performance upgrade for 316i???

[Bandit1200]

I've heard that a performance air filter boosts power! Any other tips to increase the power more?

[Captain_Birdseye]

I don't think there are. The best thing would be to keep the 316 as original and clean as possible and then sell it to start saving up for a 325I. Unless of course you have the assets to start adding things like super chargers or turbos, the likes which I don't think go hand in hand with a 1.6 engine. There's always the engine swap option, but again for all the hassle involved - how much do you enjoy lots of work and/or spending lots of money to 'upgrade' it?

[Bandit1200]

Thanks for your reply. Not after alot of extra power, just a small improvement would be nice. Would a KnN air filter make any difference or not worth bothering?

[Cloggy Saint]

A K&N would make no tangible difference at all.

[Captain_Birdseye]

No power difference, you pay 50 quid for a permanent filter which still requires servicing itself every so often. It won't make any difference in sound with the K&N panel filter but you may get a more throaty noise if you fit a cone filter which means a)you'll have to convert the factory airbox and b) will deliver warmer air which is not good for the car.

Speedtouch on here sells after market chips which plug straight into the ECU which are supposed to increase BHP a little bit, you could ask him if he does one for the 316. Look in the Traders section of this website.

A set of 4 good tyres and regular servicing are a must. Some people say you can get the injectors cleaned to help get a bit of life back.

For more info, look in the E30 wiki, under each section ie 'intake' and 'engine' there will be an 'upgrades' paragraph... read 'til your heart's content.

[Motorhole]

The E30's air intake system is pretty good. Some dyno tests have been done before (I'm sure somebody will be along shortly to provide a link because they know where they are!) which showed that pretty much every aftermarket filter made less power than the factory BMW item.

Basically you're taking a well-shielded cold air feed and replacing it with a cone that sucks in all the hot air from the engine bay.

Save for an engine swap The best bang-for-buck, lowest hassle swap for a 316i is probably the M42 engine from a 318iS.

[Topblag]

Look at it differently - take some weight out and it's generally free and has the same effect as more power.

[RB2]

There is not much gains to be had from the M40 at all. Not even worth the cost and hassle of going forced induction due to cost vs gains. Best swapping the engines. I just completed my first none like for like swap this summer using the wiki pages as a guide. It's all pretty complete and any additional questions were answered either here or on the FB page. Stoke pile the parts and it could be done in a weekend. I took a while longer as I cleaned and painted stuff at I went.

[Bandit1200]

Thanks everyone for your input. Appreciated.

[Bandit1200]

Has anyone ever tried upgrading the chip for a 1989 316i? Worth it?

[Bandit1200]

Can someone put me in touch with speedtouch. Can't find him.

[Brianmoooore]

Speedtouch not speedtouch.
BMW spent millions of deutchmarks developing the software for the M40B16 'chip' and will have made a good job of it, but they were confined by the restraints of having to make the car work properly with a wide range of altitudes, temperatures and fuel qualities.
It is the need not to meet some of these requirements in a particular country that the supplier of modified 'chips' can exploit, so Speedtouch's 'chips' are designed with UK conditions in mind. Are the parameters where you live close enough to those in the UK, especially fuel quality?

Before considering anything like a 'chip', you need to ensure that the engine is running as it was designed to do. The most likely thing to have deteriorated is the injectors - they may well have lost 20% of their flow, and having these rebuilt should be your priority.

[Bandit1200]

Thanks Brian.
I live in the south of Turkey on the med. So climate is very different than home and petrol quality I have no idea if its as good as UK fuel.
But if you think new injectors or recons would give a little boost I might go in that direction first.

[DHFiS]

Have you had the car on the dyno to see what it makes now?

[Contours]

The 316i would also have lost some of its horses over the years. I remember mine being well capable in the Nineties against similar 1600's of the time but now everything on the road passes me. I just pretend I'm not in that much of a hurry.

[Bandit1200]

No dynos in this part of the world I'm afraid. But she moves quite well for her age. Took her up to 150kph a few weeks back with out the old girl complaining. She runs well on LPG as well as petrol. We get a few European tourists over here in the summer and often catch them posing for a photo with her. Nostalgia I suppose.

[Topblag]

There's a fella selling wood interior trim, that might add a bit of "mustard" to the driving experience

[Motorhole]

Loose the spare wheel & jack for one if those sh*tty cans of foam. Swap out the battery for a lightweight one. Might loose you 15-20kg? It might be more noticeable than a chip for an M40.

[Brianmoooore]

At speeds below that where aerodynamics (drag) start to have a significant effect, and as long as you don't reduce the traction of the rear wheels to the point where they spin, acceleration is directly inversely proportional to weight. 20Kg off of a 1200Kg car will increase acceleration by 20/1200, which is nearly 2%.
I notice that you run your car on LPG (as I do all of mine), in which case rebuilding the petrol injectors isn't going to achieve much. You haven't said whether you have an older type mixer/venturi system or a more modern system with individual gas injector nozzles fitted to the inlet manifold near the petrol injectors, but if it's the former you will be losing a small amount of power, largely because you are drawing in air including LPG, instead of just air to which petrol is then added, effectively reducing the capacity of your engine by a few ccs. It will also render useless any alterations a 'chip' might make to the fueling.
There are potential gains to be had running on LPG if you can advance the ignition timing, since LPG has a RON of around 105 - much higher than petrol available these days, but, if you do, you run into problems if you do need to run on petrol.

[Captain_Birdseye]

There's a fella selling wood interior trim, that might add a bit of "mustard" to the driving experience

Boom!

[Bandit1200]

Latest system LPG with individual injectors. Runs Sweet. No spare wheel as that's where the tank goes for LPG. The wheels and tires it came with might retard it a bit. Very wide and Low profile about 25cms I think.
Need a new or used dashboard binnacle as speedo, clock and most of the warning lights don't work. Any suggestions appreciated.
Will give her a new colour scheme in the summer, cheap over here.