Quote:
Originally Posted by XutvJet
Some simple Googling searching shows that 1,200-1,600 F is a common and acceptable operating range for a cat, especially in later model cats where reduced emissions and fast light off is paramount. Cats like it hot. Of course is you're continually operating the cat in the 1,600+F range, you do risk melting it.
More power certainly generates more heat. One should expect that the life of the stock cat on a tuned BMW will be shortened. A catted aftermarket DP will help things, but again, that cat too will be compromised especially if the car is being raced for extended periods. Short bursts of power here and there shouldn't much of a cause for concern for a stock or aftermarket cat.
With the addition of more power, you are certainly reducing the life of the drivetrain, whether it be the cooling system, oiling system, headgasket, rod bearings, transmission, cat converter, etc. There is no "safe" way of modding a car. If you can't afford a catastrophic failure, then I'd strongly suggest NOT modding these motors. Costs to repair or replace the transmissions, head, and short block in these cars are astronomical. If you don't have at least $10K in a rainy day fund to fix a non-warrantied repair, I'd suggest that you not play the modding game, especially with a turbo BMW. Hell, I had a Stage I tuned 2012 WRX and had $10K set aside of a short replacement just in case.
Sure, the blocks are quite stout, but so many other things could be potentially break as you're pushing them outside the realm of what BMW designed them for. IMO, once you go beyond a 20% increase in power, you're walking on egg shells. People love to tout how strong these engines are (which there is some truth to it for sure), but bad things can and do happen, even to stock and lightly modded N55s.
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Great perspective for sure and dead on.. obviously failures can happen in stock configs and increasing load on the frame, motor and all subcomponents could cause a failure that would otherwise never happen.
OEM CPs blowing apart are a great example even at stock boost.. but good points none the less.
I appreciate the cat info!