new to cca and bmw. just bought 1994 325 i conv looking to up grade the motor turbo or super charger. just did the suspension and brakes now i think the car is ready for some more horse power. looking for any help thanks hey thanks for the info.and just so you no yes i do have some racing exp. but thats not what i was looking for. look im forty something and just want to have some fun working on and driving the car.so go ahead beat me down for that. and thats why i did shocks and brakes first whats the sense to have all that power if you cant stop or turn. i was thinking of going ram air with a new set of headers just want the throttle to react a little better. didnt know if turbo or supercharger would be better for more ump. anyways thanks for all the replys. like i said i am new to BMW and CCA not to the world of motor heads.just thought i could get some info what would be better. thanks
Before you do that, I have to ask: Got driver schools? As an instructor, I can tell you we'd rather teach you how to drive your car as it is. After you have the knowledge and experience to handle a lot more power, then you can explore forced induction.
Agrees with CR (wincing from that admission) The M50/M52 2.5 inline six is putting out around 190 hp. That's already some fairly healthy motivation for a car that likely weighs under 3,000 pounds. Chances are, if you haven't had any formal driving training (no, driver's ed doesn't count -- those classes teach you how to pass a DMV exam, not drive a motor vehicle), pouring more money and power under the hood won't help that problem. An HPDE (High Performance Driver Education) can teach you how to get more out of your car even with only HALF your car's power level. Based on your post, it sounds as if 190 hp is already more than you know what to do with. More speed and power isn't the answer. Improving the "nut behind the wheel" is. I hope you haven't mixed us up with some other amateur horsepower-junkie group (we're not a "speed" shop either). High performance driving isn't about loading an engine up with horsepower then plowing into something (or worse, someone). As CR Krieger said, it's about learning to manage both yourself and your vehicle responsibly within your vehicle's performance limits. BMW and most other automanufacturers use professional drivers to develop these cars. Chances are, even that garden variety 325 harnesses road abilities far beyond the abilities of most US drivers. Note to everyone else: Be aware that he did say he owns a 1994 325i CONVERTIBLE. Despite the fact that Jeff might be open to attending and or participating in HPDE events, the fact that he's driving a convertible and not a solid roof vehicle might be problematic, even if he did agree to install the required rollbars. Some instructors are understandably reluctant to ride in an open-roof vehicle during an HPDE event.
Yeah; I noticed that after I posted. My chapter won't allow the car, even if I'm willing to ride. Still, it's valuable experience and he should find a way - like team up with one of his E36 homies and arrange a swap: a weekend in a driver school in a sedan/coupe* for a weekend somewhere else with a cabrio. * It's quite common for folks to share cars at a driver school. You dish out all you got and the car shrugs and goes, "Who's next?"
Kinda hard on the new guy fellas. Look at the title of the forum. I love instructing, and I do preach the gospel of high speed driving education.......But, Jeff inquired about mods in the DIY forum. SO..........Being an old "Modder" Allow me. THREE LETTERS: EPR!!!!! EDUCATION.......... PLANNING.........RESPONSIBILITY Education: Learn all you can about your car and motor. Learn all you can about different mods. Cams & compression, vs. turbo vs. supercharging. All can give you substantial increases in performance. All can generate serious drive-ability problems. All can make a big hole in your wallet, Up front and later if you don't learn, plan and act responsibly. A search on Amazon will give you at least ten books on tuning , turbocharging, and supercharging. If you don't have a "gearhead" library, start building it. Planning: What results do I want? How much am I willing to spend? What am I willing to sacrifice to get these results? The answers to these questions will start you down that slippery slope of modification. Without answering these questions you could fall of the cliff of those with no sense, or cents. Responsibility: This is the easy part. I shouldn't have to explain your responsibility to others safety,or your need to be considerate of others on the road. (There's nothing worse than a "dickweed" with lot's of HP.) Here's the tough part. After you' done your research, planned your build, and broken your piggy bank to generate a bazillion BHP, YOUR RESPONSIBLE TO YOUR CAR. Shorter service intervals. RESTRAINT. It may be able to make mega-horsepower for a half mile, but possibly can't take the heat for two. OR................You can push the easy button, and call a reputable power broker who will be more than happy to help you invest your childrens college fund in your car. But you still need EPR. There you go guys. If you didn't run Jeff off, I probably did. Just kidde'n Jeff
Oh I'm sure Jeff's a big boy. I do think he came on a little too strong though. First of all, he did say he was new to bmw and cca. Unfortunately, Jeff's intro was done in just the first sentence. Everything else from there on, he wanted the conversation to be about his machine, not about him. Safetywise, is it unreasonable to ask him to prove himself with 190 hp before he slides behind 400? Personally, I think he created one "juvenile" first impression by immediately jumping to the topic of his engine, instead of "hey how are you, my name is Jeff..." I've always thought of BMWCCA of being just as much about the people as it is about the cars. I'm not sure Jeff "gets" that yet. My car has a 5.0L V12 with 300 hp. But it doesn't define me or how I treat my fellow enthusiasts. I love the car, but at the end of the day, it's still just a machine. Cars are bought, sold, traded, parted out, crashed, etc. but one's friends are the ones who stick by you no matter what you own, or even IF you own no automobile at all. If you're going to introduce yourself, fine. By all means, you can never have too many friends. But to so quickly change the subject to "how can I build the fastest rocket, damn the torpedoes," it kind of cheapens the "getting to know you people" experience to that of a Sunday afternoon parts swap. I can't speak for anyone else, but a blower install is not how I want my friendship to be perceived or defined. I hope Jeff's experience in this club can be measured by the number of friends he has here, not by his car, or the size, hp/torque numbers of his "rocket."
Brian, I don't mean to be rude here, but please don't crap on his thread. Just because he signed up for the 'CCA and made a post inquiring about a super/turbocharger for his car doesn't mean he's not interested in meeting people. But, if he's anything like me, perhaps he doesn't like the mundane "Hi my name is Jeff" crap that I personally refuse to post up. It's the "same old same old" crap that I personally skip because I'm quite frankly tired of saying it. If you want to talk to me in person, that's fine, I'll talk, but that's not what the internet is for, in my opinion. If you want to get to know a person, you get to know them in person, because if you say one thing online and you say the same thing in person, it is different, no matter how you say it online. You can't replicate the way one would say it in person by using text. Now, Jeff... I have to agree with Brian and CR here; a driver's school would be the first place you should start. But, with that said, that isn't what this thread is about. Forced induction would have to be the best route for your engine, seeing as there aren't many things you can do to it in stock form to gain much power. Don't bother with intakes and stuff like that because it won't do you any good. If you're on a budget, skip the forced induction, because that stuff will cost you thousands of dollars if you do it right, and if you skimp on some things, don't even bother doing it because it won't be worth doing a half-arsed job. What exactly are you plans for this car? Is this going to just be a weekend car/dail driver, or will it actually see some track/auto-x events? You should keep in mind what you want to use it for, because no matter what you do to the engine, you'll have to beef up the rest of the car so that you have something that actually has parts that work in harmony as opposed to against each other, because I know really well that putting an engine in something and leaving the rest untouched isn't quite as good as having a well set up car. I see that you've upgraded the brakes and suspenion; what exactly did you do? It is possible that what you did may not be enough to take advantage of more power.
I only hijack the occasional one to keep the issue up front. After all, nobody ever comes in here and says, "What should I do before I start throwing cubic feet of dollars at my car for performance upgrades?" Keep in mind that track and autocross are not synonymous. You can drag anything safe with two seats and a roof onto a track. Autocross is competition and there are very definite rules to deal with. As you change your car, you move it into competition with similarly modified cars - some of them very highly modified. Some particular modifications can bump you right into the highest class all by themselves. You might not think this is fair and, objectively, maybe it isn't - but that's what you have to run by, so it's a really good idea to be familiar with your class rules before changing your car so it becomes uncompetitive in its class.
This is precisely why I could not compete with the E30 in Street Modified. It wasn't nearly "modified" enough for me to even have a chance if I was a professional driver. All because of that blasted S50 motor. (That freaking amazing, monster of a blasted motor, that is...)
That's assuming that, in trying out or doing an auto-x, there is an intent to compete, or be competitive, against others, or others in the same class. Auto-x in and of itself can be just plain fun and enough of a competition just trying to improve on one's own time, regardless of what times anyone else is running. So, Jeff, welcome to the club (and the insanity here on the forums ) I would echo Superdave's most excellent 'EPR' suggestion; educate yourself, set goals, establish a plan & budget to meet your goal(s). One of the reasons you're not getting only "go with this or that super or turbo-charger" replies here is we are all well aware of the pitfalls of heading down the car-modding superhighway... and with BMW's, it can be seemingly never-ending because there are soooo many aftermarket things, mods, and options for these cars. Which means, without a plan, goals, or parameters, you can end up throwing literally thousands or tens of thousands of dollars at your car, and end up with something that you don't really like, or has such a high-performance envelope that you could seriously injure &/or kill yourself (not to mention others) in short order if you were to pursue exploring that performance envelope, particularly on public roads or without giving yourself the driving skillset most of us might consider requisite to more safely drive a highly modified, high-hp bimmer. Thus, all the caveats. However, you are to be congratulated on the acquisition of such a fine marque of automobile, and your enthusiasm for same applauded; you will find here many others also as enthusiastic about their bimmers, and pursuing that enthusiasm in all manner of ways!
