S54 E36 + CSL Intake = WIN! :)

[Khalil]

So much win!
I feel like this should be putting down a lot more power though. Pretty much fully bolted S54's with evolve tune are putting down around 319rwhp. With a csl airbox I would expect it to be higher :shrug

[Kielan]

Interesting.

[e30polak]

So much win!
I feel like this should be putting down a lot more power though. Pretty much fully bolted S54's with evolve tune are putting down around 319rwhp. With a csl airbox I would expect it to be higher :shrug

First off, all dynos read different, so it's hard to truly say what this car would put down on another dyno. What I do know is that we made 29whp & 31wtq over the factory intake plenum with Alpha-N tuning. I have yet to see a non-stroked s54 make the kind of torque that this car puts out with our CSL style intake and full exhaust system.

We didn't design the box for peak horsepower, we purposely made it for a strong and broad torque band. If you look at the highest output, similarly modded and tuned Evolve cars, they haven't broken 260wtq. Shafique's car, with our airbox and tune made 275wtq!

Also, if you look at the dyno graph, our tuner left the factory 7900rpm rev limit. The car could easily be tuned for another 10+whp if we take it to 8300 like many performance tunes do. We've seen e46 m3s with factory heads and cams make good power all the way till 8700 rpm! Problem is this is a track car, and the customer wanted to be able to beat on it hard without worry of engine failure. As a result, the rev limit remained factory for this build.

Initially, we had shorter, larger diameter runners on our initial airbox to replicate the design of the real CSL box, but it made poor torque until 5k rpms. The initial design we had tuned to 328whp/250 wtq. This was only 6wtq over what we made Alpha-N with a factory intake plenum, 3.5" intake tube, and large K&N filter. After just making the runners a bit longer, we made 321whp/261wtq! The car started making nice torque around 4k vs. 5k and we were much more satisfied.

Tha being said, our tuner felt that if we made the diameter of the intake runners a bit smaller, that we would just suffer a bit more in the top end, but make even more torque. We did what he said, and ended up only losing 4whp, while gaining 14wtq!!!

Torque is more fun for street driven cars anyway. The fact that Shafique has fairly long gears with the higher revving s54, he preferred a wide torque band on the track, vs a peaky hp car.

Interesting.

In a good way or bad?

[Jesus Christ]

Nice work on that plenum, and the tq is def way more than i am used to seeing. ill take a less than 5whp loss for all that tq any day of the week and twice on sundays, excellent work here guys.

[BOOGIEBOY]

Dat's Nice!

[e30polak]

Nice work on that plenum, and the tq is def way more than i am used to seeing. ill take a less than 5whp loss for all that tq any day of the week and twice on sundays, excellent work here guys.

This was the whole goal. We made more torque then an m62b44 v8 from a 540, with a 3.2L inline six. When you get above 4k rpms, the e36 feels like it has a v8 and not a six in it!

Dat's Nice!

Thanks man, we're huge fans of your e34!

[Khalil]

First off, all dynos read different, so it's hard to truly say what this car would put down on another dyno. What I do know is that we made 29whp & 31wtq over the factory intake plenum with Alpha-N tuning. I have yet to see a non-stroked s54 make the kind of torque that this car puts out with our CSL style intake and full exhaust system.

We didn't design the box for peak horsepower, we purposely made it for a strong and broad torque band. If you look at the highest output, similarly modded and tuned Evolve cars, they haven't broken 260wtq. Shafique's car, with our airbox and tune made 275wtq!

Also, if you look at the dyno graph, our tuner left the factory 7900rpm rev limit. The car could easily be tuned for another 10+whp if we take it to 8300 like many performance tunes do. We've seen e46 m3s with factory heads and cams make good power all the way till 8700 rpm! Problem is this is a track car, and the customer wanted to be able to beat on it hard without worry of engine failure. As a result, the rev limit remained factory for this build.

Initially, we had shorter, larger diameter runners on our initial airbox to replicate the design of the real CSL box, but it made poor torque until 5k rpms. The initial design we had tuned to 328whp/250 wtq. This was only 6wtq over what we made Alpha-N with a factory intake plenum, 3.5" intake tube, and large K&N filter. After just making the runners a bit longer, we made 321whp/261wtq! The car started making nice torque around 4k vs. 5k and we were much more satisfied.

Tha being said, our tuner felt that if we made the diameter of the intake runners a bit smaller, that we would just suffer a bit more in the top end, but make even more torque. We did what he said, and ended up only losing 4whp, while gaining 14wtq!!!

Torque is more fun for street driven cars anyway. The fact that Shafique has fairly long gears with the higher revving s54, he preferred a wide torque band on the track, vs a peaky hp car.

Okay now alotta things make sense
I'm still learning my S54's since I just got one, and this is definitely helpful!
Thanks!

[e30polak]

Okay now alotta things make sense
I'm still learning my S54's since I just got one, and this is definitely helpful!
Thanks!

[MrZog]

I always read "CSL intake" here . . . but all I see is a stock S54 Intake and a funky gold thing which is not even close to a CSL one . . . . did I miss something?

[e30polak]

I always read "CSL intake" here . . . but all I see is a stock S54 Intake and a funky gold thing which is not even close to a CSL one . . . . did I miss something?

Ya you did, the part where I specifically wrote CSL STYLEintake in the initial post. I failed to clarify it in the title of the thread, but I can't change that now unfortunately.

By no means are we trying to say this is a replica CSL intake, because it's not. However, it does share many of the qualities of a CSL intake, in that it's a large plenum, without a MAF sensor, made from a fiber composite material that drastically increase the decibel rating of the induction sound.

[WICKED WEISS]

You guys are genius man.

[e30polak]

You guys are genius man.

Naw, we just like to build fun cars!

[BOOGIEBOY]

This was the whole goal. We made more torque then an m62b44 v8 from a 540, with a 3.2L inline six. When you get above 4k rpms, the e36 feels like it has a v8 and not a six in it!



Thanks man, we're huge fans of your e34!

That sounds pretty awesome, I have always wanted to do a proper NA build, but this E34 will be going turbo one day.

I appreciate the compliment.

[e30polak]

That sounds pretty awesome, I have always wanted to do a proper NA build, but this E34 will be going turbo one day.

I appreciate the compliment.

The s52 turbo will be better for an E34 IMO. I was going to do the same with my touring, but I've always wanted an LS based v8. The 5.3L + custom cam + LS6 intake + proper exhaust and tuning will make for a fun DD set-up. Also I plan to tow our future track car & drift car with my touring, so with the 4L80E auto, fully reinforced rear suspension and shock towers, along with a beefy X5 rear end, I should be good.

And then there's always a 150 shot of nitrous I'll have on tap to embarass the hell out of the rich pricks in my "mommy mobile"...

[andrewlang]

Looking at your dyno plot I'm surprised nobody pointed this out before but your engine looks unhealthy. Did your tuner remove VANOS tuning? Your torque curve falls off quickly and your horsepower falls off even earlier than a stock S54 should. You mentioned the problem you had with your fuel flow which could explain the lack of power in the low end below. However your other graph shows you weren't running as lean as you were below yet the shape of the curve is the same:



Here's a typical S54 curve, stock is on the lower end, the top end is a tuned motor with modifications very similar to what you have. Notice the broad torque curve and the horsepower that doesn't fall off until over 8000 RPM.



Is this the tune you normally provide with your swaps? If so maybe your customers would be better off using stock BMW software.