[Bmachine18]

I have a 2009 328i sedan I am thinking about doing the stage 3 intake manifold conversation, I already have a injen short ram and straight pipes. What are the benefits of this. And what other things do you recommend

[blackbeast06]

In my opinion air intakes are a waste of money, small power gains for a big price. Exhaust systems are only generate good hp if you have a full system, anything less is mostly for sound. The 3 stage intake manifild is a worthy mod. You can get a used one from a salvage yard for ~$250, $499 for a tune, $750 total for ~25 crank hp. 750/25= $30/hp. Air intake + exhaust(BMW Performance)= ~$1600 for ~8hp. 1600/8= $200/hp. My points on intake and exhaust are irrelevant because you already have them so adding a 3 stage will only add much more power to what you have already done. The 3 stage intake manifold is the way to go if you want noticable power gains.

[Havok_2011]

Why not go all out and plan a 3 stage intake manifold conversion + BMW Performance Intake + BMW Performance Exhaust + Tune.

Thats what I am in the process of doing. Don't have to do it all at once, just make that the game plan for the most gain and money well spent.

[Eternal]

I have been searching for a manifold recently. Going to watch this thread to see what people have to say about it.

[gunnerxq]

I think it's the best mod I ever did to the car. I have the AA stage 1 tune and that is ridiculous. I heard stage 2 tune is well worth the $500 to upgrade, can't wait to get it. But first I'll get the afe magnum stage 2 SI intake (closed verison) which is another $500.

Though I want to do these upgrades I have to wait till may when my new rims and pilot super sports come. Right now if I floor it in first my back starts to slide and my wheels don't stop spinning till I'm well into 2nd gear, with summer tires on of course.

P.S. I can finally reach 60mph in second gear. I believe it's because AA raises the rev limiter.

[CombatNinja]

I think a healthy 328 with a 3-stage manifold, full header-back exhaust and proper software could touch 300 crank/255 whp. Problem is, nobody is yet making proven headers for these cars much less a tune that ties it all perfectly together. Some motivated tuner could make a TON of money developing such a kit and selling it complete for around $3000. Install would be 6-8 hours so figure another $500. As long as the exhaust is made of OE-quality parts, reliability would be unaffected and customers would be very happy with the results. So much so that a great many 328 owners would probably elect to upgrade their cars and drive them for a few more years rather than trade up to something like a 335i. 300bhp is probably getting near to the outer limit for this platform without touching the internals but it would elevate the cars to a whole different plane. Someone needs to step up and make what BMW didn't want to.

[Bmachine18]

Originally Posted by Havok_2011

Why not go all out and plan a 3 stage intake manifold conversion + BMW Performance Intake + BMW Performance Exhaust + Tune.

Thats what I am in the process of doing. Don't have to do it all at once, just make that the game plan for the most gain and money well spent.

I already got the intake and I'm waiting to install the manifold prior to the tune from AA. And a performance exhaust is a waste of money

[spacemonkey1112]

Originally Posted by gunnerxq

I think it's the best mod I ever did to the car. I have the AA stage 1 tune and that is ridiculous. I heard stage 2 tune is well worth the $500 to upgrade, can't wait to get it. But first I'll get the afe magnum stage 2 SI intake (closed verison) which is another $500.

Though I want to do these upgrades I have to wait till may when my new rims and pilot super sports come. Right now if I floor it in first my back starts to slide and my wheels don't stop spinning till I'm well into 2nd gear, with summer tires on of course.

P.S. I can finally reach 60mph in second gear. I believe it's because AA raises the rev limiter.

Do you drive an automatic? cause I hit 60 easy on 2nd gear.

There are many forums on here talking about the benefits of a 330i manifold; I think if you do a little reading around here you'll convince yourself to pull the trigger on this one.

[gunnerxq]

Originally Posted by spacemonkey1112

Do you drive an automatic? cause I hit 60 easy on 2nd gear.

There are many forums on here talking about the benefits of a 330i manifold; I think if you do a little reading around here you'll convince yourself to pull the trigger on this one.

I would be caught dead driving an automatic. I thought in our cars 2nd gear is limited to 55mph? I don't remember what it was before the tune. The real question is why you still didn't convert to the dark side and do the conversion?

[spacemonkey1112]

Originally Posted by gunnerxq

I would be caught dead driving an automatic. I thought in our cars 2nd gear is limited to 55mph? I don't remember what it was before the tune. The real question is why you still didn't convert to the dark side and do the conversion?

haha dunno if your question was direct to me but I actually have the 3 stage manifold in my car at the moment (have about 6-7k miles put on my car with it since july). Maybe it was actually the manifold that helped me hit 60mph on 2nd gear (6MT as well over here). As for the AA tune, I am almost done saving (have to see whether or not that money will go else where first though ahaha) and will make an appointment to jlevi soon hahaha

[gunnerxq]

Originally Posted by spacemonkey1112

haha dunno if your question was direct to me but I actually have the 3 stage manifold in my car at the moment (have about 6-7k miles put on my car with it since july). Maybe it was actually the manifold that helped me hit 60mph on 2nd gear (6MT as well over here). As for the AA tune, I am almost done saving (have to see whether or not that money will go else where first though ahaha) and will make an appointment to jlevi soon hahaha

Yea that was towards you, sorry about not being clear about that. I would get the tune instead of something else you really are missing out. Also make sure you are getting stage 2 not stage 1. I also heard with the new tune you can ask what fuel you want it to run on. I'm going to ask for 93 octane only.

[spacemonkey1112]

Originally Posted by gunnerxq

Yea that was towards you, sorry about not being clear about that. I would get the tune instead of something else you really are missing out. Also make sure you are getting stage 2 not stage 1. I also heard with the new tune you can ask what fuel you want it to run on. I'm going to ask for 93 octane only.

haha what I meant about the money comment was that, if the money need to go elsewhere (bills and such) then that is where it will go. But if it doesn't, most definitely ill get the stage 2 AA hahaha Someday maybe a PE just for sound but eh can't justify the 1k on an exhaust at this point in time. Trying to get my foot in the wedding photography world soon so I can see 1k going elsewhere easily. Unfortunately CA only has 91 octane (I can only think of like 2 stations that have anything higher)

[RazRokz.!]

Originally Posted by Bmachine18

I already got the intake and I'm waiting to install the manifold prior to the tune from AA. And a performance exhaust is a waste of money

The BMW PE will make more hp than your intake and sounds perfect. How is that a waste of money? That injen intake actually looses power due to heat soak because it isn't a completely closed system. It does however have a nice sound to it, that's why I bought mine...

[Johnny D]

Originally Posted by CombatNinja

I think a healthy 328 with a 3-stage manifold, full header-back exhaust and proper software could touch 300 crank/255 whp. Problem is, nobody is yet making proven headers for these cars much less a tune that ties it all perfectly together. Some motivated tuner could make a TON of money developing such a kit and selling it complete for around $3000. Install would be 6-8 hours so figure another $500. As long as the exhaust is made of OE-quality parts, reliability would be unaffected and customers would be very happy with the results. So much so that a great many 328 owners would probably elect to upgrade their cars and drive them for a few more years rather than trade up to something like a 335i. 300bhp is probably getting near to the outer limit for this platform without touching the internals but it would elevate the cars to a whole different plane. Someone needs to step up and make what BMW didn't want to.

I wanted to comment on your post. While I agree this would be a good way to get power in a "package", I do not see the price you provided being profitable for a tuner.

BMW isnt going to lower their price for the parts for a tuner...it just wont happen. Im just going to throw out a hypothetical situation.

(Not including shipping)
BMWMercedesparts.com
Total: $1,017.61

Getbmwparts.com
Total: $1,114.33


Now lets talk about headers.
1)Development costs money.
2)Materials arent cheap
3)Built in USA? Expect more money
4)Not built in house? Expect more money

I think a feesable price for a test proven set of headers would be $1500 for the non-cat race headers and $2200 for the high flow cat version.

Now lets talk tunes.
1)Development again
2)Testing
3)Potential for profit margin (This is a plus compared to the other items.
4)You have to provide either a flash unit or tune sites, sending ECU is option, but not ideal.

$800 (Flash and flash tool)

Total
Manifold $1,017.61
Headers $1500.00
Tune $800

Total $3317.61

(Mind you I have absolutely no idea what profits would be.)
Now lets say they have a 10% profit margin in the headers and 35% in the tune (remember the flash tool costs the company money)
1500*.1
800*.35
Total profit $430 per unit sold at $3317.61
While to you and I that seems like much, but with all the overhead items they would have to have in stock, and the development costs, it would take the tuner multiple years to make their money back. Several years, the new models will be much more common and they would have already wanted to put money into development for them.

Its too late for the n52 for something like this.

[CombatNinja]

It is not too late for N52 development. In fact, with the cars valued into the low teens for early examples the 'enthusiast' audience is expanding rapidly right now. Many of the shirt and tie crowd that leases these things have moved on and they can be had for peanuts. Don't underestimate the number of young enthusiasts that will spend $10-12K on a car and dump that much again modifying it over a few years. And I never suggested that a tuner should use brand new BMW parts. There are enough of these manifolds in wrecking yards to satisfy demand forever. There is plenty of profit margin for this at a $3,000 price point. It isn't like they have to develop software from scratch so much as optimize what is already developed.

[Bruce li]

Hey I'm very interested in doing this to my car. I have a 2011 328i. So which manifold will fit directly into mine? I currently have the AA stage 1 tune. So do I need to get another tune if this were to be done, I'm assuming yes! Do I need to go completely catless for this to work?