Georgieb

Now before I begin let me just say that although I am somewhat mechanically inclined, I am certainly not an expert in understanding performance modifications for our E60s nor have I had much experience in this area. I'm just a regular guy who's had extreme mod fever in the last year and am really excited about this performance upgrade just so I can claim to drive alongside the 530s that are out there

What I am in the process of doing with the help of a local BMW shop Bimmersport and the power and performance dudes over at Active Autowerke in Miami, is to complete the conversion of the three stage intake manifold from the e60 530i to the e60 525i. This modification should allow the 525 with the N520B30 3.0L engine to achieve 50hp/40tq gains and should increase power to approximately 265hp and 225 lbft tq. The main differences between the 530i and the 525i are Intake Manifold, Exhaust Resonator, Exhaust Muffler and ECU software. The 525i has provisions for this 3 stage manifold but does not take advantage of this hardware at all. To quote one of our members with whom I discussed this topic last year (Thanks Diamond)...

Considering the cost of the modification (although I'm not yet certain of the final total), the performance to $$$ ratio cannot be beat. It will surely be much less expensive than a supercharger install and yield far better performance results than a BMS Power Box, Sprintbooster V2, or RPI scoop. At the end of the day, I will definitely post Dyno results to substantiate the changes we are making.

Let me also say that we are certainly not reinventing the wheel here. There have been discussions in our very own forums regarding this for some time now https://5series.net/forums/topic/105...1#entry1262524 and I have also been part of these discussions, however to the best of my knowledge non of our members have completed the mod and posted their experience or results in that regard.

In addition, the pioneers of this endeavor seem to have stemmed from our friends over at the e90 forums. e90pilot and issaBMW are members there who provided much of the initial information and detailed explanations of the components, work involved and results. Much of everything I post here in terms of the inception and details of this should be credited to them and others over at the e90 forums. Thanks guys! I'm just following in their footsteps. You can check out forums posts at e90 forums here http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=381371 and here http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=372973

So lets move on....

Georgieb

First things first is to buy the necessary hardware needed for this. I've chosen to work with Realoem.com and as we speak I'm getting a quote on the parts list. I'll add costs as soon as I have them:

BMW #s
11617559523 Intake Manifold
11617559530 Vent Hose
11617579114 Adjustor Unit
11617560538 Adjustor Unit 2
11617547242 Gasket set
11617535850 x2 Screw 50x35
11617535849 x5 Screw 50x20
11617535851 x1 Screw 50x66

The next stage will be to take my car over to Bimmbersport and get everything installed and programmed. Man, I can't wait!!!

pjinca

The N52 530 has 255hp stock, are they telling you converting the intake manifold will get you more power than the stock 530 has?

medik13

I am very interested in this mod. Does Active Autowerkes do the whole upgrade and if so, how much? I think you are suppose to run it with their tune and thats what makes it slightly more aggresive than a stock 2007 530i at 265HP.

Georgieb

pjinca, The seemingly minimal 10HP gain over the stock 530i comes as a result of ecu reprogramming based on Active Autowerke's performance tune in addition to ecu changes needed to control the 3-stage manifold etc. That aside, even if I ended up with power only compared to the 530 at 255hp, I will be a happy guy. It may not be the best investment compared to going out there and just buying a 530 to get the hp I'm looking for; I guess you could say, doing upgrades to my car has become almost like a hobby. I've done a fair bit so far and I don't want to throw it all away. I'll pass the car along to my son in due course and keep it in the family.

Anyway, back on topic. Any further advice, feedback etc is much appreciated. I'm sure you asked that question for a reason....

Georgieb

Yes medik13, AA does the entire ecu mod, re-map etc. They will be doing it remotely in this case given that I am in Toronto.

jg7879

congrats on the mod, thinking of doing the same thing as well, just waiting on the right parts, thanks for posting and amazing detailed
topic.. enjoy your ride and thanks again kepp us posted
and btw: how much did u end up spending on all the parts?/ thanks

pjinca

Agreed, if you just get the HP #'s of the stock 530 it's big improvement. With the ECU programming you should be right around where you stated though, the ECU program adds about 10 hp. Good luck, keep us updated.

jasperxli

congrats georgie! i hope to hear the good news soon! WHEN this is successful, im sure many other member will be willing to follow your footsteps

Isaiah_Charles

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