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From digest.v4.n806 Thu Jul 4 11:31:22 1996
From: djchin_at_dsrna.agi.org (daniel j. chin)
Date: Thu, 4 Jul 1996 11:12:35 -0700
Subject: re: <96> <E36 M3> performance mods
This is a slightly modified response to Jim Conforti's response
to my previous blurb about 96 M3 performance mods (i replied to
Jim directly before seeing his response on the digest).
First, thanks to Jim for keeping us updated on his progress in
hacking the 96 chip. Although a long-time and satisfied Dinan
customer, I'm still ready to try an alternate chip source. Just
send me a application form Jim!
Jim wrote in response (>> are mine, > are Jim's):
>>Rumor has it that various tuners are considering retrofitting the 95
>>intake runners. This is expected to cause a slight loss in low-end torque;
>>to get it back, an enlarged throttle body/airbox combo is anticipated.
> First the runners ... the manifolds are a bit different, attachment wise,
> and it will not be an easy job to retrofit them .. and keep all the needed
> emissions hoses working .. which would fault the OBD-II system
In my previous post, I neglected to mention that Mike at Dinan's
had cautioned me that serious engineering would be required to
retrofit the 95 intake runners and still maintain legal emissions.
As the enthusiast, much like anyone buying a lotto ticket for a
multi-mil payoff, i sorta blanked out on the caveats after hearing
of the potential (see below) of 40 hp!
> Now, onto airboxes and throttlebodies .. you can put the LARGEST throttle
> body in the world on an S50USB30 (3.0l US M3) and the most free flowing
> airbox in the universe .. you will STILL not see a large improvement ..
> The BOTTLENECK in the intake side is first and foremost the mousy Heated
> Film airMass sensor (HFM) which like the airbox & TB came from the 325i
> The only way to extract maximum gains, is to swap HFM's with a Euro M3
> This has been proven on the DYNO, and doubters are welcome to visit
> either TMS in Mass. or ERT in Delaware!
I think Dinan's shop is aware of the importance of the Euro HFM.
>> Mike at Dinan's said that they can imagine 40 extra HP from the engine
> I can IMAGINE being richer than Bill Gates too ..
> (Hey John B. can you help me out there?!?)
If the mythical potential of 40 hp drives any tuner shop to continue
R&D, i hope folks don't stop trying new approaches to attain that goal.
> NO WAY .. NO HOW .. not street legal .. not passing emissions, not
> without having MIL lites flickering all the time ..
> You see, the game has changed .. OBD-II is here .. you change something
> and you effect the emissions of the motor just a bit .. BINGO..
> on comes the MIL (Check Engine lamp)...
At least in the case of Dinan's shop, they have long been providing
50-state smog-legal chips for both turbos and strokers for some time.
Thats why when I heard an employee at Dinan's mention that Steve Dinan
even considered the possibility of smog-legal 40 hp gains in the 3.2L engine,
it certainly made me pause. Of course, it could take time and $$ to engineer
it properly and it might not even be affordable; particularly if it
requires opening up the motor
>> with the typical bolt-ons (28 HP is currently gained on the 3L with
>> the airbox/chip/throttle body/exhaust combo). Dunno if the 40 hp requires
>> the cam though. In conclusion, without a supercharger, the 96 M3 could
>> be massaged to within a hair of the 286 HP 95 Euro/Canadian M3.
> Umm .. let me be the first (not) to state this publicly .. believe ANY
> peformance claims you hear with MANY grains of salt ... even a whole
> shaker.. why .. read on MacBeth..
Agreed. the proof is in the independent rear-wheel dyno confirmation.
> In talking to BMW race guru, TC Kline ... he told me that the HIGHEST
> HP they had EVER seen on a CSL motor, with headers/race exh. (no cats)
> and all the intake tricks you could muster was .. 268HP .. (hey +28 :)
> That was from a CSL motor that was already significantly ABOVE the 240
> mark when stock (if I recall TC said about 245ish) .. so all that
> radical "bolt on" stuff gave a total of 23ish HP ..
> With cat's we've seen more usual gains of 15-20HP ..
The 28 hp gain seen by Dinan in their 95 M3 was also on a slightly better
than the average M3. In their advertising brochure, their stock 95 M3
put out 240 hp and 236 lb-ft (not the spec'd 225 lb-ft of the 95).
After the bolt-ons, they dyno'ed the rear-wheel hp at 268 and 260 lb-ft.
This was with stock cats. I wonder if the 28 hp gain is typical for the
'average' 95 M3.
Jim then described a ' an M3 Lux at 273HP using ..'
> 1) Supersprint Headers/Exh. w/ Dr Gas crossover and stock cats
> 2) Euro Airbox, HFM, and bigger Throttlebody
> 3) Larger flow-matched ERT injectors
> 3) Custom chip ...
> This is the HIGHEST HP I have EVER seen on an S50USB30 motor that has NOT
> been opened up .. I figure I might be able to squeeze 2-3 HP More with
> the Euro Resonator for track use .. MAYBE .. so let's say +35HP .. on
> a motor WITHOUT OBD-II monitoring what I do .. for RACE USE ONLY
> Assume that your new M3 is good for a maybe another 20-25 HP .. AFTER
> much research and testing ...
This is the rub. I don't think long-time readers of this list
are prone to taking unsubstantiated claims seriously. However, when
a reputable shop that has already seen 28 hp gains in a street-driven
95M3 says that they see the potential for more power for a street vehicle
with a ~200 cc larger displacement engine, I'm willing to wait and see
if they can achieve it. It might take them a lot of time (in which
case i'll buy another chip for the interim) and it might be not
even be affordable. Even with 25 hp extra, i think an upgraded suspension
is a higher priority than buying HP that is on that exponential
part of the HP per $ curve. Thats why i bought a 96 M3 instead of doing
more mods on my 87 Dinan 2.8L Stroker. At 224 hp and 235 lb-ft of torque,
my Stroker is almost at parity with a stock 95 M3 (which is 300 lb heavier
than my E30 4DR sedan). But to add any more power to the Stroker, the
price per unit HP was just not worth it (port & polish intake/exhaust
orifices, street-legal headers etc.)
dan
96 M3 Boston Green, Modena Natur, Luxury, H-K
http://dsrna.agi.org/bmw_96M3.html
87 Dinan 2.8L Stroker 325i, Dinan chip/exhaust/stage 3 suspension
E30 M3 alloy lower control arms w/ offset bushings & other mods
58K miles, now for sale, see
http://dsrna.agi.org/dinan325i.html
From digest.v4.n805 Thu Jul 4 07:07:17 1996
From: Land Shark <lndshrk_at_xmission.com>
Date: Thu, 04 Jul 1996 00:01:45 -0600
Subject: 1996 E36 M3 performance mods
Daniel Chin writes:
>Along the lines of performance upgrades for the 3.2L M3, i've been talking
>to various folks about the differences 'tween the 3 and 3.2L engines. It
>seems that BMW was very precise in its design of the 3.2L engine. They
>enlarged the displacement to add 11 lb-ft of torque- but no extra HP.
This was also done to meet both emissions requirements and OBD-II
regulations .. the S52USB32 is a special beast...
>This was achieved by using ~30% narrower intake runners. This causes
>a loss of perceived HP from 4000-7000 rpm relative to the 3L engine.
It does this by simple moving the Torque curve "down rpm" [towards lower
rpms] .. since HP=T*rpm/5252, this reduces peak HP ...
>Rumor has it that various tuners are considering retrofitting the 95
>intake runners. This is expected to cause a slight loss in low-end torque;
>to get it back, an enlarged throttle body/airbox combo is anticipated.
First the runners ... the manifolds are a bit different, attachment wise,
and it will not be an easy job to retrofit them .. and keep all the needed
emissions hoses working .. which would fault the OBD-II system
Now, onto airboxes and throttlebodies .. you can put the LARGEST throttle
body in the world on an S50USB30 (3.0l US M3) and the most free flowing
airbox in the universe .. you will STILL not see a large improvement ..
The BOTTLENECK in the intake side is first and foremost the mousy Heated
Film airMass sensor (HFM) which like the airbox & TB came from the 325i
The only way to extract maximum gains, is to swap HFM's with a Euro M3
This has been proven on the DYNO, and doubters are welcome to visit
either TMS in Mass. or ERT in Delaware!
>Also, i'm told that the 3.2L engine has a less radical cam than the 3L.
Slighty .. for EMISSIONS sake ..
>Mike at Dinan's said that they can imagine 40 extra HP from the engine
I can IMAGINE being richer than Bill Gates too ..
(Hey John B. can you help me out there?!?)
NO WAY .. NO HOW .. not street legal .. not passing emissions, not
without having MIL lites flickering all the time ..
You see, the game has changed .. OBD-II is here .. you change something
and you effect the emissions of the motor just a bit .. BINGO..
on comes the MIL (Check Engine lamp)...
>with the typical bolt-ons (28 HP is currently gained on the 3L with
>the airbox/chip/throttle body/exhaust combo). Dunno if the 40 hp requires
>the cam though. In conclusion, without a supercharger, the 96 M3 could
>be massaged to within a hair of the 286 HP 95 Euro/Canadian M3.
Umm .. let me be the first (not) to state this publicly .. believe ANY
peformance claims you hear with MANY grains of salt ... even a whole
shaker.. why .. read on MacBeth..
In talking to BMW race guru, TC Kline ... he told me that the HIGHEST
HP they had EVER seen on a CSL motor, with headers/race exh. (no cats)
and all the intake tricks you could muster was .. 268HP .. (hey +28 :)
That was from a CSL motor that was already significantly ABOVE the 240
mark when stock (if I recall TC said about 245ish) .. so all that
radical "bolt on" stuff gave a total of 23ish HP ..
With cat's we've seen more usual gains of 15-20HP ..
NOW, go the WHOLE route.. change the HFM (on 95 cars!) and you get a bit MORE
HP ...
Today we dynoed an M3 Lux at 273HP using ..
- Supersprint Headers/Exh. w/ Dr Gas crossover and stock cats
- Euro Airbox, HFM, and bigger Throttlebody
- Larger flow-matched ERT injectors
- Custom chip ...
This is the HIGHEST HP I have EVER seen on an S50USB30 motor that has NOT
been opened up .. I figure I might be able to squeeze 2-3 HP More with
the Euro Resonator for track use .. MAYBE .. so let's say +35HP .. on
a motor WITHOUT OBD-II monitoring what I do .. for RACE USE ONLY
Assume that your new M3 is good for a maybe another 20-25 HP .. AFTER
much research and testing ...
Jim
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