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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Powertrain and Drivetrain Discussions > NA Engine (non-turbo) / Drivetrain / Exhaust Modifications > Making the N52 more engaging to drive?



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      04-11-2022, 01:03 PM   #1
aznbo187
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Making the N52 more engaging to drive?

New to N51/N52’s and was ideally looking for a low power daily that I can wring out without being reckless on the streets. The engine is smooth and got a good amount of torque up to about 3k, however anything after that just feels extremely lackluster. It climbs and climbs, and is extremely smooth…but man is it boring! Has anyone successfully modded their car to be more engaging, especially those with a track background that are ok with a more visceral experience?

I’ve deleted the secondary cats, resonator and have an N55 muffler, along with stock intake charcoal delete + additional intake feed, which helped make bring some sound back, but it’s still a rather boring note.

I have AKG 75D engine mounts ready to go in and also plan on DISA valves, but not sure if I’m chasing a ghost here and the N52 is just not that fun of an engine. I come from an E46 M3 with solid mounts but even a recent TLX rental with the 204hp K24 was more fun to drive!
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      04-11-2022, 01:13 PM   #2
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Get a lightweight flywheel and change your diff- instant gratification
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      04-11-2022, 02:08 PM   #3
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It is possible but it will take work and $$

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      04-11-2022, 04:15 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aznbo187 View Post
New to N51/N52’s and was ideally looking for a low power daily that I can wring out without being reckless on the streets. The engine is smooth and got a good amount of torque up to about 3k, however anything after that just feels extremely lackluster. It climbs and climbs, and is extremely smooth…but man is it boring! Has anyone successfully modded their car to be more engaging, especially those with a track background that are ok with a more visceral experience?

I’ve deleted the secondary cats, resonator and have an N55 muffler, along with stock intake charcoal delete + additional intake feed, which helped make bring some sound back, but it’s still a rather boring note.

I have AKG 75D engine mounts ready to go in and also plan on DISA valves, but not sure if I’m chasing a ghost here and the N52 is just not that fun of an engine. I come from an E46 M3 with solid mounts but even a recent TLX rental with the 204hp K24 was more fun to drive!
If you're starting with a stock N51/N52, some cheap things you can do are add stiffer transmission mounts if it's a 6MT. I did the E46 M3 ones and they added some more NVH which I liked. Try to grab an intake on the cheap, like the euro box or AFE closed intake. You can also get the Rev Motoring silicone intake hose, that gets rid of an intake muffler so adds a little more sound. Definitely get a louder muffler (performance exhaust if you can find one!). Everything else costs a lot more money...
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      04-12-2022, 12:35 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aznbo187 View Post
New to N51/N52’s and was ideally looking for a low power daily that I can wring out without being reckless on the streets. The engine is smooth and got a good amount of torque up to about 3k, however anything after that just feels extremely lackluster. It climbs and climbs, and is extremely smooth…but man is it boring! Has anyone successfully modded their car to be more engaging, especially those with a track background that are ok with a more visceral experience?

I’ve deleted the secondary cats, resonator and have an N55 muffler, along with stock intake charcoal delete + additional intake feed, which helped make bring some sound back, but it’s still a rather boring note.

I have AKG 75D engine mounts ready to go in and also plan on DISA valves, but not sure if I’m chasing a ghost here and the N52 is just not that fun of an engine. I come from an E46 M3 with solid mounts but even a recent TLX rental with the 204hp K24 was more fun to drive!
Tbh all you need for a fun city driving car is
3 stage manifold swap
Intake
Exhaust
Pedal tuner
These eliminate throttle lag and make it feel so much better
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      04-12-2022, 06:38 AM   #6
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Althought I have not done it yet, the differential mod to a 3.73 or 3.91 is the best bang for your buck mod out there for n52s from my little research on this platform.
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      04-12-2022, 08:19 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by houbmw View Post
Althought I have not done it yet, the differential mod to a 3.73 or 3.91 is the best bang for your buck mod out there for n52s from my little research on this platform.
I definitely agree with this
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      04-12-2022, 11:32 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by Biginboca View Post
I definitely agree with this
3.73 definitely on my to do list, has anyone actually done a 1/4 mile or 0-100mph comparison to see what the actual difference is? IIRC I read the 0-60 is about the same or slower because it requires another shift, but curious about 0-100.
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      04-12-2022, 11:47 AM   #9
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Is the 3.91 the shorter diff for an auto e92?
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      04-12-2022, 12:02 PM   #10
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Its the diff ratio from automatic xdrive e9x 328s.
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      04-12-2022, 12:54 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Noir View Post
Get a lightweight flywheel and change your diff- instant gratification
It’s unfortunately an AT. I do think a MT swap is in order, maybe later this year and a LWFW 100% is part of it.

Quote:
It is possible but it will take work and $$
Glad to see some track love for the N52!

Quote:
If you're starting with a stock N51/N52, some cheap things you can do are add stiffer transmission mounts if it's a 6MT. I did the E46 M3 ones and they added some more NVH which I liked. Try to grab an intake on the cheap, like the euro box or AFE closed intake. You can also get the Rev Motoring silicone intake hose, that gets rid of an intake muffler so adds a little more sound. Definitely get a louder muffler (performance exhaust if you can find one!). Everything else costs a lot more money...
Got most of the sound adders (minus headers/intake elbow) and volume wise it’s good.

Quote:
Tbh all you need for a fun city driving car is
3 stage manifold swap
Intake
Exhaust
Pedal tuner
These eliminate throttle lag and make it feel so much better
Have an N51 and have all those mods - definitely reduced lag a good amount!

Quote:
Althought I have not done it yet, the differential mod to a 3.73 or 3.91 is the best bang for your buck mod out there for n52s from my little research on this platform.
This with a proper LSD is really what’s needed.
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      04-26-2022, 09:58 AM   #12
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Manual swap, most engaging and most fun I've had driving my car.




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      04-26-2022, 10:16 AM   #13
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S65 injectors with e85 tune

I haven't had a chance to dyno mine after doing headers, s65 injectors and e85 fuel conversion with a Stage FP tune but it woke it up a whole bunch. Next plan for me is n54 manifold and milvs.
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      04-27-2022, 11:51 PM   #14
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I guess you picked the wrong brand Very effective engines but.. boring as compared to 90ies high revving old four poppers with torque curves peaking higher in the rev range, it's the handling that adds the fun in a naturally aspirated BMW
I'm running a N52B25 E90 (peak torque 2750-4250) and a M52TUB25 E46 (peak torque @ 3500), both pretty similar, feels linear although the N52 likes higher revs. Also have an old Volvo 740 with B234F (peak torque @ 4450 rpm) that's a lot slower and less effective but the engine feels more fun to drive as it picks up a lot above 4000 rpm.
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      04-29-2022, 07:39 PM   #15
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First thing I did was find a used 3SIM on eBay, bought some brand new DISAs and did the swap all at the same time as adding a CAI. Then I did a tune and it definitely woke up. Then a few months later I did headers, cat delete which made some more punch. Then did a muffler later on which just changed the sound to be more refined. Short throw shifter definitely made me feel more connected to the car. I did coil overs too and lowered it a bit and that also makes it more engaging going around turns and curves.
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      04-30-2022, 12:16 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cooperolson View Post
Manual swap, most engaging and most fun I've had driving my car.
Swap it definitely the eventual move.

Quote:
I haven't had a chance to dyno mine after doing headers, s65 injectors and e85 fuel conversion with a Stage FP tune but it woke it up a whole bunch. Next plan for me is n54 manifold and milvs.
E85 conversion seems interesting, did you do the E85 portion separate of the other mods? If so, did that alone make a big difference?

Quote:
I guess you picked the wrong brand Very effective engines but.. boring as compared to 90ies high revving old four poppers with torque curves peaking higher in the rev range, it's the handling that adds the fun in a naturally aspirated BMW
I'm running a N52B25 E90 (peak torque 2750-4250) and a M52TUB25 E46 (peak torque @ 3500), both pretty similar, feels linear although the N52 likes higher revs. Also have an old Volvo 740 with B234F (peak torque @ 4450 rpm) that's a lot slower and less effective but the engine feels more fun to drive as it picks up a lot above 4000 rpm.
The brand is right, just the engine/transmission isn't right.

Quote:
First thing I did was find a used 3SIM on eBay, bought some brand new DISAs and did the swap all at the same time as adding a CAI. Then I did a tune and it definitely woke up. Then a few months later I did headers, cat delete which made some more punch. Then did a muffler later on which just changed the sound to be more refined. Short throw shifter definitely made me feel more connected to the car. I did coil overs too and lowered it a bit and that also makes it more engaging going around turns and curves.
N51 so car came with 3SIM. I'm curious though, my DISA's may be on their way out as I have over 120k on the engine.
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      05-02-2022, 12:22 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimmy311 View Post
First thing I did was find a used 3SIM on eBay, bought some brand new DISAs and did the swap all at the same time as adding a CAI. Then I did a tune and it definitely woke up. Then a few months later I did headers, cat delete which made some more punch. Then did a muffler later on which just changed the sound to be more refined. Short throw shifter definitely made me feel more connected to the car. I did coil overs too and lowered it a bit and that also makes it more engaging going around turns and curves.
Dinan SSK is my favorite mod I've done. I only give 'er the beans every so often, but I'm always shifting so I get much more out of it than I would power mods. 3SIM is the exception with the low end torque, but the shifter adds much more enjoyment IMO. Makes you feel much more connected to the car than the sloppy stock shifter.
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      05-04-2022, 02:31 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Biginboca View Post
It is possible but it will take work and $$

I miss my N52 - but maybe we'll meet up around here one day. I'm kinda a 'Taskmaster'....
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      05-04-2022, 04:24 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AmuroRay View Post
I miss my N52 - but maybe we'll meet up around here one day. I'm kinda a 'Taskmaster'....
Lmao! Well… I hope you are doing well my friend. Glad to see you are around. Would love to meet up sometime
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      05-16-2022, 10:47 PM   #20
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Small update: installed AKG 75D motor mounts. They aren't much softer than solid mounts so there is pretty bad cabin vibration/resonance at 5-600 rpm at idle. Looking to tune the idle to 950-1000 which should get rid of 75% of it.

Otherwise, throttle feels much more engaging and the car itself just feels more responsive as some engine noise/vibration transmits through the chassis. It's a huge upgrade minus the vibration which I'm hoping I can tune out.

Next on my list in search of more engagement is solid rear subframe bushings, rear sway bar, front upper/lower arms and coilovers. Then 6 speed conversion and 1M front end conversion.
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