[Trolln]

Hey guys,

Just sold my FBO 135i, very regrettably i might add, to change to a 320i due to financial reasons (not practical for the little one)

Before i start i should mention I've had a number of BMW's and know my way around them quite well and am full aware how little potential the n46 has.
I'm pretty happy with the car besides the obvious MASSIVE power drop however it seems alot slow than i would expect, i assume this is down to the weight of the 3 series the the motor having some km's...

I don't want to do anything stupid and waste money on a supercharger or anything but perhaps anything relatively cheap to perk it up a bit? I was under the car taking a look when i first bought it and noticed the worlds most restrictive exhaust headers! And with the km's (200k) safe to assume theyre probably blocked..
I noticed the N42 headers look very similar and have no cats, does anyone know if these will bolt straight up? Has anyone done this with the rest of the exhaust stock?
concerned about codes and obnoxious noise..



Thanks for help!

[Trolln]

No one has any info on this??

[STR8-6IX]

Originally Posted by Trolln

Hey guys,

Just sold my FBO 135i, very regrettably i might add, to change to a 320i due to financial reasons (not practical for the little one)

Before i start i should mention I've had a number of BMW's and know my way around them quite well and am full aware how little potential the n46 has.
I'm pretty happy with the car besides the obvious MASSIVE power drop however it seems alot slow than i would expect, i assume this is down to the weight of the 3 series the the motor having some km's...

I don't want to do anything stupid and waste money on a supercharger or anything but perhaps anything relatively cheap to perk it up a bit? I was under the car taking a look when i first bought it and noticed the worlds most restrictive exhaust headers! And with the km's (200k) safe to assume theyre probably blocked..
I noticed the N42 headers look very similar and have no cats, does anyone know if these will bolt straight up? Has anyone done this with the rest of the exhaust stock?
concerned about codes and obnoxious noise..



Thanks for help!

thats actually a very good stock exhaust manifold design. if you think those are bad, take a look at the stock N52 ones... they dont even have tubing that connects to the cats.. no exhaust scavenging whatsoever. garbage.

an engine is more likely to burn oil if it was driven aggressively during the break in stages of the motor. It's normal for the manifold to be clogged after such mileage unless you're not burning any oil.

as for compatibility, if it is part of the same engine family i dont see why it wouldnt bolt right up. but im not making any confirmations here.

[iahawkeye]

Might be rough to find help here... Most everyone has the straight 6 versions of this motor... N52 and N51.

I frankly don't know anything about this engine as it wasn't available in the US (Yeah I Googled the n46) and don't know of any mods/etc for it.

[Trolln]

Originally Posted by 6IX-F10-N52

thats actually a very good stock exhaust manifold design. if you think those are bad, take a look at the stock N52 ones... they dont even have tubing that connects to the cats.. no exhaust scavenging whatsoever. garbage.

Sorry I should have specified that this was the N42 manifold i was looking at putting on, here he a picture of the stock N46 manifold..

Originally Posted by 6IX-F10-N52

an engine is more likely to burn oil if it was driven aggressively during the break in stages of the motor. It's normal for the manifold to be clogged after such mileage unless you're not burning any oil.

as for compatibility, if it is part of the same engine family i dont see why it wouldnt bolt right up. but im not making any confirmations here.

It doesn't seem to produce any smoke that i have noticed. But for a comparison last night my girlfriend quite easily walked away from me in a race in hey 1.5L toyota Yaris
I can't live with that haha

but thanks for the help guys, Ill try posting else where!

[STR8-6IX]

Originally Posted by Trolln

Sorry I should have specified that this was the N42 manifold i was looking at putting on, here he a picture of the stock N46 manifold..






It doesn't seem to produce any smoke that i have noticed. But for a comparison last night my girlfriend quite easily walked away from me in a race in hey 1.5L toyota Yaris
I can't live with that haha

but thanks for the help guys, Ill try posting else where!

honestly, that is not a bad factory manifold at all. I would replace those massive cats with a straight pipe and tune out the check engine light for better performance.

this manifold is worth working on if you find a good muffler shop.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by 6IX-F10-N52

thats actually a very good stock exhaust manifold design. if you think those are bad, take a look at the stock N52 ones... they dont even have tubing that connects to the cats.. no exhaust scavenging whatsoever. garbage.

an engine is more likely to burn oil if it was driven aggressively during the break in stages of the motor. It's normal for the manifold to be clogged after such mileage unless you're not burning any oil.

as for compatibility, if it is part of the same engine family i dont see why it wouldnt bolt right up. but im not making any confirmations here.

Please stop with the break-in brain washing.

[Trolln]

Originally Posted by 6IX-F10-N52

honestly, that is not a bad factory manifold at all. I would replace those massive cats with a straight pipe and tune out the check engine light for better performance.

this manifold is worth working on if you find a good muffler shop.

I havent decided what exactly to swap yet but ill need to do some work on them anyway as the flange down to the exhaust is different between the two. Perhaps i can use these n42 headers i picked up to replace the piping in the n46 manifold

side note - anyone suggest anyway that I can code out the check engine light?

[taz_nz]

Originally Posted by Trolln

I havent decided what exactly to swap yet but ill need to do some work on them anyway as the flange down to the exhaust is different between the two. Perhaps i can use these n42 headers i picked up to replace the piping in the n46 manifold

side note - anyone suggest anyway that I can code out the check engine light?

Did you manage to get that manifold in?
Did a CEL appear?