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M52Tu To M54 Manifold Swap

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Haven't been on in a while, did this last month

My 2000 bmw 323i m52tu got an intake manifold swap. Got the intake manifold from bmw 330i m54b30 with a blown head gasket.

Parts need just to complete the swap are:

1-intake manifold m54b30

2-m54b30 Adjuster (disa) valve

3-m52/54 throttle body adapter plate

My 323i has 104,xxx miles on it. If the stock hoses/pipes have lasted this long, its good for another 120,xxx.

There is a throttle body adapter plate on the market for the older e36 engines to make this one work?

Your throttle body has to be grinded on the top right to be able to clear the idle air control valve

Only two of the four throttle body bolts are used

Also the bracket that holds all the wiring will not bolt back on due to the plate. The plate moves the throttle body forward causing this problem.

You have to adjust your throttle body cable to be able to open complete at full throttle.

So with the help of matt on the sight we designed and manufactured our own plate

Cleaned the m54b30 manifold completely.The swap is straight forward, everything is reused again or could be replace with new parts. The m54b30 intake manifold itself is bigger and has longer runners than the m52tu. The first 80-100 miles the car seems to adapt itself to more air flow.

We start by removing the air box, piping, distribution piece and adjuster valve

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Marked and drilled holes in aluminium plate by using cardboard template to mark position and counter sunk

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Throttle body off

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Disconnected the fuel rail and injectors

Manifold off after quite a bit of swearing as there are some hidden clips for wires

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M54 on left and old M52 on right The port on the m52tu are oval and the ports on the m54b30 are D shaped

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Bolted plate to m54 manifold lined up throttle body, marked then drilled and tapped holes

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What a mess

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We then re- fitted the whole lot

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And to finish of new CAI in the form of a carbon Simota and strut brace to finish of the engine bay nicly

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Need to upload a better picture of the engine bay clean to my PB profile

The throttle response is completely different at all rpms. The car just revs freely all the way to redline, dosnt feel as restrictive. Well worth the 8 hrs or so of work. Any questions feel free to ask

Also has a new adjuster (DISA) valve fitted as it is bigger on this manifold

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Really interesting write up, am concidering doing this to my 328 aswell. I have located a m54b30 manifold but just need to do the adapter plate. I noticed that you made your own adapter plate, could you tell me the specification of it, e.g. thickness and centre hole size?

Regards

Carlucci

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I clicked on this thread thinking "not again, someone who wants another easy solution" only to be pleasantly surprised by the post!

Well done, time for a live remap now perhaps?

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So would you definitely suggest doing this mod Larry? I have recently done the VANOS seals on mine and it made a noticeable difference. Will the standard ECU allow for the extra air going in?. Just wondered if anyone knows the thickness of the adapter plate aswell.

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Yeah sure if you can get the parts cheap enough.

The ecu and vanos adjust to the extra air.

12mm plate, you'll still need to cut bolts down to fit, you can't make the plate any thicker or you'll get problems with the throttle cable.

The plate is quite tricky, I have a few pictures and drawings of a few different people have made, they are all out.

The problem is you're trying to align the manifold intake hole, with the adapter hole, and the throttle body hole, plus all the mounting screw holes, easy to bolt one part to another, to make something to inbetween two parts is harder

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Hi there,

Would it be an advantage or not using the injectors from the 330i or would this cause too much fuel to go through and not really gain anything especially without reworking of the ECU, would you be willing to produce a plate for a few bob. Bimmertune and Simpsons have not got back to me and they are meant to sell the plates.

Cheers

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The gain is very noticeable, yet to remap though as i'm waiting on one more mod.

You don't need the injectors no, but my manifold and disa came with them, best 37.50 i spent on any car i've owned.

Can't compare it to the E36 harmz, never owned one, but it's exactly the same deal, I tell people it's like going from 328 to a 329, about halfway between a 2.8 and a 3.0

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Hi there, I have a question, I didnthis swap in to my stroker motor m52tub30, but Inhave a problem with the throttle open.... if I full throttle (full gas pedal), my throttle flap only open 80%, I adjust the cable, but still have an 80% in the throttle flap......

any of you have this problem?

regards,

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Im wanting to do this! Ive not got much idea about bmws but im an ok mechanic, so basically I need a m54b30 disa valve and manifold, is there anywhere I can buy this spacer or any drawings of it?

So the gains are from the larger surface area manifold and thats it? So it bolts straight on?

Cheers Jay

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I'm still trying to sell my M54 bits - I get loads of enquiries about it on the bay but nobody seems to buy them. The spacer I reckon you could fab fairly easily once it's in place and in front of you.

Are the TB's the same on the 325 and 330?

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Is there an increase in bhp/torque with this plenum mod?

The rev range top end is freed up alot, feels like it could rev another 500rpm no bother

Im wanting to do this! Ive not got much idea about bmws but im an ok mechanic, so basically I need a m54b30 disa valve and manifold, is there anywhere I can buy this spacer or any drawings of it?

So the gains are from the larger surface area manifold and thats it? So it bolts straight on?

Cheers Jay

We should be able to get you them

Will the M54 manifold fit the E36 328 M52 Engine ore only the E46 328 M52tu ??

For this IIRC your best using an M50 inlet manifold or Alpina mani, but bear in mind these are hens teeth

Currently starting another manifold conversion on my 330ci clubsport involving an S52 mani ;)

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If it's the m52 then yes for sure it made a world of difference in response and made it feel so much more alive on the one in my e30

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had the alpina m50 manifold/throttle body done on my e36 323 and that made hell of a difference,had a great drive back from Essex lol
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