[Gear Head]

Is it true that these engines basically have the same inlet manifold and setup as the 330i?
I have a guy offering mapping services and he reckons that the N53 is a very good engine to map due to ecu map being the main difference between the N53 325i and 330i.

How true is this?

Car is a 57 plate m sport.

[rhysh1990]

http://mosselmanturbo.co.uk/remappin...25i-e90-218hp/

[Phil325i]

IMHO the N53 325i is tuned to give pretty much its best from the factory. A re-map alone isn't worth the money for the very small power gain you'll get. Fitting the 330i manifold (+ remap) will render more power, but (as you can see from the link) at some considerable cost! And you then get failing DISA flaps to worry about...

[Gear Head]

But are you sure that the n53 has a different manifold from the 330? After doing some research, I'm getting conflicting infomation.

[Aragorn30d]

The manifold is the main difference between the two engines power output.

Its not a turbocharged engine, its not very easy to reduce power with mapping alone.

BMW did similar things with older 6cyl petrols as well, such as the 328i on the E36.

Fitting the better manifold and mapping to suit will see you at 330i power.

That company is so expensive because thye're selling you a new manifold. I would be much cheaper if you used a used manifold instead.

[Phil325i]

Originally Posted by Gear Head

But are you sure that the n53 has a different manifold from the 330?

Yes.

325i manifold part No: 1167593005
330i manifold part No: 1167593004

[Benplym]

I think it's moselman that does the conversion for just over a grand. Coming from a n53 325 to a n53 330 I would definitely do it mate. There is a world of difference between the two. It sounds easy to just change the inlet and remap it but I've seen some go really wrong so worth paying someone who knows what they are doing.

[Benplym]

Oh and I did all the same searching and got my hopes up but definitely in the uk all the e93 325i's are the n53 and have a different manifold to the 330.

[Gear Head]

Cheers guys

[Gear Head]

Well it seems more and more people are getting their 325i's (3.0l) remapped and seeing healthy gains.
I know it sounds like I'm away with the fairies but when you consider that the 325i 3l is just a detuned 330, it doesn't sound implausible that 270bhp is achievable from the 325i. Once I find a local mapper, I'll update on here with the results.

[Len_Beach]

I saw one on Facebook that mapped to approximately 275 & 275 over the weekend.

[Phil325i]

Re-mappers whose claims I would trust suggest somewhere between 12-15 bhp increase, unless you swap to a 330i manifold. I would like to believe that 275 is possible, but I think this falls into the 'if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is' category.

[Len_Beach]

I got my figures slightly wrong; it was 286 lb/ft. The dyno would be hard to manipulate and this was just a map. Comments from the post below.

Remapped by Promap Tuning.

So had my 325i remapped today by James and Mark... This was a big day for me as I have seen a lot of conflicting arguments when it comes to the engine I have being remapped.. Never seemed to find anyone with a before and after dyno printout.. The results the guys at Promap managed to achieve are outstanding! I could not be happier with the car, it feels amazing.. Anyone who was unsure on the potential of the 325i N53 cast your eyes on the pics below! ????

[hazkirby]

I swore I saw that some N53 325i's came with the 330i manifold from factory.

Maybe why there is conflicting reports everywhere.

[SID2GO]

I had my n53 remapped by promap tuning. After a week i was curious what the figures are so i had it dyno run by midland remaps. It only made 204bhp from the engine. I think something went bad but my car had no issues. Also midland remap and promap tuning use the same tuning map provider and the same equipment. So I am waiting for midland remaps to have time to sort my car out for free which was shocking to hear.

[Len_Beach]

Originally Posted by SID2GO

I had my n53 remapped by promap tuning. After a week i was curious what the figures are so i had it dyno run by midland remaps. It only made 204bhp from the engine. I think something went bad but my car had no issues. Also midland remap and promap tuning use the same tuning map provider and the same equipment. So I am waiting for midland remaps to have time to sort my car out for free which was shocking to hear.

Wow. 204 is leas than stock isn't it?!

Did you notice a difference after the map?

The E90 Facebook group all rave over Promap but the site is run by James the owner of Promap so there's a conflict of interest!

[Promap Tuning]

Hello everyone!

This post was brought to my attention by a fellow forum member so I thought I'd just drop in with the follow up for the above car which did indeed make 204bhp - quite a shock to us!

We've done a few of the N53 engine before which have not had an issue. We've spoken to the poster above over the phone after he visited Midland Remaps to use their rolling road, and was quite rightly quite disappointed! I know I would be. A few conversations went on in the background between us and Midland Remaps and we decided to send them the cars stock file for them to load onto the car and run standard.

On the standard file, the car produced 172BHP.

We've spoken to Midland Remaps and the customer since then who have spoken to BMW technicians that they know, and they've nailed it down to a NOx sensor has failed in the exhaust system possibly leading to a failed catalytic converter.

We've spoken to the customer since then and offered to decat the car for him, and map out the failed NOx sensor. We're just waiting for a date for that to be set.

Now just to address a few other posts about the N53 not being worth remapping. On the standard N53 325i map the throttle only opens up to about 70% even with the foot flat to the floor, in other words a 325i N53 on a standard map is essentially like driving a 330i N53 but only letting you press the throttle down 70%! It's also worth noting that even with this car with a damaged NOx sensor (i.e. a poorly car making a massive 46BHP below stock!) our remap made a 35BHP increase thanks mainly to the throttle opening up 100%. Just imagine how that translates to an engine in good condition! We normally see 270BHP on the N53 325i's which is dyno proven. (As posted by someone above that included a rolling road graph - thank you!) The skill is identifying the correct maps to edit to allow the throttle to fully open - once you have done that the gains are impressive. A few other changes are made to the AFR maps, injector control, RPM limit etc but as I said previously the main bulk of the power comes from allowing the throttle to open to 100%. Please note though that the gain on the N52 2.5 325i are much less as they are not detuned 330i engines.

We're looking forward to the customer coming back to have the NOx sensor and cat removed so he can feel the real power increase the car should've got in the first place and hopefully it'll go back on the rolling road again and produce what it should do!

Thanks for your time, we just felt it necessary to follow this up and to give others an idea of how the power gains are made on the N53 engine.




Promap Tuning

[SID2GO]

So after having my nox sensor replaced for free from my dealer (warranty is now over) I used Carly for bmw to monitor my nox cat and it shows 680mg (max should be 400mg) of sulfur stored. after trying to do a regen it seems that sulphur content is increasing which could mean the nox cat is screwed. So i am now going to book in to have the Nox deleted and decat next week and have it re-dyno.

[jamherber]

Originally Posted by SID2GO

So after having my nox sensor replaced for free from my dealer (warranty is now over) I used Carly for bmw to monitor my nox cat and it shows 680mg (max should be 400mg) of sulfur stored. after trying to do a regen it seems that sulphur content is increasing which could mean the nox cat is screwed. So i am now going to book in to have the Nox deleted and decat next week and have it re-dyno.

Can you let me who does a NOx delete solution and approximate cost? I e-mailed promap tuning a while back enquiring but got no answer.

[SID2GO]

Originally Posted by jamherber

Can you let me who does a NOx delete solution and approximate cost? I e-mailed promap tuning a while back enquiring but got no answer.

Just got it done now. cost was £300 but i already had their map on so it varies. this included the x2 nox cat's removal since our n53's have 4 in total inc nox. currently no errors or any trace of nox in the diagnostic. You might have to phone them to get the answer unless you are abroad? all i can say is that its worth it and the car sounds good. going to get it dyno run to see the results.

[SID2GO]

Originally Posted by SID2GO

So after having my nox sensor replaced for free from my dealer (warranty is now over) I used Carly for bmw to monitor my nox cat and it shows 680mg (max should be 400mg) of sulfur stored. after trying to do a regen it seems that sulphur content is increasing which could mean the nox cat is screwed. So i am now going to book in to have the Nox deleted and decat next week and have it re-dyno.

Like to mention that even if the nox has been deleted from the system, carly still insist on showing me my nox reading and its sulphur content. But what i can tell you is that its probably old data so it wont matter. Also is has sorted the on and off faint vibrations and it pulls smoother without the tiny hesitations that it use to have.

[jamherber]

Originally Posted by SID2GO

Just got it done now. cost was £300 but i already had their map on so it varies. this included the x2 nox cat's removal since our n53's have 4 in total inc nox. currently no errors or any trace of nox in the diagnostic. You might have to phone them to get the answer unless you are abroad? all i can say is that its worth it and the car sounds good. going to get it dyno run to see the results.

Great to hear.

Did they just cut open the remove the cats internals and re-weld? Just thinking from an insurance point of view as trying to explain NOx cat removal to a muppet at an insurance call centre is never going end well.

Look forward to seeing the rolling road results.