technical Power increase

[GTLego326]

Good day gents. I'm new here.

I drive a manual 2006 E90 (preface) 323i Msport.

I recently upgraded to 18" OEM type 135 style rims (225/40 F & 245/35R) from the standard 17" Msport wheels. They are slightly heavier and one can feel with the performance that the vehicle has more load.

What I'd like to ask is how do I EFFICIENTLY and EFFECTIVELY increase the power without jeopardising too much OEM spec. One of the ways I saw is putting a 3 stage Manifold from the N54 engine. Has anyone ever done this one the N52 engine. ? ? . Please advise.

NB: I use this car as a daily

 

[husaindindar]

I think you mean the 2 stage Disa intake from a 325i N52. N54 is the twin turbo plant from a 335i. I doubt that intake will fit or work.

You can't really squeeze out much from a stock N52. Maybe some exhaust work will add some power, but very slightly.

Weigh the cost vs rewards. 10k worth of work for 5kw power increase might not be worth it.... rather throw the money at maintenance. The car is quite old and will need some suspension and or other work.

 

[MR_Y]

I think you mean the 2 stage Disa intake from a 325i N52. N54 is the twin turbo plant from a 335i. I doubt that intake will fit or work.

You can't really squeeze out much from a stock N52. Maybe some exhaust work will add some power, but very slightly.

Weigh the cost vs rewards. 10k worth of work for 5kw power increase might not be worth it.... rather throw the money at maintenance. The car is quite old and will need some suspension and or other work.

💯 Agree

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

💯 Agree

+2

 

[VinceM]

A worthy power increase would be selling the 323i and buying 330i (if wanting to stick to N52/N53 motors).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

Just to add to what Husain said. I owned a 2007 model 323i. I am not doubting you, but I cant see going one size up in wheel making THAT much of a difference in power. 130kw and 230nm might not be mind blowing but should sufficiently handle going one size up in wheel.
Mine also had 17's on and honestly you not going to get much gain for the amount of money you going to spend. I ended up changing mine for a 2010 320d.

 

[GTLego326]

I think you mean the 2 stage Disa intake from a 325i N52. N54 is the twin turbo plant from a 335i. I doubt that intake will fit or work.

You can't really squeeze out much from a stock N52. Maybe some exhaust work will add some power, but very slightly.

Weigh the cost vs rewards. 10k worth of work for 5kw power increase might not be worth it.... rather throw the money at maintenance. The car is quite old and will need some suspension and or other work.

Thank you soooo much. This was insightful. Indeed the expenditure vs output doesn't make sense. Trust when I say, MAINTENANCE is something that brought me to this forum. I've learned a LOT of lessons the hard way unfortunately but with time one adjusts.

Quick backround, I bought the car while I was still younger in age 😅. So I slapped a sound system at the back which makes the car seem like its CONSTANTLY carrying luggage (+-15KG) plus the wheels so that was the reasoning behind that slight power increase. For it to carry its load

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

One thing I forgot to add. My 323i was my best sounding BMW I owned. Even with the downpipe (exhaust already sounded good before that) my F30 does not sound nearly as good as that straight6 used to.
Saw a LCI 323I E90 Msport at Goudini 2 weeks ago. Boy oh boy did it sound good. Definitely had some exhaust work done.

 

[DRCraig]

My dad owned a silky smooth '06 323i. Takes me back. Agreed, rather utilize the money for maintenance and services.

Do a decat. It's basically free. I'm sure you will feel a slightly better throttle response.

 

[GTLego326]

One thing I forgot to add. My 323i was my best sounding BMW I owned. Even with the downpipe (exhaust already sounded good before that) my F30 does not sound nearly as good as that straight6 used to.
Saw a LCI 323I E90 Msport at Goudini 2 weeks ago. Boy oh boy did it sound good. Definitely had some exhaust work done.

TAKE MY MONEY 😅😅... But where did you get the exhaust done though sir. Could u please share more info as I'm clueless in that department. Ohh and did u perhaps change the air filter as well???

 

[GTLego326]

My dad owned a silky smooth '06 323i. Takes me back. Agreed, rather utilize the money for maintenance and services.

Do a decat. It's basically free. I'm sure you will feel a slightly better throttle response.

Definitely going that route. Hence I was finding out as going aftermarket forced induction will give me more problems.. I'm bit by bit doing OEM++ spec.

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

TAKE MY MONEY 😅😅... But where did you get the exhaust done though sir. Could u please share more info as I'm clueless in that department. Ohh and did u perhaps change the air filter as well???

My 323i was stock bro. The one who had exhaust work done is a random car I spotted at Goudini Spa. Didn't get to chat to the owner.

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

Definitely going that route. Hence I was finding out as going aftermarket forced induction will give me more problems.. I'm bit by bit doing OEM++ spec.

Don't build what you can buy. If you after more power, sell the 323i and buy a 330i/335i

 

[GTLego326]

My dad owned a silky smooth '06 323i. Takes me back. Agreed, rather utilize the money for maintenance and services.

Do a decat. It's basically free. I'm sure you will feel a slightly better throttle response.

Good day. Do I did a but of research on this topic but still have some open loops. I've decided to do a decat as suggested but I'm perplexed at the costs.
Most places (including here) I've read about mention that the COST of the Catalytic converters usually are more costly than the actual job, which makes the fit virtually free. However, yesterday at a well known exhaust specialist (which I won't mention the name for obvious reasons). They quoted that the Cats are only worth R600 a pop and there are 2. To which they subrltract the total amount from (R3000).

What I'd like to know is where can one get the decat done neatly and or a reputable place as its being mentioned throughout the forum.

 

[CA_130]

lol, they're FOS. You'll get close to 2k for both cats, maybe more if they're in good nick or your car is low mileage, depends on how much cat material they can recover. There are places that will do it for free if you bring them just the manifolds, and pay you for the material.

Also, I'm only seeing this thread now, not sure exactly what the differences are between the 323i and 325i, but my guess would be the 3 stage intake manifold and ecu flash. Should be far far less the the suspected 10k you are expecting, N52's are plentiful being stripped out of everything from 1 series to X5's, so parts are plentiful and affordable. (side note: N54's don't have a multistage intake)

Should be easy and cheap enough to find and fit with news gaskets etc, difficult part might be to reflash it to 325i (160kW) spec. The 3.0L 190/195kW flash is available "for free" online from bimmerlabs and from memory, they have other N52 flashes available too.

 

[GTLego326]

lol, they're FOS. You'll get close to 2k for both cats, maybe more if they're in good nick or your car is low mileage, depends on how much cat material they can recover. There are places that will do it for free if you bring them just the manifolds, and pay you for the material.

Also, I'm only seeing this thread now, not sure exactly what the differences are between the 323i and 325i, but my guess would be the 3 stage intake manifold and ecu flash. Should be far far less the the suspected 10k you are expecting, N52's are plentiful being stripped out of everything from 1 series to X5's, so parts are plentiful and affordable. (side note: N54's don't have a multistage intake)

Should be easy and cheap enough to find and fit with news gaskets etc, difficult part might be to reflash it to 325i (160kW) spec. The 3.0L 190/195kW flash is available "for free" online from bimmerlabs and from memory, they have other N52 flashes available too.

Shoo.. quite a lot to take in but thank u so much for sharing.

That's just my thing... could u oleate provide a name or location where I can get this done as u mention. Which are these places. I'm currently in Gauteng for the time being so that'll really help A LOT . I'm literally at the execution phase of this but still don't have a solid direction to go to especially ert the decat areas

 

[AshG108]

Shoo.. quite a lot to take in but thank u so much for sharing.

That's just my thing... could u oleate provide a name or location where I can get this done as u mention. Which are these places. I'm currently in Gauteng for the time being so that'll really help A LOT . I'm literally at the execution phase of this but still don't have a solid direction to go to especially ert the decat areas

There are a few places in Gauteng dependent also on your location:
@Xcede Performance - Linbro Park
TMSS - Roodepoort side
XFlow Performance - Strydom Park (Randburg) - I did most if not all my exhaust work here with Alister.

 

[GTLego326]

There are a few places in Gauteng dependent also on your location:
@Xcede Performance - Linbro Park
TMSS - Roodepoort side
XFlow Performance - Strydom Park (Randburg) - I did most if not all my exhaust work here with Alister.

WHAT AN ABSOLUTE LEGEND... tha k u so much. I'll check them out today and give feedback

 

[Xcede Performance]

Hi,

We've tuned a few of these after they have been decatted.

The gains were noticeable and customers reported back smoother power.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GTLego326]

Just some feedback. So I visited a few places nd most mentioned a common theme. Because of the nature nd position of the cats which are not on the underside of the car but directly below the engine. I had to physically cut nd manually remove the clutter that is inside the cats nd install cat dummies. So that's the route I took and thank you to everyone that assisted. Car definitely feels nd sounds better.