Throttle body spacers fact or fiction
 

I just ordered stage 2 afe intake for the x5
What are your guys experiences with it?
Power?
Response?
Mpg?

And
What do you guys think of these afe TB spacers?
Fact or fiction?

Considering the throttle body on the N62 doesn't really do anything...go for it. TB Spacer is meant to speed up air flow. Your infinitely variable length intake manifold already does that.

You could combine the intake, a larger bore throttle body, and software reprogramming to gain 8HP according Dinan. Maybe you'll feel the 2% increase in power, but you'll definitely hear a difference. :)

variable intake doesnt speed up air. it increases or decreases the intake runner length, it makes the air path longer or shorter to the cylinders. longer for low end torque and shorter for high end power

900$ for 8 hp is waste of money, ur looking at 2000$ for a sad increase in power, might aswell save up 10,000$ and get a supercharger kit

Spacer is for air turbulence i just wanna know if its worth it because it advertises 10hp, and for 150$ if it gives 5hp it is more cost effective than a 900$ TB for 8hp

The Dinan software does more than just raise HP.

Torque is increased, throttle response is better, governor is removed, rev limiter is raised... their trans software causes faster shifts and gives you full control of the trans, no more delayed downshifts or automatic upshifts due to RPM. It's worth every penny.

Throttle body spacers on an X5 however would be pointless.

An APC sticker would give you just as much HP as a throttle body spacer on an X5.

Kk tb spacer is fictional junk :)

A engine and tranny tune would make it better i agree


Thanks for quick feedback, i just hope the 300$ i just dropped on a stage 2afe intake is worth it

It won't be, aside from a different sound from the engine.

BMW engineers spent plenty of time tuning the stock intake for great performance. A drop in air filter will net a better gain with a stock appearance and improved sound. Sorry.

Yes, if you convert your engine to an overhead carburetor the spacer would help.

Unfortunately, your engine has so many variable components designed to extract every bit of power all the time that there isn't much room left for getting more power easily.
You have a highly engineered variable length intake system that adjusts the length of each cylinder's intake runner to match all possible driving conditions to get the most HP and torque possible.
You have variable valve lift, which only allows enough air into the engine to get the optimal fuel-air ratio, which is why the throttle body is only there for traction control purposes.
You have variable valve timing on the intake and exhaust to advance/retard timing for all load/rpm's.
You have the 4.8, which is the HiPo version of the 4.4, BMW already put the bolt-on mods to get the 40HP increase.
Except for a super charger, there aren't really any bolt-ons that will give you any cost justifiable performance increases.

I don't know what the stage 2 AFE kit looks like, but hopefully it has a well sealed compartment to keep the hot engine air out of it like the stock intake did. And make sure not to over oil the filter else you'll foul your MAF sensor. You should definitely hear a nicer intake sound though.

the m5 4.9L is only 0.1 litre bigger in displacement but produces 40 more hp than a 4.8L, other than the intake/individual throttle bodies and tune I havnt found any other differences mechanically myself, someone on the forums might know what the difference is, valves? head?

-we will see what happens with the new intake pipe and filter box and cone filter,
-yes the oil will foul the maf, I will leave it in the sun so the oil can dry naturally before installing it
-other than installing a full exhaust system (5000$ headers) big no no

- I see no other option but a supercharger from ess

I'm sure the software is tuned differently as well on the IS vs the I models.

If you google them I'm sure you can find all the differences.

I have an AFE intake for my M54 and like it quite well. I do notice a little better response and pick-up. I know I got a slight improvement in MPG's with my '04 X5. I also had a Shark Injector(software) set-up with some free flowing exhaust. All mods combined really helped. And the engine note is an added plus. ;) The cherry on top was the headers I bolted on. WOW. Night and day. The factory exhaust manifolds, at least the M54, choke the engine. Your engine oversimplified is an air pump.

I'm not one who fully buys into the theory that the gods at BMW tuned it to perfection. To many watered down compromises. I get it. Is it tuned well from factory? You bet. Can it be improved. Just look at what the guys in the ///M division do. Intake, throttle bodies, head work, cams, different exhaust, and software. And then a whole suite of packages to compliment the added performance and handling.

Next issue, cost. That's the boogie man in the closet. It can get expensive real quick. You are fully aware of this, I know. I try to do mods that compliment each other.

The intake is a nice mod. Keep it. Skip the throttle body spacer. Add some software, and refine the exhaust to your taste. I think the N62 would respond nicely/or naughty.:thumbup:

Here is the write up from the first drive after my AFE install a couple years ago.

Completely different engine, nothing shared between your N62 and the S62. S62 is based on the M62 engine that's in the the pre-facelifted X5's. Higher compression, 0.3 more Litres volume, dual Vanos, and the individual throttle bodies with fixed length intake runners (tuned for the target HP) along with a different DME give that engine the 60HP increase over the 4.6L that's in my X5.

If BMW decided the only way to get more power from your engine was forced induction (twin turbo), I'd have to agree with their engine engineers. Your engine became the normal engine in all the V8 cars starting in 2005. 2008 they redesigned your engine and made the twin turbo N63 (and later the //M S63).

Cold air intakes + butt dyno = Placebo effect

I'd be willing to bet if you strapped your car to a Dyno after that intake install, you'd see zero gain over the stock intake with a drop in pipercross or K&N.

compression is the key I overlooked 11:1 on s62 10:1 on mine

ur m62 is more in the middle of urs and mine
I got variable intake manifold and valvetronic and dual vanos

all 3 got crappy exhaust manifolds

Go with the tornado

http://i01.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/020/8...866020_208.JPG

LOL @ Tornado...

I remember when that thing first came out, all the TV commercials and stuff.

Install one of those and a magnet on your fuel line and you'll add 20hp and 20mpg.

Lol sick

Some people plumb their emisions air pump on a foxbody mustang to their intake track

Good idea. Time to hook up our secondary air pump to the airbox!


Your engine architecture is completely different than the M62/S62 which are both the same.

True on the exhaust, but without removing cats or swapping in high performance cats, there isn't any benefit in changing to proper headers except for making your wallet weigh less. Although your cats are part of your header, so your only option is to get a high performance cat, or euro cats, or no cats...