Anyone any good with BMWs?

Devon

I have little or no clue about the car I drive and Google just refuses to answer a straight question.

I have a 328i and I was told recently that the engine can be "tweaked" different ways for either speed, fuel efficiency and a few others that I can't remember.

Is there any one out there that can either help me out on this or point me to a site that tells me a little more about my baby?

Thanks.

Con_316

Not to tweak i say. Ive known many bmws and have an ongoing interest in the but i am not putting myself out there as any kind of expert on them as im purely an amateur and not a mechanic or engineer or such. It wuld be good to know what E number your car has. AS is E30 for '80s one, E36 for '90s, later ones E46 etc.
people often go on about "tweaking" the engine on bmws. They do all sorts of silly things like messing with the Air/fuel sensors to make injectors work in overdrive, they mess with the temp sensors to "fool" the engine into various things. this is actually a major bodge and can be dangerous for your engine.

The best way to improve the responsiveness and performance of a bmw is to start with well known simple modifications like a performance chip to change ecu mapping, and fitting a sports air filter or induction kit and changing the exhaust system, not necessarily for noise but for better airflow..
there are lots of bmw specialist tuning companies who can suply good parts.
A chip can greatly improve efficiency and make the car far nicer to drive.
Trying to tweak the existing systems for economy is a bad idea because you can end up with a car that feels dead and has no power due to lack of sufficient fuelling higher up in the rev range.

kdevitt

If its an E36 model, you can fit the M50 inlet manifold and big bore throttle body, should get you up to 220BHP or so - add an exhuats, and have it remapped and you'll be looking at 235/240 BHP - this is dyno proven on several 328s.

If you have an E46, the inlet manifold isn't an option - but you can add an exhaust and get it remapped and you'll be up to 230BHP or so.

Con_316

Those are good suggestions. although i think this guy just wants to make a bit of an improvement. The process of changing manifolds might be a bit too serious seeing as he was just talking about "tweaking" it so maybe a chip and new k&n filter be enough to start him out. although it does make a big improvement on an E36 getting all that sorted.
Getting the mapping sorted and fitting a proper exhaust and a cone filter certainly was a big improvement on my E30 325.

Con_316

www.ac-schnitzer.de German bmw tuner

www.rossiters.ltd.uk/schnitzer an ac schnitzer outlet

www.hartge.de German bmw tuner

www.bmw-syndikat.de Forum type stuff with advice available here from totally obsessed germans but its in german so its case of Sprechen sie Deutsch?

You could check out "Total BMW" or "Performance BMW" two UK bmw enthusiasts magazines. Both are quite good and often do tuning features so it'd be worth checking out their back issues.
Both mags availabe from easons readily enough usually

Devon

It's a 1998 and the certificate of conformity doesn't say what type of body it is. The word I used "tweaking" was definitely the wrong word. The people I spoke with did mention performance chips, that I do remember. They were from the UK and I won't get to meet with them again until the new year.

Is there anywhere around Dublin that fit these or is it something you can do yourself? I'm as good with cars as I am with cosmic geology.

Also, if anyone knows how I can go about finding out what body type it is, it would be much appreciated!

Con_316

Being a '98 its an E36. they did those from '91 to '99. Nice car. more of a motorway car or a good b road car than a back road sideways terrorist but lovely to drive and way better for distance drivin than my current 80'S type E30 325i.

Try these guys out. they do lots of chips and mapping and stuff
www.tightrope.ie Good crowd them. seem to have good reputation.
Ie done most of work to my cars myself so not too familiar with irish tuners apart from those guysand ears motorsport in mallow for supplies of rally stuff but that's not relevant right now. a crowd in england called Fritz's Bitz are bloody amazing fro problem solving. they mostly deal with 70s and 80s models though.

Con_316

By the way it is very easy to fit a decent induction kit from the likes of k&n (sounds like a bit of a boy racer thing to people not used to tuning cars but it gives a good improvement in the engine's breathing). Exhausts not so easy for total novice but can be done. Chip is best left to pros as you could make a balls of it.

kdevitt

jerryadams wrote:

It's a 1998 and the certificate of conformity doesn't say what type of body it is. The word I used "tweaking" was definitely the wrong word. The people I spoke with did mention performance chips, that I do remember. They were from the UK and I won't get to meet with them again until the new year.

Is there anywhere around Dublin that fit these or is it something you can do yourself? I'm as good with cars as I am with cosmic geology.

Also, if anyone knows how I can go about finding out what body type it is, it would be much appreciated!

If its 98 its an E36. The links above are of absolutely no use - AC Schnitzer won't do much for tuning your car unless you have extremely deep pockets and go for an engine conversion - its all aesthetic stuff really. Same goes for Hartge.

Plenty of places in Dublin will fit these things for you - go for a decent quality exhaust - Supersprint or Eisenmann - I' m running another group buy on Eisenmanns at the moment through my site (link in sig). The backbox alone got me 6BHP - go for the soundpipes (equivalent of a Cat back system) and you can add another 5-6 to that , which is huge gains for an exhaust. Forget adding a cone filter unless its got a heatshield, you'll lose power by sucking in hot air instead of cool air - the Gruppe M replica intake is supposed to give good gains.

As for remapping, one of the best remappers in the UK now has an Irish dealer - Autoremap.com , and they will do a good job on remapping the car for you - they're looking after my own 328ci.

I have the contact details for the guy who'll do the Inlet Manifold and throttle body - its the most cost effective gain you'll get on your car - bolt off the old one, bolt on the new one in its place - most mechanics will have it done in two hours for you. If you want any further details let me know.

Devon

kdevitt wrote:

The backbox alone got me 6BHP - go for the soundpipes (equivalent of a Cat back system) and you can add another 5-6 to that , which is huge gains for an exhaust. Forget adding a cone filter unless its got a heatshield, you'll lose power by sucking in hot air instead of cool air

I have no idea what a backbox is, what soundpipes are, add the cone filter to my ignorance and throw the heatshield in there for good measure.

kdevitt wrote:

I have the contact details for the guy who'll do the Inlet Manifold and throttle body

Again, I have no idea what you're talking about here. When I said I didn't know anything about cars, I wasn't lying!

kdevitt

jerryadams wrote:

I have no idea what a backbox is, what soundpipes are, add the cone filter to my ignorance and throw the heatshield in there for good measure.



Again, I have no idea what you're talking about here. When I said I didn't know anything about cars, I wasn't lying!

backbox = exhaust
sound pipes = more exhaust
cone filter = air filter for the engine where air gets sucked in
heatshield = keeps air going into cone filter cool (cool air is more dense and improves combustion = more power)
inlet manifold = where the air from the filter is mixed with fuel and dispersed into the engine

I'd advise searching google and getting a decent understanding before you start handing over your hard earned.

Con_316

Backbox is just the back "silencer" box. it will do nothing to improve power. well maybe .5 or 1bhp its just changed to make it loud. you hve to replace the whole exhaust.

kdevitt

Con_316 wrote:

Backbox is just the back "silencer" box. it will do nothing to improve power. well maybe .5 or 1bhp its just changed to make it loud. you hve to replace the whole exhaust.

No offence, but you're talking ****e. Might be true of you buy a piece of **** of an exhaust, but buy a quality one and you'll see decent gains. I'm dynoing my car after every single modification, was 199.7 standard, first thing on was a backbox, next power run was 205.7.

Devon

OK then I'll start off with the chip. Do I buy this on the 'net and get it fitted by a mechanic or can you get it done in a one-stop-shop sort of effort?

The car has gotten a little sluggish lately and I have no idea why. The engine has taken to cutting out completely at the end of a long drive, like on the M1 from Dundalk to Dublin for example, when the car slows down for lights, the 2 red lights on the dash come on (battery and oil) and the power steering goes. Have to turn the ignition off and on again. Spoke to a BMW dealer and he said the problem would need to be a lot more frequent before they could diagnose a problem.

Anyone any idea what could be the problem on that rather large side note?

Thanks for all the replies guys. It's a good place to cut my teeth on cars and I appreciate all your comments and advice.

kdevitt

jerryadams wrote:

OK then I'll start off with the chip. Do I buy this on the 'net and get it fitted by a mechanic or can you get it done in a one-stop-shop sort of effort?

The car has gotten a little sluggish lately and I have no idea why. The engine has taken to cutting out completely at the end of a long drive, like on the M1 from Dundalk to Dublin for example, when the car slows down for lights, the 2 red lights on the dash come on (battery and oil) and the power steering goes. Have to turn the ignition off and on again. Spoke to a BMW dealer and he said the problem would need to be a lot more frequent before they could diagnose a problem.

Anyone any idea what could be the problem on that rather large side note?

Thanks for all the replies guys. It's a good place to cut my teeth on cars and I appreciate all your comments and advice.

You should start off with a service - and get your car running right. Remapping it should be the last thing you do.

5500

As above,its kinda pointless going for a remap first without anyother mods.
Say you get it done and then in two months time ad a cat back exhuast and filter,the car's not going to be set up properly for said mod's,you should leave it till last on your list.

Devon

@kdevitt: It's actually due for a service in January. I've searched for a while now and can't seem to find any sites that break down what you're saying into plain English. Do you have any links or know of any sites for uber novices like me? I really would like to maximise the potential of this car if possible.

elusiveguy

Start out with the engine section on www.howstuffworks.com


Also, what are your service intervals???

wet-paint

jerryadams wrote:

Thanks for all the replies guys. It's a good place to cut my teeth on cars and I appreciate all your comments and advice.

Ditto, I'm reading all these threads.

Devon

elusiveguy wrote:

Also, what are your service intervals???

Whenever the 5 green lights go out I just bring it to the BMW dealer and he looks as the service history and decides what type of service it's due. It's regularly serviced and never misses one out of time.

elusiveguy

I'm talking miles man. Any idea? Also, any trouble starting? Starter spinning a bit slow? A little thing you should try is just disconnect your battery for a hour. This'll reset your ecu and the car will "re-learn" it's own idle speed after a day or two...

kdevitt

jerryadams wrote:

@kdevitt: It's actually due for a service in January. I've searched for a while now and can't seem to find any sites that break down what you're saying into plain English. Do you have any links or know of any sites for uber novices like me? I really would like to maximise the potential of this car if possible.

As Elusiveguy said - how stuff works is a good start. The main purpose of changing the parts I mentioned above, is to allow the engine to 'breath' easier. A free flowing exhaust will allow the air to exit the engine quicker, which allows it to take in more air - the new inlet manifold I mentioned is larger than the standand one, so more air is also taken in this way, and a new filter can also allow more air in. Its not quite that simple though, as if you make the exhaust flow too freely you'll lose power.

Try some other sites as well like for different opinons like www.e36coupe.com , forum.bmwcarmagazine.com, and my own , www.bmw-driver.net . Unless you know what you're buying, and why you're buying it, you'll end up throwing money away.

I would personally recommend the following parts, in this order (you mightn't know what they are now but consider it a shopping list for when you understand all this)

K&N Panel Filter - €60 - replaces your normal air filter, won't give any real gains by itself, but works well with other modifications and doesn't make your car sound like a boy racer mobile.

Eisenmann Backbox with soundpipes - €650 or so - just a new rear exhaust, which will be from your catalytic convertor backwards - should be good for 10-14BHP. You can also specify the sound you want (same as factory, slightly louder, and a good deal louder) Lifetime guarantee as well I think.

New Inlet Manifold and Throttle Body - €600 or so, will give you up to 25BHP extra

Remap - €350 with Autoremap, at least an extra 10BHP - they quote 16BHP I think.

You will see about 235/240 BHP out of your 328i with these mods, and it should be alot more responsive.

Next up is changing your suspension and brakes setup....:D