How to upgrade a E30 3i8i m40 engine

[lumo]

Dear all E30 fanatics!

Im a big fan from Malaysia! Just need some advice...I have a e30 318i and the engine is 100% original.....how can I make it more powerful, increases in BHP yet still drivable daily use?

Cheers!

[E30Mark]

Welcome!

Few questions first....

How much do you have to spend?
Are you doing the work?
Do you have the knowledge?
Do you need the car to get to work each day?
etc
etc

In my opinion it's not worth doing much to the 318i lump, for the same sort of money you could throw at the 318i hoping to increase power you could just drop in a 325i lump! assuming you can get the spares down your way?

A cheap and easy mod is the zone chip, visit the Zone shop link above,
for £55 + delivery you can't go wrong!

[Jhonno]

replace it with something decent

not much you can do with the m40... chip, cam maybe

[Dan318-is]

Change the engine

seriosuly, this is the only good upgrade for this relic of a lump!

m42 or m20 will do

[tickle]

if you want to upgrade but stick to insurance freindly 50/50 weight ratio 4 pot rightness (assuming this is why you went for 1.8 in the first spot you can bung in an m10, this was my weapon of choice, they are by far the cheapest to make sick upgrades to.availiable in 1.6, 1.8 ,2.0 + 2.0 turbo

all that is neccesary to change is e/bay wiring + zaust obviously the engine helps too, these can be taken to 2.2 litre, turbo'd the hell out of and the average mot man would be none the wiser(bar the turbo) this ewngine is directly decended from an ex f1 engine which pulled 1400bhp, you can build them to 2002tii spec without having to bore the block. and am pretty sure a twin cam head can be fitted.

run a forum search on 2002tii or si318i and see what you find, youll get a good engine + wiring for £50 quid, zaust for £120. they aint faster as standard but can easily make a 6 pot killer + pull over 250bhp all day every day. only ever heard bad reports on them from people who have never had one, or have fear of old tech

[Jon_Bmw]

Use a 325 throttle body....

And leave it attached to the m20 engine and drop it all in

[bmwe30mtech]

I have a M40 1.8 myself, and honestly dont bother with them. Do an exhaust and chip if you like, but they are only good for economic/insurance reasons. Get an m20 or m42 (318is) engine. Its not the answer you were hoping for i guess, but i have the same problem.

Paul

[john-rambo]

yes thy are shit blown mine up once

[Ant]

not much you can do with the m40... chip, cam maybe

Or bolt a turbo to one break the mould guys ! think outside the box.

[jonbuoy]

There was nothing wrong with my M40, i just changed to a 2.5 for the torque

Change the ratio of the diff to 4.27 (1.6 M40 diff), that will help with a little more accelleration

Get the CO level's checked out aswell as you can raise this with the right equipment and gain more accelleration aswell

There are trick's and way's, you just gotta find them as i did

I used mine for drifting, i had no problem's!

[Demlotcrew]

Jonbuoy making it run rich/lean is not the right way of getting more power from an engine.

Andrew

[Kos]

Change the engine

seriosuly, this is the only good upgrade for this relic of a lump!

m42 or m20 will do

m10 are a relic as are m30's but they still push out silly power!!!

just upgrade then car when yoiu can afford to

[jonbuoy]

Jonbuoy making it run rich/lean is not the right way of getting more power from an engine.

Andrew

I set it up so it was on the verge mate ........it's the cheapest way for an M40

[Gibbo]

This is something I'm considering too. I can't find any guide on costs. I guess the M42 318is lump would be cheaper to fit than putting in a 6 cylinder engine but has anyone got any experience and cost information? I presume the purchase of all the engine options will be able the same.