conrod

does anyone lnow if Sky Sport will be showing them this year? They raced at Curitiba over the weekend, and nothing on Sky this week by the look of it. Just lots of bloody Nascar!..........

Those carbon plenums certainly look cool, BUT!......... The plenum on the M3 on TM looks like it has had the hotwire airflow meter deleted, in which case you will not be able to just bolt one of these on. It will need new software in the ECU otherwise the car simply won't run. These plenums were used on the race M3's back in the day, and gave very little power gains over the stock one (5-10hp from memory) and the expense of low and mid range power. You will not buy one of these for $1200 either, it will be more like two or three times that price if it is a "proper" piece and not some Chinese knockoff. I wouldn't pay too much attention to the 243KW at the wheels claim on the TM car either, that equates to nearly 400hp at the flywheel, which is pure fantasy for a road car engine. Do your homework with the supplier of the plenum first, and ask if the airflow sensor is deleted/retained, and what modifications (if any) the car will require. I think you will find it is not an easy "bolt on" piece.

probably been posted before, but for those who haven't seen it, worth a look: looks like we will see an E92 M3 in action at our next round in January, Race Fx has sold the car they built and the new owner would like to come and race in the open series- can't wait to see it in action! Can't be too many of these being raced at the moment! Conrad

I am surprised Rolland let you remove them after they were fitted! "no no sorry, I never said you could have them back"............

There are no other things that come into play here, as you state it is a stock engine, therefore the maths is fairly easy. Being a student you probably read books don't you?? Pick up a good book on turbocharging and do some research before making stupid comments like that. The calculations are relatively easy to do, and very accurate. Then you will realise from whom the bullshit is coming from.

300whp would equate to 370 flywheel hp, using transmission losses of 19%, which is a typical number. Given that that a std M42 puts out 140hp, your mate would have to be running 26-28 pounds of boost to be making this sort of power.The calculations are not that hard to do. 16 pounds of boost will give you about 260 flywheel hp on a stock M42 (assuming it doesn't detonate on stock CR which I find very hard to believe) which would give about 210 whp. Conrad

Michelins are a bit different in that they drop a "0" off the sizing, and the second number is the diameter( as is common on many racing tyres) Your tyres are the equivalent of a 240/610x16, so 240 wide, 610 diameter, 16 inch rim.You will probably need a 8"-9" wide rim to mount these on. I run 24/64x18's on my car, which are 240 wide x 640 high on an 18 inch rim. A bit stiffer in the sidewalls than say a Dunlop, and probably take 1 1/2 laps or so to warm up, but really good tyres! Hope they aren't too old (they harden with age/number of heat cycles) You should have some fun on those! Conrad

Hello James, I am not sure which "organiser" told you that, but that is not correct. You can fit an M20 into your car and go racing. The prefacelift bodyshells were all essentially identical and many of the race series cars did not start life as 320i's. It is only the 318i series cars which MUST be facelift cars, as the M40 was not fitted to pre facelift shells. . So although you cannot fit an M40 into your car and make it a 318i, an M20 is okay. cheers Conrad P.S. that S50 will be much more fun though!.............

I see it is still up there, no takers obviously? Did anyone go to the auction? Conrad

pm me re electric fan, I have access to a large range at sharp prices. cheers Conrad

I doubt it would need a reshell, it does not look that bad at first glance. Airbags going off usually mean a writeoff these days, they can be horrendously expensive. I would not even conside a transplant of one of these engines unless you know someone who is VERY clever with electronics, it is not a job to be underestimated. Would make a really cool open class race car I think!!! Conrad

it is a 2.7, with somewhere around 12:1 comp.

couple of pics of a setup on a friend of mines car. He races in the Castrol BMW Race Series open class. One of the most powerful M20's in the country, it makes around 260hp with very good torque, and the intake manifold is certainly a key part to this.Inside the airbox are six tapered carbon fibre trumpets. The Dbilas system looks like good value for the money to me, all brand new and properly engineered, you would not buy a system like this if you had to pay to have the parts made, such as the manifold and airbox, and then buy new Weber DCOE pattern throttle bodies. (The system pictured below certainly cost more than this) Sure you could probably knock up something cheaper with some old Toyota ITB's etc. but only if you could did the donkey work yourself, and you would still end up with second hand ITB's with probably a zillion miles on them, and maybe not ideal dimensions for the M20. Conrad

educated guess, sounds like I am close!...........

let me guess- flywheel came loose??

thank you for that! It is rather fun to drive too!.........

Ahem, no it is an M3! Trust me, I know! The other (red) M3 #177 has an E46 6 cylinder engine in it, but is still a genuine M3.

Had this problem for about two weeks (ever since I logged on using work computer!) getting REALLY annoying. Only does it on home compuer though.

no, there is at least one other! A nice bog standard one too.

voted x2

I looked at this when it was for sale 5 or 6 years ago,(I think it was $8 or $9K at the time) with a view to turning it into a race car, and a short drive confirmed it was a tired old piece of overpriced $hit. Instead I bought a cheap 325i for half of the price this was , with nearly 300K on the clock, that still would have run rings around this one. Treatment around rear window to blend rear window into M3 bootlid looked naff, and I seem to recall arches were glass and not steel. Current owner obviously has his hand on it quite firmly too!: "THIS BEAUTY IS A TRUE MOTORSPORT CLASSIC AND THE ULTIMATE IN BMW RETRO STYLING. SECURE YOUR INVESTMENT TODAY AND OWN THIS ONE OF A KIND 325i MOTORSPORT " I would walk past this for a nice M325i or 318is, even if the sticker price on this were $5K.

I am looking for a sump, oil pump and pickup pipe from an E34 6 cylinder, must be M50 or M52 engine! No silly prices please. PM or phone 0274 901 865. cheers Conrad

There was a recall on all E46 M3's that involved replacing big end and main bearings, also involved changing to a special oil. It was only on engines manufactured during a certain period, and I can't remember which period! Might have been earlier than 2003. A dealer will be able to tell you, or else Google it, i am sure you will find the "trouble" period, and if yours falls within that timeframe make sure it has had the remedial work carried out. This was usually done under warranty, and must have cost BMW a lot of $$$$$!!! As suggested, pay a dealer to do a pre purchase inspection, they should uncover any nasties lurking within.

I must give Stephen Mchugh a call and crank him up, he has a 535i that he raced at our first or second meeting, and then there is the red 535i which has done a few meetings, and has a new engine I hear. We could introoduce an "M30 Cup" for you guys??!!!!

Could be some competition for Gerry then??