heat shrink tubing is intriguing...any details ?

You can find the carbon braiding on eBay, just as an example here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vanguard-1m...m/131743410865.

Glue filled heat shrink is pretty easy to find. I think I bought some from Fry's (a west coast electronics and electrical store, sort of like Best Buy + Radio Shack on steroids) last time I used it for my dash-cam install. I will probably braid the wiring harness as well where appropriate, or use fabric tape, whichever is going to make it look more OEM.

Tank and pump in boot...I assume ?

Probably yes... I'm going to take a look at other options like WW tank, but there is a high probability that I'll go for a trunk install.

I also think I might take a look at direct port WMI at some point. The plastic intake on our cars is used on so many BMW models so you can pick one up on eBay for around $100. I'd be tempted to buy a spare, and tap it for jets if I see un-even timing due to uneven WMI across cylinders.

[msmiljanic]

Hi-

What size jets are you considering for a 50/50 setup? What calc did you use? Did you discuss any advantage of using jets of two different sizes to average it out?

[Nezil]

Why not BMS, and why hopefully in the future?

I *LOVE* the BMS use of the fuel gauge as a boost gauge and the cruise control indicator as a meth flow gauge.

I'm not as keen on controlling the WMI flow by modulating the pump, rather than a PWM valve close to the jets, but I'm sure it's a fine system.

There is no doubt that the JB4 system, with its intercepting of many engine sensors, has the ability to do the most elegant of fail-safe systems, rather than operating in the way most other WMI control systems (including Aquamist) do and simply opening the waste-gate behind the back of the DME, causing at best a CEL, and at worst, a Drive Train Malfunction and limp mode.

Probably the main reason I'm not going with the BMS system from the get go is that I don't have, and had no intention, to install a JB4 for its tuning benefits anyway. When you factor in the cost of the JB4 + BMS, you're at pretty much the same price as an Aquamist system.

So the two main things I dislike about the Aquamist system, are the things two things I love about the BMS system - Non-OEM Gauge, and Inelegant Fail Safe. Fortunately, Aquamist has no objection at all, and would actually welcome the opportunity to be more integrated with the JB4 controller!

The Aqaumist obviously has a fail-safe switched output, but it also has a flow signal output that can be used by standalone engine management units, or JB4. To quote Richard @ Aquamist directly:

Over and above the aquamist failsafe, the cointroller can also send a flow sign to JB4 so it can perform alternative failsafe functions. It is done by connecting the yellow wire of the green harness to the JB4. Armed with this signal JB4 can do a number of useful things. See picture below:

Aquamist/JB4 interface signal:


Advanced precise failsafe detection for partially clogged jets:

I'm therefore going to try and reach out to Terry @ BMS and see if there is any way to have the JB4 be used as a gauge and fail-safe for the Aquamist system.

One of the things I'm not clear on, is that the JB4 is typically used to increase power, and the fail safe therefore drop back to stock. This isn't what I'm looking for, because my BM3 based DME flash will be used to boost power. What I need from the JB4 is the ability to reduce boost and timing to protect the engine in a fail safe condition, rather than stop adding boost and timing.

I'm hopeful that Terry will see this not as a system that competes with his own BMS WMI, but is complementary, and will still result in a JB4 sale, even if not a BMS WMI system sale!

If that happens, I'll be running JB4 (for fail-safe and gauges), Aquamist (for control) and BM3 (for tune)!

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by msmiljanic

Hi-

What size jets are you considering for a 50/50 setup? What calc did you use? Did you discuss any advantage of using jets of two different sizes to average it out?

My initial calculations were (using the Aquamist charts):

If I’m targeting around 400hp, and planning to run 50/50 methanol/water, I should be looking for ~600cc/min of flow. (1.5cc / HP)

My car, with OTS tune, targets ~17.5 PSI of boost, so 160 - 17.5 = 142.5 PSI.

As I understanding it, the chart on the website is un-compensated, and the chart in the owners manual (shown below, and labelled as 'compensated') has a system loss of 15% applied already.



For a two jet install, I should select two 0.8mm jets (because 0.7mm would be just under 300cc / min at 140 PSI, and you should select the next size up).

I asked Richard @ Aqaumist about this, and his response was that almost all N55 owners go with 2 x 1.0mm jets. This doesn't seem un-reasonable, and leaves some room to grow / tune in the future.

I've also PM'd 963mw to ask what he ended up installing, but he hasn't got back to me yet. It's quite possible he went with the kit defaults, which is one each of 0.8, 0.9 and 1.0. This wouldn't be quite able to achieve the flow of 1.0 + 1.0, but would give you some ability to tune the flow by selecting between the jets supplied. I'll post back if 963mw gets back to me.

[Nezil]

Some extra calculations:

The extended jets have an integrated check valve with a 1bar / 14.5 PSI break point. I've therefore got to either increase pump pressure to compensate, or adjust my calculations for flow accordingly.

Running the calculations again for a twin jet charge pipe install, and a target HP of 450 for headroom:

- 450 HP x 1.5 cc / min / HP = 900 cc / min required
- 160 PSI (pump pressure) - 17.5 PSI (boost pressure) - 14.5 PSI (check valve) = 128 (PSI to the jet)
- 900 cc / min ÷ 2 jets = 450 cc / min / jet

Looking at the chart 130 PSI column, 0.9 mm jet would provide 394 cc / min, and the 1.0 mm jet would provide 462 cc / min. Looks like Richard's suggestion fits in line with this calculation.

For a 6 port (7 jets) installation, the calculations would look like this:

- 450 HP x 1.5 cc / min / HP = 900 cc / min required
- 160 PSI (pump pressure) - 17.5 PSI (boost pressure) - 14.5 PSI (check valve) = 128 (PSI to the jet)
- 900 cc / min ÷ 8 (6 x DP + 1 x CP jets) = 112.5 cc / min / DP jet + 225 cc / min CP jet

Looking at the chart 130 PSI column, I'd need 6 x 0.4C for the DP jets (130 cc / min) and either a 0.6 (223 cc / min) or 0.7 (228 cc / min) jet for the CP.

[imolam3]

Nezil,

Thanks for posting up this info. I"m checking into a WMI kit as well to give the car some cooling in this hot TX summer. You mentioned you look at the BMS kit, what about the Snow Performance kit?

Can you post the part numbers and link you purchased from for us?

TIA!!

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by imolam3

You mentioned you look at the BMS kit, what about the Snow Performance kit?

I looked at the Snow Performance kit from the point of view of the stainless AN lines as I mentioned above. Here was my thoughts on those that I looked at, and by the way, I could be wrong about some of these conclusions. I made my decision and I'm happy with it, but don't mean to be disparaging about any other product.

One thing that appears to be well known, is that you can be pretty liberal with methanol mixture, partly because it's not as sensitive to AFR as gasoline, and partly because the DME will adjust regular fueling to achieve the desired AFR, so accurate metering may not be necessary...

• Cooling Mist - Similar to BMS, with many shared components, website looks very old
• Snow Performance - Somewhat confusing 'Stage' models make it unclear which would be appropriate for our vehicle. Control based on boost and fuel pressure
• Devils Own - Again, confusing selection of products. Control based on boost only, or simply on throttle position
• AEM - Simple (in a good way) system that works off of boost pressure only to control boost
• Torqbyte - Great looking flexible controller, but not available as a 'kit' of parts tested to work together

Can you post the part numbers and link you purchased from for us?

The Aquamist website is http://www.aquamist-direct.com/.

The part numbers for the items I referenced in my first post are as follows:

• Full Kit - 806-065
• 5L Baffled tank and bracket - 806-689
• Remote Vent Kit - 806-694
• Low Profile Compression Right Angle Jet Adapters - 806-388M
• 1/8 BSP Swivel-able Compression Fittings - 806-399
• 5mm Extended Jets (1.0mm) - 816-525C
• 4mm PTFE Hose - 806-263

[ZM2]

Great info Nezil

Since you’re focused on the system running all the time I think you’ll definitely need the external tank vs the WW reservoir, as the WW reservoir isn’t that big.

Based on all the options you’ve seen out there, which setup would you go with just for IAT cooling?

I have access to good octane and I would only use the system at the track or highway pulls to keep IATs in check, so I think the setup and controls could be much simpler for those of us focused on just IATs.

Thanks.

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by ZM2

Great info Nezil

Since you’re focused on the system running all the time I think you’ll definitely need the external tank vs the WW reservoir, as the WW reservoir isn’t that big.

Based on all the options you’ve seen out there, which setup would you go with just for IAT cooling?

I have access to good octane and I would only use the system at the track or highway pulls to keep IATs in check, so I think the setup and controls could be much simpler for those of us focused on just IATs.

Thanks.

I'm far from an expert ZM2, just trying not to spend twice. Honestly I'm pretty annoyed that this is necessary with CA Fuel and only really expect and hope for performance parity with European M2 drivers. With the world going towards smaller, forced induction engines, this CA fuel thing really should be addressed.

With that being said... The Aquamist system only starts injecting (by default) at 47% injector duty cycle, so it's not running all the time. You might be right that the WW reservoir is not going to work, which is why I'm ordering a trunk mount tank anyway. As far as I know though, the WW reservoir is more than a gallon, so pretty similar to a 5L trunk tank.

The main reason to go trunk tank, besides keeping the pump inside the passenger compartment, is it you want to run greater than 50% meth. Rubber seals, like those in the WW system, don't like methanol, especially high concentrations, whereas a trunk mount tank will have all methanol safe fittings.

If I was going for cooling IATs only, I'd inject as close to the FMIC outlet c as possible, and experiment with water only and a small jet first, and maybe go for a boost based control since that's where the heat comes from. The Aquamist system, by default, controls based on injector duty cycle only, but can be configured to control based on boost only or an adjustable combination.

[Nezil]

I placed my order with Aquamist this afternoon, adding an additional tank adaptor and a High Pressure inline filter. Now I have to wait for the parts to arrive from the UK, and they have a few weeks lead time for manufacture as well.

While I'm waiting, I'm going to order up some of the BMS wiring to try and avoid tapping my original harness. I'm also going to order some carbon fibre braid, some fabric tape, and some of the ribbed plastic cable and pipe wrap that BMW uses all over the car.

I also thought it might be worth posting the following installation diagram for anyone reading this thread:

[Nezil]

Also... I spent a few hours this afternoon removing the windshield washer reservoir, mostly to take a look at how feasible it might be to use this for up to 50/50 mix.

This is the location on the M2 where an F80 owner installed their pump. It's behind the front bumper cover, beside one of the auxiliary coolers. The F80 owner removed / relocated the horn and I believe used the bracket to mount the pump and ran the lines behind the arch liners from the windshield washer reservoir:

So here is the windshield washer reservoir removed. When you remove it, you don't need to remove the pumps (1 for headlight washers, one for windshield), but you do need to disconnect the wiring for the pumps and the level sensor. The image below is with everything disconnected and removed:

In this image, you can see the filler hole (cap removed) and a nice vent with a very fine mesh filter in the center of the tank at the top. I can't imagine any fluid would slosh out of this vent, and it's pretty much impossible for it to slosh out of the filler hole, but as others have pointed out... There is no way to know how much fluid is in the reservoir, and if you over-fill, it will pour out of the vent, down your inner fender and out the bottom of the rocker panel:

Here you can see the two holes pre-drilled in the tank for the windshield pump (smaller, lower hole) and the headlight washers (larger, upper hole):

The headlight washer hole might be great to use for a tank tap. It's not quite 22mm, but nearly. The issue is that it's pretty high up in the tank (as I'll show later), and you'd get almost nothing, if any warning if you were to use that point:

Here are a few other locations where a 22mm hole might work. I'm going to cut out some 22mm circles before I drill any holes to make sure the location I choose is going to work

Spare location for a washer pump:

Very bottom of the tank, at the front. I've seen an N20 F20 owner use this location before:

Slightly higher up, though still below the level sensor, basically where the spare washer pump would fit:

Next I plugged all the holes, and filled the tank slowly, making markings every 500ml to see the capacity of the tank, when the low level warning would be likely to come on, and how much would be left at that point.

As you can see, the tank holds 4.5 litres. I could probably get another few hundred ml in, but 4.5 is pretty much the max.

The level sensor (on the other side) is just below the 1 litre mark. I validated this later once I re-fitted everything and found that the low level warning went off if there was 1 litre in the tank. I guess it would be fair to say that there is at least 750ml of fluid left in the tank when the warning comes on, which is nice!

As I said before, I'm almost certainly going with a trunk mount tank, and have ordered one to do that. I did this work today because I wanted to tinker with the car, and I wanted to judge the feasibility of a windshield washer tank install.

[ZM2]

Excellent work! Thanks for investigating this!

[Nezil]

My parts from Aquamist don't arrive for 3 to 5 weeks, and I have a 1 week vacation planned from 06/24 ~ 07/01 so there is no rush... but there is excitement. I've therefore done some more planning to get things ready for the install.

I'm focussing on the following 3 things with my install:

• To be as discrete as possible
• To be as OEM looking as possible
• To be as safe as possible

I've already talked about using PTFE tubing for the engine bay sections, and will be covering these with carbon fibre braid, both for aesthetics, and for abrasion resistance. I've ordered 4mm and 6mm braided sleeving from eBay.

Most of the engine bay wiring is covered with ribbed black plastic split tubing. Some of the hoses from the windshield reservoir pumps are also in this tubing. I picked up some of this 1/4" and 3/8" (inside diameter) split tubing from Harbor Freight, and have ordered some 1/8" from Amazon.

The split tubing in the engine bay has plastic clips over the ends, but I've not yet decided if i'm going to try and source those, or just use black fabric tape.

I'm going to try and be as non-invasive as possible to the factory wiring loom, so I'm definitely not cutting the Yellow waste-gate position sensor wire shown in the installation diagram in my earlier post. For this I'm going to use the JB4 EWG Add on connector.

The EWG position sensor is the only wire that needs cutting, but BMS also sells a fail rail pressure sensor connector harness that can be used to avoid directly tapping the loom at that point.

This leaves the pre-throttle boost sensor, and cylinder 1 injector still needing to be tapped. I've been able to find replacement male connectors for the injector, but not female, so I cannot even make up a cable myself. Surprisingly, they're the same connectors used on Mercedes-Benz door handles, and mini washer jets! They look like this, and have the part number 7507527-05 stamped on the side:

There is a pre-throttle boost sensor male and female connector on the BMS JB4 harness, but a replacement harness at $350 is a lot of money to pay for a male and female connector, and that's all I'd need.

If anyone has any smart ideas on where and how I can get my hands on either the connectors, or an affordable harness with these connectors on, please let me know!

[Nezil]

A few updates:

Methanol

I found a local source of Methanol in 5 gallon pails @ ~$35 each! They had two pails in stock, so I picked up one pail ready for the install.

I now need to find some 1 gallon bottles to pre-mix some 50/50 distilled water. Looking online, it might be easier just to buy a 4 pack of Boost Juice and then re-use the bottles once they're empty.

JB4

I sent a pretty detailed email to Burger Motorsport asking if they'd be interested in supporting an Aquamist system for failsafe if I bought their JB4 system. The response I got was very succinct, and basically said to use their controller and FSB box to control methanol injection; don't use the Aquamist.

I think if I had a JB4 already, I'd probably have tried this, because the WMI add-on isn't expensive. The reality though is that I don't have a JB4, and have chosen to go another route for methanol control. I don't want a methanol control system based on PWM to the pump rather than a valve near the jets.

Anyway, it seems that they're not interested in working with me at this point, so I'll have to come back to this later.

Connectors

Another thing I asked Burger Motorsports about was if they would be able to supply connectors and / or custom harnesses to help with my Aquamist install. They didn't even respond to this question, so I'm assuming they're a no.

I can of course still buy the Fuel Rail and EWG harnesses from them, but I'm missing the injector and MAP sensor parts.

As I said in a previous post, the Mini heater windshield washer jets use the same connector as the M2 injectors. There is a female connector coming from the jet, and a male connector on the harness. i've already found a harness and jet, but the total price of about $65 is about $40 too much since I only need the plugs and not the jet...

I'm still researching the MAP sensor connector

[Nezil]

I'm still a few weeks from my parts from Aquamist arriving, but I'm starting to either receive, or get shipping confirmation on some other parts that I've ordered:

• 1 Gallon empty bottles for mixing water & meth - 2 ordered from Amazon
• 1/8" split ribbed tubing for under hood cable tidying - 10' Ordered from Amazon
• EWG Male and Female connectors - 5 sets of each ordered from AliExpress
• TMAP Male and Female connectors - 2 sets of each ordered from AliExpress
• Injector Male connectors - 1 pair from a Mini heated windshield washer harness ordered from eBay
• Injector Female connectors - 5 sets ordered from AliExpress
• 6mm carbon fibre braid - 4m ordered from eBay
• 4mm carbon fibre braid - 3m ordered from eBay
• 6mm PTFE tubing - 10' ordered from Amazon
• Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor Male & Female connectors - Ordered from BMS (as their Flex-fuel harness)
• Glue filled heat shrink tubing - Ordered from Amazon

I've also started designing / building a more elegant fail-safe, which will reduce boost by biasing the MAP sensor output voltage high after 5PSI of boost. This will require testing to validate, but should not result in a CEL or limp mode like the current suggestion of sending 5v to the EWG sensor wire currently would.

... More to come!

[msmiljanic]

Originally Posted by Nezil

Why 5mm Extended Jets?

Aquamist jets are custom machined and highly regarded, but M8 x 0.75 thread rather than the more typical 1/8 NPT threads found in the US.

Aquamist provides two M8 to 1/8 NPT Jet Adapters in their kit, which can be used directly into a charge pipe if no bungs exist by drilling and tapping 1/8 NPT threads, as long as the charge pipe wall thickness is between 1.6 to 6mm (1/16" to 1/4").

I have an FTP Charge pipe, which comes with 2 1/8 NPT bungs already welded in place. One is near the outlet of the FMIC, and the other just before the MAP sensor. These two locations are good, and I'd rather not have to create new holes in the charge pipe if I can avoid it.

Richard shared this chart that shows the required jet types for each installation method used:

I reached out to FTP and asked the thickness of the charge pipe itself, and the bungs installed and was told 2.1mm and 6mm respectively. I'd hoped that this would mean that I could use standard jets because the FTP bungs were 6mm, but on closer inspection of my actual charge pipe, it looks like the depth is more like 2.1mm + 6mm = 8.1mm, so I'm going with 5mm extended jets.

I don't understand this. If the jet screws into the bung hole by, as an example, 4mm, then the spray hole only has 4.1mm left until the inner wall is reached. Through their diagram, the normal ones would be fine right?
I asked AA about mine and they said 2 mm thickness and a thread depth of 8mm. So I assume the jet will screw 4-6mm into the bung hole leaving 4-6 mm to the inner wall which means the normal ones are good since they say a 6mm max. I would assume this is fairly standard for charge pipes and the extenders are really for exceptions to the rule.