1998 323i e46 mods

[CoryM 1]

Hey I have a stock standard 323i 98 e46,, was wondering what 'cheapish' mods other people with the same vehicle have done with Thiers? Any pics and tips would be great. Love my car . any tips on turbo or supercharger kits or getting them tuned etc cheers!

Edited March 10, 2016 by CoryM

[qube 3568]

sell it and buy a 3L

[KwS 2376]

My 323i was horribly gutless. IMO drive it for what it is, save up and buy something more powerful at a later date. You wont get far modifying the 323.

[CoryM 1]

Turbo and superchargers kits don't fall in the "cheapish" category for most of us.

The 323 is a strangled 2.5 litre aimed at the Merc 190 -- 2.3 - best thing you can do is let it exhale the standard plumbing is the biggest constraint- you could easily free up 8 to 12kW with minimal effort and cost.

exhale the standard plumbing?

[zero 1160]

Info at the bottom of this link;

http://mywikimotors.com/m52b25/

If you want serious power it ain't cheap though.

[Olaf 3241]

I've often wondered about this, Ron. I used to know an induction systems engineer from Visteon. The effort (read: cost) that was expended in the average intake manifold and even the airbox for your run-of-the-mill Ford Focus, VW Golf, etc, amounts to the hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more. It seems odd that given the development budget for the M54 which would have been in the tens or hundreds of millions, that they "got it wrong" and the earlier one was much better?

Nissan were doing 'clever' manifolds on their VQ series V6 for a while, the 'MEVI' intake manifold had an RPM switch that opened some butterlies to give longer effective runners at higher RPM, and shorter at lower RPM for better torque. Or do I have that the wrong way round? They were also using plastics in the 90's for intake manifolds. At any rate, in the Nissan world folks were locating these later manifolds and fitting them to earlier cars, contrary to the M54/M50 approaches!

cheers

[Olaf 3241]

yes thanks, I sort of stopped thinking about that suff when I bought another BMW after selling the Nissan. The VQ30 is a beaut engine, but I went for the full package with BMW #8 ) and bought a car that - largely - works.

[CoryM 1]

Got thus email from a mechanic in chch,,

Assuming your 323i has the 2.5 litre 170hp engine, the original exhaust is certainly not restrictive at all. The system it has is able to flow well above what a small and modestly powered engine like this can produce, as long as the catalyst isnt blocked, which is unlikely on this version. Remus used to do an exhaust for this year E46, but dropped it because it was only good for making noise.

To make sure your car is making full stock power, check that the MAF is fresh and fully functional, O2 sensors are throwing no faults, temp sensors are all working and that youre using 95 or 98 (better) petrol.

The best and most cost effective way to increase power and torque on this engine is to have it correctly chip tuned. Please see dyno plot for one I did last year. You can expect power to increase by at least 15hp and torque increases by 25Nm minimum, with torque gains available at all rpm

[Herbmiester 909]

Don't forget its a good chassis, a bit of money spent on dampers, springs and bushes makes a world of difference and allows you to make up ground on higher horsepower cars in the corners.

[CoryM 1]

Much appreciated guys! Thanx heaps . really good advice on here. As is my first BMW I really like it .I brought my car off a guy that really looked after it, he has since upgraded lol.