balbs

Man, I can't wait till January when my warranty ends. Please also monitor your MPG...However, if you're pushing the car for the next month or few I'll understand.

Diamond

I am glad you are enjoying this but I think you may be a bit disapointed when/if you stick it on a dyno. Various 3 series owners tried this with limited success once they put it on a dyno. They just never came close to a stock 330/530i.I would just never dyno it and that way the 50hp gain was "real" to you and that is all that matters. As long as you are having a blast-that is alllll that counts! congrats man a year is a long time to work on a mod! Enjoy!

Georgieb

Thanks for the feedback and congratulations Diamond. If you remember, you were one of the first members I spoke to last year regarding this modification based on information you provided in the forums and work that was being done in this area at that time. Given the documented success of individuals such as e90pilot, issaBMW and -C- and in the interest of science , I will definitely Dyno the car to see what the gains are. Others that I have spoken to about this have put a lot of weight in the ECU tune and which company provided it, as the reasoning behind proper control of the manifold and resulting hp and torque gains. Based on the work done in this area by AA over the course of the last year, I am hoping that my chance of positive performance increases has a great potential of being realistic.

That being said, if the data results prove to be less than expected it should not alter my frame of mind much. As you suggest, there is as much satisfaction in completing the modification as the results can provide. I am definitely having a blast.

Diamond

No no dont get me wrong you gain a signifigant bump in power but nobody ever did pan out to make as much as a 330 stock. Which makes sense as I am sure bmw had a little something under their sleave to make it impossible for someone to do what you did 100 percent. My guess is this mod gets you 75 percent of the way which is a heck of a lot of gain. Even if you gain 35hp that is HUGE.

I just know how dynoing can sometimes take the wind out of your sails. Someone could very well have truly gained 50hp but a dyno shows 5-10 hp gain based on the factors etc. Att his point it really is worthless dynoing your car as unles you dynoed before on the same dyno, the margin for comparison is so wide that it really wont tell u anything. Just go enjoy the car!

What you hopefully are finding in your "new" machine is reeling it out to 7k rpms, the car keeps pulling like an ox, meaning it just pulls harder and harder up to 7k. The 255hp model has its peak hp at a higher rpm-6750 v. 6400 on your original car. The 525 peters out at 6400. That is the main gain by this 3 stage manifold is the peak power up top. WIth only 1 intake path on the 525, it was impossible to tune it for that high power without sacrificing too much on the low end. With 3 intake paths, it can utilize different paths at different rpms, thus allowing good low end achievement and more top end without sacrificing low end.

Enjoy man!

Georgieb

You nailed it Diamond! This is exactly where the car proves to be the most fun and an area where it never truly performed in before. At higher RPM and throughout every gear, it is almost like I can feel the intake paths opening up and more torque being delivered to the flywheel.

I see what you are saying about the Dyno results and again I wish I would have done a few baseline runs prior to completing the install. If there are others in the thread who would still like to see the results, then I would be more than happy to do it.

Diamond

F*&* the dyno-go drive the hell out of it. Since my car had 20miles on it, I have wound her up to 7k every drive of my life all the way to 65k miles when I finally sold it in absolutely perfect condition. Never had a single problem and the harder I pushed it, the smoother the engine ran. Keep that engine oil changed every 5k and rev the piss out of it. I would never let the rpms drop below 4.5k if I wanted some fun or unless cruising on the highway.

Problem with these cars is they need an instruction manual on how to extract the power out of the engine. You cannot drive it like many other cars because you NEED to get the revs and keep the revs high in order to really "use" what bmw gave us. It should be in the instruction manual!

jasperxli

georgieb, singe not every car dynos at the same its better if u just race another 525i and see how much faster. you not be able to tell exactly how much u gained but you will be able to compare where you do better than a stock or slightly modded 525i

arix

any dyno updates?

Georgieb

Hey arix,
Given the relative nature of the data we will see from the Dyno and understanding that we do not have a baseline measure to compare against since we did not Dyno the car prior to the mods; I've decided to wait until the RPI exahust arrives, install it and then Dyno the car to determine where we are in terms of Hp and ft-lbs torque based on all the performance mods we did. The exhaust is en-route from California to Toronto and is now in Ohio. If all goes well with UPS I should have it by this Friday (May 27th). If I can get it installed next Monday, I'll Dyno the car by next Tuesday or Wednesday. Don't worry, although I agree with Diamond's prior posts, I'll still go through the motions of completing the Dyno runs.

The good news is that the car seems to be performing better and better as the ECU re-programs itself to adjust to my aggressive driving habits and 94 Octane gas that I've now filled the tank with. It is like driving a different machine than the one I had a week ago prior to the install. No doubt about it!

arix

Thanks for info, I am planning to do the same conversion, but facing a problem that I am not able to find somebody who can do ECU remaping in UK, as It is may daily car and the only car I have, I am not able to ship my ECU to the same place where you did yours. I am thinking to find somebody who can read my ECU and send only file. I hope I will find a solution.