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      07-27-2017, 02:47 PM   #1
claasmi
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3 stage + AA headers + AA tune Install/Review

I installed the 3 stage IM + AA tune for 3 stage a few days ago followed by the AA headers + AA offroad tune yesterday.

Intake Install

I bought the 3 stage IM on car-parts.com. It came off a 2011 328i with N51 engine and was about $400 CAD shipped. Before installing the intake I thoroughly cleaned it by spraying engine de-greaser inside and soaking it in a hot tub of water for a few hours. I took the DISA valves off to check for issues. The green rubber gasket (it seems to be just one piece of rubber that fits in different places all over the DISA valve) had a few spots that looked a little worn, but only around where the flap seals to when it closes, not where the DISA valve itself seats into the manifolg. There was no movement in the flaps though so I decided to just go with it.

The install wasn't too bad. The biggest pain was getting the PCV hose off where it attaches near the firewall and getting the wiring harness off of the bottom of the intake. For the hose I ended up using 2 long and skinny screwdrivers to to just pry it open a little with a friend pulling on the hose. For the wiring harness I had read its easier to just unscrew the mounting bracket but that didn't work for me as one of the screws was rusted and it would just start stripping when I tried to undo it. I managed to get the wiring harness off of the plastic tabs by using a very sharp knife to slide between the top of the tab and the clip and pushing on the tab with a screwdriver. I did not buy a replacement vent hose as many had reported they did due to fragility of it, but as best I can tell I did not end up breaking or cracking the hose.

After installing the intake when I started the car it just died immediately. I ended up by accident discovering that it would run if I unplugged the MAF sensor. After a whole bunch of time searching online I finally just took everything apart again and realized I had forgot to attach the hose that goes just behind the throttle body near the bottom of the intake. After this is started and ran fine.

Intake Review

After my hose issue I only took the car out for one run with the intake before putting the tune on. I didn't notice any difference in performance without the tune. With the tune installed and adaptations reset there was a noticeable increase in power at low RPM and a very very noticeable increase at high RPM above about 4500. There still seemed to be somewhat of a dead spot though in the midrange, around 2500 - 3000 or so. Not sure if it could be something wrong with the DISA valves, I will probably look into testing them properly at some point in the future.

Headers Install

I initially tried to this install myself with a friend. The bolts connecting the existing header to the midpipes were so rusted that it was impossible to get them off. We figured the only option would be to cut them off or heat/cool with a torch which we did not have. Also with only jack stands reaching the few bolts that bolt the manifold to the engine that you need to get to from underneath the car seemed impossible. I ended up giving up and having a shop install the headers. They charged me 4 hours of shop time.

Headers Review

First off, I had the BMW Performance Exhaust already on my car. I had heard the the PE in combination with headers is very loud and it is indeed very very loud. There is quite a bit of drone around 2500 RPM, but the sound is just so incredible that I don't even care. The only thing that bothers me is that it is very raspy when pushed hard above about 5500 RPM. It sounds best IMO under light to moderate acceleration on city street shifting around 4000-4500. When pushed hard it absolutely screams. I drove the car only for a short while with the headers before adding the AA header tune (I had the tune for 3 stage on already). I am pretty sure the header specific tune did increase power, but it could also just be that my car adapted more in the time since I have added the new tune. Since I had both tune files on my computer I did a binary diff using BeyondCompare and they are quite different, so I don't think the AA header tune is just a CEL delete as I have seen mentioned. When I first added the header tune I had an issue where after the car warmed up the RPMS would stumble and fluctuate up and down in a very consistent pattern. It was extremely annoying at idle, could still be felt in gear at low RPM but not noticeable at higher RPM. After a couple days of driving though this went away. The last drive I took that made it go away was about 20 minutes on the highway keeping a consistent RPM of about 3000.


For the tune, AA says to reset adaptations. I got the Simon tool with my tune, but the buttons to read/reset adaptations are always grayed out. I ended using a Bav auto cable/software that I had from before to reset the adaptations. I noticed with the AA tune, especially with just the 3 stage installed that the pops and burbles on overrun from the PE were greatly diminished and the car doesn't seem to slow down from engine breaking as much as it did before. With the headers there are now more pops but they are somehow more subdued now than with the PE and stock headers, but this seems to be changing slightly over time as I drive the car more. The lessened engine breaking I feel is still there.

Overall I am very happy with the upgrades. The power increase is very noticeable and the sound is bad ass. I'm still on the fence about whether or not to look into different exhausts to deal with the extreme raspyness at high RPM, but I find just shifting under 5500 RPM still feels and sounds about the same as redlining it with just the PE, I just save the redline shifts for the back country roads.

Last edited by claasmi; 07-27-2017 at 03:16 PM..
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      07-27-2017, 05:05 PM   #2
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I'll buy the PE if you change your mind 😂
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      07-27-2017, 06:17 PM   #3
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You might want to try putting on a 135i muffler on it.

It won't be quite but it might get rid of the drone you are experiencing.
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      07-27-2017, 09:08 PM   #4
claasmi
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sprp85 View Post
You might want to try putting on a 135i muffler on it.

It won't be quite but it might get rid of the drone you are experiencing.
The drone actually doesn't bother me too much it's just the rasp that I find annoying, although either my ears or something on the car seems to be adapting and I don't find it quite has harsh to my ears as I first did.
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      07-28-2017, 09:00 AM   #5
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Excellent - good work & review!. I'm local to you, would love to check out your car one of these days.

Can't bring myself to go whole hog with the headers, but am definitely going to do the 3 stage IM (searching on car-part now). The "dead" spot you mention around 3krpm I think is just the DISA switchover point, unfortunately it's hard to get rid of as it's just a characteristic of the IM design. Take a look at any of the dyno graphs and most will show a very distinct dip in the torque curve around that RPM range....

Also - the raspiness you are hearing is a direct byproduct of the headers, with an open muffler design like the PE it's always going to be noticeable. I have a 135i muffler on my car and it adds some low end bass, but I also hear it pairs very nicely with the headers and takes out much of the rasp and drone. I will also gladly take your PE off your hands if you choose to swap

Glad to hear of noticeable differences at low and especially high rpm with the 3 stage IM - the car has always felt "strangled" to me, I know it will never be like my old euro spec E36 M3, but would love a bit of upper end "rush".
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      07-28-2017, 03:23 PM   #6
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I'll be at the Berlin Klassic car show in September (http://reg.berlinklassik.ca/) and probably get my car dynod there as well.

Ya, I should look into the 135i muffler. Hopefully they are pretty cheap used?
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      07-28-2017, 08:32 PM   #7
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Great review! Glad to hear of someone who can tolerate the PE + headers combination.
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      07-30-2017, 09:36 PM   #8
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I took the headers off my car recently. Had I kept them, I was going to replace the secondary cats for AR20 resonators. That would deal with the rasp.

The 135i exhaust, with all its baffles, does a good job of making it daily-able by cancelling most of the drone around 2-3k, but it still screamed above 4k.

Of course, aside from the daily issue, PE exhaust + AA header sound was nothing short of holy. My MPG's tanked for the next 18 months cause I had a lead foot for most of my driving.

Also, self plug. AA headers FS
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      07-30-2017, 09:39 PM   #9
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Also, you are able to reach all the bolts from the stock manifold from the top of the car. I used a 3/8 ratchet with a small extension. Just needs some creative angles of the arm, and 5 minutes of suffering in an awkward position as you slowly wrench it out lol.

on the AA headers, the last bottom 2, I had to reach from under the car.
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      07-31-2017, 01:00 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Suhb View Post
I took the headers off my car recently. Had I kept them, I was going to replace the secondary cats for AR20 resonators. That would deal with the rasp.

The 135i exhaust, with all its baffles, does a good job of making it daily-able by cancelling most of the drone around 2-3k, but it still screamed above 4k.

Of course, aside from the daily issue, PE exhaust + AA header sound was nothing short of holy. My MPG's tanked for the next 18 months cause I had a lead foot for most of my driving.

Also, self plug. AA headers FS
Wow - you removed them? Why not look at a quieter muffler and keep them? Unless you removed due to emission reasons etc.
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      07-31-2017, 01:01 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by claasmi View Post
I'll be at the Berlin Klassic car show in September (http://reg.berlinklassik.ca/) and probably get my car dynod there as well.

Ya, I should look into the 135i muffler. Hopefully they are pretty cheap used?
Dammit I'm doing the BMW Trillium Club event at Mosport both days that weekend....maybe next time.

Yea the 135i mufflers are cheap. As I said if you decide to go that way I'd be interested in your PE and we could do a swap + cash for you deal
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      07-31-2017, 06:36 PM   #12
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Headers, secondary cats, resonator and PE. The PE is only axle back, it doesn't delete the resonator.
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      07-31-2017, 08:07 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by asbrr View Post
Dammit I'm doing the BMW Trillium Club event at Mosport both days that weekend....maybe next time.

Yea the 135i mufflers are cheap. As I said if you decide to go that way I'd be interested in your PE and we could do a swap + cash for you deal
You have a 135i muffler to trade?
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      08-01-2017, 08:48 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by claasmi View Post
You have a 135i muffler to trade?
Just the one on my car.....had it for about 1.5 yrs, stock exhaust otherwise save for the muffler and a golf tee mod. Very civilized, deep tone below 3krpm, no drone or anything. I got it thinking I would do headers at some point and it would be a good pairing, but don't think I will go all the way to headers, so wouldn't mind a bit more sound.

Bought a muffler off someone local, they pop up once in a while or you can find them at a junkyard...
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      08-23-2017, 05:49 PM   #15
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Thank you for the review
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      10-28-2017, 05:05 PM   #16
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Pretty good write up...I have the same setup, with aFe intake and Magnaflow cat-back, which sound incredible. My power comes on very quick, about 3700 rpm...not sure why. This thing is fast; it's pulled away from a 335 and a 535...love it.
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      11-09-2017, 09:34 PM   #17
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This is exactly what i am thinking about doing with my 128. I am also in toronto, where did you order your header and tune from?
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      07-07-2022, 06:47 PM   #18
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Reviving an old thread but I was looking to install some AA headers on my 128i. Is it still a lot of drone even with the secondary cats still? I was planning on tuning my car as well but is a tune required to install the AA headers?

My current exhaust setup is stock headers , secondary cats , cut the resonator out , with a Borla muffler.
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