Underpowered

ranski said:
As long as mine is quicker and rapid in overtaking than the majority of the other cars on the road, then I'm content :)
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x2 - it is, and I am :D

It's not just about bhp and straight line acceleration though, is it ? It's about how it feels, handles and entertains on proper roads. As said above, the 3.0 keeps up just fine - I was sandwiched between ///Ms on the Sussex meet and expected to feel left behind / like a road block... I was delighted that I didn't at all, though on empty straights the ///Ms left me behind, as you'd expect.

I think if you get yourself on a meet and go for a hoon with another bunch of Zs you'll appreciate it much more :thumbsup:
 
Adamski said:
As per CJ and Tom's comments. I was behind Tom at the national meet.

Sometimes as you get used to a car it feels slower over time. The problem with drastic power increases is that you'll to upgrade brakes etc to deal with the extra power.

Sometimes a driver training course will yield far better results than an extra 50bhp....


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I have to totally agree with that, you could put me in a 911 GT3 and I would still be rubbish on a track, my high speed driving abilities are pretty useless, off road abilities are pretty good though :D
 
0 - 60 below 6 seconds is still quick even by modern hot hatch standards. current Megane RS, Focus ST, Golf GTI etc etc all post in 6 seconds or just below. In the real world your 3.0 litre correctly driven will give most cars a run for their money, even a Z4M. :)
 
Yes there is obvious model distinction, 230hp is quite a lot maybe not now because of basic hot hatches.. but 230hp is more than an original E30 M3. Time evolves and 10 years is a long time. since the E30 M3 came out with 195hp the newest E90 & E92 have double with 420hp. The M6 and M5 more examples 550hp in family road cars!

Have to say tho 260 sounds much better, but thats what model distinction is for so you lust after the next model.
 
The other point to remember is big 6 cylinder engines tuned for reasonable power last for ever. There are many 200,000 mile examples around and you rarely hear of any core engine issues.

I can think of many slightly more powerful but fragile set ups.
 
Not seen it mentioned but the BHP figure on it's own is only part of the picture. You have to factor in torque, drive train, gearing and of course weight.
 
Remember that the M54 engine is the 3er E46 engine, ie a family, road car, not a sports car. It was designed with torque, availability, reliability and consumption in mind. The "oooompf" factor lies in the M3/Z4M.
The engine design itself is more than 10 years old, back then it was a really good engine (and it still is, as far as NA engine go).
 
Lots of excellent comments on this and i have to agree with a lot of them! i love the car to bits and i can honestly say the only reason im looking forward to finishing work today i becuase i know ive got the 20 mile drive home with the roof down! plus its nice and clean for a change!
 
I used to think my 3.0si was underpowered... but that was until I started doing track days. I quickly realized power is not that big of a factor, not nearly as suspension & handling. After upgrading those bits, I have no problem passing high horsepower cars...

If you want something more noticeable on day to day basis, I'd look at gearing. The torque multiplication will be more evident in daily street driving.
 
Dubbedown said:
I used to think my 3.0si was underpowered... but that was until I started doing track days. I quickly realized power is not that big of a factor, not nearly as suspension & handling. After upgrading those bits, I have no problem passing high horsepower cars...

If you want something more noticeable on day to day basis, I'd look at gearing. The torque multiplication will be more evident in daily street driving.
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what would people recomend? would there be much gains in exhaust system and remap? then look at handling?? what options are avaiable?
 
I looked at a remap as I've had a few diesels that I got remapped by a local guy. He said he could get it to around 246 with a remap and in the 250s with a full custom exhaust (he co owns an exhaust fabrication place). It was going to cost around £1500 to get it all done so i decided the best thing to do was to stick the money in a pot and save it towards an ///M if I was that bothered. I was a little worried about remapping a N/A petrol engine.
 
Ye well it depends how much long you really see yourself owning the car spending 10%+ of the value of the car on those kind of mods is silly really as you wont get your money back. Although most decisions are heart over head with the age of the car.

Remaps dont work well on NA engines if it were turboed you might get 15-35% gains but NA looking more like 5% 10% at max but on the lower end of that scale. With a new exhaust and air filter it would be worth mapping it to get the extra gains out of the system as you might find you loose power with these mods under the standard map. So money just mounts and mounts!

You would be better buying an M, if you want more performance.
 
I,m looking into dropping a 4.4 ltre BMW V8 into mine to "overcome" any tardyness along with a hydraulic power steering conversion
 
There was a Z3 with a V8 in it at zedfest - not a hell of a lot of room left, but looked awesome. Must be a beast to drive.
 
andy6409 said:
You could always try this if you are brave enough

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-TUNING-BOX-E85-Z4-2-2i-2-5i-3-0i-/110922406308?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item19d37d99a4
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Which "box" do you mean? :rofl:
 
Well I plan on keeping it for a good few years really ;-) always done mods to my other cars and would love an exhaust system and remap! Just need to find out why I've got a bouncy idal on start up!!
 
What sort of eats at me about the trim level differences is while there's over 30 hp difference between SE and SI trims, they are both exactly the same engine. :headbang: What's different is intake, exhaust, ECU mapping. But by the time you do those mods to an SE, you've spent a lot of money to only gain 30 some hp. As others have said, you're better of trading in for ///M.

To embellish on what others have said, all Zeds are plenty fast in the curves, even 2.0s. The only significant advantage of higher hp on public roads is ease of overtaking. And even that can be made up for with good timing and gear selection. Nearly all of us would like more power, but few of us really need more. I know that I'm no where close to utilising the car's full potential, I've more to gain by increasing my driving skills than by adding performance to the car.

Doing an engine swap is a really cool project and will obviously yield huge gains. But it's really a labour of love and a desire to have a truly unique car, rather than making financial sense. Not something for most of us.
 
interesting debate ? its my first 6 cylinder BMW since a 320i se E30 auto some 16 years ago , , ,now that was plain lazy & really had to be worked to get it moving & i think TBH that's how these 6 cylinder BMW engines are ,
there is no turbo as with many other cars to supplement torque so really you are left with the right foot & using the right gears for the right amount of time to feel the acceleration & power , , ,
the sport mode on my Z4c auto makes a huge difference , , ,when you want some pull that is :)
previous 911's have been similar to the straight 6 up to 3000revs then the flat six behaves like a demented polecat with its tale stuck in the door !
but if its everyday instant torque & the feeling of being pummeled into the seat then try a V8 545/645/745 OR even a 650? :evil:
there really is no substitute but totally different budget & running costs .
i,m enjoying exploring my 265bhp but do think it needs commitment from the right foot to exploit it :thumbsup:
its first yomp over the channel later in the year should see me nearer its boundaries :wink:
 
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