How to get More Naturally Aspirated Power out of an E92 BMW M3

There are a lot of people out there who can never have enough power. More often than not, these people are those who have been bitten by the tuning bug. These people would go to any extent to squeeze every last ounce of power they can get out of any car they drive. Eventually, they upgrade to a bigger and badder ride, and still squeeze what power they can get from these rides. But what if you already have something as bad as the BMW E93 M3? Would tuners still have a way to squeeze more power out of these impressive rides capable of hanging out in Supercar territory?

Tuners have different ways of doing things. Some opt for Forced Induction (Turbo/Supercharger), while others opt to go the Naturally Aspirated way. It’s all a matter of preference. What I’ll be showing you is how to get more power the Naturally Aspirated way, while not turning it into a pure breed racing car.

First off, we start with a brand new, bone stock, Alpine White, E92 BMW M3, like this one shown above. In case you don’t know it yet, this car is already impressive as it is. In stock form, the BMW Factory 4.0L V8 produces 414 bhp at 8,300 rpm, and 400 Nm of torque at 3,900 rpm. That’s just about enough power to equal that of 3 Honda Civics combined!

To give you an idea of just how good this car already is in stock form, take a look at the Top Gear Video below, where the E92 BMW M3 goes against a Mercedez C63 AMG and an Audi RS4:

With that amount of power, most tuners would usually keep the keep the engine as it is until they’re used to the power. Besides, if you’re beating almost every other car you see on the street, why bother? So more often than not, what one does is to customize the ride to set it apart from the crowd. What better way to do that than to make it even more beautiful than it already is?

Here’s a gorgeous example of a modified E92 BMW M3 owned by a member of the Bimmer Club of the Philippines.

The stock wheels have been replaced with larger diameter BBS LM Wheels, and a Vorsteiner VRS Aero Carbon Fiber Front Spoiler. The E92 M3 Coupe already comes with a carbon fiber roof from the factory.

The rear boot lid (trunk) has been replaced with a PowerHouse Amuse Ericsson Carbon Fiber boot lid. Yes that’s right, it is carbon fiber. The black strip you see is like a sneak peak at what’s under the paint – the carbon fiber honeycomb. Another modification is the Vorsteiner VRS Aero Carbon Fiber Rear Diffuser. Also, notice the aftermarket exhaust system seen in the mirror-image underneath the car.

For enthusiasts, these visual modifications turn the car from head turner… to jaw dropper. Rolling on the streets with a ride looking this good will surely set you apart from the crowd of vehicles in the busy streets of the metro. But it never ends there. Soon enough, you’d also want to install a good suspension system such as those from Eibach, plus a Brembo Big Brake kit, all to get ready you ready for track day.

But soon as track day arrives, and you start getting used to all the power, learn how to reign all the horses under the hood, and start thinking that you can go even faster if only you have more power, then it’s time for the next step: POWER MODIFICATIONS.

As I mentioned above, I’m going to show you how to squeeze more power out of this ride the Naturally Aspirated way. And although generally speaking, these modifications will also benefit any other Naturally Aspirated vehicle out there, I will be more specific about the actual parts and brand names for the E92 BMW M3. So here goes:

Cold Air Intake

As mentioned above, allowing the engine to breathe better will give you more power. As the exhaust allows the engine to exhale, replacing the intake with say, the Gruppe-M Cold Air Intake will allow it to inhale the air better. And the colder the air, the more dense it is. Therefore you gain more power. This upgrade will give you an addition of around 6 bhp and 4 lb-ft of torque at the wheels!

Exhaust System

Allowing the engine to breathe better will always benefit more power. While there are a lot of different exhaust system available, I will just provide a couple of good examples. The Powerhouse Amuse Ericsson Titanium Exhaust will provide an increase of about 18 bhp and 37 lb-ft of torque at the wheels.

ECU Upgrade

Upgrading the stock ECU with say, the Active Autowerke ECU will allow you to have more HP/Torque gains throughout the RPM band, remove the speed limiter, adjust or remove the RPM limiter, and allow you to adjust throttle mapping, fuel/air mapping, camshaft vanos remapping, spark timing, camshaft timing, among others. Properly used with a dyno, this will give you an increase of around 28 bhp and 21 lb-ft of torque at the wheels!

Underdrive Pulley

By replacing the stock pulley with, an Underdrive Pulley, the speed at which the accessories (alternator, water pump, power steering pump, compressor) turn relative to engine RPM decreases. While it doesn’t really add power to the engine, it actually frees up some of the power being sent to the accessories, and sends that power to the wheels instead. The Evo Sport Underdrive Pulley for example will give add send an additional 9 hp and 7 lb-ft of torque to the wheels!

Increase the Engine Displacement

This is probably the biggest and most complicated upgrade. But if you’re looking for real power, this is all worth it – the Racing Dynamics Sport RS-46 Stroker Motor. 46 stands for 4.6 Liters. That’s right! The stock, already impressive 4 Liter engine will be taken out, bored, stroked, and reassembled as a 4.6L motor. This upgrade, along with the Racing Dynamics Underdrive Pulley, Racing Dynamics Headers, Racing Dynamics Exhaust, and Racing Dynamics ECU, beats the combination of all of the previously mentioned upgrades combined (Amuse Ericcson Exhaust, Active Autowerke ECU, Evo Sport Pulley, and Gruppe-M Cold Air Intake) by at least 75 bhp and 75 lb-ft of torque at the wheels!

So tell me, how does 527 HP sound to you?

Sources:
M3post.com

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