Z3: make it fastah!!!!!!

[Monkey]

Not been been around for a while, but i thought i'd post up on here as you lot might be interested, but i'm going to use this thread as a bit of a build/project log for my M44 Z3.

Mission Statement

to extract moar powwah from the M44 engine. the engine is going to go through a nut an bolt rebuild (by me an my mate Mike) and where the wallet allows, parts will be upgraded. not blindly upgraded either but a considered approach and to the gains i will get from them.

FAQ:

Q: Why?
A: Because i can, i have a Z3 with a M44 engine that is a bit buggered. i'm going to throw about £1000 at it, and hope for the best

Q: why not fit a S42, M50, M52, LS1 V8, a merlin V12 from a spitfire (plane not car), a jet engine from a Harrier................................
A: Because i want to keep the build cost down, andi dont want to much around with wiring etc.

Q: why not by a M3, they are better cars, and your Z3 is gay?
A: how can a car that has only 2 seats and just enough room for beer in the boot be gay? the car does one thing and that to drive. a Gay car is one you can fit lots of shopping in, as well as lots of people/kids etc. the Z3 says "i'm here for one purpose only, and that fun, driving your kids to a packed shopping centre to buy then new shoes? thats nice, i cant do that has my car is full with one passenger an beer"

Q: would you like another beer?
A: yes, yes i would

Q: why not turbo/supercharge it?
A:i want to keep it N/A plus the costs to do either are quite high.

Q: how much more power are you expecting?
A: dont know

Q: why not
A: cos i dont, i'll rolling road it when all done and i'll tell you

Q: you must have an idea on how much
A: i'm aiming for 140.5bhp, anything over that is a bonus.

Q: why are you such a dick?
A: i cant give you an answer that i dont know. i just hope its more and the money i spent was worth it.

Q: so what are you going to do...................
A: i'm glad you asked Christian, pull up a seat and i will tell you.

First up the M44 engine is a 1.9, 4 cylinder engine. i am going to (get a price first, then decide which bolts need replacing) replace all nuts, Bolts and gaskets in the engine. It will be comming apart completely. i will split the different section of work

Head: (giggle)

Head to be sent (do not know who yet) to be ported, polished and skimed, with hopefully the Cams going to either Kent Cams or Piper Cams to be reprofiled. New springs, lifters, arms etc. Valves to be re-ground.

Block:

top to be skimed. piston rings replaced and i will look at reprofiling the piston tops a little. bores check for wear and some polish done if need be.

Crank to be either replaced with a M47 crank (will need new or reporfile the existing pistons) or just have mine lightened, balanced and re-ground. new shells and bearings fitted. the M47 crank will need the end milled by i beleive 0.6mm. but it will give a 8mm longer stroke (giggle) and with the right pistons a larger diaslacement.

Clutch to be replaced and fly wheel to be lightened and balanced.

Intake:

E36 M3 throtle bodies, Plenum, Injectors etc going in. already ordered and picking up from the delivery company depot. the plenum will need modifying for obvious reasons, which i am seeing someone about, hopefully today. the Throttle bodies should just bold on, only time will tell.

Exhaust:

i need to see if the existing manifold will be man enough and that will decide what i do with the exhaust, but it will be less restrictive.

ECU:

i'm going to get the stock ECU reprogramed, on a rolling road and we will see if i need a fueling piggy back or not. there is a little confusion on how much the stock ECU can cope with, but this is a little way off.

all in all i hope to spend around £1000, i know i wont get all the above done for that. but i'm going to see how close i can get and. i am unsure about increasing the displacement at the mo for 2 reasons, 1 cost, its quite expensive to do, and gainss. i'm not sure the gain for the money is worth it

so this is my little project.

[Dave270r]

But it would cost significantly less to M50 it?

I bet you a tin of spam you won't be able to rebuild the engine, mod the head, source and mod M3 throttle bodies and plenum and remap it to gain the benefits for less than a grand.

Good luck with the project anyhoo

[hooky]

Give it 13:1 compression ratio and 8500rpm FTW!

[docwra]

But it would cost significantly less to M50 it?

I bet you a tin of spam you won't be able to rebuild the engine, mod the head, source and mod M3 throttle bodies and plenum and remap it to gain the benefits for less than a grand.

100%, this is an enormous waste of time TBH, I reckon you could buy an M50 and get it fitted by someone else for less than £800 .......

[def]

I hate to further poo on your thread but the above two speaketh the truth.

[def]

Q: why not by a M3, they are better cars, and your Z3 is gay?
A: how can a car that has only 2 seats and just enough room for beer in the boot be gay? the car does one thing and that to drive. a Gay car is one you can fit lots of shopping in, as well as lots of people/kids etc. the Z3 says "i'm here for one purpose only, and that fun, driving your kids to a packed shopping centre to buy then new shoes? thats nice, i cant do that has my car is full with one passenger an beer"

There gay because unless they have an M badge they make loads of fan noises when you put your foot down and dont go any faster.

When they made the Z4 they looked at everything about the Z3 and changed it in to aswome.

[Jem]

100%, this is an enormous waste of time TBH, I reckon you could buy an M50 and get it fitted by someone else for less than £800 .......

This, you could buy a MOT failed BMW with an M50 in it for pennies, then it's mostly a simple job too, and have 200bhp.

[Monkey]

Give it 13:1 compression ratio and 8500rpm FTW!

thought about doing something like that, but i'd need a M42 head, as the M44 wont cope with higer RPM like the M42 can

But it would cost significantly less to M50 it?

no it wouldnt, yes i probably could get the engine fitted in the car for less, but i'd need a new gearbox, the back end of the car would need to be uprated to Z3M subframe and diff, but the Z3M subframe and diff wont fit to my chassis as they are different, and the Z3M subframe is significanly wider. but if i have to go to all that trouble with wiring etc, why not LS1 it? etc

i'm not after big BHP, this will still be my daily commuter, just with some upgrades, and a full engine rebuild/refresh

[QUOTE=Dave270r;6450784]I bet you a tin of spam you won't be able to rebuild the engine, mod the head, source and mod M3 throttle bodies and plenum and remap it to gain the benefits for less than a grand.

i probably wont do it for less than a grand, as i said at the end, as close as possible.

i have had quotes/prices for all the works i want. and as i said i will pick and choose some bits.

i have bought and just picked up M3 throttle bodies, injectors, plenum, fuel rail, intake boot, temp sensor, fuel pressure regulator and something else for £300. plenum needs welding and i have a friend who can do that for the cost of a favour.

Cam reprofile is £270 inc vat

All gaskets, bolts, water pump etc not sure, but lets say £300. (BMW are quoting me next week)

Clutch is £100

Skim Block is £50
if i dont get the head ported and polished a head skim is £70

so that £1090...... rolling road remap is £250, so thats £1340. at the end i'll have a practically brand new engine. fitting any engine other than rebuilding mine gives me a unknown problem unless i rebuild that one at a cost.

the other reason is because i can. i've always wanted to re-build an engine and have a play. this is my hobby and you cant put a price on a hobby. i know someone who has spend £1000 on a carbon fibre fishing rod.

Good luck with the project anyhoo

ta

100%, this is an enormous waste of time TBH, I reckon you could buy an M50 and get it fitted by someone else for less than £800 .......

see above

[sideways14a]

That engines a bag of shit, take the grand and splaf it on hookers and coke instead.

[ANDY black s13]

I would get a 2nd hand engine and a second hand nitrous kit,set up nicely you will ever get as much bang for your buck
If the engines design is a bit of a pup to start with it may not take a power increase regardless of the route you take

[doggy]

I have 2 friends build bmw drift cars. Dont know engine codes for bmw's, but they hav I guess 2.5 or 2.8 engines. One did a turbo conversion, and the other put compressor first, and now converted it to a turbo. Both engines are stock internals, and have enough power.
Here are their project threads:
http://www.drift.hr/forum/showthread.php?t=1382
http://www.drift.hr/forum/showthread.php?t=1558

[Hosky]

If you wanna do it, do it

[docwra]

Why do you need a Z3M subframe? They came with M50's as standard?

My 328i cost £250, I could have taken the engine and gearbox and weighed the rest of the car in for £150. That leaves £900 of your £1000 to get it fitted ....... and I might be wrong but Im pretty sure the gearboxes are interchangable anyway.

If fancy it then go for it but it seems like a lot of time and money for not a lot of gain. Oh, and by your definition my MR2 isnt gay either .........

[M.D.]

You can 100% fit an m50 with gearbox to a z3 for around the £500 mark. I know this because a friend did exactly that.

The 1.9 4 pot is a dam good engine. Which is why they used it for the touring cars. But it's very expensive to get the power from.

You will not get the same power as the m50 makes with what your talking about spending which is why as doc says. Massive waste of money.

[sideways14a]

Fit an SR and give it some proper balls.

[docwra]

http://www.driftworks.com/forum/part...ade-parts.html

I bet hed take less than £500 for it as well.

[Johnny]

all of you are mental !!!

just sell the sodding thing, put the £1k piss about fund on what ever you get for the z3 and buy an mx5 again .... they dont pretend to be anything they are not

[zeppelin101]

Reasons for sticking an M50/2 in:

1) 190hp stock
2) Straight 6 noise
3) Tuneable to 250hp very easily/cheaply
4) Cheap and in abundance

Reasons for rebuilding an M44:

There are none. Unless you're strapping a turbo the size of a small moon to it.

[Jonny Wilkinson]

I get it.

I rebuilt a standard Rover V8 (SD1 Vitesse, injection model) in a money-pit dog of a TVR and everyone said put an LS1 in it.

I learned a lot and had (mostly) fun doing it. I could have got a better result cheaper by getting someone else to do it but that is not the point.

Knock yourself out, Craig

[Shotaro]

Good on you mate, should be interesting project, plus trying something different from the norm is fun, if everyone stuck to the same patern there never would have been kei cars or superminis with turbos