I think I may have beenone of this product's biggest skeptics when I heard about it the first time. I held judgement until I had it here and was able to throw it up on the dyno and run it through its paces. Here's what we came up with:

It looks pretty trick. The unit has three bright blue LEDs, one that stays lit all the time, and two on each side that flash when the car is running. It also has a nice aluminum cover emblazened with the M7 logo. It is a small black rectangular box with a wiring loom that connects to the harness for the coilpack.

The install is straightforward, but a bit different depending on what intake you have and whether you have a Cooper or an S. It takes about 15 minutes to do right - tie wrapping and running it with the existing harness - but requires no tools other than a small plier to crimp on the loom to the coil harness.

I believe the dyno results that are included with the package note an increase of 3 horsepower or so. The dyno results I had were a bit less than that. Here is a photo of the sheet with the before and after graphs overlaid:



I apologize for the crappy resolution - it's hard to see info from a picture of a printout. What it came down to is 192.7 to 193.2 for a horsepower delta and 163.9 to 165.2 ft-lbs of torque delta. It's not earth shattering, but it made a small difference (especially in torque), and was not a loss. To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by that result.

As for the mileage, I am waiting to hear from some other folks who use their cars more consistently than I do. My mileage varies wildly due to the lack of consistency in driving I do (highway, track, autocross, city).

Here's a pic of the unit mounted with the Alta intake:



Bottom Line

If you like to have neat stuff in your engine compartment, this is the product for you. If you have done everything else for the same price range and want that little bit extra, this is for you. If you want the best bang for your buck, and are looking for a cost effective first mod, this isn't it. I believe there is a real market for this product for the first couple reasons though, and it is available for those who have to have it from Webb Motorsports.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Hope that helps!

Randy
720-841-1002

 

Thanks very much for the eval and write-up with pics.
I think it looks great. I'm not sure that I understand what it does exactly.
I'd buy it if it helped gas mileage and smoothness and that was documented.
Nice job M7.
Thanks Randy.

 

The brown wire coming out of the outlet boot on the intercooler is for a thermocouple that goes into the airflow - it is not related to the Plasma Booster.

I wish I had worked in flux capicitor and a random gigawatt number to the above eval

 

I have not "documented my mileages" But I've had it installed for about a month now and have seen DRAMATIC increases in my MPG's. Even 3MPG could be considered dramatic these days.

400 Mile trips have been taken, with only the initial pre-drive fillup. And once at the destination, I still had 1/4 -1/5 tank left, where normally I'd have already refueled.

And I also noted the smoothness. It was the first thing I commented to Peter about.

HP gains are not of concern to me with this device, but they are there.

I was most impressed by the mileage gains.

And the Plasma Booster has been available for BMW's for YEARS.... look it up.

 

As always, thanks Randy. It looks like you tested it with Nology wires, and I'm guessing aftermkt plugs. I wonder if its performance impact might be different on an otherwise stock electrical system?

With regard to the lights, they seem to stay on for a pre-determined amount of time after powering down. Curious to know if others have noticed this, and the possible reason(s) for it...

 

Tony, I can only assume, but I think the lingering led is just "trick", looks cool. but it may have a purpose I know nothing about. :smile:

 

Tony,

I actually pulled the plugs and ran both the stock NGK plugs and the IK20s (I'm in the middle of evaluating different plug set-ups and will give another write up on that in a week or so). The power gains from switching the plugs - not even to a colder heat range - gave more of a boost than the Plasma Booster did. I'll be sure to keep you guys in the loop on what I find out. I'm testing NGK, Denso, Bosch, and Accel in different heat ranges.

The numbers I gave for the eval were for the stock plugs (but I could not find the stock wires to swap out unfortunately).

Randy

 

my two questions before purchase

1)does this effect the warranty in any way?

2)how are the mileage gains on an S? i wouldnt be buying this for performance, but rather for gas savings. i want to make sure its worth it

 

I can't really tell you if the mileage gains are there or not - I saw 1 mpg increase after the install and driving the same stretch of road (specifically for testing mpg) but even wind can make a larger effect than that either way, so I will wait to hear from folks that commute every day before telling you it absolutely matters.

It is CARB approved, and I can't see how it would effect the warranty (though BMW may try to get out of a wiring harness issue with it).

I know it's not much, but I hope it helped a bit.

Randy

 

>>
>>It is CARB approved, and I can't see how it would effect the warranty (though BMW may try to get out of a wiring harness issue with it).
>>


thanks for the help randy. yes this is my main concern, i would rather spend some extra $$ on gas, then give up the warranty. especially with a car wtih some known probs. i worked for acura for 2 years, and i know how they turned away many people wiht the TL-s knowing it had a bad tranny. so in case something happens to my car, i dont want bmw to have any weapons on thier side. thanks for the headsup. looks like u will be only getting my order for the uuc :smile:

 

>>I actually pulled the plugs and ran both the stock NGK plugs and the IK20s (I'm in the middle of evaluating different plug set-ups and will give another write up on that in a week or so). The power gains from switching the plugs - not even to a colder heat range - gave more of a boost than the Plasma Booster did. I'll be sure to keep you guys in the loop on what I find out. I'm testing NGK, Denso, Bosch, and Accel in different heat ranges.
>>
>>The numbers I gave for the eval were for the stock plugs (but I could not find the stock wires to swap out unfortunately).

Mr. Thorough! Thank you sir.

I might try contacting Ignition Solutions to find-out why that one blue light stays on for what I guess to be about 2 minutes after shut-off.

As far as gas mileage goes, pre PB I'd be gassing-up tonight. With a little less than a 1/4 tank, I'm quite certain that this might be the PBs strongest suit. But then I've recently added the IK22's and new wires into the equation...

One other point mentioned about this product is the claim of cleaner emissions. Any evaluations/confirmations there would also be very welcome. If indeed true, the PB would be quite unique: an extra couple hp & ft-lbs, better gas mileage, and cleaner emissions?

If the fuel savings are around 30 miles (about a gallon for us) a tank, at these gas prices over 2 bucks/gallon, that is pretty sweet. I'm sure we'll start seeing some #'s on this also - not just some bozo saying that he's not pumping gas as often

 

If you did the IK22s at the same time, that would be a bigger gain from some of the testing I've been doing as of late, so it would be hard to tell just which component was doing the most work for your better mileage. That's the issue with testing - we have to make sure all of the other parameters are stable for accurate data.

I'll be sure to let everyone know, as I'm sure others will, when the mileage is established.

Thanks for providing all of your info Tony. I'd guess, and that's all it is, that the light stays on for gee whiz factor (a little known, but important aspect of performance).

Randy

 

I initially installed the PB with stock plugs and wires to better evaluate it. I kept that set-up for about a week, and I noted better gas mileage then. I commute about 35 miles each way, 12 of which are in the mountains and a canyon

I also did sense a livlier throttle, and for the first time I got a chirp, albeit faint, in third. I was pleasantly surprised...

 

Ah, the truth is revealed! Thanks for clearing that up Tony - I can use some of that info then, if you have anything documented give me a call.

Thanks,
Randy

 

Randy I've got stock plugs but using Nology's, would better plugs help me, I think
scottG got some from you, not sure if you sell'em or not.

 

I have 'em, but I'm not quite finished evaluating all of the options. If you can't wait, I can tell you that the Densos work, but there may be others that do too. I will have the full write up by the end of next week or so.

Randy

 

>>Ah, the truth is revealed! Thanks for clearing that up Tony - I can use some of that info then, if you have anything documented give me a call.

I won't be calling b/c I have nothing documented Some of the guys with the on-board computers should be able to validate the gas mileage info though...

 

Has anyone dyno'd the PB on a cooper (non S) I know we cant get much power out of the cooper but if it adds a HP and some torque thats better then nothing. I really want this becuase of the gas savings, especially with these crazy gas prices, and becuase of those cool lights!

If something does go wrong and you want to keep your warrenty cant you just take out the PB? It takes like 10 minutes to install.

 

For those of you debating about the worth of the Plasma Booster, let's look at the figures in a different light. At 3 mpg extra, you basically save $3.00 a tank (dependent on where you live). The unit is $250.00. That means you need to fill up about 84 times to equal the cost of the unit in savings. At 430 miles to a tank (33mpg), that's a bit over 36,000 miles of driving to pay this thing off. :smile: Thanks for the evaluation. It sure made up my mind for me.

 

Nice use of math, Moorlockx!

And of course, great writeup, Randy. I really look forward to hearing what you have to say about plugs next week!


_________________

 

I don't have access to a dyno but I'm in the process of compiling 1/4 data with stock base figures vs. PB install figures for the MC. I got a base, just need to get the install. The butt test is telling me there will be an increase in torque--motor seems to pull hard in low rpms.

So far, the MPGs have very much improved over my 40+ mile 1 way commute. My labor day weekend trip to the Rock Island, IL Grand Prix (go-kart national) netted just 29 mpg over 334.5 miles @ 75+ mph cruise. In my normal routine of commute driving (lower speeds and city/high), the mpg increase is looking VERY promising.

One thing to note... after the initial install, I felt a major increase in performance. Now after approx 800 miles, the gains seem to have fell off (or I got used to it.) When I run the 1/4 on the PB, I'm going to disconnect the battery after a few runs to reset the ecu. Then I'll go back out and run a few more. If the runs are similar, than I got used to it. If not, the ecu's remapping itself is cutting gains in the longrun.

This isn't a science, but the slips won't lie [much]. More to come



_________________
-goin440
IB/IB MC on 17" Volks

 

as I recall, a similar product from MSD only has an effect below 4000 rpm's, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the same behaviour from the PB Since the above HP results are being compared at HP max, say 6500, wouldn't it be useful to compare the below 4000 results, especially the torque curves in tht region?

 

>>For those of you debating about the worth of the Plasma Booster, let's look at the figures in a different light. At 3 mpg extra, you basically save $3.00 a tank (dependent on where you live). The unit is $250.00. That means you need to fill up about 84 times to equal the cost of the unit in savings. At 430 miles to a tank (33mpg), that's a bit over 36,000 miles of driving to pay this thing off. :smile: Thanks for the evaluation. It sure made up my mind for me.


tahnks for the #s moor..figuring i am driving my car at a rate of 4K per year, iits not worth for me
thanks for helping me out :smile:

 

>>as I recall, a similar product from MSD only has an effect below 4000 rpm's, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the same behaviour from the PB Since the above HP results are being compared at HP max, say 6500, wouldn't it be useful to compare the below 4000 results, especially the torque curves in tht region?


I posted the above curves to illustrate just that - I know they look horrible and are barely visible, but they are overlaid before and after. There really isn't much of a change all the way through the range.

Hope that helps!

Randy

 

Thanks Randy, I may call you next week about the plugs, I think ScottG got some
from you and really likes them. Just wanted to know that with the nogloys and
better plugs and PB Intake, Pulley & Powerchip I have done just about all I want
to do under the bonnett for now. I dont think the Plugs will eat into my UCC save
pool. I was wanting to do breaks, but I can live with dust for a bit longer, and
since I am not raceing yet... yet... then I can save that and new tires for later.