BMW N54: Upgraded Twins vs. Single Turbo – Why I Ditched Hybrids for a Single Turbo Kit

A handful of people have asked me “why go single turbo now, after having upgraded twins?” Well, here is my justification with video and picture evidence.

The biggest reason is because I don’t want to have to do all of this work ever again. If one of the twin turbos were to break, I’d have to drop the subframe again to remove everything and reinstall. Aftermarket N54 twins aren’t known to be reliable anyways. Now I have only one turbo that can go bad instead of two… and it’ll be a lot easier to access if it does go bad.

The next reason was because there really isn’t a lot of space for upgraded twins on this platform. Everything is crammed in there, and I found a lot of rubbing and wear marks on the twin turbo parts. I don’t know how everything would’ve help up over time and I was able to ditch this setup before anything broke.

(not all of these pictures are mine, but some of them are)

The last reason is because twin turbos are very torquey in the low RPMs. While torque feels awesome, it’s tough on the motor. I don’t want to replace another motor. A larger single turbo should be a little easier on the motor, believe it or not.

I was never “wowed” by the twins. They were definitely faster, but it wasn’t the crazy power I expected. I know I’ll be sacrificing some spool time with the larger single turbo, but when the boost hits it’s going to feel great. If you’re after linear power with modest goals, I think twins are a good choice. But I don’t want to be pushing twins to their absolute limit just to achieve my goals. I’d rather put a larger single on and give it a lighter workout. I would still recommend the MMP twins, but I think I’ll enjoy the single more. Plus, who doesn’t like the look and sound?