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Drivetrain:

My M3 came with a 5-speed ZF manual transmission. Rear differential is a 3.23 Limited Slip (LSD) with 25% lock-up.

Some of the improvements I have made over the years:

- Rogue Engineering Octane Short Shift Kit (SSK)
- UUC Stage II lightweight aluminum flywheel
- e34 M5 clutch
- UUC Transmission mount enforcers (TME's)
- 320i red tranny mounts

UUC Stage II lightweight flywheel (UUC photo)

UUC TME's and 320i tranny mounts (UUC photo)

Engine Mods and Upgrades:

Adding more power should be like icing on the cake, and only done if the rest of the car (and the driver themselves) is capable of handling the additional power. With that said, it is always a lot of fun!

Currently mods:
- Eurosport High Performance OBD-II 3.2L cam kit (includes Schrick 256/264 camshafts, M50 intake manifold, 24# fuel injectors, fan delete, ASC traction control delete, 3.5" air intake, 3.5" HFM airflow meter, and software to make it all work together)
- Active Autowerke Gen III exhaust
-UUC accessory underdrive pullies (UDP's)

Eurosport cold-air intake

Traction control (ASC) delete. This is a 98 M Roadster intake boot. Now I don't have to be bothered with disabling ASC for joy rides, and I can run the Motorsport strut tower brace (will not clear with ASC throttle body)

UUC underdrive accessory pullies. These pullies underdrive the water pump and power steering pump. Alternator is not underdriven but the stock pully is replaced with a lightweight aluminum pulley. (UUC photo)

How much power am I making? Well, back in May of 2004 I put it on the dyno with just the intake, chip, exhaust, and ASC delete. It made 216 HP to the rear wheels (~260 crank HP) and 222 ft lbs rear wheel torque (~267 at the crank). For a car with over 100k miles on it, it has held up VERY well! Pulls better than the day I bought it!

My old "baseline" dyno with intake, chip, exhaust, and traction control (ASC) delete. 216 HP to the rear wheels.

Power Upgrade:

Like most all car fanatics, we always want more power. Do we really need it? Well, that's not the point.

I was torn between a couple of options. My ideal upgrade would have been a euro motor swap, putting in the S50B32 that came with the M3 EVO in europe. This would have put out a stock 316 bhp (or the european advertised 321 DIN). This also would have given me atleast another 400 rpm's as it revs to over 7,400. What stopped me is a couple of reasons: Price, complexity of the swap, and it would not have been legal in some areas (it would not have been OBD-II compliant). Cost for the motor is usually between $7k-9k, and needs many other accessory parts like radiator and full exhaust and many small parts. Labor for the install would be around $5k. This was a lot more than I wanted to spend, and if I can get 300 bhp (only 16 short) for about $11k cheaper, I could look past those extra ponies.

Other options would have been an aftermarket supercharger or turbocharger. The three main problems with adding aftermarket forced induction was 1. heat 2. more things to break and 3. less throttle response. It is not uncommon for a F/I BMW to get heatsoak during a 30 minute track session (naturally aspirated cars are much less prone to the same heatsoak). When the car gets too hot, you don't make the same HP as it does when everything is cool. Adding all of that extra plumbing also adds failure points to the car, and failure is not good for track days. Another problem with turbochargers on the track is the less predictable throttle response. Nail the gas in the corner and it will be a second or two before the rear end gets "goosed", and this could really get you in trouble. I supposed you could apex later, but doesn't that take out some of the joy of a great handling car?

I was drawn to the simplicity and track worthiness of N/A tuning. I also thought N/A would be more in the "spirit" of the M3.

I went with the Eurosport High Performance OBD-II cam kit. Just finished the install in January 2005 and the upgraded power really rocks!

I made it to an Atlanta-area dyno day organized by some local BMW enthusiasts. We dyno'd at AllSpeed in Peachtree City.

The car put down 245.8 HP and 229.4 torque to the rear wheels. This was about a 30 HP improvement over my baseline!

On the dyno for my 1-22-2005 run!

Picture of the cams before install. First thing I noticed is they smell kinda funny.

The full cam kit. I installed everything except the camshafts (didn't have all the specialized tools or experience)

Cam kit installed!

Longevity Mods:

To increase the cooling abilities of my M3, I replaced the stock radiator with an aftermarket Zionsville aluminum radiator.

Zionsville radiator. Much stronger than the factory piece that had plastic endcaps.

I have also installed a gauge kit made by EDGE Motorworks. The gauges are water temp, oil temp, and oil pressure. This gauge kit mounts where the factory sunglass compartment was. Very good fit and finish. The gauges match the interior pretty good and have an amber color, just like the other interior lighting.

Installed gauge kit. I put this in myself.

Table of Contents:

Page 1: Quick pics, Intro, and car selection
Page 2: The New Whip
Page 3: Mods and Suspension
Page 4: Brakes, Wheels and Tires
Page 5: Drivetrain and Engine Mods
Page 6: Exterior Mods and Lighting
Page 7: Track Events and Drag Racing
Page 8: Mod and Spec Summary, Future Plans
Page 9: Other Cars and Friends
Page 10: Car Stereo Upgrades