First off before everybody goes into a rant about the quality of ebay headers. Yes I know they are made in china mass produced ect ect. I don't care about that, this is just a winter car for me that I am having fun with. Yes I know a tune helps as well with hardware change ect. This is just a fun project I have been thinking about and wanted to see if anybody has attempted it before.
Car - 2006 X5 4.4i
Plan - Take M62 ebay headers put them on X5 to replace restrictive stock exhaust manifold.
Ebay has a bunch of cheap headers that are meant for a 740i/540. Our engine is based off the same block. I have no doubt the exhaust ports will line up and i'm just about certain that the passenger side will fit but the driver side might be an issue with the steering column in the way.
The E46 guys, 740/540 and even 3.0 E53 X5 use them all the time with great results and actually do gain some HP. I am sure some tuning would be beneficial for HP gain but the E53 manifold is very restrictive in anyway so anything can help.
Below is the manifold in question. It can be had for the low $200. As you can already see the other issues is that the mating flange that bolts up to the stock exhaust is now divided into two and not merged like our stock exhaust. Below is another picture that will correct this issue, or simply have an exhaust shop fab something.
This would be a fun project before the winter. Thoughts regarding clearances?
