Most effective engine mods on E30 M3?

Who has fitted cams, exhausts and alternative induction systems to their M3? I've heard of Motec, but what do you reckon? Applies to 2.3 and 2.5 cars.
Who actually got real power figures, and what did the bits cost?
Worthwhile or not..................?

Depends what you use the car for.If its an every day car then I would do no more than a custom remap, you will be amazed at the differance.Mine went from 208bhp to 216bhp,but thats not the whole story,its better every where,almost a joy to drive in traffic.£350.
284/276 Shricks,with custom remap.Again mine went from 216bhp to 234bhp.Ideal if you like a few track days, not so good for better driving days.                     Moves the powerband up the range a bit,so you lose a little bit low down.but from 5-7800rpm goes very well.£1200.
284/284 remap 240/5bhp.Bit of a pain in town, as you get nowt for nowt.But when it goes wow!£1200.
2.5 I`ll let you know.But judging by what others get about 250bhp with the 284/276 combo and with alpha N about 265bhp.and very driveable.Just the engine about £3500/4 as I already have the cams.
Jon

I would have thought you would get some gain,but dont forget the 215bhp cars have bigger throttle bodies,different heads,exhaust manifold and possibly air filter housing?
Motec is one of the best out there,but its £££`s
Jon

Andyboy wrote: I guess a pair of good used cams from a 215 bhp car will fit an earlier 200 bhp (or 195 bhp) car and give a boost. Which is better; Alpha N or Motec?

MoTec is a brand/company (Australian!) whereas alpha-N refers to what a MoTec computer contributes to doing. Alpha-N is a type of set up that fundamentally changes the way an engine with an air flow meter works (it is not a brand).
A standard E30 M3 has a Bosch Motronic engine management computer and an air flow mter (AFM). The Motronic computer needs to know the air flow measurement in order to decide how much fuel to put in the cylinders and also the ignition timing at any given point in time. The alpha-N set up doesn't need an AFM. It measures the revs of the engine, the position of your throttle, plus things like manifold pressure, air temp, exhaust gas make-up (the lambda sensor) and then it decides how much fuel to put in (the fuel map) and the ignition timing (ignition map).
So why does it make the engine more powerful? Because in an engine like the S14, the AFM is the biggest limiting factor in the power it can make. The AFM is ditched when you fit an alpha-N set-up. Alpha-N set-ups give you more power throughout the rev range, whereas cams and a remap give you most of the benefit at the top end.
However, it is more expensive. Powerstation in Gloucester are the MoTec gurus and they will fit MoTec plus all its fancy sensors and looms and maop the thing on the rolling road for £2500 including VAT. Cams and a re-map somes to £1200. So Alpha-N (using MoTec hardware) is twice the price. However, if I was able to have only one upgrade and money wasn't a problem, I'd go MoTec (ie alpha-N).
There are other companies that supply plug and play alpha-N solutions for S14 engines. Maxx is one (I think m3pilot, Martin is putting this on his) and it is cheaper.....but I don't know how easy it is to map. Will it be lumpy? What will tick-over be like? With MoTec I guarantee the engine will run beautifully.
My Sport Evo started with 225 BHP on Bexleys rollers. 284/272 cams, Milltek exhaust and the MoTec got power up to 252 BHP and torque went up from 180 to 200 lb/ft. Not cheap.....but it was very fast. Andy O'Hara's Sport Evo with MoTec, Milltek and 284/284 cams made 263 BHP.

In my opinion all E30 M3s would be best off with 250 BHP.....the chassis can easily take it. The problem is it costs a lot to do this.

UweM3 wrote: JohnW, mine was doing 251 on Bexley's dyno with the AFM and no Motec, so what's the point of spending 2500? I know you will say the throttle respone is so much more crisp, but is that worth 2500??? On track the throttle is anyway most of the time fully open. I always thought I need Alpha-N, but for now I am fine.

If yours has alpha-N it would be putting out 260-270 BHP. I'm serious. Everyone seems to get 10-20 BHP gain throughout the rev range. And that's the crucial thing....throughout!!
You need to look at the before and after power figures in my post. The cams and MoTec with new exhaust made 27 BHP and 20 lb/ft difference....but it felt like much more! Your engine is obviously healthier than mine was before we modified it. This means you have even more to gain. You could even end up with more power than Andy O'hara...he get 263 BHP. What cams do you have? Are you up for the challenge?!!!!!!!!!!

2.5 conversion with BMW EVO3 pistons, 290cams, a little bit of head modification, 10.9 compression. And some custom mapping of course (thanks Nigel).
John, if I imagine that this was achived with the exhaust pictured below, a standard 215bhp head with standard valves(no EVO3 here)and the smallest header, how much more is left to gain?
My onest opinion? there isn't that much more like everybody thinks. Otherwise I would end up with 300bhp haha.
251+20Alpha-N+8Miltek+don't know high compression pistons+EVO3 header=????
The overall package can surely be improved, but I am cautious about all this +20 figures.

no way mate! I will invest the money in some tyres and track time.

Uwe
(and I hope you come along with your overgrown beetle to give me a hard time)

What's peoples call on cams here, most say keeping the inlet / exhaust staggerd ie like std (or 284/272 etc) is the way to go. How does having equal inlet / exhaust cams ( 284/ 284)affect the engine charaterisics / powerband?

Thanks John, food for thought. The Motec is pricey though. The main problem with the AFM is that the big alloy flap is a serious detriment to air flow. When my Dad owned AmD (you may have heard of them being a Porsche pilot now....) they did a conversion on the 1983 - 88 911 Carrera 3.2 which had Motronic. It was converted to an air mass meter similar to those used on cars like the E36 where a plastic tube has a heated wire - the more air that goes through, the cooler the wire gets and the ECU takes readings from this. This used to give excellent results - about 10 or 15 bhp from memory. Dad's semi retired now but always up to stuff - a decent air mass meter conversion for the E30 M3 at a fraction of the Motec cost?
By the way, the Sport Evo used the same air flow meter as the E32 730i/735i and the E34 530i/535i should anyone bullsh*t owners into thinking that it's a rare part! (It's an 0280 203 027)

So, what are the exact differences between the regular 200 bhp car and the 215 bhp/220 bhp cars? Anybody know what the ECU numbers are on their cars inc SpEvo? (remove the trim panel under the steering column and look up at the ECU. Number begins with 0261)

Thanx!