318is heater plate.

Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:44 am

hi all just wondering if some of ye have taking the heater pipes off the throttle body.have ye just taken the hoses off and looped them or have ye taken the plate off clompletely and then looped them as the throttle body can bolt on without it or does this cause problems with the throttle cable etc.have not tried it yet just had a quick look at it and wondering what way others have done it.

Mon Dec 18, 2006 2:54 pm

i removed the throttle body, then removed the heater plates, and put the pipe that goes from the head into the plate, back onto the lug that goes from the plate to the head... if that makes sense?!

basically, theres a bit of piep 3" long (approx). it comes out of the head, and into the plate. then, when the coolant has run around the plates, it goes back into the head, via another 3" bit of pipe. i just connected the to coolants ports on the head using one bit of pipe, and VOILAH! it works fine...

you really can feel the difference

Mon Dec 18, 2006 2:59 pm

I did this. No problem removing it completely.

Mon Dec 18, 2006 3:00 pm

Same here,removed throttle body,junked the heater plate and the heater pipe on the bottom of the throttle body.
Then just joined the two pipes together with some brake pipe and jubilee clips,makes a lot of difference I reckon and it makes a cool whistling noise on part throttle.

Well worth doing its a sh1te design,i can't see what Bmw were thinking that day????

Mon Dec 18, 2006 3:06 pm

schuey wrote:Well worth doing its a sh1te design,i can't see what Bmw were thinking that day????

it was a recall schuey. apparently, the M42 suffered badly with the throttle plate "freezing" into an open position as the cold air rushed through the throttle plate, similar to when a motorbike experiences carb-freeze.

ergo, the throttle plate was invented, and every iS in the world brought back to the dealership to have these fitted!

Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:23 pm

Sounds interesting!!

Won't removing these plates increase the chance of the throttle frezing in an open position though?

Has anyone got any pics at all?

Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:25 pm

Kedge old boy... thought you'd already done this mod...

Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:28 pm

No mate!

Just dropped ma other engine in, having probs getting that fired up now

Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:29 pm

kedge, this is what i thought!

about 6 months ago, everyone with an iS wet their pants coz they found out this mod, and when i asked people at work (bearing in mind, E30's were brought out in theirera) they told me about the recall. so, i then told everyone about what i had found out, and was basically told to 'shut-up' as it would never happen in this country...

...so i fuck!ng did it anyway, and i havnt had any probs as of yet, but you just dont know, do you...

Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:31 pm

Think i'll concentrate on getting the engine running first and then see how u guys get on through the winter! I guess if any problems occur this is the time it will do it?!

So how mush of a difference to the performance does it make?

Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:35 pm

you cant really say!

obviously, the air going through the manifold will be colder, which is always good. i found that at higher revs, the response was better, and it always doesnt feel like it 'splutters' if that makes sense?

Tue Dec 19, 2006 12:09 am

Cheers for the replies i done it earlier took the plate out and used a joiner on the hoses takes all of 5 mins.But have not tried it yet.Just going to do a few little mods like this to pep it up a bit not really used to the little 4 pots just using it as an every day car have 325's and an e36 evo for the weekends.

but the is seems like a god little engine i like them a lot have worked on a fair few now and driven them seem very fun and they aint that far off a 325i.

Tue Dec 19, 2006 10:41 am

[aviator head on] You can still get carb ice,and similar effects in this country! it is possible at ambient temps up to 30 deg c in moist air,mainly at low power settings. Not much chance of it at high power settings though.Non fuel injected aircraft have a carb heat switch,and injected ones have a similar set up called alternate air-both heat the inlet air when selected to avoid the above mentioned ice probs,although in aircraft the ice builds up so that the engine dies due to lack of air rather than throttle sticking open.It happens at lower power settings as the partially open butterfly in either your carb or throttle body causes a greater venturi than a fully open one,causing the air to cooll quickly to below freezing,which if the air is moist will freeze.[aviator mode off]

So,it won't be a problem in an IS because none of us use part throttle!!!!
Also the air temp in the engine bay is probably to high unless it was properly cold and you were mincing around it wouldn't happen!

Its more of a problem with carbs since the fuel vapour is nearby as opposed to injection-since the injectors are not near to the butterfly int he throttle body.

Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:45 am

stuartgallafant wrote:kedge, this is what i thought!

about 6 months ago, everyone with an iS wet their pants coz they found out this mod, and when i asked people at work (bearing in mind, E30's were brought out in theirera) they told me about the recall. so, i then told everyone about what i had found out, and was basically told to 'shut-up' as it would never happen in this country...

...so i ****!ng did it anyway, and i havnt had any probs as of yet, but you just dont know, do you...

I can't see it freezing open overnight.

Therefore, it would only freeze open once up and running for a bit and by that time you'd think the engine heat would be enough to keep it normal.

I think it's for extreme climates like Scandinavia or something.
having read this though, I'm not sure I'd do it as you never know when you'll find yourself tearing through a Forest in Norway and the car won't stop!

I guess a stuck open throttle is pretty rad.