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BHP help?

S

Stug

Active member
Wiltshire
Jonny, before super charging etc you really need to know if your crank and bearings will take the hike in power. I don't know much about the internals of your engine but am sure its been fitted to other models in the bmw line up? Try finding someone who has already gone down the tuning route on other forums and learn from their progress/mistakes. It can save you loads of money and heartache.
I will be amazed if you get anywhere near 20hp from a remap, to be honest I will be surprised if you actually gain any HP. You will get a more responsive set up with a nicer throttle. . But any extra HP is doubtful. They work well on turbo charged engines but not so great on N/A buddy.
 
Did the e46 3 series use the same engine ? Worth looking into that. There's a 3.0 M54 engine, gear box etc for sale on here right now too - damn sight cheaper than a supercharger I'd bet. And provides an easy upgrade path in the future if you still need more power...
 
If you are at all serious about this a simple google results brings back plenty...

Take a look here for a start:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=384027&highlight=supercharging

Doesnt matter if its the E90 or the E85 its the same engine (more or less - some newer variants had DI)

The only thing about going FI - you really need to have some mechanical know how.. as you will need to know the basics to service/ look after them.. unlike the out of factory reliability you will get from a stock engine.
 
If you do go for a remap concentrate on how the low & mid-range torque will change as that's what will make the car 'feel' faster - if the remap just adds HP at the top end of the rev range, you'll rarely see the benefit whereas an increase in low & mid-range torque will make the car much more responsive in day-to-day driving
 
A turbo kit fitted will cost you around the £3K mark. Is it worth it? Buy a 3L the same shape and transfer all the mods over. Then it's the perfect zed!!! :driving:
 
Sorry to say but IMO you're wasting your time/money. A 2.0 Z4 will never be a fast car, not a reliable one anyway. Just enjoy it for what it is, a nice looking but fairly slow cruiser. I wouldn't even bother with the remap personally, 20bhp still won't bring it anywhere near a 3.0. Just spend the money on more mods and accept the fact you don't have a fast car. Why don't you spend £500 on an old Alfa or Volvo Turbo? Will be far quicker and if you stack it you won't care! :)
 
Jonny ..

Please stop spending money on your car mate to try make it something it will never be...Sorry to be so blunt but sometimes you need to know the truth fella..

Your car is similar to a one arm bandit..you will keep feeding it money ..but in the end it will never pay out..

Enjoy it as it is ..its a stunning car with a lot of TLC gone into it and that is top marks to you in making it so original..Its probably one of the most talked about cars on here...The threads etc are brilliant and always grab peoples attention..

But please please stop throwing away money on it trying to make it go faster...It might go a tad faster but as you are already experiencing with the EML ..It will become more and more fragile and expensive to keep on the road..

Mark..
 
Have to agree with y3putt, but Jonny won't. The last time I mentioned something similar you'd think I'd kicked his dog :lol:


Cars will suck your money up, especially in the search of more power.

If you're intent on throwing money into the performance of the car then I'd be looking at a compatible engine swap, something that will drop straight in with little hassle.
 
Arma makes a supercharger kit for the 2.0 4 potters, it will help prevent it from getting asskicked by a prius I think ;-)
 
It's his hobby - don't see why he shouldn't spend money on it if he wants to... However, advice around different options is fair enough comment, in the interests of him spending his money wisely. Personally I reckon he should bang a 3.0 in it, then s/c it in the future if he wants to.

Someone mentioned on another thread they were considering swapping their westy's current engine out for a ford ST170 block - no-one batted an eyelid. Ditto with Stevie putting a V10 in a 3.0 chassis - is it any different apart from the size of the engine ? More 'heroic' because it has more cylinders ?
 
I don't like to see people barking up the wrong tree. I do enjoy profitable hobbies and handicrafts. I have swapped in larger engines, smaller flywheels, added turbos and intercoolers, in my 'wasted' youth, etc. It is very annoying to put a bucket load of effort into something and get zilch back. I would prefer jonny got good returns for his efforts.
 
Tommy_hf said:
Arma makes a supercharger kit for the 2.0 4 potters, it will help prevent it from getting asskicked by a prius I think ;-)
Click to expand...

Arma also have questionable customer support after they sold a few blowers to n54 e9x owners that all went a little pear shaped.

Johnny, In all honestly, there is some excellent advice in this thread and even though it is your paper at the end of the day, I like others here would love to see it put to good use rather than on stuff that will only see issues in the future/wasted efforts.

I've considered the whole fi route and ended up chopping in my car for a factory model which has one as standard (worked out cheaper - both for cost of exchange, but also running costs, insurance, teething problems and so forth , and ultimately, more reliable)

If I were you, I'd be after an s54 engine conversion. Given the price of e46 m3's recently, it is only a matter of time before people start to write them off and you see them being broken for parts, and at least if you're bored after that, there are plenty of FI kits for that engine out there!

Alternatively, as Edd, keep it as it is and just enjoy it. You could always return your car to stock, and buy another with the right engine in it, transfer everything over and job done.
 
On a much lighter note you could put another 2L 4 pot in the boot running the front wheels in a kind of 2CV Safari style - double the power and 4x4!

http://www.citroenet.org.uk/passenger-cars/michelin/2cv/history/1958-sahara.html

Sorry, just a thought! :)
 
Bing said:
It's his hobby - don't see why he shouldn't spend money on it if he wants to... However, advice around different options is fair enough comment, in the interests of him spending his money wisely. Personally I reckon he should bang a 3.0 in it, then s/c it in the future if he wants to.

Someone mentioned on another thread they were considering swapping their westy's current engine out for a ford ST170 block - no-one batted an eyelid. Ditto with Stevie putting a V10 in a 3.0 chassis - is it any different apart from the size of the engine ? More 'heroic' because it has more cylinders ?
Click to expand...

that would be me, i will give a better picture on that as its a different ball game to Jonny.

the engine i have in at the mo and the ST170 engine are basically the same engine. both are from the ford zetec family.

i could take mine add cams, get the head ported, pocketed pistons, forged con rods, tune up on a rolling road etc. i ill be looking to jump from about 170-180 bhp im at now to 220 ish. cost of all this off the top of my head would be about 2K maybe? im not sure. in essence the st170 engine has had some of this done by ford already as a standard engine its 170 bhp. mine was 130 as standard.

in addtion becuse the basic engine is the same the exhsust/induction is the same bolt off one onto the other. others have done the same and got really good power gains.

for johnny to swap in a 3L he would have a whole lot more to consider than me in the westy.


Johnny is there any option to use a different 2L bmw engine that others have supercharged or turboed and drop that in it might be a different angle to look at.
 
i know im new to the forum but may be of some help. i did the same thing you are doing now to my last car, it was a 140bhp celica, and the car come in two engine sizes 140bhp or 190bhp. i spent £££££KKKK on it to make it the car of my dreams, but always wanted that bit more from the engine. i said the same thing you are now, go supercharger but the cost was silly for an extra gain of around 80bhp. but instead i spent close to £2,5k and had the engine done stage 1 N/A. it was great loved the change it made but at the end of the day it was only as quick as the 190bhp model and could have got one for a lot less than it cost to change it over. i had to draw a line somewhere and move on as the car is not worth the money i keep spending on it. i then found the Z4 and learnt from my very costly mistakes, i looked for the 3.0l straight away as i know i would not be happy with anything else.

at the end of the day its down to you mate what you do with your car, but i know what you are feeling and all the work you have put into it its hard to start again.

just to put it into context i paid £12k for my celica 7 years ago, i have spent well over 10k on the mods and engine upgrades and its now up for sale at £2200.
 
Good luck with insurance too… and running a SC as a daily.

Even putting a 3.0l in it is a huge task!! How much to have some one fit it? How long will it be off the road? What about all the little work arounds, that need tinkering. Are you up to the job of sorting problems yourself? Or will it be in the garage all the time £££ on labour, finding out whats wrong then fixing it. Just never ending. Then resale, who's going to buy a converted 2.0l? Anyone with sense would walk a mile in the direction of a factory 3.0l.

The 2.0l engines are by far the most unreliable engines in the Zs as they are, adding more power is just going to make it more unreliable.

Its all £££.

Sorry mate you can make as many of these threads as you want but there is only one obvious answer.

There is a thread with a 37k Mr car for 10k… I mean come on how much have you spent on yours already? 4-5k mark?
 
domsz4, thanks for that - much clearer :thumbsup:

I'd argue you're still considering replacing rather than upgrading, but take your point about greater simplicity in your case. There's more to do on Jonny's, but Stevie's 3.0 would come with engine, exhaust, gearbox, ECU and the loom... Possibly the air intake too. The chassis is the same, so there's not the mounting challenges that Stevie has with his V10. BBK is on the Jonny Mod Path, not sure what else he needs ? Probably up-rated suspension - which is a thought, because I am not sure if you can just swap the springs or need to do more ? What about the rear diff ?

All in, probably still much cheaper than an s/c. The idea of looking for a 2.0 that's been upgraded already is a good one, though you'd have to be confident of it's history.

Have to say, rather Jonny than me as I wouldn't be brave enough to do anything like this... But there is a lot of great knowledge on here for sure :driving:
 
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