E30 Zone

Please can someone advise me on this, I have heard that the heater plate in the manifold can be removed which is a big restrictor in performance. Is this true? If so hows it done and can someone who has done this inform me if is worth doing. Also what are the down sides, as the heater plate is there for a reason will the car still run fine through winter.

Thanks

I've seen this done, the heater plate is only really of use in much colder climates I would assume. But wether it gives more power or just maybe increases throttle response is debatable sonce I doubt anyones RR'd one before and after that one mod.

IIRC KOS on this forum had an IS pushing around 160BHP from memory from modded airbox with panel filter, heater plate removed, lightened fly wheel and a remap, maybe a few other toys.

Check these out;
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... late+318is
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... late+318is

heater plate makes f all difference to performance really. makes it easier to remove the inlet and gets rid of a potential area for annoying coolant leaks though.

kos's is only has a remap and airfilter i think

Does the larger throttle body mod that some people do much or is that also negligible?

yup, negligible imo

Seen many threads on here about M42 tuning but it seems that other than a re-map and forced induction, not much is proven without a lot of money?

yeah i'd go with that. usual stuff will give good gains - lighter f/w, bigger capacity, flowed head, cams etc etc. but yeah the standard car doesn't do bad hp/litre and has some quite tasty bits out of the box. is why i like it.

On my track slag iS I had the following... (engine wise)

heater plate removed - easy DIY mod (in fact, all these mods are!)

K&N ram air system

large bore rad

re-mapped

large bore throttle body

full stainless 1 box system (after a couple of other systems)

viscous fan removed

manual steering rack instead of the original power'd unit, removed pump and belt

Together they made a bit of difference. But singly, I think you'd never see any significant improvements.

It all adds up though, even the smallest things and since they cost F all to do may as well do them.

The way I look at it is fi you have to get to some part of the engine for example; When changing the intake gaskets, may as well remove the heater plate. When doing a clutch, might as well use an M20 one. When you've a leaky rack, swap it for a Z3 one

I'm doing my rack and heater plate this weekend I think. Pity I can only find an E36 unit though

a maf afm will help as a quite good gain i understand

agreen wrote:a maf afm will help as a quite good gain i understand

It's only a MAF, but it does replace the AFM.

Instead of that I would go full stand alone... a bit more expensive but will be worth it.

yeh replacethe maf for a afm this would help alot wouldent it i have been told it will

The other way round

no it wont. read the other thread about your chip etc.