A smidge more power from my E46 318

[Scuzzbat]

Hi all, I have an 05 E46 318 (N42B20) 143bhp.

It's a touch sluggish and I was wondering if anyone had any luck getting an extra few ponies out of the motor?

I'm aware that the 330, 325, 320 are all better engines and I should just buy one of those, but I'm not planning on doing that for motor tax related reasons.

I know a remap will do sweet fuck all as the car isn't diesel or turbo, but has anyone tried it and has it made any difference at all?

Is a new air filter the best I can hope for?

Thanks

[Peter-E36]

Hi there, I was in the same boat when I had my old 318iS. To be honest there isn't a huge amount of stuff you can do that will make a big difference without spending big bucks. If I was in your shoes though I'd maybe get a cold air intake and nice cat-back to (at the very least) improve throttle response and sound better, I would also remove any unnecessary weight, and fit the smallest wheels I would be happy with wrapped in the best tyres I could afford. That should make a nice difference

Edit: a good service would work wonders too, inc fuel filter and check for any small cracks in intake hose or anything like that. When you say sluggish do you mean more so than normal or just in general? I'd give the car a good going over and make sure it doesn't need any maintenance before doing any mods best of luck with it!

[Gar]

Are you sure the engine is running perfect ? Have a b20 outside and while it wont be burning through back tyres its a very nippy engine and the car moves suprisingly well when the boot is put down

Id start by making sure its making the power its supposed too

If it is running perfect and its not enough then im afraid anything else you do to make it faster will be a waste of cash i know its not what you want to hear but its fact im afraid , fancy air filter will probably add 1bhp

Id start with a full service ngk plugs all mann filters ,then codes read, check maf, rubber boots round the intake, tyre pressures etc

[JohnH]

Are you sure the engine is running perfect ? Have a b20 outside and while it wont be burning through back tyres its a very nippy engine and the car moves suprisingly well when the boot is put down

Id start by making sure its making the power its supposed too

If it is running perfect and its not enough then im afraid anything else you do to make it faster will be a waste of cash i know its not what you want to hear but its fact im afraid , fancy air filter will probably add 1bhp

Id start with a full service ngk plugs all mann filters ,then codes read, check maf, rubber boots round the intake, tyre pressures etc

Agreed, I would never describe them as fast but if it's sluggish something's wrong I'd say

[E46Padge]

I would also agree with the lads they are nippy enough. It may be a good idea to inspect the breather pipes for cracks/hole and get it plugged in to see if there are any hidden problems.

[michael320]

This website should be able to help you out....

http://vf-engineering.com/3-series-1992-06/

[Gar]

This website should be able to help you out....

http://vf-engineering.com/3-series-1992-06/

They dont even bother with 4 pots in the u.s all them chargers are for i6's

What a country machine guns massive tits helicopters fast cars petrol as cheap as water and massive open roads

[Smokey Bear]

Shorter ratio diff would do the trick for you.

[Scuzzbat]

Hey guys,

Okay, I may have spoken too soon when I called her sluggish. With four people inside it can be, it's also the cabrio, so that's going to add more weight. I'm going to change the oil and fuel filters, stick a k&n into the airbox and see if that brightens her up a bit.

I will definitely take a look for any cracks in the intake.

Also, when I say sluggish I'm comparing that to my old Volvo S40 T4, which was a brute, so perhaps I'm being a little optimistic with the power I expected from the E46.

Does anyone know how much a CDV delete will cost? I'm told this will remove the weird flat spots in first gear?

Thanks guys

[Peter-E36]

CDV will just make the clutch engagement instantaneous, you may as well change the clutch hose to a stainless steel one while you're at it, and you will also need to top up the fluid. Shouldn't be expensive really.

To be honest the thing you would notice the most performance wise is the shorter ratio diff as Smokey Bear mentioned above. Don't know how I forgot to mention it seeing as it's the next thing I want to do on my car. You will be basically sacrificing a bit of top speed for a bit of acceleration and car will rev higher at same speed/gear. So if you do a lot of motorway miles it may get a little annoying. Depends on how extreme a ratio you go for though