E46 over an E36?

[madrabbit15]

I just saw an intake manifold off of a 328 e46 this weekend. Now I totally see why the hp is not any more than it is, and why the torque rating is so high. The intake manifold ports on the m52tu engined cars are noticably smaller than on the m54 cars. I am not really sure that intake manifold would be ideal for racing. I guess only time will tell.

Now for a street car, I bet an m54 manifold would be a nice upgrade for a 328.

[Z3_GoCar]

I just saw an intake manifold off of a 328 e46 this weekend. Now I totally see why the hp is not any more than it is, and why the torque rating is so high. The intake manifold ports on the m52tu engined cars are noticably smaller than on the m54 cars. I am not really sure that intake manifold would be ideal for racing. I guess only time will tell.

Now for a street car, I bet an m54 manifold would be a nice upgrade for a 328.

You're right, the same situation exists with the m-52 also. That's why the popular mod for m/s-52 motors is to swap in a m-50 manifold. I've talked with Greg Amy about this, and the best route to go with be to add a plastic spacer between the manifold and head as a gasket plate to match the ports. However, nothing can be done about the runner size which is the real bottle neck anyway. Also, with the m-52 the cams aren't verey aggressive, that's why a set of s-52 cams really wakes the m-52 up also. Of course all these mods are prefectly legal on a smog motor but not on an IT motor.

[Steve @ TeamDI.com]

If the winter goes well, I should have an E46 328i ITR car for next season, just will have to take it to some schools and get the comp license, as its been a while since i've done any sanctioned schools...sold my WC car before I got to race it, and have been building the E46 mod car for a while (but its just about done).

Looking forward to racing next season...hopefully i can get the car done in time, should be an easy build.

[kgobey]

The E36 is so damn simple, light and reliable, I'd still go for an early E36 325 even after all this time.