E46 M3 performance upgrade

P Smit

New member


Promotec asked for photos, I hope the 2 I tried to include will open. The first one is of the intake now located in the airdam grill. It hurt when Steve said they were going to cut a hole in the mesh to fit the aluminium intake fitting. I asked him to have it anoadised black, as don't wanted it to stand out and I hate any exterior mods to my cars. If the perform well, the guys must not know where it comes from and I don't want to let my car look like "hoezit my bra"!

The second pic is of the induction kit under the hood with a larger diameter air mass sensor unit. The exhaust looks stock but sounds a bit more roartier.

Sorry guys, I missed the second pic in the uoloading process. Here it is. Cold air intake. "A La secret service" style.
 

P Smit

New member

I'll keep trying until I get it right!

I will ask RGM in the new year to e-mail me the graph. Can we also upload soundclips! This M3 sounds like my wife says "pie__", eisj no, I can't say it here, just trust me, close to the sound of the old super touring BM's!!
 

P Smit

New member
Karthik, the induuction kit inclluding the oversize air mass meter unit, plus the remap of the Unichip, cost about R8k. One can do the cold air kit as a DIY job, but you will have to get the air mass unit, to allow more air volume into the engine. The ducting is aeroducting, high heat resistance and it retains the original inside diameter all the way through.

The carbon/f airbox has various diameters of fitting tube which can be cut of to the correct ducting size, fitted with a cone type highflow air filted.
 

P Smit

New member
Sankekur
Did you know that the E46 M3 is designed with a semi drysump? For racing use yes, but to squeeze out 2-3 kw ekstra for a heck of a lot of money, will let a racing type drysump oil supply system be one of the last mods to be had.

Any case, I washed my car lunchtime and drove to a large parking area at a maall to take nice pics for you guys of the, guess what, IT STARTED RAINING!!!
:argh:

I'll try again tomorow. Here's one pic solong.


 

Sankekur

///Member
I am referring to full dry sump, and a couple of kW might be important to get to your target.

You might also want to consider something like a 4.11 (in that range) ratio diff if you are going to fit cams, to make up for the low end torque that you will be losing.
 

Legacy

///Member
Well for some massive top end power Schrick does have 10 different sports and racing cams for the S54 engine with the most aggressive being a 304 degree cam with exhaust peak timing of 104. The Schrick part number is 0415 E1 041-01. From the Schrick brochure it seems that valve springs, rocker arms and retainers all need to be replaced with hardcore Schrick ones as well as the notes on the specific cam mentiones that no Vanos can be used with the cams so it would definitely be necessary to go for something like a 4.10 diff ratio as torque will decrease significantly.

Maybe order yourself these as then see how the car is with the standard cams and power since if the car is not very drivable it will be even worse with a massively aggressive cam.

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-1...e46-m3-e60-m5-e63-m6-warehouse-clearance.aspx

:thumbs:
 

P Smit

New member
Sankekur and Legacy
I appreciate the technical tips a lot!

I will definately make a thorough study of cams to be considered. This car is not being modified to become an outright track or drag M3. It must be a good allrounder which my wife will also enjoy to drive the car to town.

You guys know that everybody allways compares everything to M3's! I would dearly like to( which I will do), drive the car on a racetrack on a track day and set up a good time and let especially my wife have a treat being my passenger.

So kw is only one of the components to be improved. I am looking at suspension and brakes to be modified as well. Does anybody have experience of the products of Powerbrake? They are local and seem to have sorted out the alloy mix used for the disks. My "oulike" wife is man about red brake calipers, but do I need to change callipers or do I go for the GT-type Powerbrake disk which is a tad thicker than the OEM disks and offers n little bit wider friction surface, used in conjunction with the Powerbrake supplied pads?

The suspension, height adjustable coilovers with adjustable top mounting plates? Again any suggestions. Remember that the car will still by used around town mostly at standard ride height, but which may be lowered for track days?
 

Sankekur

///Member
For everyday driving I would try not to go for a too aggressive cam, unless it is offset with a change in diff ratio as well, but too high diff ratio also makes the car not so nice as a daily drive, depending on what you do, lots of city driving then its not to much of an issue, but if you do lot of highway driving it will increase the cruising RPM too much.
One thing to always keep in mind with NA modifications apart from the standard exhaust, filter and chip stuff, is it tends to exchange low and low-mid range torque for peak power and this in essence make a car not so nice to drive everyday, since you won't be driving your car in the higher RPM ranges all the time. Less torque also negatively affects fuel consumption in city driving, and the M3 is not the most economical car to start off with.

Though I would be the first one to say get a big brake upgrade, as I am a big fan of them, you will only really need it for track use, but you could get away with a lot less for a lot less for track applications. As for powerbrake I have no personal experience with them but I have heard a lot of good things about them so they are definitely worth a look.

As for coilovers, from what I have read they are a very good upgrade for the standard suspension, and because you can set things like spring rate damper stiffness they are actually sensible on an everyday road car as well, just be sure to do research as the a specific kit's height adjustability range to be sure you get one than you can set high enough for everyday use, but i don't think this should be too much of a problem.
 

Legacy

///Member
With brakes and suspension its all about you budget, I would say the best you can get would would be these however the prices are quite ridiculous.

Brakes:

Front:

http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/M-S...e-Kit:-380mm-6-Piston-Front/product_info.html

248x248_wheels%202.JPG


See these are red so your wife should love them :rollsmile:

Rear:

http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/M-S...ke-Kit:-345mm-4-Piston-Rear/product_info.html

Suspension:

http://www.jlevistreetwerks.com/M-S...0-Coilover-System---BMW-E46/product_info.html

M3M5Power on this forum has a set of the Bilstein PSS10's on his rebuild M3, maybe drop him a pm as see if he can get it cheaper for you.
 

kabal

Active member
it is

in cape town, the land of nice thick power giving air, stock E46 M3's make about 220-230 kw on the flywheel

adding 70-80kw on a daily driver, hmm, that is nearly a 33% increase
 
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