BMW 8 series Tuning

"Thank you for reading my BMW 8 series tuning guide."

The 8 series is a good project car to try. If you do your homework then you can create an awesome 8 series but don't be fooled there are lots of modifications out there that will simply not suit it read our unbiased guides first.

We take a peek at 8 series tuning and report on the ultimate upgrades. BMW 8 series are good project cars and with a few sensible modified mods you can greatly enhance your driving pleasure.

Turning our attention to the engine we need to get a bit more power out of the top end.

The best power gains come from larger engine sizes. The more you start with the bigger the return on investment so engine swaps are good value mods for small engined cars.

Power mods.

These mods performance parts are usually installed by our members, decide how far you want to go before you start.

First generation (E31; 1990–1999)

Second generation (G14/G15/G16; 2018–present)

Petrol- turbocharged:

• 3.0 L B58 I6
• 4.4 L N63 / S63 V8

Diesel- turbocharged:

• 3.0 L B57 I6

Getting the right sports parts for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 (competition) mods just don't work well on the road difficult in stop start traffic.

Stage 1 modifications: Suspension upgrade (drop 30-40mm), Lighter flywheel, Remap, Panel air filter, Alloy wheels, Sports exhaust.

Stage 2 modifications: high flow fuel injector, fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, Power/Sport clutch, Ported and polished head.

Stage 3 modifications: Competition cam, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Engine balancing, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Sports gearbox.

You need to keep as much low end power as possible and aim to get a wide power band rather than a narrow top end power hike.

The aim of our hints is to give a little insight into the world of car tuning performance parts and point you in the right direction, our forum is best place to go if you need more detailed advice and tips on your customized car project, the best uprated modifications and all aspects of modding cars.A fast road camshaft usually works out as one of the best NASP power modifications you can do mechanically to your engine.

It maximises the intake and exhaust durations and pushes up the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a performance chip. TorqueCars would caution you not to go with a competition cam as this affects the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

Don't forget to pay attention to the fuelling when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty.

Using higher octane fuel is another option if you find you are suffering from detonation or premature ignition on your BMW project after fitting other modified mods. Larger injectors will enable you to supply sufficient fuel to the engine.

If you've uprated your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

Now we move on to the intake and exhaust and ensure proper flow through the engine. Contrary to popular belief there is generally a small power gain got by fitting an induction kit, they only become beneficial and are recommended after you raise the engines power to the point where the standard air intake box cannot cope!

Induction kits can work well on turbo engines and larger engines (if supplied with a suitable cold air feed or air box), generally though we'd just recommend for 8 series engines you should go with a high performance panel air filter preferably made from cotton.

Do not go with the largest exhaust you can find this will slow up the exhaust flow rate - the best for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Head work including a gas flow and 3 or 5 angle valve job will really help to release the potential of the engine. When you start tuning your 8 series you will usally see that the standard clutch starts to slip so get an uprated clutch. The best mods we recommend for your 8 series are fast road camshaft, remap, induction and exhaust, suspension.

NASP engines do not achieve big power gains if you remap them, unless you have done extensive modifications. With turbocharged engines this is another story. A remapped turbo will give impressive power gains and fully release the potential power of the engine.

We've also seen some tuners playing with twin charging applications and making some very high power figures.

The most significant power gains for NASP engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. It is often easier to add a supercharger than it is to bolt on a turbo. Turbos increase power in exponential proportion to th engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.

The nice proportional boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them easier to map. Adding forced induction will usually require a lower compression ratio or water injection.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Many 8 series owners uprate the handling of their cars with sports suspension mods as a priority, this will certainly increase your enjoyment of the car.

Good suspension tweaks that usually improve handling for the 8 series include a couple of degrees negative camber and 1-1.5 degrees of toe out on the front wheels.

Drop the car by as much as 28mm - 35 mm and fit motorsport grade stiffer dampers, bigger drops will need other modifications in most instances.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

Alloy wheels will help the brakes cool down and are generally lighter than the steel ones. Don't forget that your choice of rubber greatly affects your cars grip and handling. It is not worth compromising performance with cheap tyres when you can buy directional tread pattern performance tyres.We should point out that although they can look cool on the 8 series big alloy wheels will actually decrease your performance. The larger you go the lower your acceleration will be - this to the change in your effective final drive ratio.

Due to this we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 18 inches, although we know some of our members have gone larger than this with no problems.

There is a more updated version of this BMW 8 series Tuning article on TorqueCars.com.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss 8 series options in more detail with our 8 series owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased BMW tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under BMW. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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