Who'd have thought a simple bulb was worth 100bhp .....

[MJJ_ZX6RR]

Since buying my almost finished M30'd cabby project 18 months ago, I'd had a nagging feeling that it was missing a good chunk of its horsepower.

Finally got around to getting it on Paul's dyno at Circuit Motors a week or so back, and indeed, it made a whopping 112hp calculated at the crank. On the dyno, I was finally able to see that the EML fly by wire throttle was only opening ~40% whatever you did with the throttle pedal.

Many hours of web searching, interior dismantling, and re-creating the EML dashboard warning lights that the E32 dashboard has, and the E30 dash is missing, and voila - all the gee-gees are out to play.

Now, I finally understand how much fun an M30'd E30 can be. God I'd missed sideways .....

It is hard to believe that a simple dashboard bulb could make so much difference. That'll be computers and limphome modes for you.

Martin.

[Ziggy]

Proper result - well chuffed for ya!

[leeparkes]

Go enjoy

Has it been back on the rollers?

[zaust]

Go enjoy

Has it been back on the rollers?

That's what I wanted to know too.

Well done btw.

[ImysE30]

Well done, 112bhp though

What's it pushing out now

[MJJ_ZX6RR]

Cheers gents, I'll get it back on the rollers in the next few days and report back. It should be up around a normal M30 though - it is a standard engine except a full stainless BTB system.

The really galling part is that some clever soul suggested to me a year ago that these missing bulbs could be the cause of the missing power. So, after choosing to doubt that advice, replacing coils, HT, dizzy, fuel filter, injectors and spark plugs, it turns out that those simple £4 worth of bulbs were the problem.

You can lead a horse to water as they say

Martin.

[Jon_Bmw]

Pleased you went to see Paul I suspect?

Dynos are so useful for diagnostics.

[MJJ_ZX6RR]

Will,

No, I did not bother with the OBC. I did toy briefly with the idea of fitting the E32 dash I have instead of the E30 one, but the number of extra sockets in the back of the E32 dash put me off

Martin.