[gT-BMW]

cant find a 3 stage intake manifold anywhere. and if one is available its overpriced.

n54 intake manifolds are everywhere and under $100

is it a good upgrade?

can a tune solve the low to mid range hp loss compared to 3 stage?

[Phyrexia]

There's a gigantic fucking thread on the first page of the forum about this topic. At least try.

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by gT-BMW

cant find a 3 stage intake manifold anywhere. and if one is available its overpriced.

n54 intake manifolds are everywhere and under $100

is it a good upgrade?

can a tune solve the low to mid range hp loss compared to 3 stage?

Did you look at the dyno charts in the thread? After running both my opinion is it’s not really a which is better, it’s a which do you prefer midrange or max HP? The N54 still makes a nice chunk more power than the stock manifold in the midrange just not as much as the 3IM. N54 needs a few accompanying mods to really maximize, like the raised redline, cold air intake or Charcoal Delete/K&N Drop In, larger throttle body, headers, and in my opinion a final drive swap to 3.73 (or higher )

If you are going to do a BPC tune the N54 is a viable option because the tunes for either manifold would be same price from them.... but it’s not a bolt up swap there’s some fabrication you need to do. So you save money but need to put more thought into the swap and plan it out.

BTW, I still have my 3 stage will probably sell it shortly I’m just working though a few more tests and tune issues with Bob on the swap.

[6ixSpd]

The low-end boost in torque of a 3 stage manifold is unbeatable imo, especially on a daily driven car. There's a good 15-20wtq more as low as 2400RPM and onwards!

[Noir]

Originally Posted by gT-BMW

cant find a 3 stage intake manifold anywhere. and if one is available its overpriced.

n54 intake manifolds are everywhere and under $100

is it a good upgrade?

can a tune solve the low to mid range hp loss compared to 3 stage?

Define overpriced?
If you wanna wait a couple weeks, you can buy my 3 stage , Euro Box , Silicone Elbow

[Phyrexia]

Can't believe I'm participating after chastising...

The N54 manifold just has long enough runners that the resonance peak is at 7200 RPM or thereabouts. That's great if you're going to live above 6000 RPM your whole life. If I was going to do that I'd buy something with an S54 or an S65 that was designed to rev that high. Or something from a different marque entirely...

Meanwhile the three stage has three resonance peaks.

Having come from a peaky car (M3) and a torquey car (540), I would never dream of putting an N54 manifold on my 328.

[atmosphericM]

I'm also in the camp of.. unless you track your car a whole lot or race around the streets like a madman.. the 3 stage is superior to the N54. However, is the N54 better than the single-stage stock N52 mani?? I don't know, haven't seen a comparison dyno.

[JuniorB]

From what I've read when this first came to light, I thoughts this may of been a better option, for a na car running this is like a v8 running an open plenum. I still believe a tune with the single stage will give the same results. It's a lot of work if your not going to be running your car in the 3500 rpms and up.