Hi everyone!
I read an article of Total BMW mag which mentioning that removing M42 heater plate (installed between throtle body and intake manifold) will increase HP.
Did anyone ever try it? Is it true that it will increase HP?
Regards
318is M42 heater plate removal
Moderator: martauto
I removed the heater plate from my IS powered touring, the only difference that i could tell is that with the first cold snap we had a few weeks ago it ran really badly, needless to say i have reinstated it 
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An E30 touring, two E28 M5's and an E28 528i.
that would have had nothing to do with the heater plate removal unless you didnt do the job correctly.jam172 wrote:I removed the heater plate from my IS powered touring, the only difference that i could tell is that with the first cold snap we had a few weeks ago it ran really badly, needless to say i have reinstated it
2.1 318is, MS, LPG. 200bhp, 175ft/lbs GONE!
Boxster, e46 m3, e36 sport touring and alpina B3 3.0
Exactly how can I get it wrong, remove the throttle body, remove the heater plate, link the coolant pipes together, bolt the throttle body back on, job done not exactly hi tech even for me.
Don't you think that just perhaps BMW might know a little more about why they recalled them and fitted them than we do?
How do you then explain that it now runs well again?
Tell me exactly what power gains you found?
Don't you think that just perhaps BMW might know a little more about why they recalled them and fitted them than we do?
How do you then explain that it now runs well again?
Tell me exactly what power gains you found?
An E30 touring, two E28 M5's and an E28 528i.
I'd imagine you introduced an air leak. Did you replace the tb gaskets when you did the job? Getting it air tight is critical as otherwise you'll be introducing unmetered air. The purpose of the heater plate is to prevent the butterfly from icing in cold climates, removing it will have no effect on ordinary running, thus the obvious conclusion is that you did something wrong. If you'd said you had a sticky throttle following it, that would be a different matter.jam172 wrote:Exactly how can I get it wrong, remove the throttle body, remove the heater plate, link the coolant pipes together, bolt the throttle body back on, job done not exactly hi tech even for me.
Don't you think that just perhaps BMW might know a little more about why they recalled them and fitted them than we do?
How do you then explain that it now runs well again?
Tell me exactly what power gains you found?
It is totally inaccurate to suggest that removing the heater plate will affect the normal running of the car. End of. Agreed it has a minimal effect on the performace, but equally I don't see the point in messing around with air filters and CAI etc if you're going to leave two hot metal plates attached to the throttle body.
2.1 318is, MS, LPG. 200bhp, 175ft/lbs GONE!
Boxster, e46 m3, e36 sport touring and alpina B3 3.0
Quite obviuosly you feel extremly passionate about this, i on the other hand don't, new gaskets were installed so doubt that would be the cause. We will just have to agree to disagree, as i say i have refitted the heater plate with no more problems, if the heater plate was installed for much colder climates, why recall uk cars?tim_s wrote:I'd imagine you introduced an air leak. Did you replace the tb gaskets when you did the job? Getting it air tight is critical as otherwise you'll be introducing unmetered air. The purpose of the heater plate is to prevent the butterfly from icing in cold climates, removing it will have no effect on ordinary running, thus the obvious conclusion is that you did something wrong. If you'd said you had a sticky throttle following it, that would be a different matter.jam172 wrote:Exactly how can I get it wrong, remove the throttle body, remove the heater plate, link the coolant pipes together, bolt the throttle body back on, job done not exactly hi tech even for me.
Don't you think that just perhaps BMW might know a little more about why they recalled them and fitted them than we do?
How do you then explain that it now runs well again?
Tell me exactly what power gains you found?
It is totally inaccurate to suggest that removing the heater plate will affect the normal running of the car. End of. Agreed it has a minimal effect on the performace, but equally I don't see the point in messing around with air filters and CAI etc if you're going to leave two hot metal plates attached to the throttle body.
An E30 touring, two E28 M5's and an E28 528i.
No, I'm not passionate about this, but I do like to think things through and am interested in your experiences. Quite simply having done this to several cars I know that it shouldn't cause your car to run badly. If you can provide a reason why having hot metal plates around the throttle body will change your car from 'running really badly' to running fine, I'd be interested to hear it. The inlet manifold of the e30 gets fairly warm by the time the car is at operating temperature anyway. What do you mean by running really badly anyway?
Having used S50 and S14 throttle bodies I also know that these cars do not run the coolant lines to the throttle, in fact the s50b30 has a ceramic plate between the TBs and the head to keep engine temp away from the TBs. Neither has the oil breather directly attached to the throttle bodies however. I've removed these coolant lines on several cars including an m44 (which heats the DISA valve and breather assembly, not the throttle) and an m52 (the latter so I could use the feeds for an lpg vaporisor), and never seen any negative impact on the car's running, and neither would I expect there to be. I'll have a read of the TIS later on and see if I can find any info on the heater plate recall.
Having used S50 and S14 throttle bodies I also know that these cars do not run the coolant lines to the throttle, in fact the s50b30 has a ceramic plate between the TBs and the head to keep engine temp away from the TBs. Neither has the oil breather directly attached to the throttle bodies however. I've removed these coolant lines on several cars including an m44 (which heats the DISA valve and breather assembly, not the throttle) and an m52 (the latter so I could use the feeds for an lpg vaporisor), and never seen any negative impact on the car's running, and neither would I expect there to be. I'll have a read of the TIS later on and see if I can find any info on the heater plate recall.
2.1 318is, MS, LPG. 200bhp, 175ft/lbs GONE!
Boxster, e46 m3, e36 sport touring and alpina B3 3.0
Tim I reallly don't mean to cause offense, you quite clearly have much more knowledge of things mechanical than i could ever dream to have, i am merely trying to convey my own exprience of this. Here's how it went:tim_s wrote:No, I'm not passionate about this, but I do like to think things through and am interested in your experiences. Quite simply having done this to several cars I know that it shouldn't cause your car to run badly. If you can provide a reason why having hot metal plates around the throttle body will change your car from 'running really badly' to running fine, I'd be interested to hear it. The inlet manifold of the e30 gets fairly warm by the time the car is at operating temperature anyway. What do you mean by running really badly anyway?
Having used S50 and S14 throttle bodies I also know that these cars do not run the coolant lines to the throttle, in fact the s50b30 has a ceramic plate between the TBs and the head to keep engine temp away from the TBs. Neither has the oil breather directly attached to the throttle bodies however. I've removed these coolant lines on several cars including an m44 (which heats the DISA valve and breather assembly, not the throttle) and an m52 (the latter so I could use the feeds for an lpg vaporisor), and never seen any negative impact on the car's running, and neither would I expect there to be. I'll have a read of the TIS later on and see if I can find any info on the heater plate recall.
I read a previous thread on the removal of the heater plate and thought it seemed to be a sound idea. For 3 weeks after removal it ran as well as it did before, although i could not feel any gain in power, which suprised me as i could clearly see that the heater plate was restricting the opening to the inlet manifold.
As i said the first really cold morning we had it started fine and i left it running whilst i scrapped the ice off the windows, it cut out three times but restarted ok. Jumped into drive to work and it coughed and hickuped for the 15 mile journey, as soon as the outside temp went up later in the morning, i went out to site and it ran well again
It did the same over the next couple of mornings until i refitted it, no problems since, so i put it down to that 
An E30 touring, two E28 M5's and an E28 528i.
Interesting discussion friends.
The reason why I raise this question is based on an article in TBMW about 3-4 months ago where the owner of white 318 is m42 claimed that the heater plate is restrictive and he can get some HP by removing it.
I live in a hot climate (Indonesia) and as Tim said, the inlet manifold of the e30 gets fairly warm by the time the car is at operating temperature anyway.
So, if the article on TBMW is correct, I think removing it won't create any problem.
The reason why I raise this question is based on an article in TBMW about 3-4 months ago where the owner of white 318 is m42 claimed that the heater plate is restrictive and he can get some HP by removing it.
I live in a hot climate (Indonesia) and as Tim said, the inlet manifold of the e30 gets fairly warm by the time the car is at operating temperature anyway.
So, if the article on TBMW is correct, I think removing it won't create any problem.
