cp-e Xcel Nano and Forge BPV combo install

[skubidoobie]

1 - cp-e Xcel Nano and Forge BPV combo install

For Christmas my nano arrived at my door while I was out with my gf, so soon after I decided I had to install it today, even though it's 30F out! Sure, I could have waited for Sunday for 50F weather, but that would require patience. Now before I start this, I must thank timv and Palerider for supplying me with my parts at excellent prices, props guys! So on with the show....
Disconnect the negative terminal of your battery, carefully. If you're a complete idiot and decide to touch your 10mm wrench to both terminals at the same time, its your own damn fault and I take no responsibility for your ignorance. Also I use anti seize compound on everything, but that's my preference and feel free to skip that.




There's my Forge!

Shows that it's for my application.

Would never know this was ever installed!

Okay, now this is a new unit, I'm not impressed by the quality at all.

This is the way it came right out of the plastic wrap.

Seriously guys, very disappointed...

More shots, I debated even installing this. Looks like corrosion.



I proceeded with the install, I might end up just powder coating this later on.

Stock setup, time to change this!

Intercooler cover comes off first, only two 10mm bolts in the front to remove. Unplug MAF sensor.

Stock airbox removed, basically loosen the intake tube, pull it off, then take the top off the airbox by popping loose two metal spring retainers. (I would have taken more pictures but my hands were cold lol.) Remove PCV tube by squeezing blue slips and pulling straight up. Then towards the grill there's a little slide in retainer piece you have to pull out, very simple. Then just pull it right out, only held in with rubber grommets.

Another view, and yes my car is filthy from all the snow and salt.

Okay, it is tricky to get this little bracket in there. Remove nuts before proceeding.

Step 1) Slide bracket under battery bracket, need to do it kind of at an angle. Step 2) Pry up with a flat head screwdriver to get back side of bracket over the bolt.
After that step, which is the most difficult of the Nano install, it's simple. Put the clamps on the silicone reducer elbow and slide the 2.5" end on the turbo inlet. Leave the clamp loose enough so when you slide the MAF housing into the other end, you can angle it until everything lines up just right. Then tighten your clamps and 10mm nut/washer onto your mount. Take a phillips screwdriver and remove the MAF sensor off the stock airbox and use the supplied allen bolts to attach it to your new unit. Plug the harness back into the MAF sensor. Take the blue collar off the stock airbox to reconnect your PCV tubing to your new unit, simple enough except you need to coax the tubing into a different angle than stock, but only slightly. Then put your filter on and tighten her down!




Now remove both hoses from that pos stock bpv, use pliers to hold the metal clamps open and give the tubes a little pull. The larger one can be a pain, but barely. Now remove the two 10mm bolts with a ratchet and small extension.

That was easy, right?
Now slap that Forge on, tighten up the bolts, and reconnect your hoses.

Now put your intercooler cover on, reconnect your battery, put that cover on, and you're good to rip!



Sorry for not having more detailed pics of the install, but very good instructions are included with the Nano. Performance and sound are improved, and its just as quiet as stock if you're not driving hard. When you get on it, you hear that Nano suction and when you shift, Mario grabs a coin with a sweet wooooschinngg sound. I love it! Just let down with the quality of the MAF housing, it looks used even though its a brand new unit. Maybe this batch was rushed out the door, we'll have to wait and see what other people say. Enjoy!

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[phailerider]

I'll open a couple boxes tomorrow and look and see if you got a lemon. it looks like the weld quality was soso. metal housing, hundreds of units produced..... these get dumped into shopping carts before they are packaged... scratches may get on there but if it affects the "look" of it.... it needs to be replaced.

i'll look and see what i have and if you want a replacement i'll see what i can do.

cpe is known for their quality, american made products and i dont want to have that suffr over mass produced nanos for crying out loud.

thanks for the review.

[phailerider]

just looked at that again... i think im going to send you a replacement.

[skubidoobie]

I understand scratches, but this wasn't just scratches. Sounds nice and decent power gain from the butt dyno, so it's not a total bummer. I chalk it up to rushing to fill the demand for the product, but I went with cp-e because of the reputation for quality.

[phailerider]

Originally Posted by skubidoobie I understand scratches, but this wasn't just scratches. Sounds nice and decent power gain from the butt dyno, so it's not a total bummer. I chalk it up to rushing to fill the demand for the product, but I went with cp-e because of the reputation for quality.

their quality is unrivaled... and all their hard parts handmade on site. this smacks of a reject. im going to open a few boxes and look what i find.

DO NOT expect to settle for this if you are unhappy. i'll eat it myself if i have to.

[redrocketz]

the corrosion around the welds is due to the aluminum not being cleaned before welding typically sometimes it is the quality of the metal itself. This is coming from the guy who's dad owns a sheetmetal fabrication company. I would say it was cleaning as I haven't seen that on any other units from CP-e

[skubidoobie]

It wasn't the welds that was my main concern, it was the "pitting" on the inside. Just a concern about whats getting sucked into my engine, but Randy is taking care of me and checking other units for quality before they reach other customers.

[ThEsHoCkEr]

What spring or shim combo did you end up using with the forge?

[skubidoobie]

Blue only, all seems good.

[timv]

Thanks for the props for the forge sale.
Yeah, the only sign that it was used at all was a little wear from tightening the bolts onto it. Glad you like it.

My CPE parts have all been excellent quality and look well made....

I'm sure palerider will help you out, awesome guy to deal with......

I'll be getting a downpipe and possibly the full control flash and new fuel cut flash from him soon......

[skubidoobie]

He's shipping me out a new MAF housing tomorrow, so all is well. When the new unit hits my door I'll be swapping out the two and updating this review then UPS him back this one. My business with Randy and cp-e isn't over, they handled everything perfectly. Shit happens, and everything necessary to fix the problem was done. What more could anyone ask for?

[skubidoobie]

Got the replacement in and swapped them out, will update post tomorrow.

[phailerider]

was it an improvement? what the fuck skoobie!

[skubidoobie]

Yes it was an improvement lol. Sorry to keep you hanging, uploading pics to photobucket now.

[08BLKMS3]

remember to remove the white protective plastic on the filter....

[skubidoobie]

I did, my hands were frozen the day I did the install and just wanted to get in the house lol.

[yang_jackson]

i want. is a tune necessary after this mod? im car ignorant. bought my 09 speed 3 a few weeks ago. this forum has piqued my interest in modding my ride.

[SneakyP86]

It looks good Skubie and Randy is a very good guy to work with. Yang no you dont need to get a tune for that mod but you do need to reset the ECU which means disconnecting the battery and pressing the brake pedal for 20 seconds. That way you get rid of any residual electricity.

[yang_jackson]

sounds good. is that the reason skoob disconnected the battery during install? i figured it was a safety thing. thanks for the info. im very new to this if you couldnt tell.

[atomicms3]

Originally Posted by yang_jackson sounds good. is that the reason skoob disconnected the battery during install? i figured it was a safety thing. thanks for the info. im very new to this if you couldnt tell.

One of them, but the main reason is simply safety. You're working underhood with metal tools, the last thing you want to do is short something - easy to do since the positive terminal for the battery is right next to where you'll be swinging your ratchet.

[skubidoobie]

Safety is always first!

[Kennosuke]

Whatever you guys do...don't do what I did. I attached the hoses before bolting down the BPV...and the stress was too much on the bolts while attempting to screw them in. I ripped the head off of one of the bolts and had to spend the next few hours trying to get it out. All is good, now...but heed my advice. Bolt it on...and THEN attach your hoses.

=_= *sighs*

NEways...completely stock MS6, now with Forge BPV. I'm going to try the blue spring w/1 shim and see how that works.

**EDIT**
Well...I just drove around for 78mi after installing the BPV. After my ECU picked up on my driving style, I noticed that torque through the first 4 gears seems to have improved slightly according to my butt dyno. It's more...smooth torque rather than jerky torque that I got with my OEM BPV...if you know what I mean. My guess is that I was, indeed, leaking boost with my OEM. I don't have a gauge to tell...but with blue spring w/1 shim, and all stock MS6 except for this Forge BPV, all seems well.

...also, I absolutely love the sound...and can't wait to snag a CPE Nano. ( :

***EDIT***
Today, I noticed what I think to be a tiny bit of surge...so I'll drop down to just the blue spring w/0 shims, and see if that fixes it. For all I know...it could have just been my imagination and me holding down the accelerator a tad bit longer than disengaging the clutch. *shrugs* We'll see.

[marffeus]

Skubie I think I got your reject Nano housing from PG LOL...

check out the pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/thewowwa...eat=directlink

Can anyone comment on this? It looks very similiar to Skubie's original haha. I said fuck it and installed it anyways but it was disappointing. The machined housing did not even come in plastic wrap, was just laying in between the sheets of brown packing paper...

[kronos83]

heh the one I bought from one of the other forums looked similar, but just a bit less, so I took some bar keepers friend that I use to scrub my pans ( they dont go into the dish washer) and scrubbed and cleaned up my maf housing till it shined, just put the nano on and I have to say I love the sound and the power increase, install was simple

[Kennosuke]

I went the same route with a CP-E Nano and Forge BPV.

The Mazdaspeed 6 Nano's are being powder coated by CP-E. Here's a pic of mine that I installed last on Thursday evening.




I'm unsure about the MS3 installation, but the MS6 installation also had us remove the OEM airbox silencer that sits in the driver side fender. It was a pain as access to the 3 14mm nuts was limited unless you completely remove the wheel well lining, but once you get that out, all is well.

I did run into a small snag with my order. I was missing the clamp that tightens the filter to the intake. I just had the two clamps to fasten the silicon to the turbo inlet and the intake to that. I ended up modifying the clamp that attaches the OEM airbox to the tubing...but that was quite an unexpected annoyance.

[amhms3]

thanks for the review

[alexspeed3]

what kind of fuel trims do you get with the nano

[danesti]

kennosuke...
clean your engine bay!!!