Quote:
Originally Posted by Obioban
Dinan never offered headers or a header tune for the e46 M3 
CSL intake with CSL engine management and a tune actually makes some power-- particularly on an s54 with cams/headers already. MSS5X tuning has come a LONG way in the last couple years-- my car is up 70 SAE RWHP over stock, NA. At this point, the TBs would actually probably be good for another 5-10 hp (though that's a pretty expensive 5-10hp).
Suspension... there's actually a ton of good (and bad) options out there. Dinan's is just unexceptional and overpriced.
My wife likes the torque of the M5, so it's staying in that car. My original plan was to swap the M5, but she was against it... so I got the 530i to use as the starting point. The 530i is probably a better starting point anyway, since the I6 cars got R&P steering (whereas the V8 cars got reticulating ball-- much worse feel). I'm pretty excited for an s54 e39-- the curb weight on the manual trans e39 530i was only 3472 lbs stock, so an s54 version should be ~3500 lbs... in a very stiff chassis, with space for 4 people sit in comfort, and a full size spare tire. With some light weight but comfortable reclining aftermarket seats and some other tweaks, the passenger space is further increased (thinner seats, more ******* and I suspect I should be able to get it down to ~3400 lbs without compromising any comfort/quiet... with the kind of powerband I like (high revving, low torque) and R&P levels of steering feel. |
I am not familiar with Dinan's historic product line. Having owned an M3, being around many and working on them, and owning an M5, all I can tell you is that the S54 and S62 benefit *greatly* from full exhaust systems and high flow headers.
To be clear a stock M3 with a tune makes a trivial amount to no additional power. A FBO will respond better immediately and maybe put a bit of power back on the table. Obviously if you do cams and such, which almost nobody does, then that changes.
Either way, being that the topic is m2 vs e46 m3, I have to think people haven't driven an e46 m3 or at least a properly maintained one. To your point about torque laziness, that is one of the reasons I picked up the M2. I don't want to wring this car out on daily driving and use it to pick up my kid etc, need the warranty because I don't have time to be under my car anymore. Otherwise it would be an E46 in the garage no question.