Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

m6x intake manifold and throttle body upgrade info

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    m6x intake manifold and throttle body upgrade info

    I'm not sure if it's covered anywhere in this forum, but there are some differences between the intake manifolds and throttle bodies throughout the years of the m6x engines. I thought it was as simple as the m60 vs m62 manifold, but apparently there is more to it. I found some info on bf.c and then looked at my own manifolds and throttle bodies that I have sitting around to confirm it.

    Turns out, the early m60b40 had an intake manifold with velocity stacks attached to the runner ports internally. This was done away with at some point, as the late m60b40's had no velocity stacks, and squared-off intake runner ports. Then, When the m62b44 (non-vanos) came out, they rounded out those ports on the runners. When the m62b44tu came out, they did away with that intake manifold entirely and switched to one with much smaller ports, which belongs in the trash can.

    There seems to be one common way to differentiate between the two m60b40 manifolds. The early have 4 fuel rail bolt holes, the late model has 5. It would still be better to look inside to double check, though.

    I think it's safe to say that the early m60b40 manifold with the velocity stacks would be the best option, followed by the m62b44 with the rounded ports, followed by the late m60b40 with the squared ports.


    This is the early m60b40 manifold, with velocity stacks




    This is the late m60b40 manifold. Square runners, no velocity stacks



    This is the m62b44 (non-vanos) manifold. Rounded off ports, no velocity stacks






    Then, there are some throttle body differences. I *think* all m60b40 throttle bodies have a wedge installed, with the purpose of limiting airflow when first cracking open the throttle, to sort of tame the engine from it's throttle response, to prevent lurching off idle. This is fine, but it adds about 3x the thickness to the throttle plate, which would create some turbulence and limit flow a bit.

    I think all m62b44 (non vanos) engines come with a normal flat plate throttle body, of the same size, that bolts right on (since it's the same intake manifold. I'm still working on verifying this.

    I tried to pull the ACS throttle plate off and swap it with the actual throttle body plate, but the 2 mounting holes don't line up.








    85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
    e30 restoration and V8 swap
    24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

    #2
    Good info. I was wondering why my intake didn't have the stacks. I'm just plain il squared off intake

    Comment


      #3
      My rail has five mounts so I guess I have #3/4. I was going to pull off the vent valve and look but got distracted.
      1974.5 Jensen Healey : 2003 330i/5

      Comment


        #4
        Good info here.

        Anyone have any "butt dyno" experience to share on putting an early B40 intake on an otherwise stock B44?

        Comment


          #5
          Ordered an m62b44 (non-vanos) throttle body. It arrived today, no wedge installed. Otherwise it's identical to the m60 TB. I'm not expecting it to be a huge improvement, but every little bit helps. And for the price, there's no reason not to.

          85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
          e30 restoration and V8 swap
          24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

          Comment


            #6
            Good info, one thing to add is that B44 intake manifold seems to have narrower runners when compared to B40 manifold (looking from above you can see the difference).

            B30 and B35 have at least smaller diameter throttle bodies (inside diameter), but it seems B30 has B44 intake manifold as well..?
            - E34 M5 (x 2) -
            - E30 V8 Cabrio "Kylpyamme" -
            - Alpina D10 Touring #33/94 -

            +
            - E46 318i Touring -
            - Toyota Hiace 4wd -

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Jonsku View Post
              Good info, one thing to add is that B44 intake manifold seems to have narrower runners when compared to B40 manifold (looking from above you can see the difference).
              That is only the m62b44tu manifold. The m60b40 and m62b44 non-vanos are identical other then the shape of the mouth of the runners. Then, when the vanos m62 came out, they totally reshaped the manifold, with the much smaller runners. Basically the same deal as the U.S. s50 and U.S. s52 intake manifold differences.

              B44tu left, b40/b44 non-vanos right:






              Originally posted by Jonsku View Post
              B30 and B35 have at least smaller diameter throttle bodies (inside diameter), but it seems B30 has B44 intake manifold as well..?
              Yeah, the 530i manifold looks damn near identical to the m62 vanos manifold, but it's a different part number. Either way, if you have a b30 or b44 vanos manifold, you should be putting some form of b40 manifold on.

              b30 left, b40 right:






              Also, I got a caliper inside both of my manifolds, the early b40 with the velocity stacks and the late b40 with the square mouths, and measured the ID of the runner mouths. They were the same, so those stacks don't restrict flow at all. I was curious if they were an afterthought, and clipped on 'inside' of the runners, limiting flow, but they don't. So I'm 99% sure the early m60b40 manifold is the way to go for the most power, followed by the m62 non vanos.
              85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
              e30 restoration and V8 swap
              24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by JGood View Post
                b30 left, b40 right:



                Really looks like the B30 has narrower runners, from this photo.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by The Dark Side of Will View Post
                  Really looks like the B30 has narrower runners, from this photo.
                  Narrower runners then what? It's definitely narrower then the b40 and non vanos b44 manifold that its next to, but looks about the same as a b44 vanos manifold in the pic above it. Either way, the b30 and b44 vanos manifolds are junk compared to the b40 and b44 non vanos.
                  85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
                  e30 restoration and V8 swap
                  24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

                  Comment


                    #10
                    So i think it is safe to say the winner is the early B40 manifold with intake horns.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      so on an M62 would you need an engine tune to take advantage of the larger intake runners of the M60 manifold? what about the M62TU?
                      I BUY/SELL REFURBISHED CM5907s & CM5908s

                      HOWTOs:
                      DB vert plastic bumpers
                      OEM Keys
                      MTech1 docs

                      88 ix Lach/Card
                      91 ic Calypso 3.1
                      86 Cosmo 2.7

                      OEM+ or bust!


                      reelizmpro: I will always be an e30 guy.. I still do all of my own labor
                      TrentW: There's just something so right about a well-built M20 in an E30
                      e30m3s54turbo: I save my money for tuner parts.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by bradnic View Post
                        so on an M62 would you need an engine tune to take advantage of the larger intake runners of the M60 manifold? what about the M62TU?
                        I don't know if you necessarily need tuning, the early M60 intakes simply flow more efficiently, so there isn't as much energy loss in the airflow, i.e. it's "harder" for a piston to pull in a cylinder-full of air with the less efficient manifold.

                        That said, I am sure that finer tuning in general will increase performance in any case.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          ive read of people making 15 hp gains on the vanos motor i thought about running a b40 one let me know if its worth doing
                          -His-
                          87 e30 325i
                          87 e24 m6
                          05 e83 x3
                          94 e32 740i 5spd
                          -Hers-
                          89 e30 325i
                          18 f48 x1

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by bradnic View Post
                            so on an M62 would you need an engine tune to take advantage of the larger intake runners of the M60 manifold? what about the M62TU?
                            No, the m62b44 non vanos and m60b40 intake manifolds are the same, except for the shape of the mouth of the runners.

                            The m62tub44 and m60b30 are the ones with the small runners.
                            85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
                            e30 restoration and V8 swap
                            24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

                            Comment


                              #15
                              I can confirm jgood's info here.

                              -Intake from an early m60 and early m62 non-vanos appear identical on the outside even have the same part #. Fuel rail is different (m60 has fpr)

                              -1992 m60 e32 intake is the 'good' one w/ horns but also has wedged throttle plate
                              -1998 m62 intake has no horns with good (flat) throttle plate





                              Last edited by motomaster99; 02-20-2013, 11:04 PM.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X