Find out about "S62 Modifications"

How to modify and upgrade the BMW S62

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the BMW S62 engine!"

Popular tuning sites like TorqueCars are regularly getting emails asking about how to improve the S62 from people inquiring about getting more power from the S62 and wanting to know what are the best S62 modifications. So let us look into BMW S62 mods and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some common pitfalls along the way.

Our aim here is to review S62 tuning and summarise the premier modifications. BMW S62 great bases for a tuning project and with the best tuning upgrades like a remap, turbo kits and camshafts you will really improve your driving experience.

When talking about the top parts for your S62 engine, we are going to focus on the modifications that give the best power gain for you money.

Improving air intake on the S62

You need air and fuel for an engine to work. If there is not enough fuel then it will run lean, if there is little flow of air it runs rich resulting in lost power . We'll pick up on fuelling later in this article but for now we shall look at air supply.

So it's important to any engine modification job to pull air into the S62 engine but this has a knock on effect with the air flow sensor.

It is common that there's a restriction in the air flow sensor AFM/MAF on the S62 when loads more air is being fed into the engine.

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

Air Intake manifolds carry the air during the suck phase from the filter and allow it to be fed into the engine cylinders with fuel for the squish phase.

The shape and flow rate of the Intake headers can make a noticeable improvement to fuel mixing and power on the S62.

It's not uncommon that intake manifold are begging for a performance upgrade, although a few manufacturers provide decently flowing intake manifold.

Larger S62 valves, doing some port work and head flowing will also boost torque, and as an added benefit will make space for a better torque increase on other parts.

S62 performance cam tips.

Each engine responds better to more or less aggressive cam durations than others.

The ecu map and fuel pump and injectors also have an effect on the bhp gains you'll achieve.

A longer valve duration can alter the bhp 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.

The cam profile plays a big part in the engines power output so cam upgrades make quite a large difference. The intake & exhaust durations will alter depending on the chosen cam profile, so large engines power gains are on offer for cam upgrades.

NB: Fast road camshafts usually push up the torque throughout the rpm band, you might lose a little low down bhp but your high end rpm power will be lifted.

Motorsport camshafts, push up the high end rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

For a car driven daily you need to optimize your torque band to your preferences.

I'd never have found a S62 Motorsport and race camshaft is a pleasure to live with when driving around busy urban areas.

Stage 1, 2 and 3 mods for the S62

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 S62 parts:

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

Stage 2 S62 parts:

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

Stage 3 S62 parts:

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

Remapping should help to to establish the full potential of all the upgrades you've done to your S62.

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 the outcome often rely on the upgrades you've applied and the condition of your engine.

Turbo modifications on the S62

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 S62.

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

When a car is fitted with a turbo modifications are giving better power gains and turbocharged engines are made with stronger components.

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

Discover these restrictions and install better quality crank and pistons to utilize the power.

We see many car owners spending a loads on turbo upgrades on the S62 only to suffer the indignity of watching the car go up in smoke just after it's first rolling road session.

Big upgraded turbochargers often suffer low end lag, and smaller turbochargers spool up much more quickly but do not have the peak rpm engines power gains.

Thanks to progress the choice of turbos is always moving on and we now see variable vane turbos, where the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end performance.

Twin scroll turbos divert the exhaust gases into 2 channels and feed these at differently angled vanes in the turbocharger. They also increase the scavenging effect of the engine.

Beefing up the air intake by adding a supercharger or additional turbo will help you achieve very large bhp gains, although more complex to install. We have this article covering twinchargers if you want to read more.

Tips about fuel supply on the S62

Don't forget to look at the fuelling when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty. At this point we flag up the need to over specify your injector capacity.

As a rule of thumb add 20% when buying an injector, which takes into account injector deterioration and affords some spare capacity should the engine need 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 S62 performance exhaust upgrades

The only time you should look to replace your exhaust system with an upgraded one is if your current exhaust is actually causing a flow problem.

On most factory exhausts you'll see the exhaust flow rate is fine 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 balance the flow of gases through the engine.

But if the exhaust pipe is too big, ie: it's over two and a half inches diameter, you will lose a great deal of the exhaust flow rate and end up losing power and torque.

Usual exhaust restrictions are traced to the catalyst installed, so adding a faster flowing high performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

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

Faults issues and things to look out for on the S62

Like most engines an S62, 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 S62, failure to do this will exacerbate engine wear, on a tuned S62 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 S62 why not pop over to the forums at TorqueCars where you can chat about S62 tuning options and read about others projects who may be planning to do similar modifications on their S62.

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This entry was posted under Makes and Models. Tags: BMW, engine
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