differances motorsport

[BMRBOI 8]

hey guys ive always wondered what was all the differances between the motorsport and the standard e36 bmw. I own a 1992 325i manual, if i had a motorsport one what are the differances in these? ive been told many things who can clear it up for me. is there any engine work? cheers

[my_e36 43]

Motorsport usually refer to body kit, suspension, seats and badges. Engines are the same between motorsport and normal.

[Yuen 16]

Motorsport usually refer to body kit, suspension, seats and badges. Engines are the same between motorsport and normal.

Yup, no difference in the engine. Motorsport ones are lower, have the M3 kit and a nicer interior.

[BMRBOI 8]

Yup, no difference in the engine. Motorsport ones are lower, have the M3 kit and a nicer interior.

how bout exhust systems and lsds? also strut braces?

[my_e36 43]

Might have a different exhaust tip.

e36 are not equiped with strat braces from factory. Convertibles have X-brace on front sub-frame though. Again, motorsport or not.

LSD is not standard for normal E36, motorsport or not, the only e36 that has LSD is M3. <-- someone confirm this pls?

Easy way to find out is to put the car in neutral, jack the rear up and rotate one of the rear wheel. If the other rotate the opposite way, you have LSD.

Edited February 11, 2007 by my_e36

[m325i 709]

If you had a 'motorsport' your ecock would be larger

[will 169]

Easy way to find out is to put the car in neutral, jack the rear up and rotate one of the rear wheel. If the other rotate the opposite way, you have LSD.

Beg to differ here, both wheels must turn in the same direction for it to be a LSD, if they rotate in opposite directions, it is not a LSD.

Will

[Jazzbass 1]

In my experience, the majority of 'Motorsport' BMWs are standard BMWs with Motorsport badges on them.

[westy 614]

All these options were avaliable to all e36s.

The "motorsport" is a marketing term generally for cars fitted with the bodykit,sport suspension & front seats.

The options list for the e36 is huge and as far I know all options were avaliable to all cars.

Its nothing like the e30 325.

[kerrynzl 3]

BTW Limited Slip was an option on 328 versions

And the Mig Welded one was a retro-fitted option on 320 autos! Hahahahahahaha!

[OSCAR 0]

No offense, but that whole ' Motorsport' deal is just a marketing ploy. Even our street M3's are just a watered down version of true MS set-ups. Perception though from the buying public is that it is something special......and in some ways that is true....but it ain't no race car, not even close

[nath 134]

I dont want a race car on the road, and i expect most new BMW buyers think the same! I love the msport versions, and the M3

[kiwipetrolhead 1]

Beg to differ here, both wheels must turn in the same direction for it to be a LSD, if they rotate in opposite directions, it is not a LSD.

Will

Yes, you're quite right Will - I was about to same the same thing (but then I saw your post first). If anyone disagrees, they are wrong and obviously don't understand exactly how diffs work.

Cheers

Paul

[kiwipetrolhead 1]

In my experience, the majority of 'Motorsport' BMWs are standard BMWs with Motorsport badges on them.

Agreed. Lots of people buy an M badge to put on their 'plain' car and some put on the after market body kit (and more) as well. Personally I'd only ever buy a real M or a car with no M badge if it is not an M. In other words, it's not a genuine factory M and it has a M badge, don't expect me to buy it 'cause I won't.

BTW, an M635 has a different engine to a plain 635CSi. It's twin cam and all. The csi is just a single cam (and just 2-valve too I think). Well, if everything I have ever seen in real life, and everything I have ever read about 635 is accurate. The bottom end is probably very similar in both, if not identical (altho the M might be beefed up a bit perhaps), but you can't miss spotting the obvious difference in the top end when you see them.

P

[kiwipetrolhead 1]

No offense, but that whole ' Motorsport' deal is just a marketing ploy. Even our street M3's are just a watered down version of true MS set-ups. Perception though from the buying public is that it is something special......and in some ways that is true....but it ain't no race car, not even close

That is quite true, but would anyone really want a racing M3 to use on the road? I guess a handful might, but they won't get to drive it very far if they did - it'd spend most of its life sitting idol in the stable having big dosh spent on it. Real racing cars tend to be like that and that's what the true M3 is. Still, a road M3 would be lots of fun all the same.

P

[steve R 0]

i have a 328i M-spec coupe, and in my opinion it looks much nicer with the M3 kit than the standard 328. the interior is also nicer with half leather and sports seats. its also lower than standard as it came with "Msport suspension" which all in all makes it look much nicer than stock in my opinion. i wouldnt buy anything other than and M-spec 3 series

[kiwi535 538]

i have a 328i M-spec coupe, and in my opinion it looks much nicer with the M3 kit than the standard 328. the interior is also nicer with half leather and sports seats. its also lower than standard as it came with "Msport suspension" which all in all makes it look much nicer than stock in my opinion. i wouldnt buy anything other than and M-spec 3 series

agreed..a"proper" msport car is much nicer lookimg than its std brethren....ussually because it looks very very similar to its real m3 or m5 brother,complete with sport seats and ussually upgraded interior trim/options

[OSCAR 0]

That is quite true, but would anyone really want a racing M3 to use on the road? I guess a handful might, but they won't get to drive it very far if they did - it'd spend most of its life sitting idol in the stable having big dosh spent on it. Real racing cars tend to be like that and that's what the true M3 is. Still, a road M3 would be lots of fun all the same.

P

Hmmm, ok, I was going to leave this alone but it seems that I did not communicate my response adequately.

I was NOT talking about genuine Motorsport parts (race parts) in the context of race only cars. What I was trying to say is that the real Motorsport parts are a far cry from what is often represented as MS in the general public domain. Furthermore, in response to Nath, having real Motorsport parts in your car does not preclude that car from being entirely street legal and moreover, entirely driveable in a street environment. Perhaps my choice of words was not as good as it could have been ?

Here are some examples which hopefully will explain : ok, I can take parts from a DTM or gruppe-a engine/ suspension and fit them in my M3. Can I go the whole hog ?....of course not because the damn thing will be near on impossible to drive in traffic. But can I utilize MS cams, valvetrain, head (WITH APPROPRIATE EMS AND TUNING) , diff (variable ratios), some front suspension items........and still be quite streetable ? Absolutely !

So, I am not in any way, shape or form knocking the factory 'motorsport' versions (hell, I have friends that own them and personally, I really like them...damn, I even said that our M3's are watered down versions). The comment was simply to highlite the fact that the real Motorsport gear is a whole different world....heinously expensive and not what is really put in the street versions.......and that does NOT mean that some of those items cannot be used in a street car.

Peace :-)

[kiwipetrolhead 1]

Hmmm, ok, I was going to leave this alone but it seems that I did not communicate my response adequately.

I was NOT talking about genuine Motorsport parts (race parts) in the context of race only cars. What I was trying to say is that the real Motorsport parts are a far cry from what is often represented as MS in the general public domain. Furthermore, in response to Nath, having real Motorsport parts in your car does not preclude that car from being entirely street legal and moreover, entirely driveable in a street environment. Perhaps my choice of words was not as good as it could have been ?

Here are some examples which hopefully will explain : ok, I can take parts from a DTM or gruppe-a engine/ suspension and fit them in my M3. Can I go the whole hog ?....of course not because the damn thing will be near on impossible to drive in traffic. But can I utilize MS cams, valvetrain, head (WITH APPROPRIATE EMS AND TUNING) , diff (variable ratios), some front suspension items........and still be quite streetable ? Absolutely !

So, I am not in any way, shape or form knocking the factory 'motorsport' versions (hell, I have friends that own them and personally, I really like them...damn, I even said that our M3's are watered down versions). The comment was simply to highlite the fact that the real Motorsport gear is a whole different world....heinously expensive and not what is really put in the street versions.......and that does NOT mean that some of those items cannot be used in a street car.

Peace :-)

Yip, cool!

[entscheidend 0]

agreed..a"proper" msport car is much nicer lookimg than its std brethren....ussually because it looks very very similar to its real m3 or m5 brother,complete with sport seats and ussually upgraded interior trim/options

This subject about about whats the difference M's and a standard E36 seems to be all over the place these days .... From what I know doesnt the model range go from standard E36, M-spec, Motorsport, M3?

The true Motorsport from the factory has the M3 bumper, M3 Diffuser, suspension, mirrors, mouldings, sport seats, trim inside and wheels ... everything but the S50 engine

The Mspec models I thought only had the trim inside, seats and bumper, wheels ... someone correct me on that one???

Alot of people these days seem to slap the M badge on when their car is a 320i etc with standard bumpers etc...

I saw a E46 318 yesterday where he had the M3 bumper, mirrors and a M badge on the boot with a 3 ripped off a E30 stuck nect to the M badge?? I dont he could have fooled anyone off this forum ..ha

[OSCAR 0]

It always has been all over the place because it is just a (huge) range of options, but as often commented in this thread, the Motorsported versions Do look and Do drive a lot better if they have the respective options fitted.

Is the M3 a watered down race car well yes, it is a street legal car that facilitated homologation of the M3 for racing in various classes like touring cars etc. The base car is identical, the class determines what mods were permitted.

3pedals, I think that you and I are talking about two vastly different things.

'Motorsport' extras, as made available to the public when ordering a new street M car is one thing (what I suspect you are talking about).

Real Motorsport gear as used in race cars is another. Take the homologated version of the E30M3 for example. This is but a shadow of what Motorsport backed teams and privateers had as a car. There really is no comparison other than a shell and maybe door cards. OK, so the engine might have had the same cubic capacity but that is about where it stops. You really have to look at the real Motorsport version to appreciate just how vastly different the street M3 and race cars are in virtually every respect. To understand this, just try checking out 'motorsport' parts as listed options on a BMW parts catalogue for cars sold to the public....you will probably find them without too much fuss. Now try finding out the part numbers of REAL Motorsport racing parts. Different ball game altogether :-)

Edited February 16, 2007 by OSCAR

[Guest Spargo]

Oscar is talking about BMW Motorsport bits, 3pedals is talking about M-technik parts - this is the confusion i think.

For example, all bmw motorsport parts use a 2 in their part numbers, instead of normal bmw parts which use a 1 as their check digit (check digit = the number by itself on the part #, for example 36 1 12 227350 - the digit by itself)

[OSCAR 0]

Oscar is talking about BMW Motorsport bits, 3pedals is talking about M-technik parts - this is the confusion i think.

For example, all bmw motorsport parts use a 2 in their part numbers, instead of normal bmw parts which use a 1 as their check digit (check digit = the number by itself on the part #, for example 36 1 12 227350 - the digit by itself)

Ta for that Spargo . Yes, they are worlds apart :-)

[nath 134]

I had no idea that motorsport racing parts had part numbers. Learn something new every day i guess!

And righto, so they have different part numbers- who exactly has this threads critical point been made to? Seems like it has turned into a "POW, take THAT people who think you know BMWs!" thread!