M3 Evo Sport tuning.

Hi Paul , nice to meet you .

My car's a standard 2.3 and runs well but my fuel consumption isnt too clever at 23mpg average ! I've only had this one since the summer so I'll have to look into it over the winter , I took it to Bruntingthorpe recently and it went very well so I'm sure its giving good power .

Steve .

Sorry can't help with the power loss although I would recommend a Miltek.

With regards to the trim try www.atrim.co.uk Have'nt tried them myself but have heard good things from others on other forums

I spoke to H & S some years ago about their E30 M3 exhaust. They were honest enough to mention(after I asked about R&D) that it had undergone no real development - not even a car dyno tested. I didn`t buy. At £750 I would of rather of bught a brand new BMW well developed exhaust for 300 quid more.


Edited by Darren M

How do you know what the BHP is? you have stated various figures but are these from a rolling road or just guestimates?

I also own one of these cars and mine bounces off the rev limiter so do not be dissapointed yet! My economy is circa 22mpg on shortish runs along a & b roads so plenty of short hard bursts of acceleration. But in quieter moments I have managed 39MPG - but not often! 

Despite the extra BHP over the other cars, it will not show a big performance increase a bit more torque but the gearing is also altered for economy and probably quieter running. 

One of the problems I feel maybe all the extra bits and peices that have been fitted and how they interact with each other. You need a base line to start from otherwise you could be chasing yourself around in a circle.

My car is completely standard now 4 yrs into ownership but it took me 2 years to sort out a misfire problem and went to 3 specialists (within the dealership) to no avail. Eventually a second new coil sorted it but who knows what the problem was many things were changed two times.  

Some people have spent thousands on these engines trying to improve performance but a standard engine correctly set up is not going to be a slow car. I personally would not bother to fit a Miltec if your bhp figures are correct - Miltec is not going to find you another 58bhp!

Personally I would get someone to check out the ECU, take compression readings (despite the rebuild - assume nothing), fit a standard chip and locate a secondhand exhaust system - Bexley Motors may have one. ML will probably have done a good job on the clearances but to be sure (in order to create a base position) have these checked again.

If the compression readings are correct, the valve clearances too then I would major on electronics and fueling do one thing at a time and just go through step by step. You mention an AMD chip do you still have the figures/graph from the rolling road (assume this was done by a previous owner from the info given). 

By the way what colour is the car and the mileage? 

Paul, does the car have traction control fitted? Just wondering. There was an Evo Sport for sale recently with a H & S exhaust and seeing as you have bought one with the same exhaust I`m guessing it`s the same car.
Definately see how it behaves with the Miltek on. I remember John W was amazed at what happened when he ditched the H & S for the Milltek (40 HP if I remember correctly).

Seeing as you operate a rolling road, any discount for us M3`ers?. Maybe a group session one weekend in Spring. Just a thought.

Paul

Nice to have a rolling road!!

It is difficult to imagine someone fitting the wrong crank, has the performance been a problem since the overhaul? - do you have the parts purchase receipts to be able to check the part no's.

It is relatively easy to check whether the timing lines up as you probably know? - there are two notches at the front end of the camshafts that line up with corresponding notches on the 'front most cap' and these all line up with the crankshaft at TDC on No 1.

I have had problems with the crankshaft sensors but only after being clouted by shrapnel from a disintegrating starter motor, then the car either started or did not but knowing that is probably not a lot of help.

It would appear to lead back to the ecu but there seems to be no way of telling that I know of - however there is a guy called Phillip Crouch who seems to be a bit of an electronics/M power wizzard. He used to be a partner at Hartlake but then left. The last I heard he was working a day or two at Birds - Uxbridge so maybe worth speaking to him to see if he can offer a check method/soloution.

Richard  

Thanks guys for your info.... I have been driving the car harder the last couple of days, and it seems to be getting better??? Maybe getting used to it? Will R/Rd it Friday so let you know.  Seriously it does feel great sometimes, not so great on others, particularly if accelerating hard in 3rd from 2000 RPM, it feels flat right the way upto 7000 then even flater to the rev limiter, not that I'm one for bouncing it off the rev limiter! Then change into 4th and full throttle it again it backfires once with a large flame out the back. This may impress some people......but not me . So it maybe ECU. Got exhaust coming anyway, will fit it first then test it.

Darren, yep, its that car! Nice guy who I bought it from, but despite what he said to me before I bought it, hes placed posts on here about poor performance with this car, so he knew about it. A rolling road session would be good, but our dyno is an old Bosch dyno with no printer, basically, I have to take power readings in 4th gear from 2000 RPM in 500 RPM increments untill I see a power drop off. Then I have to plot onto a graph. As you can appreciate all this takes alot more time than newer dynos which allow you to get into 4th gear then plant the throttle to the redline. We do also have the latest A/F ratio meters for accurate gas readings. There are no worries about the dyno's accuracy though, its been proved correct time and time again. Provided everyone is happy with that, then I have no problems in holding a R/rd day. It depends on how many people want to join in really. We are in a nice setting.. Castle Combe in wiltshire, on the doorstep to the race circuit. I am unsure if there is a BMW track day at the circuit this year? Maybe a good time to hold one of these days?

Mark, couldn't you get an 092 ECU? or was it available just more expensive? I think I would like to try and find a donor one before buying a new one, the costs are getting a little out of hand.

Richard, yep, me knows how to check the valve timing, but I havn't yet had one of these cam covers off, so it sounds like its the same as a Ferrari 348 I done recently with the notches in the cams and no1 caps. It had good power before the rebuild. Then theres loads of reciepts for internal engine parts including the Crank. Then a few more reciepts, one saying more work required after crankshaft replacement. There is no reciept to say that the crank was ever replaced after that date. It would be hard to tell a couple of mm difference in two crankshafts side by side. Also the part number maybe correct, and packed wrong? who knows? I think if the crank sensors play up, it would probably actually cut the engine, or have a misfire as though hitting a brick wall. I thought they may have been connected the wrong way round, but when I connected them up the other way, the car wouldn't start. Plus they had been marked up by whoever did the engine job. I have absolutely no idea why the engine was pulled apart, or even if the crank was ever replaced. On the crank reciept it had "please return crank asap" This could have been the old one? No idea? Probably getting hold of that particular owner would be impossible.

God I can type for England .

Anyway, cheers lads.

Paul

The guy's who ordered the replacement ecu gave Bosch the
part no from my old computer - I don't think the 092 computer is
part of their exchange scheme as it was only fitted to 600 cars. I
have a copy of a std spt evo chip which I may try sometime this
year - but the car is going great as it is! I was having dreadful
over-fuelling problems on cold start up (wouldn't pull, stalling
etc) then after changing the AFM, injectors etc it got worse! On
fitting my chip to the old ecu the car ran fine when cold but had
an erratic misfire when warmed up - the new ecu solved
everything - although I'd rather have the proper spt evo chip
fitted - just in case.

I currently have a "loan" 092 computer from Nigel Moesley in
the house at the moment (which I'm sending back this week) all
this did when fitted was to fire the engine twice and then flood
it. This unit has a Bexley's sticker or it - so it's probably been
tampered with in the past.

I certainly don't have any flat spot problems when going
through the gears - I've always found m3's slightly lumpy at low
revs/speeds - and in fact it's now revving round to 4000+ rpm
much quicker than my 2.3 car did or what my current one did
when I bought it!

Hope you get the problem solved - I know all about the
expensive side of these cars.

Mark

Cheers for the advice chaps!

Car has been going alot better, untill tonight when it felt really flat a couple of times again. So gut feeling is pointing to the ECU.

I deal with some Bosch agents in Bristol, and only the 091 ECU is available through them. The 092 is main dealer only. Although the agents I deal with seem a little reluctant to exchande an 092 with a 091. Anyone got a tired 091 cheap?

Just saw the posts about some Sport Evo chips being the same as the standard M3. Thats pretty much nailed it for me about buying an 092 from the main dealers, whats the point in spending twice what an 091 is on a 092 which could be a 091? Also, why on earth does BMW charge so much for thier exhaust systems (which have probably been sat on thier shelves for a few years)? I know theres alot of developement gone into designing them, but still doesn't warrant the money really. Don't get me wrong, I would rather have the genuine artical.

Has anyone had a go at supercharging an E30 M3? Not really interested in Turbocharging  . Just a thought!

if it helps, i can send you the correct standard chip for your engine so you can at least try it and see if it helps ?