E46 328 coupe.... tuning ideas guys??
E46 328 coupe.... tuning ideas guys??
Author
Discussion

Olli Bishop

Original Poster:

32 posts

167 months

Tuesday 16th April 2013
quotequote all
Hi guys im thinking of tuning my e46 a bit...

any ideas for bhp for £££

cheers


BorkFactor

7,278 posts

184 months

Wednesday 17th April 2013
quotequote all
I believe you can fit the inlet manifold and throttle body from the 325i, although this is a tad harder with the twin VANOS 2.8 engine found in the E46. Still possible though.

Add that to a decent exhaust, a cold air intake (they sound awesome and don't cost much), and a remap and you should get a bit more from it!

Failing that, supercharge the bd. You can get kits from the States but they aren't cheap.

rumple

14,268 posts

177 months

Wednesday 17th April 2013
quotequote all
No not the 325 manifold, you want a 330 manifold, but keep your throttle body because the 330 is fly by wire.

rumple

14,268 posts

177 months

Wednesday 17th April 2013
quotequote all
No not the 325 manifold, you want a 330 manifold, but keep your throttle body because the 330 is fly by wire.

BorkFactor

7,278 posts

184 months

Wednesday 17th April 2013
quotequote all
rumple said:
No not the 325 manifold, you want a 330 manifold, but keep your throttle body because the 330 is fly by wire.
My mistake - the more you know thumbup

Olli Bishop

Original Poster:

32 posts

167 months

Wednesday 17th April 2013
quotequote all
cheers guys, keep the advice coming!

Olli Bishop

Original Poster:

32 posts

167 months

Wednesday 17th April 2013
quotequote all
im thinking the manifold route is a good one,

is it 330 or 325 that i want? i have been told both a couple of times, im not good with the engineering side myself...


mine is a 1999 328ci, is it the M52 engine??

also should i be scrolling the scrapyards for the manifold or be going genuine? all work i have had done in the past i have always gone genuine parts (you get what you pay for i feel)


rumple

14,268 posts

177 months

Wednesday 17th April 2013
quotequote all
If yours is the E46 then you have an M54 engine, if its the E36 it has the M52 engine, E36 you need a E36 325 manifold, E46 you need a 330 manifold, there isn't a lot you can do to these engines without spending big big money, I would be looking at a decent exhaust and induction kit, this will make it sound good and feel faster, the trouble is they are too refined and feel slower than they are, post a picture of it.

P.S I would have a look on Bimmerforums, the 330 manifold sap is something I've heard of but its rare.

TheEnd

15,370 posts

214 months

Wednesday 17th April 2013
quotequote all
The engine you have is the M52TU, midway between the M52 from E36's and the M54 which was the 325i and 330i

M50 320/325 E36 -with and without vanos - full power
M52- 320/323/328 E36s - Single vanos - restricted power
M52tu - 323/328 E46 - Double vanos - restricted power
M54 - 325/330 E46 - full power

The M52s had a manifold specifically designed to boost low RPM torque, but it comes at the expense of maximum BHP.

On the M52, you could fit the earlier M50 manifold, on the M52tu, you'll want to fit the later M54 manifold.


As far as I know, it's a fairly simple swap, but you do need an adaptor plate as your original throttle has a slightly different bolt pattern. It's not a complex part, but the usual place to find them is the US, where they are fairly expensive for what they are, and the postage and customs adds even more on top.

http://www.e46zone.com/forum/topic/35576-m52tu-to-...

BorkFactor

7,278 posts

184 months

Wednesday 17th April 2013
quotequote all
rumple said:
If yours is the E46 then you have an M54 engine,
Not quite, it is an E46 328i, so it has the twin VANOS M52 engine.

Just to clarify, on the twin VANOS M52 engine, do you want to be fitting the manifold from an M54 330i or an M52 325i?

I am getting confused!

TheEnd

15,370 posts

214 months

Wednesday 17th April 2013
quotequote all
It's the M54 330i manifold.
There wasn't an M52 "325", they were 2.5 litres, but since they were set up to only make 170bhp, they were called 323i's instead.


_________M50_____M52_____M52TU___M54_
320_2.0_150BHP__150BHP__150BHP______X
323_2.5___X_____170BHP__170BHP______X
325_2.5_192BHP____X_______X____192BHP
328_2.8___X_____193BHP__193BHP______X
330_3.0___X_______X_______X____231BHP



Olli Bishop

Original Poster:

32 posts

167 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
quotequote all


There's the old girl

BorkFactor

7,278 posts

184 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
quotequote all
Thats a lovely looking motor, love the pre facelift models. Style 32 wheels as well? Nice cool

Gad-Westy

16,298 posts

239 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
quotequote all
Olli Bishop said:


There's the old girl
Very nice and good colour. The manifold mod is a good one as it lets the engine breath a bit better at higher revs. The 2.8 is a glorious engine but I always felt that it had done it's best work by 5000-5500 rpm. The manifold mod changes that and seems to shift power towards the top end with no real loss in bottom end grunt. It's well worth doing. Have a read here:

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=7106...

Olli Bishop

Original Poster:

32 posts

167 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
quotequote all
Keepin her looking standard just subtle stiffen suspension, subtle exhaust mod etc

rumple

14,268 posts

177 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
quotequote all
BorkFactor said:
rumple said:
If yours is the E46 then you have an M54 engine,
Not quite, it is an E46 328i, so it has the twin VANOS M52 engine.

Just to clarify, on the twin VANOS M52 engine, do you want to be fitting the manifold from an M54 330i or an M52 325i?

I am getting confused!
Your right, I'm the one with my head up my arse.

rumple

14,268 posts

177 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
quotequote all
Olli that looks stunningthumbup

drophead

1,056 posts

183 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
quotequote all
I wonder if putting a B30 mani on a B25 engine would make any difference at all. scratchchin

I sometimes feel that my M54 2.5 is abit restrained at the top end.

s m

24,307 posts

229 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
quotequote all
drophead said:
I wonder if putting a B30 mani on a B25 engine would make any difference at all. scratchchin

I sometimes feel that my M54 2.5 is abit restrained at the top end.
Try an M52 328i chap - in comparison to that, yours is a 'revver' - it should come alive over 4k

drophead

1,056 posts

183 months

Thursday 18th April 2013
quotequote all
s m said:
Try an M52 328i chap - in comparison to that, yours is a 'revver' - it should come alive over 4k
Hmm, I suppose it's just me coming from a tuned MX5 with a razor sharp cable throttle! laugh