There are some people that just have great taste in performance cars. We originally worked on his e46 SMG m3 cabrio a few years ago but when the time came to upgrade, it was a logical decision to get the new V8 powered BMW M3. Ask anyone who has driven the new m3 and they will tell you it’s a night and day difference between the two cars. Gone is the inline 6 motor and replaced by a very strong high revving V8 motor. Power has increased from 333 hp to 414 in the new car. However stock is never enough for a true performance guy so he brought his new m3 to us for some basic upgrades.
Since the car is relatively new with under 3000 miles on the odometer, we decided to do a few simple upgrades. First we started off by installing the Pulley Kit from AA. This is a complete bolt on kit using Aircraft Grade Billet 6061 Hard Coat Anodized Aluminum. Key features of this setup are that it retains the factory crank hex drive adapter and does NOT modify factory harmonics or dampening. It yields roughly 10 whp by decreasing power to the accessories. The pulley is not detectable since it’s the same color as stock for a low key appearance. Best of all it does not affect the drive-ability of the car and is a win / win modification by picking up free horsepower!
Although the owner’s last car was SMG, he decided to opt for the manual 6-speed transmission on this car. The OEM shifter is a big vague and also feels too soft with the lightweight shift knob. Most people prefer a shorter throw and a more solid feel so AA was called upon again with their upgraded SSK which gives a tighter feel and 30% shorter throws for quicker gear changes. The owner wanted to retain the lit shift knob from BMW and this setup allows this choice with no need to cut the shift boot.
The new m3 V8 motor is definitely more throaty than the previous generation but it’s still WAY too quiet. There are many aftermarket exhausts out on the market that makes more noise but few actually pick up any real horsepower. After doing some research we decided to go with a very trusted American company in southern CA called RPI. They are a trusted source for the e60 m5/m6 crowd and after speaking to its owner we felt this was the best exhaust for BMW’s new m3. The exhaust is all stainless steel and weighs about 20 lbs less than the stock one on our scale. The beautiful tips finish off this system nicely and the manufacturer claims a 5-10 whp for this bolt on muffler setup. Besides the obvious aesthetics and power gain, this exhaust really opens up the V8 motor and now it growls nicely. It never gets obtrusive and does not drone at highway speeds but around town you can definitely hear this m3 as it rolls up with the very deep throaty sound ~ PERFECT!
Any sports car owner knows that driving without a radar detector is just asking for trouble since it never hurts to have an extra pair of eyes. It was easy picking the Valentine 1 radar system since we had it installed in his previous m3 so we transplanted it over to his new ride. Everything was again “stealth” mounted and hardwired into his car. The remote display was mounted in the driver’s line of sight near the b-pillar on a custom bracket and the remote volume control was mounted within the shifting hand’s position. This allows the driver to mute, adjust volume or even turn the unit off in a discrete fashion. The main unit was carefully hardwired and mounted up high just right of the rearview mirror for a clear line of sight. Everything is clean and not a single hole was drilled into this expensive car if things need to be removed at a later date.
With these simple modifications the e92 m3 feels like a totally different car with a lot more character and definitely more fun to drive. Stay tuned for the next round of modifications to BMW’s icon!
