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For sale: An easy way to increase power for your Z3 2.8
I am not going for ultimate power, my 600bhp Mercedes is fine on that front, just want to improve the slightly underwhelming current set up.
I spent a long time looking at super / turbo chargers. Turbos work better with auto boxes from what I remember and are available too. Eventually decided the cost / benefit wasn't great enough.
I lie, it is only 596bhp at the wheel according to the Dyno machine. Great fun but the traction control can't be turned off so the Z300S is more fun for throwing around corners. The Merc is more for high speed, long distance stuff. That is why I need both :-)
Mine is, so it won't. Are there any similar options please?
BMW e46 330i. You'll need the DISA as well and together they're selling for a much higher price than the M52 version. I've been looking for a reasonably priced one for a while without luck.
There's an E46 inlet/DISA sitting on eBay at £155 currently.
Unlike the universal success reported after fitting the M50 manifold like WCA has, I can find only conflicting evidence of the benefits of fitting the M54 330i manifold to the M52TU (ie facelift 2.8 Z3) motor. One reports a rolling road proven benefit of just 4bhp whilst another reckons 12bhp. These gains are at the top end of the Rev range and are offset by losses at lower revs so unless i can find more concrete proof I'm not convinced it's worth the effort and cost.
On the M50 upgrade, the inlet runners have a much larger area compared with the standard manifold, whereas the 330i looks very similar to the 2.8, though you can see that the ports are a little larger.