[Pappas]

I picked up an e91 wagon on a lark a few weeks ago. It had a touch over 40K miles when I bought it. It seems to be pretty rare, is that the case or am I not looking for others in the correct manner?
It is my first BMW. Has any one in California upgraded the intake manifold and ECU?

Best,
Pappas

[sea6speed]

It's rare. Very rare with MT. Also probably not worth upgrading the engine as there isn't a whole lot of HP to be gained on the N52 for a car of that weight. Upgrade the suspension.

[ctuna]

There are a lot of subforums here
and they are highly useful.


http://www.e90post.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=16

http://www.e90post.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=378

Get rid of runflats and upgrade the stereo if you have the
Hi Fi system.

[Pappas]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check them out. How rare is it?(i.e. 1 of 10,000? or 1 of 100)

[ctuna]

Very rare and even more so now that the US models
for the follow on cars don't offer a Manuel in the US at least.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BMW/comment...l_drive_stick/

[Pappas]

Wow. Less than 100. That's kinda cool

[Tom K.]

According to this site, there were only 429 MT RWD E91 wagons imported into the US and probably even fewer MT XI models.

http://enthusiastauto.com/qsearch/?f...74_0=1&x=5&y=9

I was lucky enough to find mine (MT, RWD) about 6 years ago and have been enjoying it ever since.

You'll find the inline 6 develops enough power, but you have to make use of the gearbox. 3rd is especially useful for passing in the 50~80 mph range. And as far as the RFTs are concerned, if you prefer an all-season tire, the new Bridgestone Drive Guards handle well, have a comfortable ride - comparable to an A/S go-flat, are good in light snow & ice and are reasonably priced.

Congrats on your new ride!

Tom

[Pappas]

Thanks for the info Tom. Can I run regular tires on the same rims? What about a spare? Fix-a-flat, like a Fiat?

[ctuna]

Tire sealer. plugs and a small pump is what a lot of us carry.
And a jack and the small tools needed to change a tire.
How many flats have you had in the last 10 years.
Yes you can use go flats on the same rims.
There are a lot of threads on run flats here and why a lot
of people hate them.
Conti DWS is a very popular all season tire for these.

[Ruddigger]

Yep, I have an E91 with upgraded intake manifold and ECU tune, among other things, and I'm in SoCal. Don't listen to the 335 guys that say it's not worth upgrading the engine power, there is some power to made with these upgrades.

I also recommend ditching the runflats asap. If you have 17's I have a brand new set of summer tires that I need to get rid of, lol.

Congrats on your purchase.

[ctuna]

Do you have the measured dynoyed results of the three stage
intake and aa tune? I heard it was suppose to raise it to around
260 hp , but that is was more toward the higher rpms that you
felt it.
Also will it pass smog?

[Ruddigger]

Gonna be going back on the dyno soon, just need the time to actually go. Those numbers sound about right, but remember that is at the flywheel, not put down to the ground. My stock dyno was 192/185.

[hassmaschine]

The 3 stage will make more torque everywhere, not just high rpm.

Congrats on the rare find - we have an E91 325xi mt. It was not easy to find, ended up importing it from Canada. I haven't done the 3 stage swap yet but i will eventually, my 330i is just so much smoother and more tractable.

[Pappas]

Emissions testing is my biggest concern. The new(ish) process for OBD2 vehicles in California involves checking a series of parameter values in the cars ECU against manufacturer supplied values. I would wager cars with tunes would have a different set of values, and thus more likely to fail.

[Ruddigger]

Should be fine for emissions. You can even delete the secondary cats and be fine. They dont sniff here anymore, just OBD port and a visual. Only thing that would make you fail would be headers of the really look for them on the visual inspection.

[hassmaschine]

Originally Posted by Pappas

Emissions testing is my biggest concern. The new(ish) process for OBD2 vehicles in California involves checking a series of parameter values in the cars ECU against manufacturer supplied values. I would wager cars with tunes would have a different set of values, and thus more likely to fail.

Yeah, the CARB values. I don't think I've ever heard of somebody failing from that.