Discussion
Yeah I really like it. I know it's a bit of an oddball in the BMW family but to me that's sort of the appeal. I also like the fact it's an affordable hatchback that's rear wheel drive, there's not really many othe hatches that meet that critera. The shorter body makes the car feel much more nimble than the coupe etc. But still kinda feels the same in most other aspects so you're not really sacrificing anything.
It would be a riot with around 200bhp, which is what I will aim for eventually.
It would be a riot with around 200bhp, which is what I will aim for eventually.
The tyres are just cheapies. It's running pretty much standard power wise, I only use the car to drive to work down the motorway in at the moment, so I've just got cheap rubber for now. Gonna go for Michelin PS2's next time.
The ECU has two switcable maps and a switch inside the cabin to flip between them. It has an economy map and a performance map, the later being optimised for 99RON petrol. It had an entire day on the dyno to get the mapping down and it does run beautifully. The idea is run it on normal super for work and then stick some vpower in and flip it to the performance map for fun.
As for the tints, they came on the car and I'm probably going to have them removed as I kind of agree with the van thing!
The ECU has two switcable maps and a switch inside the cabin to flip between them. It has an economy map and a performance map, the later being optimised for 99RON petrol. It had an entire day on the dyno to get the mapping down and it does run beautifully. The idea is run it on normal super for work and then stick some vpower in and flip it to the performance map for fun.
As for the tints, they came on the car and I'm probably going to have them removed as I kind of agree with the van thing!
FrancisDTM said:
It would be a riot with around 200bhp, which is what I will aim for eventually.
200bhp is nice to aim for, but the amount you'd spend getting that amount of power out of that engine (M44?) just isn't worth it. I think the normal max from that is around 150. If you're after 200bhp, then that'll require a larger engine.
clonmult said:
FrancisDTM said:
It would be a riot with around 200bhp, which is what I will aim for eventually.
200bhp is nice to aim for, but the amount you'd spend getting that amount of power out of that engine (M44?) just isn't worth it. I think the normal max from that is around 150. If you're after 200bhp, then that'll require a larger engine.Yup, not sure youre gonna get 200bhp out of an M44, maybe look at the M52b28 which is relatively cheap to convert plus using the m50 inlet you get around 220bhp without any other work. Potential for a lot more!
A friend of mine raced a compact as theyre hardly rare and saved him repairing/replacing the E30 M3 shell after the inevitable pit wall meet! He was runing s54 which wasnt that difficult to fit but pushing out around 400bhp.
I've had one of these as a daily for a long time now. Have taken it on a few road trips once to the German Grand prix. I remember stopping at a services in the middle of Germany after 5 straight hours at German motorway speeds opening the bonnet and wondering if the fan had broken it just wasn;t getting hot it was loving the long runs. Great car.
Funny that yours doesn't have fog lights?
Have you experienced a winter in it yet? Take it from me, invest in either some winter rubber for the rear or a couple of bags of sand, they are rubbish in the winter no rear grip at all.
For the person who fancied a 325ti good luck finding one of those, theres a reason why those are so rare, see above.
Funny that yours doesn't have fog lights?
Have you experienced a winter in it yet? Take it from me, invest in either some winter rubber for the rear or a couple of bags of sand, they are rubbish in the winter no rear grip at all.
For the person who fancied a 325ti good luck finding one of those, theres a reason why those are so rare, see above.
Yeah by aiming for 200bhp I was implying an engine swap with light modifcations. I won't be going any further with the 1.9 than I'm at already.
Thanks for the comments, and the exterior won't be changing. I might remove the tints, but I'm happy with how the rest of the car looks. I wouldn't mind a small front lip if I can get one that wont drag on the floor! And possibly clear side repeaters and front indicators, but overall it's gonna stay how it is
Thanks for the comments, and the exterior won't be changing. I might remove the tints, but I'm happy with how the rest of the car looks. I wouldn't mind a small front lip if I can get one that wont drag on the floor! And possibly clear side repeaters and front indicators, but overall it's gonna stay how it is
this may sound odd but have you seen the Seat leon Cupra R splitters, quite discreet and ive seen them fitted to a multitude of non VAG cars.
clear indicators an side repeaters definately helps to modernise the look of the car, is it possible to get m3 style clear top red bottom rear lights ?
dave
clear indicators an side repeaters definately helps to modernise the look of the car, is it possible to get m3 style clear top red bottom rear lights ?
dave
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