Technical Should I mess with my engine?

2008 535xi

New Member
Apr 14, 2025
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I’ve thrown on Afe intake, vrsf chargepipe , bov, intercooler, oil catch can. B58 spark plugs and Delphi ignition coils. I’m about to throw on 19Ts and vrsf 3”downpipes and 2”inlet/outlet (gimme a better option if you’ve got one) will I need an aftermarket exhaust? I’m looking at prevent my engine from killing itself, I only plan on running 20lbs of boost & being high 400’s. Do I need to worry about my head gasket, get apr studs or where to start looking without dumping money
 

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Tzaks

Specialist
May 30, 2019
58
21
0
Ride
35i e89
As long as you have a good tuner, you should be alright.

Some form of cooling the intake might be worthwhile, like a methanol kit but you don't need to run meth, you can spray water. The twins can be a bit moody, rear turbo has the bad habit of getting play in the shaft and failing. Make sure you have a good 19T revision with upgraded bearings, otherwise turbo lab america sells an upgraded turbo bearing kit which should make your turbos more resilient.

The OEM exhaust is not bad but you may benefit from modifying it and adding a true X pipe to it. This will increase exhaust scavenging and free up some ponies and exhaust backpressure.

Oh and maintenance, make sure injectors are not leaky and the PCV system is healthy. You don't need to go external PCV setup, just walnut blast the valves every 50-80k miles.