Why is my 328cia so slow

[rowans17 19]

Morning all, I have just bought a 328ci e46 pre facelift. Its a genuine schnitzer and I am very pleased with its aesthetics and handling however while it cruises very well and is fine on the motorway. I can't help but feel a 328 should be more (or at least equal) to my 325i manual e36. But It feels very tame to drive - like I'm in a loud 318.

Any idea of things I could check? I've noticed that the outdoor temp sensor is faulty displaying -40 deg this is a simple fix but could the ecu be limiting power for ice?

I don't think it's the vanos.. Drives very smoothly.

ThAnks in advanced for your suggestions

[Greg111 13]

Get it looked at on a diag but my guess would be cam sensor, biggest power limiter in an M52tu and M54.

The outside temp sensor will do funny things with your A/C.

[rowans17 19]

Get it looked at on a diag but my guess would be cam sensor, biggest power limiter in an M52tu and M54.

The outside temp sensor will do funny things with your A/C.

Great thanks Greg, gives me a place to start

[tonylauno1 7]

Hi Rowan,

I had the same problem on my e46, it takes 2000rpm before the car starts moving slowly, the car is very slow to respond until 3000rpm then by 3500rpm it's all go.....

I have owned the car for nearly 5 years now and have discovered several things that affect performance.

1) changing motor oil to 0w or 5w synthetic helps alot.

2) use at least 95 octane fuel, put in 91 octane and the car is slow

3) heavy alloy wheels does not help, I changed mine back to 17 lightweight BMW alloy

4) Flush transmission oil

5) Flush differential oil

6) change vanos seal (start the car and leave it idling for 5mins, see if your car will stutter, it's fins when it's cold, it fine when it warm, it's only a problem when changing from cold to warm, usually see the problem in 2mins if vanos seal is not doing it's job.)

I did not change all of this at the same time but when I did do these, I did notice an improvement in low speed pickup and accelerating from standstill.

These days I can get the car to accelerate as quick as before but only using 2500rpm or 3000rpm at the most if I want to go fast, where as in the past I need to go at least 3000rpm to get the car moving.

Doing all of these have saved me 2L per 100km. I use 12-13L per 100km.

Had problems with cam sensor and crank sensor, it just made the car run rough, so if yours is running smoothly, maybe it's not. I don't know all the symptoms for a cam/crank sensor.

I very much doubt the engine will limit power based on temp sensor

And please post some pics of your AC Schitner

[Apex 693]

Flush transmission oil. I did this on ours at 125,000km and the guys said the oil was still like new. Not sure I would bother, I called BMW and apparently they don't require servicing.

The 328i is not a fast car nor is is designed to be, they move well and the speed they do have is deceptive due to the smoothness and quietness of the straight 6, they are designed to be flexible and have "adequate" performance for 90% of drivers, due to its low down grunt and auto box the trump card and where it really excels is from a stand still to say 30kph, I'm sure they did this to give mums and dads a thrill off the line and this is where that said 90% of people want performance, ours would get off the line very fast but it would be a bit average say getting on the motorway or over taking.

Maybe go and drive another one to make sure, no point going on a witch hunt for power that was never there.

[tonylauno1 7]

Flush transmission oil. I did this on ours at 125,000km and the guys said the oil was still like new. Not sure I would bother, I called BMW and apparently they don't require servicing.

The 328i is not a fast car nor is is designed to be, they move well and the speed they do have is deceptive due to the smoothness and quietness of the straight 6, they are designed to be flexible and have "adequate" performance for 90% of drivers, due to its low down grunt and auto box the trump card and where it really excels is from a stand still to say 30kph, I'm sure they did this to give mums and dads a thrill off the line and this is where that said 90% of people want performance, ours would get off the line very fast but it would be a bit average say getting on the motorway or over taking.

Maybe go and drive another one to make sure, no point going on a witch hunt for power that was never there.

BMW says transmission oil are lifetime oil, their definition of lifetime is 10 years, just another marketing ploy to make their cars seem cheaper to service.

I have flush my transmission oil twice, first time it was black, second time was after 4 years and it was dark red.

I just can't accept the fact that oil is lifetime, no oil last forever, if transmission oil can last a lifetime why not engine oil. Therefore have always flushed it.

My father who has had three Honda, all have silky smooth transmission at 250,000km and Honda are notorious for transmission failure and clunk at 100,000 - 150,000 km. So i flush my religiously

I have seen the performance figures from a road test article, the performance for 323, 330, 530, 540 are almost the same from 0 to 40km/h then they really set themselves apart from 40km/h to 100km/h.

Hey Rowan, if you are around Greenlane, feel free to contact me for a test drive, i would be quite sad if my car performed the same as yours, then again i have numbers to prove my 328ci has improved in low rpm performance and improved fuel consumption.

Apex has another point, it's smooth and quiet, it doesn't throw you back in your seat like a 195hp Honda so it's performance is deceptive.

[Apex 693]

The M3 is designed to be a fast car.

The 328ci is designed for women and men that wish they had an M3, some even put M3 badges on them and pretend.

Although in saying that one man’s fast and precise is another man’s slow sloppy so its personal I suppose, I think my 1.3 Peugeot is fast in isolation in a tight back road

Edited August 9, 2012 by apex

[smiddy 76]

My 328 is very strong from 2k to 5k then falls off quickly. The M52 TU range from 2 litre to 2.8 use same intake,MAF, throttle body and cams. So hard to see a performance scale in this engine. Modding my exhaust, remapp, intake, enabled 2-5k rev range to happen quickly and very strong between shifts. Also, 12 to 13 k/L fuel use.

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

Will beat Holden clubsport 185i on the open road

Yes... yes, they do!!

[danutt 4]

Ive had thos engine if u wana go you need to free up the intake now i dont mean pod filter ...put the m50 b25 intake manifold on jim]c chip to liven it up ...then it will definitly go better..mine went really well go google and look into the intale mod

[smiddy 76]

If Bimmer had an award for reply of the year this would win!