Modding and performance tuning parts for the BMW N63 engine!

Tuners tips on "N63 Modifications"

How to modify and upgrade the BMW N63

"Comprehensive guide to tuning and performance parts on the BMW N63 engine!"

Sites like TorqueCars are regularly getting emails asking how to improve the N63 from people wanting to know what are the greatest N63 power upgrades. So let us look into BMW N63 tuning mods and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some frequent tuning mistakes along the way.

Let us outline options for your N63 tuning and point out the ultimate modifications for your car. BMW N63 great bases for a tuning project and with the best mods like remapping, turbo upgrades and camshafts you will increase your driving pleasure.

When talking about the ultimate parts for your N63 engine, we are going to concentrate on the parts that give the best power gain for you money.

N63 induction kits

Improving air intake on the N63

You need fuel and air for an engine to work. If there is a lack of fuel then it will run lean, if there is little flow of air it runs rich sapping power which risks damage to the N63. We'll pick up on fuelling later in this article but for now we shall look at air supply.

So Pushing air into each cylinder is the aim to any engine tuning task.

It is not unusual that there is a limit in the air flow sensor AFM/MAP on the N63 when a lot more air is being pulled into the engine.

We note 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited bhp and torque at a much lower level.

Air Intake manifolds flow the on the suck phase from the air cleaner and allow it to be fed into the engine cylinders with fuel for the squish phase.

Structure and rate of flow of the Intake headers can make a substantial improvement to fuel engine efficiency on the N63.

It's not uncommon that intake manifold are in desperate need of aftermarket parts, although a few OEM provide decently flowing intake manifold.

Larger N63 valves, carrying out port matching and head flowing will also boost bhp, and importantly will permit a greater bhp increase on other upgrades.

N63 performance cam tips.

Some N63 engines respond better to extreme camshaft durations so view each engine as unique.

The engine timing and fuelling also have an effect on the torque gains you'll make.

Extending exhaust or intake durations can alter the torque band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

Altering your N63 camshaft will make a dramatic difference to the engine bhp. Choosing a higher performance camshaft profile raises the bhp accordingly.

NB: Fast road cams usually raise the torque throughout the rpm range, you may lose a little low down torque but the top end will be better.

Competition cams, raise the top end band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

A Race camshaft won't do well if driving in heavy traffic.

You should ideally match your bhp range to your driving style so for a daily driver stick with a mild fast road N63 camshaft

Stage 1, 2 and 3 mods for the N63

Before we break the best tuning upgrades down into stages of tune, let's list the most effective tuning upgrades for you.

  1. Suspension Upgrades - always improve your cars handling
  2. Brake Upgrades - Even before adding power improve those brakes
  3. Intake - make sure the intake is not restricted, use filters and intake upgrades to improve this
  4. Exhaust - as with 3 ensure there is not restriction in the exhaust, cats are the usual bottleneck
  5. Tunes - remapping, piggyback ECU's and aftermarket ECU's can all make decent gains
  6. Fuelling - when you've increased power you'll need to match this with more fuel
  7. Turbo upgrades - Improving the intake with a large turbo and better flowing intercooler will be the biggest power gain you'll see (but one of the most complex).

This video guide to tuning cars is a great starting point to work from in your project.

Stage 1 N63 parts:

Drilled & smoothed airbox, Fast road camshaft, Sports exhaust manifold, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Panel air filters, Intake headers.

Stage 2 N63 parts:

fuel pump upgrades, induction kit, Ported and polished head, Fast road cam, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, high flow fuel injectors.

Tuning tips and articles Engine tuning Transmission tuning Care care Intake & exhaust mods Improve handling Forums

Stage 3 N63 parts:

Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Twin charging conversions, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Competition cam, Engine balancing & blueprinting.

The N63 engine blocks respond well to mods and we note that there is a growing number of mods and performance parts out there.

ECU mapping helps unlock the full potential of all the mods you've done to your N63.

You will typically expect to see gains of approximately 20-30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but your results often vary depending on the mods you've carried out and the condition of your engine.

Turbo modifications on the N63

To get a turbo working on a NASP engine there is a lot involved, from lowering compression ratio to improved fuel supply and mapping, so we have found a great guide to helpavoid the common pitfalls or end up with an unfinished project because you were not told what you were getting into by doing this on the N63.

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes superb power gains.

When the engine is turbocharged, parts are going to net you a larger power gain and you will discover turbo charged engines are built with harder and stronger components.

There are reliable limits for every engine, with some being over specified and some just sufficiently able to handle stock power

It is important to find these limits and upgrade to better quality crank and pistons to utilize the power.

There are many guys spending a fortune on turbo upgrades on the N63 only to suffer the humiliation of seeing the whole thing go up in smoke when it's finished.

Large capacity turbo units commonly experience a bottom end lag, and low capacity turbo units spool up quickly but won't have the peak rpm torque gains.

Thankfully the choice of turbo units is always increasing and we now see variable vane turbo units, where the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end bhp and torque.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust gases into 2 channels and flow these at differently angled vanes in the turbocharger. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

Beefing up the air intake by adding a supercharger or additional turbo will help you achieve very large power gains, although harder to configure. We have this feature on twinchargers if you want to read more.

Tips about fuel supply on the N63

When you raise the torque you will need to ramp up to the fuelling.

More torque needs more fuel. We would recommend you to be generous with your injector capacity.

As a rule of thumb add 20% to the flow rate when buying an injector, helps cope with injector deterioration and allows you some spare capacity should the engine require more fuel.

Don't forget that different fuel grades will usually require different settings, a high octane fuel will burn more efficiently than lower octane fuel for example. A car will trim fuel supply to keep within the ideal air fuel mix but at the extreme ends you may need to adjust your injector capacity, or the mapping or you'll get flat spots and potential lean or rich fuel issues..

Recommended N63 performance exhaust upgrades

You only need to to increase your exhaust system with an upgraded one is if the existing exhaust is actually creating a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you should find that your flow rate is still good even on modest power gains, but on a serious tuning project with a big boost in power you will certainly need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts can usually air flow through the engine but do not go too big or you could will reduce the flow rate. Stick to one and a half to two and half inches as a rule of thumb.

The usual suspects causing problems in your exhaust flow rate can be traced to the filters installed, so adding a freer flowing race alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Catalyst removal (NB:catalysts reduce harmful engine emissions) is illegal in most countries and regions.

Faults issues and things to look out for on the N63

Like most engines an N63, should have few issues if it gets properly serviced and looked after.

We cannot stress enough the need for oil changes with the correct grade of oil on the N63, failure to do this will exacerbate engine wear, on a tuned N63 this is more important than ever and close attention should be paid to your maintenance schedule.

If you are interested in learning more or getting impartial tuning advice for your N63 why not pop over to the forums at TorqueCars where you can chat about N63 tuning options and read about others projects who may be planning to do similar modifications on their N63.

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