E30 M3 - Unintended Rebuild
Discussion
Great thread. Owned one of these about 15 years ago when they where more reasonably priced. Would love another.
Regarding the ecu. Fit a decent standalone with a properly made loom and get it properly mapped. Piggy back items are just a fudge and it’s one more thing likely to cause an expensive engine to fail.
Regarding the ecu. Fit a decent standalone with a properly made loom and get it properly mapped. Piggy back items are just a fudge and it’s one more thing likely to cause an expensive engine to fail.
Thank you for all the kind comments chaps, much appreciated. I dare say hard (ish) usage of anything old requires a level of commitment or tolerance for mechanical issues, but hopefully the bulk is dealt with now for a good while.
I'm not sure I agree that the alpha N piggyback is more or less likely to cause a problem than a DTA/Motec for instance. It's an extremely basic system and the OEM Bosch Motronic it is mated to is pretty reliable and robust. I think it's more likely that poor mapping will damage an engine, which could apply with any kind of management. Admittedly some users try and map the A/N themselves, maybe that causes some lean running and holed pistons etc - I'm absolutely not doing that. Wayne @ Chipwizards will be mapping it, and he's done hundreds. The Maxx Alpha N whilst not a perfect solution has been in use for at least 25yrs, and I'm not aware of a failure that could be attributed to it. Badly mapped, sure, but the blame can't lay at the door of the system there, more so operator error.
chrisr29 said:
Great thread. Owned one of these about 15 years ago when they where more reasonably priced. Would love another.
Regarding the ecu. Fit a decent standalone with a properly made loom and get it properly mapped. Piggy back items are just a fudge and it’s one more thing likely to cause an expensive engine to fail.
It's shame they are so pricey now I think as it has definitely altered an element of the ownership demographic, but at least their value being higher justifies some of the spending required (yeah right in my case, but I'm brilliant at lying to myself).Regarding the ecu. Fit a decent standalone with a properly made loom and get it properly mapped. Piggy back items are just a fudge and it’s one more thing likely to cause an expensive engine to fail.
I'm not sure I agree that the alpha N piggyback is more or less likely to cause a problem than a DTA/Motec for instance. It's an extremely basic system and the OEM Bosch Motronic it is mated to is pretty reliable and robust. I think it's more likely that poor mapping will damage an engine, which could apply with any kind of management. Admittedly some users try and map the A/N themselves, maybe that causes some lean running and holed pistons etc - I'm absolutely not doing that. Wayne @ Chipwizards will be mapping it, and he's done hundreds. The Maxx Alpha N whilst not a perfect solution has been in use for at least 25yrs, and I'm not aware of a failure that could be attributed to it. Badly mapped, sure, but the blame can't lay at the door of the system there, more so operator error.
Matter88 said:
Stone the crows! Still eating carrot cake Beambeam? I remember your escapades on there well also, hope you're all good mate.
Thanks very much
Haha, good recall! My waistline doesn't lie, still very partial to a slice of carrot cake but just not within the confines of certain establishments. Left that place after a serious mishap in 2015 and finished working the doors altogether when the pandemic started. A blessing really... Thanks very much
Just popping back in this thread as I noticed on Youtube that the guys from Wheeler Dealers are mucking about with an E30 M3 at the moment too... must hunt down the show, not even sure what channel it broadcasts on nowadays! (Just went back and checked, Discovery+).
Not the first E30 M3 that Mr Brewer has featured on a show: https://youtu.be/83qyAWnXPSQ?si=1Cr3pwT-CbmbHoZ6
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