[e90pilot]

You're in the same spot I was when I started. The new z4 30i, and x3 30i has the same engine as the 328 but has a three stage intake manifold. So it CAN work but no one had tried it yet. Get in touch with active autowerk and they can give you more info.

[accel]

For x28i... Isn't just AA tune bringing you into 330 territory?

[e90pilot]

Nope. 330 still has about 10-15 more WHP on a tuned 328. And a tuned 330 has about 5-10 whp more than that. BMW's claim of 255hp for the 330 is I think a little low.

[speedfan]

Hi everyone,
My car is a 2009 325i LCI (euro model) 3.0L.
I'm very interested in this conversion.
I've made a couple of posts about this but got no lucks.

I'm from Vietnam, & the only problem for me is the tune.

From what I read here, my car needs to be physically at the dyno with a technician so he can tune/re-map it. I dont think I could do that.

Please advice,

Thanks,
Dung

[335imax]

Im sure the guys at Active Autowerke would tune an ECU from any country if you paid the shipping.

http://www.activeautowerke.com/index.php

[speedfan]

Originally Posted by 325imax

Im sure the guys at Active Autowerke would tune an ECU from any country if you paid the shipping.

http://www.activeautowerke.com/index.php

i have no luck with AA. sending them 2 emails awhile ago & still got no response.

ESS responded me with 1 email, then stopped.

I guess they don't want my money :-(

[MaximusJ]

Call them, they're not so quick on emails, but are really nice guys on the phone.

[MaximusJ]

There's something I dont get.

WHY O WHY would BMW pass on the opportunity to sell some screws like at 40 000% profit? For a MSRP of $3.33 a screw, there should be some major profit to make. They're on back order all around the world. I know they're not out there to sell parts, but why maintain that back order status when some people are begging to get those screws (since they are barely used anywhere else!).

/rant

I've found some screws that fit. Not OEM, but they fit. But damn it took me 3 hours!

[woodpecka]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

There's something I dont get.

WHY O WHY would BMW pass on the opportunity to sell some screws like at 40 000% profit? For a MSRP of $3.33 a screw, there should be some major profit to make. They're on back order all around the world. I know they're not out there to sell parts, but why maintain that back order status when some people are begging to get those screws (since they are barely used anywhere else!).

/rant

I've found some screws that fit. Not OEM, but they fit. But damn it took me 3 hours!

All OEM parts are overpriced..

[MaximusJ]

You're missing my whole point. BMW should make sure that supplying for those is FLOWING (Making $3.32 of profit on a $3.33 MSRP screw is major); but they're not. At this moment, Its impossible to order those from a north american dealer; period. All back orders everywhere with lead times that can get as crazy as 2012.

But i'm done ranting about the screws; finally found some that fits and that had the good threading. (Those found yesterday had the good sizes, but the threading was different).

Now the DISA are fixed to the manifold; should be good to hit the road in 2 to 3 hours.

[woodpecka]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

You're missing my whole point. BMW should make sure that supplying for those is FLOWING (Making $3.32 of profit on a $3.33 MSRP screw is major); but they're not. At this moment, Its impossible to order those from a north american dealer; period. All back orders everywhere with lead times that can get as crazy as 2012.

But i'm done ranting about the screws; finally found some that fits and that had the good threading. (Those found yesterday had the good sizes, but the threading was different).

Now the DISA are fixed to the manifold; should be good to hit the road in 2 to 3 hours.

They should supply any OEM parts that could be required to repair your car. What would happen if you bring it to the dealer but they can't repair it because the screw are back order?!

I cannot imagine a such situation.

BTW, you should post your screw source here. It could be useful for other mates.

[MaximusJ]

I agree. That's just stupid. Its just a screw? Even for my PCV line; they had just one in stock in the whole province. I dont get it. Almost $100 for a rubber hose and availability is very limited. Keep your stock levels high and you're gonna double your business profit! Isnt that what a dealer is all about? That's what I thought before having to deal with BMW.

As for the screws, I almost gave up for the entire project just trying to find those. I assume that they're not standard and BMW seems to be the only manufacturer to use those kind of screws. I've made all the places I could possibly think of; Canadian Tire, Canac, NAPA Autoparts, Carquest and they had some, but not in the right threading. I've then paid a visit to the mechanic close to my place that repair a lot of bimmers and he could sell me 3 of the ***849 screws, and one of the ***850. So that was a good start having found half of my screws. Went back to the dealer to get the 2 ***849 that he had on stock; that led me to find one ***850 and one ***851.

I found a screw like the ***850 in my toolbox; dont remember where it came from (most probably the stock air box) but it fits. The ***851 screw was a real pain. Its a bit longer, so it looks funny, but at least the DISA is firm in place and doesnt create any leak. That's gonna have to do until I get the OEM from Tischer at $.62 a piece!

With both actuators fixed to the manifold, I now return to my car feeling like Link when he got the last piece of the triforce!

So; that's my source. I would suggest you guys find your screws before doing anything. I was under the impression that "bah; those are just screws that can be found anywhere"; my mistake.

Gotta go back to work now! I have to sit for ~five minutes at every fifteen minutes or so of work since my back is sore like hell. But at least that gives me plenty of time to plan the next moves.

[MaximusJ]

And DONE.

Didnt need the vent hose since my OEM hoses were in pretty good shape. Same with my PCV line. The rubber & plastics are holding on quite well for a 4 years old car. But the vent hose I got from Tischer was a little different the the OEM hose, but I could connect the hose to the new manifold, so I didnt ask many questions and moved on.

I didnt test drive it much. Its rush hour right now and i'm tired of being bent over the hood for all this time. But I'm not sure i'm happy with the results for now. Car is sure smooth as hell... but. I've promised myself not to jump to conclusions before giving the mod a real driving chance.

And now comes the questions:

1- Does the ECU needs to adapt to or is the new manifold need to break in? Cause right now, I dont feel any much more ponies then stock. But I feel the impact of the mod. Car breathes a lot better now a shifts / downshifts are buttersmooth.

2- I've done a throttle body reset and i'm affraid this might had done something to the mapping uploaded on the ECU by AA. Is it just my mind who's playing me or it could really have done something to the mapping? I really doubt that it could be possible because its still an EPROM and you cant override data like this, but I felt like going back to stock when I did the sequence to reset the throttle. Here is the sequence i've done:

Originally Posted by Mark06

****Stay away from your break pedal!****
1. Insert fob into slot (if you have a key, turn it 2 clicks to the right)
2. Press Start/Stop Engine button (no break)
3. Depress gas pedal all the way down for ~30s (if you listen, you will hear adjustments)
4. Press Start/Stop Engine button (no break)
5. Release gas pedal.
6. Wait about 2 min
7. Start car

[woodpecka]

Hey MaximusJ, any update on the swap?

[MaximusJ]

Everything is working fine (well almost). I hear the actuators doing their job, and the car is so smooth right now I really feel the "stock" feeling while being moderately modded.

The torque at low RPM is ridiculous. For that only, its worth it. I downshift because I want to; not anymore because I absolutely need to.

But... (there's always a but...) pony-wise, I'm really not sure of the gains; I will have to let the dyno speak for that.

But before going to the dyno, I have something to handle. I have some intermitent issues that happened to me three times so far. Once before the swap and twice since then. So Its more related to the tune then the swap itself. When I'm first at the red light on a complete stop and I want to step on it hard, the car have a major shutter and then procede to the acceleration. Almost like I would be hitting the brakes while releasing the clutch. So i've tried to go easy on the setup at first, but the tune should be fully adapted to both setups when those issues happened. So I had to postpone that drag session I was supposed to go to yesterday of course.

I'm gonna give it some time, but if its not going away, i'm gonna need to investigate further. Tomorrow night i'm gonna scan the car to see if there's any hidden codes that popped up.

But all in all, the swap is very straight forward. Take your time to avoid snapping anything you dont want to and everything's gonna be fine. If I wouldnt have been slowed down by my sore back, I would say I would have been done in 4.5-5h tops. Just be sure to get the proper screws. I didnt need the vent hose so I guess you dont absolutely need to buy it.

Those who are on the edge of doing it, just do it. And if you're not comfortable doing it, then add $350 on your budget for installation and you wont regret it. But dont forget the AA tune! So its a $950 worth of parts and a $499 software for a major upgrade in torque and hp.

But I would strongly recommend buying new parts. That's what I did and I wouldnt have done it with used parts just to save a couple hundreds.

I'm gonna repost when my issue is handled and when i'm ready to dyno.

[woodpecka]

Nice report!

Do you plan to get an update / reflash from AA?

[MaximusJ]

I dont see why since I already got the proper software. I'm gonna check for coils and plugs. The car had 5 years a month ago so maybe its the culprit.

Also, I ordered the performance intake for Tischer. I'm tired of hearing my aFe screaming and sucking all the hot air he can get.

[t1mmy]

Originally Posted by MaximusJ

I dont see why since I already got the proper software. I'm gonna check for coils and plugs. The car had 5 years a month ago so maybe its the culprit.

Also, I ordered the performance intake for Tischer. I'm tired of hearing my aFe screaming and sucking all the hot air he can get.

Would be interested in a final product combination of PI intake + this swap. I have the PI / PE already. Please keep us posted!

[MaximusJ]

ETA Late november

[e90pilot]

Originally Posted by t1mmy

Would be interested in a final product combination of PI intake + this swap. I have the PI / PE already. Please keep us posted!

I've got the PI and the manifold. It works with no issues. The PI makes more of a difference outside the car. Before I had my exhaust I used to tach it out between some buildings. Past 4k rpm is was really loud. Inside the car it's quiet and you get just a bit of intake noise after 6k rpm.

[MaximusJ]

Sweet. Because its WAY too loud with my aFe sounds exactly like what i'm looking for.

[MaximusJ]

Also, I should chip in that an open box intake with this swap is a big NO NO.

I felt more gain switching my intake box from aFe back to OEM then when I did the swap and flash... Its a real gain killer.

My setup was already sucking hot air and that manifold was only asking my intake to suck even more. So a closed box intake is DEFINITELY a MUST if you go for the manifold swap.