air flow upgrade?

[Brighouse-gti]

Hello all! I was reading on some random yank site the other day that there's a possible MAF upgrade of sorts for the mk2? From what I could gather theres a direct swap for a MAF from a BMW, possibly from an E30 straight into your mk2! There was some boring stuff about rodeos and nascar, and it then went on to say something like, the MAF on the mk2 doesn't actually measure how much air goes passed through it, it estimates it by how much the flap is open, where as the BMW MAF does measure how much air passes through it, and therefore fuels the car better to allow for better performance (or economy if thats your thing). Now it could just be some bubba gum shrimp geeza chatting beans from the good olde US of A, but I'm thinking they maybe some truth to what's been said. Soooooo where I'm going with this is... has anyone heard of this aparent upgrade of sorts, or maybe someone has tried it and has some feedback for us all to share. Or if you think its all a load of **** then feel free to express yourself! Remember, sharing is caring. Thanks for your time dub lovers!

[gazareth]

there is an air flow meter of the bigger engine bmws that fits quite easily. think its from 2.8 and 3.5 litre. 2.5 and under is the same as standard mk2 pb. but for a mild tuned pb its not needed. even the 1.8 16v engine is meant to go well when fitted with the standard pb air flow meter. depends how much power your after?

[Brighouse-gti]

Mmmmmmmm more power!! I'm currently running a 2e bottom end on a standard PB head, ported n polished with re-profiled valves and up-rated springs, a kent GS2H cam, and full power-flow exhaust system. If I can squeeze a few more ponies under the bonnet I'm all for it! But back to the point, if the BMW MAF does measure airflow better than the standard mk2 MAF, then it must be a better all round part to fit with regards to fuelling? Surely a more accurate reading of air equals a more accurate delivery of fuel?.. and with said work done to engine, it could be a beneficial part to to fit compared to your standard PB factory spec engine?!?!

[Sgt_Lemon]

How much effect did the up-rated springs have? I know it's a bigger deal on a single spring cam as you can get valve drift with a higher lift cam but did it have any good gains. I plan to have the same setup within a few months.

[Diamond Hell]

Surely a more accurate reading of air equals a more accurate delivery of fuel?.. and with said work done to engine, it could be a beneficial part to to fit compared to your standard PB factory spec engine?!?!

Not really - there's a certain size of inlet that is optimal for your engine.

Also delivery of fuel is related to more parameters than your very basic PB engine management monitors, specifically you have no wide-band lambda to see if the engine is running rich or lean.

Have you changed the map on the ECU at all?  That might well free up some more donkeys.

How 'full' is the exhaust?  Up to a 4-branch?  If not I'd go looking there for some gains before mucking about with the airflow meter.

[clipperjay]

MAF is just a tiny part of getting power!

1) You are limited to air temps going in
2) The volume of airflow is restricted
3) The car is only going to use what it needs
4) The airflow is restricted going out
5) The extra airflow can only be used with a equal amount of fuel going in!
6) Super charged/ turbo cars only use less than what is usually produced going in hence most of the air is vented whooosshhh!
7) Most people try and smooth out the air box so the air box acts like a ram air scoop or get a more direct cooler air source, but be warned change the filter more as those plastic ridges catch allot of water and crap from going into your injection system!

[gazareth]

the standard air flow meter is meant to work fine up to about 170bhp. bmw e30 325i uses same air flow meter and puts out 169bhp. there will be a lot more restrictions to deal with before you reach the need to change the afm.

[Brighouse-gti]

I love a good post, when the reply's you get start getting all technical. So yeah, if there are no real gains to be had by fitting the BMW MAF, then it's simply a case of it aint broken, don't fix it. I was just looking for general info and feedback. So thank you.