finally. e46 330ci

[mncar]

So i joined this forum a couple months ago along with many others to gain knowledge about my soon to be car. About a week ago I got my baby and am actually in love with it. It's a 2004 330Ci with the sport package (not zhp) and a 6 spd, which i believe 04 is the first year they did, which wil be nice for couple more mpgs on road trips.
I'm looking to do some performance upgrades and have been looking at the following
-afe stage 2 intake
-autowerk active exhaust
-ecu remap

any thoughts about these or about alternatives? I have <2000$ cash to play with and am lookin at the v2's or v4's ae's, a carbon shift knob black grilles etc and couple other interior touches so don't have the whole 2k to put under the hood. but do have a job and saving for the futre.

any thoughts/opinions on any above listed products would be appreciated. or any ideas for better performance for under 2k.the attached pic is right when i got it so its not clean/the best quality but figured its better. i have more on roomates dslr but haven't gotten round to uploading.

[mimalmo]

Nice car! The E46 non-M cars are fairly maxed out at the factory. You'll see small gains in performance that will be hard to feel. Doing every performance mod out there may net you an additional 15-20 hp. Programmers always say 10-20hp, the exhaust mfrs say 10-12, the intake guys say 5-8hp, etc. The problem is that they won't all add up to 50hp. It's been documented time and again on Bimmerforums, E46 Fanatics, etc. I sold my E46 ZHP earlier this year so I also know firsthand.

Here's what I would do:

Suspension - sway bars, coilovers,upgrade all the suspension bushings, stick with your current lightweight wheels or get something even lighter and do the VANOS and DISA fixes.

FInd out when the cooling system was last overhauled. If you are at 100k miles or more and it hasn't been touched, order the parts and do it before anything else. If these motors overheat, game over. Expansion tank, water pump, hoses, thermostat and refill with the correct BMW coolant (no you can't use the regular stuff from Autozone).

A properly maintained E46 with the 6 speed should last a long time but the regular maintenance is not optional.

[Majend]

i second the advice on the cooling system, BMW heads really like to warp when they overheat

[BilboTBaggins]

Does Dinan make any parts for your model? Whenever buying performance for a BMW you should always check with Dinan for parts first. http://www.dinancars.com/

Also, it's true, they are rolled out of the factory as beasts, there are some small gains you can get from the traditional intake, exhaust, cpu, etc. mods but in some cases companies that do not have much experience with BMW in the aftermarket world wind up making parts that are worse for performance than what BMW sold the car with. That's why buying aftermarket parts for a BMW that actually do something is not only expensive, but must be purchased from a proven BMW tuner.

[JSalzl]

Nice car! The E46 non-M cars are fairly maxed out at the factory. You'll see small gains in performance that will be hard to feel. Doing every performance mod out there may net you an additional 15-20 hp. Programmers always say 10-20hp, the exhaust mfrs say 10-12, the intake guys say 5-8hp, etc. The problem is that they won't all add up to 50hp. It's been documented time and again on Bimmerforums, E46 Fanatics, etc. I sold my E46 ZHP earlier this year so I also know firsthand.

Here's what I would do:

Suspension - sway bars, coilovers,upgrade all the suspension bushings, stick with your current lightweight wheels or get something even lighter and do the VANOS and DISA fixes.

FInd out when the cooling system was last overhauled. If you are at 100k miles or more and it hasn't been touched, order the parts and do it before anything else. If these motors overheat, game over. Expansion tank, water pump, hoses, thermostat and refill with the correct BMW coolant (no you can't use the regular stuff from Autozone).

A properly maintained E46 with the 6 speed should last a long time but the regular maintenance is not optional.

i second the advice on the cooling system, BMW heads really like to warp when they overheat

This is not advice, this is a requirement! If you're at all mechanical buy the parts from Blunttech and do it yourself. It's not that hard and it will save you thousands!

[mimalmo]

Does Dinan make any parts for your model? Whenever buying performance for a BMW you should always check with Dinan for parts first. http://www.dinancars.com/

Also, it's true, they are rolled out of the factory as beasts, there are some small gains you can get from the traditional intake, exhaust, cpu, etc. mods but in some cases companies that do not have much experience with BMW in the aftermarket world wind up making parts that are worse for performance than what BMW sold the car with. That's why buying aftermarket parts for a BMW that actually do something is not only expensive, but must be purchased from a proven BMW tuner.

Most of the Dinan stuff is overpriced and doesn't offer any real benefits over similar, more affordable options from reputable manufacturers. You pay big $$ for the Dinan stuff because they back the manufacturer warranty. Not worthwhile on an E46 since they are all out of factory warranty now.

[Majend]

Most of the Dinan stuff is overpriced and doesn't offer any real benefits over similar, more affordable options from reputable manufacturers. You pay big $$ for the Dinan stuff because they back the manufacturer warranty. Not worthwhile on an E46 since they are all out of factory warranty now.

ding ding ding

[BilboTBaggins]

Most of the Dinan stuff is overpriced and doesn't offer any real benefits over similar, more affordable options from reputable manufacturers. You pay big $$ for the Dinan stuff because they back the manufacturer warranty. Not worthwhile on an E46 since they are all out of factory warranty now.

But they're having a 15% off sale!! Manufacturer warranty or not, Dinan nails the exhaust tuning on bimmers, but yes, very overpriced. I get into the same discussions with people over Mopar parts, Borla mufflers and well-made tires too.

[mimalmo]

Again, there's often better performing/similar performing options out there for less money. Tuning? There are at least 3 tuners that offer better solutions for less. Intakes? AFE, Gruppe M, K&N, BMW Performance and others offer similar or better for less. Suspension? The are TONS of better options than Dinan. Exhaust? The OEM ZHP exhaust is at least as good as the Dinan and that's stock. There are plenty of others that offer better performance.

I understand that you're probably a Dinan fan but, there simply isn't anything that Dinan offers on the E46 that is better than the competition. In the end, you're paying for the name.

[BilboTBaggins]

Again, there's often better performing/similar performing options out there for less money. Tuning? There are at least 3 tuners that offer better solutions for less. Intakes? AFE, Gruppe M, K&N, BMW Performance and others offer similar or better for less. Suspension? The are TONS of better options than Dinan. Exhaust? The OEM ZHP exhaust is at least as good as the Dinan and that's stock. There are plenty of others that offer better performance.

I understand that you're probably a Dinan fan but, there simply isn't anything that Dinan offers on the E46 that is better than the competition. In the end, you're paying for the name.

Ok, ok, I realize there are companies that are reputable making similar parts like AFE, Gruppe, K&N, BMW performance, etc for intakes. Intakes are so lame and really do not excite too many people over the age of 16. Who cares what intake you put in there, put a sock around a wiffle ball for all I care. For suspension? Well, if you actually do need to rip around a race track then I'd say yeah, upgrade your suspension, but E46's have great suspensions and are far better stock than most aftermarket veedubs rolling around. You'd have to be a cake eater if you're not going to the actual race track and you upgraded the suspension in your E46, so if you can afford to do that, Dinan should be a walk in the part for exhaust cost.

One of the best, meanest streaking BMW's I've ever driven was an all Dinan tuned E36 328is. That 328is was whipping M's from the same period and waiting at the finish line to give the M an atomic wedgie. I can't say I agree with you on the Dinan exhaust tuning coming in inferior to the OEM ZHP. Drive one first, then make your claim. Now, to be fair, I have not driven a Dinan tuned E46, but think about this, if they are making aftermarket parts that honor the manufacturers warranty, don't you think their parts were designed to max out your car with reliability in mind? Perhaps they have spent a great deal of time understanding BMW to build their reputation on performance, reliability and quality. I realize you are probably not a Dinan fan because of cost, but you get what you pay for in most cases when dealing with BMW's.

A few things I've learned in life:

1. It is if you believe it is
2. If the universe continuously insists on screwing you, buy lube
3. An individual or company is only worth their reputation
4. Pubic landscaping benefits everyone
5. Larger displacement engines (V8's and up), motorcycles and exotic euro cars are not toys, they are machines. It's time to start treating them with some respect and use an approach that is engineered, not just trial and error methods.

[mimalmo]

I have driven both an E46 with the OEM ZHP exhaust (daily drove a ZHP for about 5 years) and a Dinan equipped car. So its not a "claim".

Engineered versus "trial and error"? LOL. You need to dig a little deeper than the kool-aid that Dinan is feeding you.

Tell you what, I'm done cluttering up the OP's thread here. You want to further discuss this, PM me and I'm happy to debunk those Dinan superiority claims.

[JSalzl]

come on guys this is really just a personal preference argument... You usually get what you pay for, but sometimes you pay for the name... Let's be real we drive BMW's we've paid for the name at least partially

[SLK]

Dinan is to BMW is what Spoon is to Honda is what Arc is to Nissan/Mitsubishi, just parts... overpriced but parts none the less. Does a $4k titanium Arc exhaust on a Evo 9 outperform any other company? no but people buy it for cool factor/scene points. Plain and simple. We have to remember we are discussing bolt on parts. There never have been parts of this type that are a magical +50hp or whatever that manufacturer claims.