Mods for 330i steptronic

[1lum1nat1]

Hello gents

I doubt I'll do this any time soon, but I'd like to get some info.

From what I can gather on the net the first few steps in gaining performance on naturally aspirated motors are intake, exhaust & then chip, right?

Now, most companies claim pretty good gains with induction kits, for example K&N claim 11.xx hp, now this is pretty optimistic from the limited info I got. Most people say it's between 3-4hp. Now, should I rather then just go for the flat panel K&N & just do the drop in or go for the induction kit or maybe even the Simota cf kit?

Then exhaust. I see most people rave about Powerflow, are they the best in the business? I'm not in the position to fork out for an AC Schnitzer, but I would'nt mind paying up to R4500, I'm really not sure what they got for, so I might stretch my budget a little bit. What gains can you expect from the exhaust?

Then the last step, remapping the ECU. Now, I'm not too clued up on these things (I'm sure you could've guessed this by now), but is this even an option for me since I've got a steptronic box?

Taking all this into consideration & the info I got when I first started looking for my car, will this put alot more stress on my auto tranny? Once again, I think it was Gizmo that said it's the torque that kills the auto boxes, should I even consider any of these steps?


Any & all advice/suggestions welcome & appreciated, thanks.

 

[Rennzport]

i doubt the torque u get from those mods are gonna do anything to ur tranny.. But i have no personal experience of modding an auto e46.

 

[msm]

IIRC, a stock 330d makes 480NM of torque - doubt u'll ever reach that with modding a 330i ... however, I would do a gearbox oil change at 130k - 150k to be on the safe side.

Also, since you've got an auto box, try not to lose your low to midrange torque in an effort to go for outright power, as your box then starts "hunting" a bit to get going. The 330i in stock form is fairly well balanced for an auto box - just enough torque low down to be smooth with an auto, but sweet enough to get to the red line when you want it to.

 

[1lum1nat1]

Thanks Revo & msm, always nice to get some piece of mind from the more knowledgeable.

msm, are you saying I should rather keep it stock or do you have some other suggestions?

To be honest, I have almost no idea what the outcome of the individual or combined mods will do or gain, thus I'm asking what should I do.

 

[1lum1nat1]

RGM's stage 1 conversion pretty much has the combination I had in mind: http://www.rgmotorsport.com/html/e46_330i_ci_ce.html Any idea what they charge?


Anyone had any experience with Noiseboys in Bloem? (very unlikely)

 

[///Marksman]

hey man, congrats on the car!

i dont know what your goal for your car is and how long you plan to keep it. but personally if i had to get a 330 again... this time i'd start of with an intake and exhaust/decat, which would not yield that much power but may help ever so slighty with throttle response and the SOUND is awesome.

If the budget permits, then go with a LSD with a more aggresive final drive ratio. mechanical grip will be so much better, asc/dsc will intervene much less and acceleration through the gears will be more urgent and keep you smiling.

Bushings; lower controller arm bushings & rear trailing arm bushings - this will sharpening up your steering nicely

Brakes; stainless steel brake lines, fluid and pads - there are good aftermarket alternatives as opposed to oem (dont use Ferodo pads on the stock discs)

chassis; coilovers would be excellent (again if budget permits), strut brace up front and front & rear swaybars to dial out some of the understeer from factory

your car will have a good allround package and adding some extra bhp/kw's via ecu reflash and "freeing" up some bhp/kw's via underdrive pulleys and weight reduction will be like icing on a cake... you wont get much unless you go force fed, i'm not sure what the tranny will think of that though

anyways thats all i can think of now, time to party:thumbsup:

 

[1lum1nat1]

Thanks DiVinci

I'll probably keep her for a minimum of 4-5 years, if the budget permits it, I won't sell her, the E46 (for me) is one of the most beautiful cars BMW ever made.

I don't want to go forced induction, but I've read of a few supercharged auto's, but the gains are'nt as good as on the manual.

Please do me a favour & just quote your post & add rough estimates (pricing) for your suggested upgrades. I won't be able to do alot at once & it would probably happen in drips & draps as my budget permits.

Thanks again.

 

[///Marksman]

these are rough guestimates in dollars. Obviously the cost of shipping, duties etc are going to want to make you cry but it should give you an idea of how much tears you will shed...

i think a few items could be purchased locally, but not sure on the pricing

Cold air intake $350+ -- Exhaust; Supersprint cat back $1600, Supersprint muffler $800, R1000-2000 for a decat

Limited slip diff - $1300 - $1700 theres a few out there, you should look around. this is expensive but i rate its 1 of the better mods availible for a non M car

Bushings - +- $200 for RTAB's and LCB's - Powerflex has a great rep

Brakes - SS Lines, fluid and pads $200

Chassis - +- $1700 for coilovers, $200 for the strut brace and +- $300 for swaybars

Pulleys - $250

ECU reflash - no idea

At the end of the day, i urge you to look around as pricing will vary. it all depends on what YOU are looking for
:thumbsup:

 

[1lum1nat1]

Yeah they smoke you on imports. I used to import alot of stuff for my pc. It's the value of the item + 10% +14%vat & then you add the shipping. Shipping is usually the killer here.


For the intake. I see on E46fanatics they all love the Dinan intake, http://www.dinancars.com/store/product.php?productid=2415&cat=412&page=1 it's $299, but would end up being $425 if shipping is $50, the AFE unit is alot cheaper though & they seem to like it aswell.. Whereas I might be able to get a Simota for R2k (if I remember correctly) aswell as the K&N 57ii. Or just get a flat panel K&N filter? What would you take & why? I think the K&N is a good choice.

The exhaust, I think I'm going to go local here, I'll contact Powerflow & hear what they say, because $2400 for an exhaust system sounds a bit ludicrous, especially considering the age & value of my car.

RGM got a Polyurethane suspension bushing kit aswell as a strut brace & a antiroll ba rset (Is this the sway bars?), should I consider this? I see Powerflex's local site is down, but they'll go for double the price as that on the uk site

Will I be able to get pulleys locally?

RGM uses unichip & from what I can tell Snails conversion si the best tuners for the unichip in SA & they go for R2500-R3000.

LSD & coilovers are out of my range.

 

[freerider]

http://www.esstuning.com/default.asp?c=shop&cat=93&subcat=101&subcat2=114&id=

That is all.

 

[1lum1nat1]

http://www.esstuning.com/default.asp?c=shop&cat=93&subcat=101&subcat2=114&id=

That is all.

Did you maybe have a look @ the price? :shocked:

. . . In the future maybe . . . but not on the auto.

 

[1lum1nat1]

Have anybody used RGM before? Were you satisfied with their work?

 

[freerider]

kobus325is has a RGM stage 1 on his M3, maybe find out from him what it entails.

ESS make some awesome chargers, it would be well worth it to save and have it done if plan on any major power increases, there r loads of guys in the states running the TS2 on auto 330i's

 

[Gizmo]

RGM do top quality work but rather expensive, you pay for what you get.

You can pick up an open diff with a higher ratio for about R1200. This will give you a noticeable increase in acceleration, they call it "The poor man's supercharger".

 

[///Marksman]

RGM do top quality work but rather expensive, you pay for what you get.

You can pick up an open diff with a higher ratio for about R1200. This will give you a noticeable increase in acceleration, they call it "The poor man's supercharger".

Gizmo, am i right in thinking that you could build in an lsd into an open diff at a later stage?

---

http://www.esstuning.com/default.asp?c=shop&cat=93&subcat=101&subcat2=114&id=

That is all.

+ 1 on the ts2.. then theres still ts2+ and the big daddy ts3:drool:

everytime i see the letters "ess" i think of the Loaded CSL... what a machine, absolutely insane

 

[1lum1nat1]

Yeah I'm not planning on forced induction anytime soon.

Remember I'm only starting working next year so I'm not financially in a position to get all the nifty new gadgets nor are my parents. To drop 80k on a supercharger atm would just be stupid & does'nt make sense if the charger would cost almost 60% of the value of my car.

Maybe in a few years I might just get a manual 330i & go forced induction.

I think my first steps would be:

1: Intake - Someone recommended me a BMC CDA intake. What do you guys think of this? Or should I just rather opt for the K&N 57i?

2: Then exhaust: Another suggestion was headers & full exhaust setup from TNT, or a Van der Linde system (why do I get the idea this is going to be expensive?), I'm also just going to check what the Noize Boys in Bloem(anyone have any experience with these guys?) has to offer.

3: Software: Either Xcede or Unichip

or/&

4: diff: Now here I need some advice. From what I can gather, a LSD is the way to go, right? But it's going to cost a pretty penny? Gizmo, what ratio would you be looking for & if I decided to get it done, would you be able to do the work & what would it cost including the diff? (You can always pm, if you want)

 

[vanos500]

Have anybody used RGM before? Were you satisfied with their work?

I am considering RGM, but still looking at alternatives.

RGM recently quoted me R14,995 inc for the Stage 1 on the 330i.
The stage 1 is just a RGM S/S exhaust + manifold branches and a Unichip remap. They also remove all the cats off course.

Then RGM can also gas flow the cylinder head which apparently will give you 25% power over stock. R25k including stage 1

Then you can also look at schrick performance cams for a 30% gain over stock for R30k including stage 1 and cylinder head mod.

RGM does a supercharge conversion on the 330s which they quoted at a modest R83,376.inc and you can expect 310Kw plus.

 

[zaleonardz]

DAaaaaaaammmmmmm 83k for a blower OMFG

 

[andrewbuch]

As far as i know for a LSD on a E46 you need to get a quaife one and wont be able to swop out one like gizmo did to his E36.. I could be wrong though

 

[1lum1nat1]

Thanks for the info Vanos.

15k is pretty stiff for the stage 1 hey, won't even mention the SC.

I've been looking around & TNT will be able to do your headers & full SS exhaust for R5k, you can get an induction kit From R2-4k depending on what you get. Alot of ST okes swear by Snails conversions, their the best unichip tuners according to them, & that will set you back R2.5-R3k.