330 ESS Stage 2 Supercharger or M3

[rjm8282]

Hi all,

I can't really afford the insurance or MPG on an M3 and was thinking of buying a E46 330CI, and then modifying it with a ESS Stage 2 supercharger. I understand I will have to upgrade the brakes, suspension and clutch.

I know it will hit 0-62 in 4.8 seconds but not sure on the MPG.

What is everyones suggestions on this?

[PJ S]

Gotta be at least 6 of one, half a dozen of the other, surely?
330D remapped?

[obscene]

I'd assume it'd be alot cheaper to get an M3, plus assuming you declare the supercharger to the insurance company that's bound to step up the price.

[LMC]

Considering the used prices for 330's at the moment, that's the way I would go. Been thinking for a while about s/c mine.

And all this booha you hear about upgrading suspension and brakes, phooey I say.

I mean, if the brakes work they work. They're designed to stop the car. Having it supercharged won't make any difference. You'll still be breaking from approx the same speeds, if you know what I mean. Sure you could get it delimited so it goes at 170mph, but are you going to be slamming on the anchors at that speed on a regular basis ? Course not. Keep the brakes but be prepared (at the worst) to change pads and maybe disks a bit sooner than normal. That'll be cheaper than a £4000 set of Brembos

Same for suspension. Just because the motor is supercharged doesn't mean you're suddenly going to be flying round 60mph corners at 100mph.

Of course none of the above applies if you are taking it to the track....

The one thing I would do would be to uprate the clutch.

[StuB]

If you insure via Adrian Flux, it's about the same price for a nice car like an M3.

I have an ESS blown 2.8 and it's great IMO. Their kit is good and Q car's are a chuckle.

It wont be any cheaper than an M3, unless you pick up a bargain and to be honest, it's worth modding a good car, not a bad one.

You wont be disappointed withe the performance though.

Contact GWatson via his profile as he had a TS2 on a Z4 3.0.

[LMC]

StuB said:

If you insure via Adrian Flux, it's about the same price for a nice car like an M3.

I have an ESS blown 2.8 and it's great IMO. Their kit is good and Q car's are a chuckle.

It wont be any cheaper than an M3, unless you pick up a bargain and to be honest, it's worth modding a good car, not a bad one.

You wont be disappointed withe the performance though.

Contact GWatson via his profile as he had a TS2 on a Z4 3.0.

Out of interest Stu, did you upgrade the brakes and running gear ?

[rjm8282]

Thanks all, Great feed back. Keep it coming.

[rjm8282]

I have been quoted by AL TUNING £6500 for ESS Stage 2 supercharger fitted and bhp checked via rolling road. On top of this around £1600 for a limited slip diff, plus suspension, brakes and anti roll bars.

Let me know what you all think!

[obscene]

Sounds pretty good to me

[scz4]

I used to have a Z4 3.0 with the ESS Stage 2 twin screw kit. I now have a E36 M3 Evo for the track (Z4 was to high a value for me to risk on track) The Z4 would have killed the M3 in a straight line and of course round the corners.

You cannot imagine how much low down grunt it has, something the M3 is lacking. Full boost is acheived at just 2000rpm. You'll never replicate the S50 (or S54) engine note though.

I averaged around 27-28mpg with the charger fitted. Servicing is no different to a standard 3.0, of course i advise more frequent oil changes etc, but something I do anyway with the M3. Insurance was still cheaper on the Z4, considering it was worth twice as much. Road tax is still half the price of an E46 M3.

Any questions let me know. I sold mine for over £3k, so didn't lose that much on mine, install cost was around £700, so bare that in mind.

Go for it, it's something indvidual and will be a real beast.

P.S. I am gwatson (just changed my profile name)

G

Edited by scz4 on Thursday 26th March 10:06

[obscene]

My god, I'm definetly gonna have to start a supercharger fund now.

[StuB]

LMC said:

Out of interest Stu, did you upgrade the brakes and running gear ?

I did put cast iron discs and Pagid pads on it, but that was it initially. They worked great, but I couldn't source Pagid RS29's from GSF, so had to look further afield when some AP 4 pot's came up.

The AP's are 'other wordly' good IMO.

I initially ran the car on the std suspension, upgraded to German adjustable coilvers (which failed on track, fortunately on the skid pan at Prodrive's facility), now back on std. Drives fine as it is to be honest, though stiffer would be a big advantage on track.

[rjm8282]

GWATSON,

If you don't mind me asking, how much did the supercharger cost you including fitting. £6500 seems quite a lot to me, especially without the car on a proper set up, i.e brakes, suspension e.t.c

[scz4]

rjm8282 said:

GWATSON,

If you don't mind me asking, how much did the supercharger cost you including fitting. £6500 seems quite a lot to me, especially without the car on a proper set up, i.e brakes, suspension e.t.c

I bought directly from ESS, it was one of the first 20 kits, so was at a much reduced price so it wouldn't be relevant. The problem now is the weakness of the £, from ESS is costs USD 7595 orEUR 5925. Delivery of £150, then you have Import duty (10%) and VAT (15%). However, you may get ESS to only document the price of the hardware (basically covering the price for insurance) for customs saving a lot on Taxes. Get the ECU updated in the UK All of a sudden £6500 doesn't seem so bad all in.

My Z4 was for road use only, LSD would have been nice, but not essential, never had problems putting the power down. As for brakes, again only for the road so I went for the Stoptech Stage 2 kit, uprated pads, grooved discs, braided hoses and "racing" brake fluid.

G

Edited by scz4 on Thursday 26th March 14:15

[lee182]

I've been toying with the idea of fitting the ESS system to my E39 M5 (that'll be 550 on the engine) as it's just recently been released, but as said the exchange rate kind takes the shine of it a little.

[carl_w]

LMC said:

I mean, if the brakes work they work. They're designed to stop the car. Having it supercharged won't make any difference. You'll still be breaking from approx the same speeds, if you know what I mean. Sure you could get it delimited so it goes at 170mph, but are you going to be slamming on the anchors at that speed on a regular basis ? Course not. Keep the brakes but be prepared (at the worst) to change pads and maybe disks a bit sooner than normal. That'll be cheaper than a £4000 set of Brembos

Same for suspension. Just because the motor is supercharged doesn't mean you're suddenly going to be flying round 60mph corners at 100mph.

Between the corners you will be attaining higher speeds which you then have to scrub off for the next corner. Hence the better brakes. And under acceleration you'll get squat, hence the need for better suspension.

[LMC]

carl_w said:

LMC said:

I mean, if the brakes work they work. They're designed to stop the car. Having it supercharged won't make any difference. You'll still be breaking from approx the same speeds, if you know what I mean. Sure you could get it delimited so it goes at 170mph, but are you going to be slamming on the anchors at that speed on a regular basis ? Course not. Keep the brakes but be prepared (at the worst) to change pads and maybe disks a bit sooner than normal. That'll be cheaper than a £4000 set of Brembos

Same for suspension. Just because the motor is supercharged doesn't mean you're suddenly going to be flying round 60mph corners at 100mph.

Between the corners you will be attaining higher speeds which you then have to scrub off for the next corner. Hence the better brakes. And under acceleration you'll get squat, hence the need for better suspension.

I do see your point, to an extent

I'm speaking from my own point of view; I fancy a supercharger on my 330, but not because I want to rag the car everywhere. I've got the standard set up just now and I don't even rag that very often.

The idea that a road car needs a set of 10 pot Brembos is just daft, as is the idea that the arse end of the car is going to bottom out on acceleration.

The bottom line is - I'd be supercharging for better overtaking and a bit more fun when I come across, say, an M3 or above. Now and then. Not because I want to pretend every road I'm on is the 'ring

Edited by LMC on Thursday 26th March 18:01

[maxnathan]

Hi Graeme.......

BTW, if you`re really interested in a bargain, check out the used ESS TS supercharger plus engine for sale in the classifieds. Thats the stage 3 at 440bhp with reworked internals. Used to be mine ( until i slipped on the road ...) then this chap from around my corner decided to buy the lump for his 330. I`m sure the price can be dropped a little but if you are interested , get Simpsons Motorsports to check the engine for you ( they installed it originally)

Edited by maxnathan on Thursday 9th April 08:25

[scz4]

maxnathan said:

Hi Graeme.......

BTW, if you`re really interested in a bargain, check out the used ESS TS supercharger plus engine for sale in the classifieds. Thats the stage 3 at 440bhp with reworked internals. Used to be mine ( until i slipped on the road ...) then this chap from around my corner decided to buy the lump for his 330. I`m sure the price can be dropped a little but if you are interested , get Simpsons Motorsports to check the engine for you ( they installed it originally)

Hi Max,

How are you?

Yeah I spotted that. I am semi tempted to find a nice 330i and go down that route again. Just worried it's jinxed, did he not have an accident in his too?

Does it come with uprated clutch, do you know?

Why do you say get Simpson to check it over? Should be healthy right?

G

Edited by scz4 on Thursday 9th April 09:14