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Intakes and such

3K views 32 replies 9 participants last post by  chitham33 
#1 ·
Ok so I have a 94 325i and want to put a cai on it and honestly I'm probably going to make my own fancy set up with the heat shield and whatnot but wanted to ask about upgrading my maf sensor because its....small lol I'v heard about the 540 maf on the m3s from my year but am not sure how that would work because of tuning and wiring......so pleas inform me on the do's and do nots of my intake system.
 
#2 ·
Honestly the stock intake is a cold air intake, and if you de baffle it you will gain the unmeasurable small amount of horsepower you would gain from a generic cold air intake. That said, I built my own with some aluminum sheeting, cut open fuel hose, paint, and a ebay "CAI" (Hot air intake if you don't make your own shroud) piping and filter. I had to cut the piping to the length I wanted, and I had to make all my own brackets to hold everything which was the hardest part.

Was it worth it: Yes. Very cheap easy way to give the car a deeper more aggressive exhaust note, and nothing wrong with a little under hood bling. :bigpimp:

If I were to do it again the only difference I would make is use a better brand filter, like K&N or similar.

EDIT: I'm also assuming you're are up to date with all your maintenance.
 
#5 ·
everything that is considered a "bolt on" on an E36 works hand in hand with a tune, each item alone are worth minuscule gains. For example the aFe cold air intake on my car is rated to only increase the horsepower rating by 15hp past 4k RPM with a tune and less restrictive exhaust. The same can be said for the exhaust, without a tune or an intake, headers and larger pipes will only net a few horsepower and torque way up high in the Rev band. If you combine the two, along with a tune collectively they're worth around 25-30hp in the upper rev band. Luckily for you your 325 has the M50 in it which comes with a far less restrictive intake manifold for increased performance above 3.5k rpm. On the flip side the exhaust is a lot more restrictive than on an OBDII car such as a 328i or an M3. Your best bang for your buck would be a miller WAR chip or a similar tune, to unlock some of the power reserved in the fuel and spark timing. you can buy used 328i manifolds which are just shortie headers, and a 328i mid pipe, with a cat back exhaust and make decent power.
 
#8 ·
Would I be able to take the stock exhaust from an obd2 325i or even an m3 and slap it on to fix that restrictiveness...also replace cats with straight pipes...or just save up to get the cat back....and also would the dinan chip be ok? I was also thinking about using thier transmission chip....after headers and exhaust
 
#13 ·
What transmission? Unfortunately it's an auto and I really really really don't wana do another A to M swap....I just got done helping a buddy put the rb25 in a 240sx and we did that conversion and it was a pain in the ass....and check on keeping the cats/upgrading to high flow cats....and check on the m3/328 pipes.....anything else or is that pretty much it.....oh also what's with those carbonfiber intake manifolds......yay or nay....thanks for the help so far guys
 
#19 ·
I will, mine has the "A" and "M" modes, and in "M" you can manually shift the gears with the shifter from 1 on up. I've done that maybe two times and it was a lot of fun, but made me feel like I was beating on my car too much to do it very often.

No reason I know of that it shouldn't be same for you. Try it, it will feel like someone snuck boost in while you were away from your car.:)

The other thing I didn't mention is that in "D" the normal startoff gear is 2nd gear unless you floor it from a standing start....in "sport" you'll always start in 1st.
This is the best thing I've learned so far. Thanks! Wish I had driven it today now. I drove my Trailblazer today. I can't wait. May have to go run some kind of errand tonight just to try it.
 
#22 ·
Ok....well I have the A and M button and if I put it into 3 should I have it on M? Lol and I don't want to shift through gears like that either....blew the trannie on my 92 DaVille that way....or if I keep it on A wen putting it in 3 because my car drives better in A any ways....also I have already disabled traction controll and when I'm in D I'm real slow until about 25mph and 35k rpm and then it shoots up to 70k real fast....I believe it's because of the switch I have under my gas peddle or is that part of traction control? Lol sory bout all the noob questions I'v always worked on 240sx's and this is my first euro (witch I wish I would have bought from the start) and I just wana do it right....
 
#23 ·
Leave the select switch in "A". The only time you might use the "M" position is if you purposely wanted to stay in one gear.

That switch under the pedal is the kick down switch. When you mash the accelerator down to the point where you activate that switch it will kick the tranny down one gear.
 
#24 ·
Well then wouldn't a trannie chip help adjust the shift points or a possible m3 auto trannie? Or do they not make those? Is thier another 3 series that has a better auto trannie? Also I'm looking into the throttle body that dinan makes does this require a special chip? I would do this after new exaust....intake I built today, box I used stainless steal, piping 3.5 in leading into the MAF and 3 in leading into the throttle body, and everything coated in that ceramic heat resistant stuff.
 
#26 ·
The transmission computer for the auto tranny is already pretty well optimized and there are so many other things your money could be spent on instead of a tranny chip that will give far more noticeable results.
 
#25 ·
Again, I ask why try to make an inherently awful part of the drive train marginally less awful, especially if it takes 80% of the work involved in outing in a proper gear box?.

I'm really not tolling you, just saying a manual transmission will last infinitely longer, be infinitely funner to drive, and get you infinitely more respect for the effort and money you put into your car.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Bimmer App
 
#27 ·
Every $100 spent on something like a tranny chip is a $100 you could have put towards something that would make a much more noticeable difference is all we are saying. For 1k you could have a turbo kit. You could end up spending 10% of that on a chip that you'll never really notice. That turbo could give you a lot more than a tranny chip ever will. Save your money for a MAJOR improvement, don't nickel and dime minor ones.
 
#28 ·
Well then lemme ask u what am I looking at price wise on doing the swap.....and man I have a feeling that would be a HUDGE pain in me a$$ not to mention the extra coin.....that I don't have...I'm not exactly looking for a track car this is stil the summer daily driver....but I want to turn this car into a head turner with a bit of balls to back up the good looks
 
#29 ·
That's going to depend on a couple of factors. Do you want to put it in yourself? And where you get the trans for it. I just saw a junk 5sp 325 for $800. I thought of buying it for the trans since I'd do the clutch anyways when I swapped it. So look for a trans at the breakers or online or a whole car. If that's what you want to do. If not hey, I have an auto but I don't mind it.
 
#30 ·
I would do it myself....I'm handy with a set of tools, but what about.....clutch master cylinder is that included in the $800 or not.....clutch pedal assembly? Clutch cables...ect....I'v done this before for a friend but it was on a 240sx instead....I could go pick up a 5 speed and look at it a bit in my garage lol naw like I said I'm content with the auto nxt bmw I buy will be manual instead and I hear you out on the trans chip thanks for the advice
 
#32 · (Edited)
This ^^^^
You also said that you didn't have the coin for something like this, and what I am saying is you never will if you keep buying minor improvements like tranny chips. Save your money and use it to make an impact. Go big or don't bother!
 
#33 ·
Sorry to rehash on something about 10 posts ago but it's the first time I'm reading it and would like to clarify (leaving in 3 instead of "D") the way I read it is that starting at the lights so to speak in "3" instead of "D" is the same as the sport mode that the later models have?? I've never heard this in any type of auto. Interesting if I am reading this correctly.


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