cleung

Has anyone on here tried this yet? I'm tempted to give it a try, but I still haven't found a definitive answer as to whether or not the headers for the e46 m54 will fit on my e60 m54. Also for those with the n54 engines who have done the catless downpipes, which O2 sims did you use to avoid the idrive error codes?

B6S4

I looked into this a couple months ago, from what I've gathered, the flange on the midpipe is different on the E60 vs the E46. To install E46 headers on the E60, you'd need to modify the e60 midpipe with e46 flanges or possibly just cut and rotate the e60 flanges to make them bolt up.

cleung

So if I understand you correctly, the flanges are the same shape but on a different angle? So if I got the e46 headers I should be able to just have an exhaust shop cut the flange and reweld it at the right angle?

cleung

There is an ebay seller that has e46 headers that the e46 guys have had good luck with, I'm looking to be the guinea pig on these for the m54 guys. The problem is I talked to the seller and he will not ship to Canada. Is there anyone out there that would buy these for me and ship them to me? They are only $51 shipped.

B6S4

It would be tricky to cut and weld the headers. A local shop here has done a ton of e46 M54 header installs, they tell me it would be better to cut the midpipe and either rotate the flanges or buy the flanges from an e46. They are the same general shape, but I was unable to confirm they are the exact same flange. The shop also recomended the ebay headers, they say they have good luck with them and for the price its unbeatable.

cleung

thanks for the tip, I think I'm gonna go ahead and try this. I'm currently talking to Anthony at bimmerbrakes because they have a package put together similar to ebay headers and he is willing to ship to Canada. If its just the issue with the flanges then that shouldn't be too bad. I did have a concern about fitment in terms of not hitting the oil pan because between the different m54 cars they have different oil pan heights. Do you know of any other issues with the ebay headers and trying them on the e60? What is stopping you from doing this?

B6S4

Not sure about the oil pan thing, the shop I deal with seemed to think they would fit without issue as long as the flanges are modified. The main reason I havn't pursued this further is time. I didn't want to risk having any downtime if something didn't go as planned with the header install.

cleung

I see, I guess I don't have a huge issue with down time as we can make due with just the wifes car if it came down to it. I think I may just go ahead and give this a shot, hopefully I can make this happen. this would probably be the the least expensive mod with good gains around for our cars. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

cleung

Alright, I just purchsed a set from bimmerbrakes. Hopefully install will go somewhat smoothly. If this works out this may be the cheapest mod for the e60 m54 with the best gains.

pjinca

Cool, keep us up to date (a DIY on the install would be great) - anything that helps the M54 make more power is a good thing