E46 M3 Chip/Modifications?

[Destinova403]

So a friend of mine has an E46 M3 Cabriolet and is looking into some performance mods.

He already has an Exhaust and he was looking to do an Intake and an ECU/Tune

for intake we were looking into the K&N FIPK which is advertised to give 18HP and is relatively well priced.

My question was what would be the best option in terms of an Engine Management System, he was looking into like a plug and play system but i thought it would be better to go with a full chip and tune.

anyone have any advice on what to go with, who to go through, and what product to look into?

thanks

[brownboi]

i would say try either Tunerworks or try Euro Auto Works, talk to pritpal down at euro auto works, he knos what hes doing with his m3's

[rage2]

It's a waste of money. Spend all the $ you want, you'll be lucky to get 10hp on a dyno, which you'll never feel.

HPF Turbo. The only way to go. If he wants to know what an M3 should feel like, PM me and I'll be more than happy to show him.

[benyl]

10? I thought it was 5hp.

The E46 M3 is already tuned to the bleeding edge from the factory.

[rage2]

Another options is he can move to Vancouver. 60hp right there. I dunno if that's any cheaper tho hehe.

[Hash_man]

Have you had your car on a dyno yet Rage2?

[rage2]

Nope. There's no need to dyno the car. It works perfectly right now.

I only dyno if I'm tuning a car. Numbers are different from dyno to dyno anyways, and there's literally a hundred HPF dyno charts out there.

I did run 118mph at race city with a granny launch on a hot day (8pm) using pump gas, so I know it's putting down the power haha.

[funkedelic2]

Yea don't waste money on an intake either unless you plan on doing headers, and full exhaust. If anything you might lose hp on the intake alone. I would just get a drop in filter.

[Destinova403]

the HPF kit would be insane... i know he was looking into a supercharger for a while but i dont think he wants to drop that kind of coin into the car. what would you guys suggest in terms of light mods for moderate gains... a good intake header exhaust?

he has a full magnaflow exhaust i think...

[funkedelic2]

Originally posted by Destinova403
the HPF kit would be insane... i know he was looking into a supercharger for a while but i dont think he wants to drop that kind of coin into the car. what would you guys suggest in terms of light mods for moderate gains... a good intake header exhaust?

he has a full magnaflow exhaust i think...

BMW pretty much did everything possible to get as much hp out of the S54. Unless your friend wants to swap out some of his parts for CSL parts headers, intake ect.. or go with forced induction.. you won't be getting a lot of power with light mods and he will be spending a lot of money.

[Hash_man]

ebay headers FTW!... and no i'm not kidding. They're cheap and get rid of the cats.

[benyl]

Originally posted by Destinova403
the HPF kit would be insane... i know he was looking into a supercharger for a while but i dont think he wants to drop that kind of coin into the car. what would you guys suggest in terms of light mods for moderate gains... a good intake header exhaust?

he has a full magnaflow exhaust i think...


Originally posted by benyl

The E46 M3 is already tuned to the bleeding edge from the factory.


The car has over 100hp / litre NA. There are very few cars in the world that have that.

Try getting more power out of an F20C... not much there either without going FI.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Destinova403
the HPF kit would be insane... i know he was looking into a supercharger for a while but i dont think he wants to drop that kind of coin into the car.
I had the same problem, didn't want to spend so much coin on a 4 year old car. The only thing I regret now is not spending a little more on stage 2.5 instead of stage 2. For the total amount of money spent on the car and the kit, there is absolutely nothing out there that'll deliver the same amount of fun, drivability (drives like stock... really) and reliability. I can't think of a one single car to replace this thing.


Originally posted by Destinova403
what would you guys suggest in terms of light mods for moderate gains... a good intake header exhaust?

he has a full magnaflow exhaust i think...
I seriously suggest moving to Vancouver if he wants to stay NA. Like the others have said, there are no mods that give any more power on that motor.

[potatopineapple]

I would say get the VF-Engineering streetport supercharger kit. It's equivalent to the cost of a few bolt on parts but makes much more power. It's really a good bang for your buck option as far as M3's go, plus u don't need supporting mods and also drives like stock from what I hear.
HPF is great if you are looking to turn the car into a monster and willing to pay accordingly.

[rage2]

The VF and AA kits are a hit and miss. Some people have zero problems. Some people, especially at our higher elevations, just dont run right, or worst case, blow their motors. Once the kit's installed, you have to go through adaptation training and if you do it wrong you have to do it all over again, very annoying. That's why I choose the HPF system. It just works from day 1 and drives like stock.

The stage 1's are pretty cheap now at $13,500.

[scat19]

I'd say rage knows what's he's talking about - he has a 2 thousand dollar turbo setup with 15 thousand dollar software :rofl:

(no ban plz)

[potatopineapple]

Originally posted by rage2
The VF and AA kits are a hit and miss. Some people have zero problems. Some people, especially at our higher elevations, just dont run right, or worst case, blow their motors. Once the kit's installed, you have to go through adaptation training and if you do it wrong you have to do it all over again, very annoying. That's why I choose the HPF system. It just works from day 1 and drives like stock.

The stage 1's are pretty cheap now at $13,500.


I was referring to the VF Streetport kit which is only $6K USD, I think it's a better deal than doing most other bolt on's. (Intake, exhaust, headers, software, etc)

HPF makes a great kits and products. I would definately recommend them if someone was looking to spend a larger amount of money. As far as AA goes, I only know of 1 well running AA kit in Alberta, seems like the rest have had alot of issues. I'm not sure of what adaptation training u are talking about, but I only had to break in my supercharger (same time as my clutch) and it was good to go.

The VF supercharged cars in Edmonton all seem to run pretty well. As for as I know, I'm the only Stage2 E46 M and my car has been rock solid since day1. I think the biggest factor is finding a good installer. I had mine installed at an authorized dealer/installer, as did you. The majority of people with issues all seem to have one thing in common, an unrepairable hackjob.

So I think you mean, VF's are hits and AA's are misses. haha I don't want to turn this into a VF vs. HPF thread, especially since I believe in both. I'm even running a few HPF parts.