Help need !! Infor needed on engine mod's to increase power

Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:24 pm

Hi ya peeps...

In Augs my 325i is coming off the road for a couple of months so a few job's can be done.. i.e New valve stem seals and few other engine items , bit of welding and have the front end re-sprayed...

While the engines out of the car i want to know what i can do to it to improve the performance of it ????

Cam's if so what one's
Chip ???

Ect ect ... all idea's welcome but please note i dont have mega money !!!

The reason why i ask this is cos a freind of mine is telling me to fit a 24v lump out of a 525 !!! or turbo my lump ???

Any good ?????

PLease help ...... scotty

Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:44 pm

Well what is your budget?

Thu Jul 03, 2008 5:00 pm

24v swap..

Thu Jul 03, 2008 5:01 pm

Turbo!

Thu Jul 03, 2008 5:57 pm

2.8!

Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:06 pm

budget no more than £1000...

not a lot i know but this is a budget project....

thanks for the ideas so far ....

Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:23 pm

turbo and 2.8 won't be in budget.

24v

Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:31 pm

2.8 24v turbo!

Thu Jul 03, 2008 8:08 pm

give me the £1000 and ill tow you every where

Thu Jul 03, 2008 8:16 pm

NICE..........

What could i do to the standard engine ???????

Thu Jul 03, 2008 8:20 pm

m30!

Or 2.7/2.8 if you must keep the m20.

Thu Jul 03, 2008 8:33 pm

1k is M52B28 money just about on the nose.. Do it..

Thu Jul 03, 2008 8:38 pm

Jhonno wrote:1k is M52B28 money just about on the nose.. Do it..

Is that just for the engine dude or are you saying all the bits & bobs would come under the £1K mark?

I know B28's go for more than the M50 just wasn't sure how much more.

A M50 conversion would be absolutely no probs under £1K, hell probably money for a pair of cams for that price

Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:04 pm

yeah 1k to spend on the engine ........

or to buy another car and use that engine......

Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:42 am

Morat wrote:Turbo!

+1

Fri Jul 04, 2008 7:49 am

m30 all the way 3.5

Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:05 pm

E30BeemerLad wrote:
Jhonno wrote:1k is M52B28 money just about on the nose.. Do it..
Is that just for the engine dude or are you saying all the bits & bobs would come under the £1K mark?

I know B28's go for more than the M50 just wasn't sure how much more.

A M50 conversion would be absolutely no probs under £1K, hell probably money for a pair of cams for that price

All in.. The only thing different with the M52 swap is the EWS wiring, the extra cost is in the engine alone

Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:27 pm

£200 with hottuning for their exhaust manifold.£100 with GSF for new H/T leads,rotor arm and dizzy cap.£700 down the pub trying to pull a young lady....

Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:29 pm

That ever work out for you daimlerman?

Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:34 pm

Jhonno wrote:1k is M52B28 money just about on the nose.. Do it..

My personal favorite, not that this is the route I'm going.

e30bmlover wrote:
Morat wrote:Turbo!
+1

For £1000? dream on.

daimlerman wrote:£200 with hottuning for their exhaust manifold.£100 with GSF for new H/T leads,rotor arm and dizzy cap.£700 down the pub trying to pull a young lady....

If you want to keep the M20 thisor a home built 2.7 (basic spec) is the way to go, I think a 2.8 M20 may well come to over £1k and a fire breathing 2.7 M20 could well double that.

Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:02 pm

Ian_M wrote:That ever work out for you daimlerman?

No,but I get full marks for trying!!

Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:55 pm

im telling mum

Fri Jul 04, 2008 4:41 pm

to get back on topic..

while my head was appart I fitted the mildest Cat Cam (see zone shop). If your cam is as knackered as mine you'd have to replace it anyway and thats £110 for a GSF one. Cat Cam is £220 IIRC so its only really costing £110! *. Chip form Ant (£85). Car drives very nicely and has substantially more go than before all through the rev range and a very slightly more revvy nature. Slightly lumpy tickover. Of course, I don't know how much of the improvement is down to the cam and chip and how much is not being knackered anymore.

Add a Hottuning manifold (£200) and, if the bottom end is ok, you'd be fairly close to the 190 bhp of the 525i engine (assuming your mate's engine is still making its exact bhp anyway!).

*this is like when I come home from the Supermarket having "saved" £40 by buying £80 worth of wine in a buy-one-get-one-free deal.

Fri Jul 04, 2008 4:47 pm

rubber_duck89 wrote:im telling mum

Bloody kids,always running to mummy...Chris,do you get stick for your 'money saving' schemes as well?

Fri Jul 04, 2008 4:48 pm

you would be a nut job not to drop in a 24v lump imo, unless you own a sport or motorsport..

more power/torque and better economy

if you go the M52 route, its pretty cheap and simple to get 230bhp out of it in future. Try doing that with an M20

Fri Jul 04, 2008 5:20 pm

march109 wrote:
Jhonno wrote:1k is M52B28 money just about on the nose.. Do it..
My personal favorite, not that this is the route I'm going.

e30bmlover wrote:
Morat wrote:Turbo!
+1
For £1000? dream on.

daimlerman wrote:£200 with hottuning for their exhaust manifold.£100 with GSF for new H/T leads,rotor arm and dizzy cap.£700 down the pub trying to pull a young lady....
If you want to keep the M20 thisor a home built 2.7 (basic spec) is the way to go, I think a 2.8 M20 may well come to over £1k and a fire breathing 2.7 M20 could well double that.

he hadn't mentioned his budget when I said turbo... £1k is about £2k too short from what I can see

Fri Jul 04, 2008 5:49 pm

daimlerman wrote:...Chris,do you get stick for your 'money saving' schemes as well?

yeah, especially the "champagne incident" when I saved us an absolute fortune! Sadly I wasn't banned from going to the supermarket.

Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:15 pm

Forget M52 2.8! A good proper engine is still £700/800 plusdespite what people on here will have you believe.

forget M20 performance cams the Chipped ecu's will never get the fuel and spark right and it'll probably lose power.

M20's are notoriously hard to tune. I'd do the sump gasket, has it good oil pressure from cold? does the light go out just before the engine fires or just after and no longer?

Rear crank oil seal leaking? front one? Clutch ok? Coil ok? Radiator knackered? Dizzy+rotor are probably hanging.

Best mod by a mile without "tuning" would be a lightened flywheel, makes the biggest difference and far more than any manifold,cam etc will do. Economy goes up, more low end torque, engine revs better. Acceleration in first 3 gears noticibly better and small improvement in 4th and 5th

thing is with cams it leads to new rockers and then top end rebuilds and £££ then to get it running properly it needs the motronic mapping - which no one seems to do anymore. Or standalone/piggy back ECU's which is even more money and time on the dyno setting it up.

I'd get the flywheel in there and an exhaust for some nice sounds. NGK spark plugs are a must also BPR6ES are the ones you want.

Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:06 pm

Hi simon13 .... Yeah my bottom end is good, rad new and clutch new.. rotor and arm all new.. top end roller's and rockers new.... The only reason for me touching the engine is cos the valve stem oil seals have started to smoke !!

It as a stainless back box and no middle box..

I'll look in to the flywheel thing.... and the exhaust mainifold...

Just why the engine was out just fancyed doing a few bit to get that little extra power !!!!

Probley will keep the m20 lump as i know the history of it ...

Thanks for all the reply's....

Any more ides are welcome...