Could I raise or lower my compression with this....?

[AS007]

http://vacmotorsports.com/cgi-bin/view_item.pl?item_id=563

If I installed a different size head gasket could I slightly raise or lower my compression ratio enough to make a noticeable difference in power....?

[ritos530i]

N/A raising the compression to 11.1.1 or better you would see more power top end but would loose power in the lower RPMs. Lowering the compression is ideal for lots of FI power or Nitrous. Now to do this you could put lower/higher compression pistons, thicker/thinner head gasket. The thing is, it just not that simple because you will need tuning done on ecu and the cams may have to be changed as well. I just had my head done and they changed my compression but slightly. I notice a light differents in higher rpms but until i put it on a dyno, there is really no way to know for sure.
But to answer the question, raising the compression will give you more power in higher rpms but thats not ideal for lots of power when it comes to FI/nitrous applications.

[m3mobbin]

Werd, after I threw on a 0.060" MLS when I rebuilt my m52 plus I had 0.005" taken off the head so I upped the compression to 10.8 to 1 or so. I barely noticed any difference, after talking to some shops they said that raising the CR doesn't make a big difference unless you get a custom tune.

On BFC many FI guys throw on thicker head gaskets to dramatically lower the CR since the factory internals are still good to 500-700whp depending on the motor.

N/A raising the compression to 11.1.1 or better you would see more power top end but would loose power in the lower RPMs. Lowering the compression is ideal for lots of FI power or Nitrous. Now to do this you could put lower/higher compression pistons, thicker/thinner head gasket. The thing is, it just not that simple because you will need tuning done on ecu and the cams may have to be changed as well. I just had my head done and they changed my compression but slightly. I notice a light differents in higher rpms but until i put it on a dyno, there is really no way to know for sure.
But to answer the question, raising the compression will give you more power in higher rpms but thats not ideal for lots of power when it comes to FI/nitrous applications.

[Tyler@UniqueDesign]

Werd, after I threw on a 0.060" MLS when I rebuilt my m52 plus I had 0.005" taken off the head so I upped the compression to 10.8 to 1 or so. I barely noticed any difference, after talking to some shops they said that raising the CR doesn't make a big difference unless you get a custom tune.

On BFC many FI guys throw on thicker head gaskets to dramatically lower the CR since the factory internals are still good to 500-700whp depending on the motor.

E36 internals only.

[m3mobbin]

Has anyone on these forums actually pushed the limits of a m52tu or m54? I haven't seen any high whp cars running these motors. Have you seen anyone push the limits of the factory internals on any of the non-M e46s, I've heard many e46 guys say that the stock m52tu/m54 can't be pushed hard but i've never seen anyone try to do it. I'm curious to see what these motors put out to before you need to swap out the internals.
E36 internals only.

[Tyler@UniqueDesign]

Has anyone on these forums actually pushed the limits of a m52tu or m54? I haven't seen any high whp cars running these motors. Have you seen anyone push the limits of the factory internals on any of the non-M e46s, I've heard many e46 guys say that the stock m52tu/m54 can't be pushed hard but i've never seen anyone try to do it. I'm curious to see what these motors put out to before you need to swap out the internals.

The weak link is in the rods and the block. The aluminum block can't take the abuse of the iron block, and the rods are not as strong as they could be for FI apps.

I know our car has about 400 RWHP on stock internals (give or take), but that still isn't near the 600 level that can be had on the iron blocks bottom end.

[photogenic]

The weak link is in the rods and the block. The aluminum block can't take the abuse of the iron block, and the rods are not as strong as they could be for FI apps.

I know our car has about 400 RWHP on stock internals (give or take), but that still isn't near the 600 level that can be had on the iron blocks bottom end.

if anyone were to push an engine it would be the m54b30 cause i think it could take way more than anything else.

isn't there someone with the m54b30 pushing like above 10psi custom turbo? or supercharger i don't remember.

[ritos530i]

I can tell you from experience that the M54B30 can be pushed to the limit and 400rwhp is not it. I have the M54b30 motor as well and I am pushing it to the limit as you can see in my photo on this post. Its by far the most distructive way of doing so but it proves the M54B30 will hold its own if its done right.

[pei330ci]

Has anyone on these forums actually pushed the limits of a m52tu or m54? I haven't seen any high whp cars running these motors. Have you seen anyone push the limits of the factory internals on any of the non-M e46s, I've heard many e46 guys say that the stock m52tu/m54 can't be pushed hard but i've never seen anyone try to do it. I'm curious to see what these motors put out to before you need to swap out the internals.

Stay tuned, there will be some big numbers posted by a number of people with M54s within the next year.

The weak link is in the rods and the block. The aluminum block can't take the abuse of the iron block, and the rods are not as strong as they could be for FI apps.

I know our car has about 400 RWHP on stock internals (give or take), but that still isn't near the 600 level that can be had on the iron blocks bottom end.

Just to elabourate, rods are more an issue at high RPM when you lift off of the throttle than under load.

We'll see what the block can take soon. There are some areas I believe can be improved, but it's not going to be cheap. Most will probably opt for an S54 or even an S62 at that point...