Hi there,

About 6 months ago, I purchased an auto (I know, but manuals are hard to re-sell here) 320i E90 in Australia...I was wondering whether anyone knows of any basic modifications that I could make to it to get a few extra bhp on top of the basic 150bhp.

Does anyone know if things like chipping or exhaust mods will help and can they recommend any companies here? I'm hoping to get an extra 20bhp(ish) from somewhere, if I can. I've heard that the 320d can get something in the region of this, but haven't heard about the same for the petrol version.

Although I would have loved to have gotten a 6 cylinder, here in Australia they cost around 40,000 pounds in current exchange rates (for the 330i) which is a little pricey for what it is.

Thanks.

[Oz]

I am not an expert in this but

1) I don't think you will gain much with an exhaust mod
2) I have only heard of chipping cars for diesel motors/

Good choice with the automatic. The BMW steptronic is great IMO

Good luck

[jjbirch]

BMW 320 E90
2005 onwards
Engine type : Non-Turbo Petrol
Engine size : 1995 cm3
Cylinders : 4


Original bhp : 147
Original nm : 200
BHP increase : 10


Price : £293.75
THIS IS FROM http://www.superchips.co.uk/models.php they are v good but i have heard that 10bhp on a petrol does help as with 33bhp on diesel

[climkt]

hi jjbirch, i am a rare e90 manual nuthead in singapore with a 320i. 10 horses more for about 300 quid is not really much to shout about. i checked dms and they only have upgrades for 320d. do you know of any superchargers or other chips. thanks.

[Dankim10]

climkt.
Spare parts in Sinpapore expensive?
I mean aftermarket parts and OEM parts.

Do you have link Sinpapore local shop websites for me?

[climkt]

i have list of nos for u dude.
BMW PML-63190189
bmw continental -64739322
bmw eng soon-62917775
what is the price of e90 m tech rear bumper in indonesia? the cheapest quote is about 900 sin dollars. JB is even more expensive

[Asiann]

Originally Posted by Neo JB

Hi there,

About 6 months ago, I purchased an auto (I know, but manuals are hard to re-sell here) 320i E90 in Australia...I was wondering whether anyone knows of any basic modifications that I could make to it to get a few extra bhp on top of the basic 150bhp.

Does anyone know if things like chipping or exhaust mods will help and can they recommend any companies here? I'm hoping to get an extra 20bhp(ish) from somewhere, if I can. I've heard that the 320d can get something in the region of this, but haven't heard about the same for the petrol version.

Although I would have loved to have gotten a 6 cylinder, here in Australia they cost around 40,000 pounds in current exchange rates (for the 330i) which is a little pricey for what it is.

Thanks.

Usually chip, headers, exhaust, out of box air filters and performance cat convertors will yield the most hp's for your money. Newer cars are getting harder to do this and the BMW is no exception. I would try the exhaust first since it is available. You will probably have to wait until the technology comes out before other mods are added.

Originally Posted by Oz

I am not an expert in this but

1) I don't think you will gain much with an exhaust mod
2) I have only heard of chipping cars for diesel motors/

Good choice with the automatic. The BMW steptronic is great IMO

Good luck

The Automatic wasn't really a choice - more of a given. About 99% of BMWs sold in Australia are auto. I used to have a Manual 325CI (2003) and lost loads in the selling process. I miss that engine though and because I've gone through a couple of cars since (I've gone from a WRX STI to this...), couldn't stretch to a 325i, so am paying for it with a 110bhp drop :-(

Maybe I need to accept that it's never going to be exciting in a straight line (although round smooth corners the sports suspension and 255 rears keep it firmly planted!).

[Dankim10]

climkt.
http://conceptmotorsport.com/
You can email him about this.

[Bimmer325]

Ex-WRX Sti driver? maybe you'd enough high-speed trill, so its time to settle for something more relax?

Originally Posted by Asiann

Usually chip, headers, exhaust, out of box air filters and performance cat convertors will yield the most hp's for your money. Newer cars are getting harder to do this and the BMW is no exception. I would try the exhaust first since it is available. You will probably have to wait until the technology comes out before other mods are added.

Any ideas what the best exhaust is? Ideally I would prefer something that looks similar to the stock and isn't too loud.

Sounds silly (325 and 330 drivers won't have to worry too much about this!) but even having the aircon off seems to make a noticable difference to power.

[achtung]

Hi Neo

As Climkt can attest, its the same in Singapore where 99% of all cars sold are autos We are the only 2 manual 320i here

From friends and my own experience tuning a 2L NA (my ex Alfa Romeo 156), I would say that it is almost as difficult as squeezing water out of a rock. To add more bhp/torque to a Forced Induction (FI) engine like supercharged engine or a turbo-charged engine is almost as easy as changing the chip or uploading a new program.

Things that works for NA engines includes:
(1) removing all CATS (don't do this as its really bad for the environment)
(2) change to a free-flow exhaust
(3) change to fast roads cams
(4) change to open pod air filter like the Gruppe M
(5) put in a MSD ignition stacker (or similar) http://www.msdignition.com/
(5) put in unichip (or similar) to tune so as to maximise all the mods above.
(6) send yourself for the BMW Basic and Advance driving course

All the above will add on approx 15bhp to 20bhp (estimated, friend did a dyno with all the above on his Alfa and it was about 20bhp +/- 5bhp).

As you can see.... it is lots of work for very little gain. Adding a supercharger or a turbocharger will be more rewarding.

But having said the above.... the best is to buy a car with sufficient power and then leave the engine stock. A 325i will do very nicely (it will cost a cool S$30k more than the 320i here. A 330i will cost a cool S$70k more than the 320i ). My take is to keep the engine stock and add body kits, wheels (bling bling effect), enjoy the nice car you've got and save all the headaches and heartaches of tuning and leaving your car in the workshop.

Cheers
achtung

Originally Posted by achtung

Hi Neo

As Climkt can attest, its the same in Singapore where 99% of all cars sold are autos We are the only 2 manual 320i here

From friends and my own experience tuning a 2L NA (my ex Alfa Romeo 156), I would say that it is almost as difficult as squeezing water out of a rock. To add more bhp/torque to a Forced Induction (FI) engine like supercharged engine or a turbo-charged engine is almost as easy as changing the chip or uploading a new program.

Things that works for NA engines includes:
(1) removing all CATS (don't do this as its really bad for the environment)
(2) change to a free-flow exhaust
(3) change to fast roads cams
(4) change to open pod air filter like the Gruppe M
(5) put in a MSD ignition stacker (or similar) http://www.msdignition.com/
(5) put in unichip (or similar) to tune so as to maximise all the mods above.
(6) send yourself for the BMW Basic and Advance driving course

All the above will add on approx 15bhp to 20bhp (estimated, friend did a dyno with all the above on his Alfa and it was about 20bhp +/- 5bhp).

As you can see.... it is lots of work for very little gain. Adding a supercharger or a turbocharger will be more rewarding.

But having said the above.... the best is to buy a car with sufficient power and then leave the engine stock. A 325i will do very nicely (it will cost a cool S$30k more than the 320i here. A 330i will cost a cool S$70k more than the 320i ). My take is to keep the engine stock and add body kits, wheels (bling bling effect), enjoy the nice car you've got and save all the headaches and heartaches of tuning and leaving your car in the workshop.

Cheers
achtung

Tell me about prices! In Australia, the 330i is 40,000 pounds...325i = 33,000 pounds...320i = 26,000 pounds....and the M3 is currently 60,000 pounds! (and if you are interested, the M5 is around 92,000 pounds OTR!!)...There is big tax here on (mainly European) cars over 20,000 pounds with 6 or 8 cylinder engines :-(

I guess you are right; it does sound like it is very hard to tune these sorts of cars but even harder to be able to afford a 6 or 8 cylinder BMW! Once I get off lease in a couple of years maybe I'll get a 130i as they are a *relative* bargain here (14,000 pounds cheaper than the 330i) - even my dealer was surprised that they were around 7 or 8,000 pounds cheaper than they expected!

[nyyankee]

Originally Posted by Neo JB

Tell me about prices! In Australia, the 330i is 40,000 pounds...325i = 33,000 pounds...320i = 26,000 pounds....and the M3 is currently 60,000 pounds! (and if you are interested, the M5 is around 92,000 pounds OTR!!)...There is big tax here on (mainly European) cars over 20,000 pounds with 6 or 8 cylinder engines :-(

Any more thoughts from anyone about how to get a few extra bhp from my 320i? :-)

Stock is 150bhp - a couple of us even feel the difference when we turn the aircon off (yes, I know that is getting a bit desparate, but try driving a 320i in Australia in 35-40C - it runs like a dog!) - the A/C being off probably only liberates another 2-3bhp, so I'd even be happy if I could get it to 160bhp!

Maybe I should just stick a turbo in there and be done with it :-)