s54 swap headers fitment

[StereoInstaller1]

Having dealt with the Chinese in the past, I am gonna guess we have had no reply because the Chinese dude was willing to do a small run, like 12 sets, for $650 a set

[hyperaudible]

Very interested to hear if this custom set worked out..

[jahen]

update????

[King Mufasa]

Well had an opportunity to speak to the chinese based frabicator and I explained to him the issues people are having with the ebay headers do to swapping motors in e30 chasis along with links.

He answered with " for you I can make any mod or custom header of your liking to fit in your e30 with e46 engine" ect..

Not bad for the price, huh? And all I had to do was kindly ask..

If everything comes out nice I will let you guys know.

beats modifying the stock headers I guess..

[FredK]

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, Cone Engineering looks like they have the best compromise between the difficult fab of mitering a true 3-1 merge and having a formed collector with no "dart" piece.

[ForcedFirebird]

I used some like that once from Stahl. The pic on the page looked much better, but once I got then, yuck.

For inexpensive stamped collectors, go to Cone Engineering.

Stahl collectors I used on a turbo build, one and only time I bought them...



and Cone Engineering's swedged collector used on our production builds...



My collectors, 3-1 true merge....

[prada88m3]

Well be working on my s54 and finished with all the things I wanted done to the cylinder head and forged pistons.

Now Iam looking forward for the install and one thing is now on my mined and its the headers.

Has any one installed a s54 engine in a e30 chasis using the catless euro headers without running into any clearance issues.

I know the e30 325i/318i are known for swaps but rarely do you see a s54 e30 but I know you guys are out there and hope you guys can enlighten a fellow enthusiast on your experiece.

I seached around and ran into a few items. Here for reference below:
vac headers a bit costy and below ebay headers with midpipe for half the cost.





I appreciate any help.

pm sent

[FredK]

Hahaha, who makes them, Megs?

[ForcedFirebird]

Those collectors are horrible. They are the cheapest ones you can buy.

[FredK]

My headers were dead on for the 1-3 bank, but needed to be heated up and aligned for 4-6. I guess my headers closely resemble the "JVT" headers, which is a slight upgrade from some other S54 headers out there.

It's not that big a deal to heat the headers up and realign them. They will likely stress relieve themselves anyway after some hard driving.

In terms of the construction, the "turbo-racing" collector to secondary pipe is an expanded pipe connected to the collector. This certainly makes fabrication a bit easier since you have a fudge factor when it comes to aligning the pipes on a jig.

I'd be interested to know who makes those $595 MIG welded headers for Top End Performance, pictured below They look to be made from mild steel, with a laser cut flange that ensures perfect alignment with the head. They at least provide you with another choice besides Ebay headers.

[nando]

This is probably a better starting point if you want to modify a set of Ebay headers:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EXHAUST-HEADER-BMW-M3-E46-01-02-03-04-05-3-2L-EXHAUST-HEADER-01-05-BMW-E46-M3-/300796448994?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4608dd90e2&vxp=mtr

As the flanges appear to be the right ones.

Mine aren't exactly the same ones as the above headers. The way the header is constructed is cheaper on the above set.

you're saying yours were made better than mine? better flange alignment?

to be fair, I only paid $65 for the set. yeah, it was that cheap. I guess they may have known it was defective and that's why it was priced so low.

[ForcedFirebird]

This isn't just the camera, the flange alignment is really that bad:


when it comes to headers, you get what you pay for.

Don't waste your time with the ebay stuff....

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=110571

[FredK]

I think that's the one weakness of mass production in China or elsewhere. There isn't much room for custom jobs, unless you order a container's worth of goods.

There might be sufficient overall demand for an E30 application, but it'd also cost a lot up front to do this.

[King Mufasa]

For those prices, sure doesnt hurt to kindly ask the china based fabricator for a more specific product. As all these headers are made for an e46 m3 chasis, and are only off by bits in our application. Taking in their e30 header structural design and the s54's in a combination where it suits us.


Just a thought I'll take. And quality wize might also consider the quantity over quality that might cause them to make small human errors over high demand..

[King Mufasa]

They sure looks like a great start. Al post a pic of them fredK for others to see for future reference as those links tend to disapear within time.

Its on ebay from a company called turbo-racing: http://turbo-racing.com/index.php/product/EH-001.html