For my Z3

Jonny O

Newbie
Points
56
Location
Scotland
Car
Z3
Hi,

Looking for some advice for my Z3 1.9. Was only after I bought it that I realised it's not got as much grunt as I'd like it to have although I still love the car itself.

Any ideas on some upgrades that'll give me a little more speed and fun? I've seen the Z3's fitted with a Magnaflow exhaust which makes them sound great but does it actually give much more power?

Anything else you can recommend? I'm not much of a mechanic but love driving car's.

Cheers,

Jonny.
 
Hi there Jonny O. AutoCustomEngineering is your man - he knows his BMW tuning. I would have thought that you could get a lot of parts from the Z3M. Fuel system is pretty good in the Z3M and with a supercharger you should have more than enough power on tap.

An exhaust really needs to be matched to the induction - you are balancing the flow through the engine. A sports cat will give a few more ponies.
 
Thanks Wayne,

Def something that we can help you out with!! Tell me what sort of power gain you are looking for, I have a ZM3 rear axle in my workshop and a 2.8 engine that may come in handy,

The BMW 1.9 also do well with flowing but the gain per pound isn't as good as engine change,
 
Thanks guys,

Not sure I want to go as far as changing the engine although I know that would make the biggest difference. Was more thinking exhaust / air filter or maybe something that would be better but for the same kind of price (a few hundred squid).

Just as a 'by the way' though. What kinda price we talking for an engine change?

Jonny.
 
Your saving an engine swap for a rainy day then ;)

Biggest difference on the Z3 IMHO would be fast road cams.
 
Hi mate,

To convert you car to the high spec would cost £2800 with all the parts included, The 2.8 engine and gearbox with 70.000 mies only propshaft, limited slip differential ZM3 rear axle, M3 brakes. All loom and ECU EWS, The only part needed will be the exhaust from the centre box

With the engine you have i would swirl the engine and put a fast road cam in, this should give you a fair amount of power increase, i reckon around a 50-100bhp, If you would like a quote on this let me know
 
Thanks again for this guys. Fast road cam sounds like the business been reading up on them. What it doesn't say is whether they will put more wear on the engine?

AutoCustomEng, if you could quote me that'd be good. However, I'm in Scotland, where are you based?
 
Hi Jonny,

we are based in the South east, What i might suggest if you are intrested is to do the cam in conjuction with the head flow, You will see a really brillliant gain from both working in conjuction!!

We can offer the service of fitting the cam and head mods if the head is sent to us or if you would like to bring the car down either way,
 
A cam like any other component will not cause excessive wear on the engine unless you neglect to service it or drive it particularly hard. The engine will still be within tolerances with a fast cam so don't worry about extra stress caused.
 
Hi Jonny,

Depending on which arrangement you are looking at? I would prefer you to let us do the complete upgrade as we then can guarantee the whole upgrade as we will be fitting it and checking the lift, but either way is good,
I reckon it will be around £1500 all in but as a rough guide,

Many thanks
 
Hi mate,

To convert you car to the high spec would cost £2800 with all the parts included, The 2.8 engine and gearbox with 70.000 mies only propshaft, limited slip differential ZM3 rear axle, M3 brakes. All loom and ECU EWS, The only part needed will be the exhaust from the centre box

With the engine you have i would swirl the engine and put a fast road cam in, this should give you a fair amount of power increase, i reckon around a 50-100bhp, If you would like a quote on this let me know

If you can get anywhere close to 100hp increase on a m52b28 with a cam and head work Ill eat my hat. :eek:
 
To help update such an old post. The best way to get power out of the Z3 with the M44 engine is a supercharger. All info on the supercharger can be found in my project thread (see signature) as the 'charger used is the same.
 
Prince, what is the power output with the blower on the M44?

For info the M42 was not used on the Z3 only the M44 and M43, M42 was predecessor to the M44, looks similar but had an oblong plenum
 
Prince, what is the power output with the blower on the M44?

For info the M42 was not used on the Z3 only the M44 and M43, M42 was predecessor to the M44, looks similar but had an oblong plenum

Around 200bhp but I'm yet to have it dyno'd. If you need info on the 'charger and a look at it fitted then see my project thread.
 

Please watch this on my YouTube channel & Subscribe.


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