540i Intake Manifold Velocity Stacks

[me78569]

That will be interesting to see.

In a perfect world it would be nice to have a complete dyno log from people doing small swap stuff like this to show what actually improves power, but we all know that won't happen.

I really wish someone would do a m60b30 stock vs m6b30 with complete b40 intake manifold to airbox and a tune. But that's a pipe dream and mostly just for curiosities sake on my part.

[Layne]

In a perfect world it would be nice to have a complete dyno log from people doing small swap stuff like this to show what actually improves power, but we all know that won't happen.

92% of this forum is speculating about what may or may not increase hp. It would be pretty boring around here if we actually had all the facts.

[me78569]

There is truth to that haha.

If I was a rich man I would buy one of each car and a dyno then do runs before each mod and after. Post it all up and ruin all of the fun bickering you peasants do.....

[Layne]

If I were a rich man, I'd probably forget I ever knew what an E34 was.

[me78569]

Look who's high and mighty

[Baupfhor]

We have a dyno at work. Maybe I'll source one out, been wanting to dyno the car anyways.

[MightyWhitey]

This thread is awesome, if it proven there are gains here it would be great and look at how long it took to verify!

[DUDMD]

We have a dyno at work. Maybe I'll source one out, been wanting to dyno the car anyways.

Please do, I would love to see the difference between the two.

[nonturbodan]

I got my early B40 manifold in Thursday night. Seems to be a substantial improvement over the M62B44 manifold, which was a slight improvement over the late B40 manifold. The character of the engine is the same, theres just more power from the bottom end on up. I'm very happy with it.

Just going by the potential gains in airflow with what I'm assuming are properly designed bellmouths, they could be good for up to 15-20% more flow over the terribly designed late B40 runners. Both B40 manifolds as well as the M62B44 manifold have the large diameter intake runners, the difference is only where they open into the plenum. All of the large runner manifolds have the same part number on them as well as the B40 marking. The fifth fuel rail mounting boss seems to differentiate the early and late B40 manifolds. The M62B44 manifold has this as well. The small runner manifolds are found on the M62B44TU and M60B30. Most B30 manifolds have bellmouths/horns/velocity stacks and a stuffer in the plenum. The VANOS 4.4 manifolds have the same runner openings as the non-VANOS 4.4 manifolds but with smaller diameter runners.

The M62B44 manifold improves on the late B40 design by adding a rounded type curve to the inner radius of the runner opening. The sides and bottom of the runner openings are the same as the late B40 manifold. I'm not getting that message about posting pics this time, so lets see if this works:

This is the late B40 manifold. Large runners but no air horns and 5 fuel rail lugs:



This is the M62B44 manifold. Large runners, five fuel rail lugs, no air horns, but not as bad as the late B40 manifold:


And this is the early B40 manifold, with large runners, air horns and four fuel rail lugs:


The M62 throttle body is a bolt on thing. It uses a conventional throttle butterfly with cutouts machined into the throttle housing to allow for a more gradual throttle opening. The wedges on the B40 throttle plate do the same thing but cause more turbulence and restriction at WOT than the B44 throttle. With this throttle body in conjunction with the early B40 manifold I think you could realistically see a 10-15% increase in airflow and power compared to a motor with the late B40 manifold and B40 throttle body. I will get my 540 on the dyno in the next few months. I didn't make a baseline run but if I can manage 255-260rwhp with the current combination of intake parts and a chip I'll be happy with it.

[MightyWhitey]

Awesome work Dan!

[BruinBimmer]

I've never heard of the B44 TB's being better than ours... Interesting. Has anyone else done that upgrade?

[MightyWhitey]

Is there a difference in m62 throttle bodies or would any of them work?

[nonturbodan]

I believe any non-VANOS 4.4 throttle body should work. I don't know for sure about early ones though. I don't know when they switched from the wedges to the standard plate with cutouts in the housing. Mine came off of a 97 e38. The ASC throttle comes right off if you don't have ASC. I don't know if that was a feature on the e34. Mine doesn't have it.

[Steve547i]

I've never heard of the B44 TB's being better than ours... Interesting. Has anyone else done that upgrade?

Because its not. Dinan sold the b40 manifold as an upgrade for the b44. I don't know why this guy thinks its better.

[BruinBimmer]

Because its not. Dinan sold the b40 manifold as an upgrade for the b44. I don't know why this guy thinks its better.

Yeah, I knew Dinan just threw their badge on our manifolds for M62's. Thanks for clearing it up. Unless anyone has proof that M62 non-VANOS TB's are better than ours.

[Siippou]

Because its not. Dinan sold the b40 manifold as an upgrade for the b44. I don't know why this guy thinks its better.

Did Dinan sell the early or late b40 manifold as their own? b44 as an upgrade for late b40 and then again early b40 with big stacks as an upgrade for b44 manifold

[DUDMD]

Yeah, I knew Dinan just threw their badge on our manifolds for M62's. Thanks for clearing it up. Unless anyone has proof that M62 non-VANOS TB's are better than ours.

One word: flowbench

[Steve547i]

Did Dinan sell the early or late b40 manifold as their own? b44 as an upgrade for late b40 and then again early b40 with big stacks as an upgrade for b44 manifold

Sorry, I replied to bruin with an answer to a question he didn't ask. Reading comprehension (and beer) > me.
Dinan sold b40 manifolds for b44 cars as an upgrade. Now which version of the b40 manifold I cannot say. I don't know anyone who purchased it who could provide a picture. I also don't think Dinan will provide one either.
The TBs I have no comment on, I thought they were the same size. Then again I never looked into it.

[alwayswanted535]

After reading this, I stopped by the junkyard today. Saw this E32. Took off the thing, struck gold. They wanted $45 for it. WTF!

Now the question is, put it on my 540 auto or 540/6?

[K Fox]

After reading this, I stopped by the junkyard today. Saw this E32. Took off the thing, struck gold. They wanted $45 for it. WTF!

Now the question is, put it on my 540 auto or 540/6?

I shall answer your question with a question - why would you put something designed for high RPM power on anything automatic equipped? Kinda defeats the purpose... It'd be like putting a centrifugal supercharger on an auto car - senseless, simply because they don't (can't healthily) rev high enough for it to be useful.

TL;DR - the 6 speed.

Fox

[BruinBimmer]

What tools do you recommend bringing? I have a large Craftsman box, but don't want to lug the entire thing all over the junkyard. I haven't driven my e34 in a while, nor have I looked under the hood to see what I need to remove the intake manifold. I apologize for my ignorance/laziness.

All I remember from doing valve cover gaskets is that getting the metal clips off the injectors are a pain in the arse. And a few 10mm nuts for the electronics above the manifold. At least I won't have to worry about preserving anything when I yank it.

[Layne]

Now the question is, put it on my 540 auto or 540/6?

Your '94 already has one, soooo probably put it on the '95.



As I recall, the manifold nuts are 12mm. An unusual size for BMW.

[DUDMD]

Your '94 already has one, soooo probably put it on the '95.

As I recall, the manifold nuts are 12mm. An unusual size for BMW.

They're 11mm, I just removed and installed the manifolds a few times this week.

Bruin, bring at least a 10, 11, 13mm sockets, various extensions, a torx set, and a few flathead screwdrivers.

[BruinBimmer]

Thanks guys, really appreciate it. Should be out there Friday. I would've expected 13, but 11 and 12 are pretty strange...

[DUDMD]

Thanks guys, really appreciate it. Should be out there Friday. I would've expected 13, but 11 and 12 are pretty strange...

12mm not needed.
The intake manifold nuts are about the only 11mm nuts on the E34s. I don't remember using them anywhere else.