[Drivereye]

Hi thought I would payback some tips.
I added the 3 stage manifold and milvs to my 2012 328xi n52 e92 manual transmission. The manifold was pretty straight forward. The milvs were the challenge. For the coupe (e92) I was able to get the valve cover off, but no way was it going back on.

Tip #1 - Remove the wiper arms and lower cowl. it's super easy. Mark the wiper position. Pull a washer fluid hose, and a few 10mm bolts. I had to pull up the electrical wiring box black rubber gaskets (3 square shapes in ecu box) for clearance. Made the job so simple, and nearly zero risk of rolling gasket. Cover lifted straight up.
I change the milvs without a spring tool, but was prying on stuff and wiggling springs. I bent an intermediate lever bridge that broke when it hit the milv while running. Fortunately I also dislocated a spring arm that I never noticed until test run. I say fortunately because it made me reopen the cover and thats when I noticed that broken bridge floating around before it got sucked into the void of engine death. The new part has omitted that bridge piece altogether. Probably for similar reasons. I used a spring tool to replace the intermediate lever. It made it really easy (after I took the fuel rail out).

Tip # 2 - If you replace any valve parts, you must look at the stamped number on that individual part and replace with that number (1,2,3,4,5,or 6). It's for micro adjustments at factory. There is no vin relation, or pattern. Each car is unique. Each valve is unique.

Tip #3 - be meticulously careful under the valve cover. Use a mirror and check everything after, especially that spring arms are seated.

Tip #4 - get a good torque wrench, I stripped the lower valvetronic motor screw mount. Fortunately I replaced it with the one on the old valve cover.

Tip #5 - rotate the engine by hand a few rotations to make sure everything is smooth. I might have heard the spring, or seen the bridge hit. And for god sakes, don't leave the wrench on the crankshaft pull. Could you imagine...

Dont forget to relearn the valvetronic motor (I used ista).

1st -stock - great car
2nd -3 stage manifold / free bimmer tune - awesome, new found power from the disas.
3rd -milvs, 3 stage manifold / stagefp tune. I dont know if it was the milvs or the stagefp tune, but a significant difference in throttle response and power throughout the rpm range. Very snappy. So far, worth the effort.

Tom