BMW Z3 Tuning

"Tuning guide to the greatest BMW Z3 modifications."

The Z3 is a good tuning project to have. Plan ahead and research Z3 tuning to avoid making the usual disastrous slip ups we typically get told about.We consider Z3 tuning and provide tips on the ultimate modifications.

BMW Z3's offer good returns when tuned and with the ultimate tuning upgrades you can substantially maximise your driving enjoyment.

Tuning tips and articles

Engine tuning Transmission tuning Care care Intake & exhaust mods Improve handling Forums

 

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

Keep your car looking standard but take off the badges to make an awesome sleeper!

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.

This list of the stages and tuning upgrades are usually installed by our members, decide how far you wish to go in your tuning project before you begin.

Getting the right motorsport parts for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 motor sport parts just won't work well on the road difficult in stop start traffic.

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Guide to the best Z3 tuning mods & Upgrades

  1. ECU Map Tuning & Remaps

    Some cars may require a piggyback ECU's or aftermarket ECU's to change the OEM map, but remapping is the most vital step of your tuning project to fully maximise your mods. Expect 10-20% on NASP engines and 30-40% on turbocharged units.

  2. Strengthen Your Engine

    Tuned cars will show up weaknesses, typically in the turbochargers, clutch and internal engine components. Whilst most engines can cope with mild tuning mods, TorqueCars recommend that you upgrade the internal components before these weak spots manifest themselves.

  3. Mods that Remove a Restriction

    A restricted intake or exhaust will have an impact on your performance, so use a better flowing air filter/induction kit and better flowing exhaust (sports cats where legal are a good option) whenever your tuning creates a flow restriction. Turbo engines also benefit from intercooler upgrades as these resist heat soak for longer periods of time.

  4. Mods that Improve Fuelling

    Every tuning project will aim to increase the air supply, but fuel supply is just as vital and will need to match the air the engine can utilise,  a fuel pump and injector upgrade are usual mods, but also in many cases the fuel regulator will need improvement.

  5. Mods to Provide better Airflow

    Increasing the air supply is just as essential as improving fuelling, we suggest you look at head mods (flowing and porting, 5 angle valve jobs), fit bigger valves, fast road cams and forced induction upgrades (adding a better flowing turbo) to improve air intake.

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

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

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

Peak power is nice in motorsport but for a drivable and fun car you need a wide power band and perhaps extending the rev range.

The whole aim of our hints is to give a limited introduction of car tuning modifications and point you in the right direction, our forum is the place to go for detailed advice and tips on your tuning project, the best motorsport kits and all aspects of modding cars.Fast road cams offer one of the biggest bhp gains for your money as far as a solitary modifications goes on a NASP engine.

The exhaust and intake durations play a large part in your cars power band, but be careful here, getting this wrong can upset the idle and make the car difficult to drive in traffic. You'd need to follow a cam upgrade with other mods and finish with a performance chip for the best performance gains.

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to uprate the fuelling.

Using high octane fuel is another option if you find you are suffering from pinking or premature ignition on your BMW project after fitting other modifications. Improving the injectors is another beneficial modification and will deliver sufficient fuel.

If you are increasing your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

Breathing mods are usually next up. Please note that WE DO NOT RECOMMEND INDUCTION KITS, unless you have tuned your car extensively and are finding that the standard air intake has become a restriction.

For most Z3 engines TorqueCars would suggest you just go with a washable panel air filter. On heavily tuned engines and turbo vehicles an induction kit will help release the power providing you address the problem of needing cold air.

Sports exhausts balance the flow of gases through the engine. But if the exhaust is too big, ie: it's over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a great deal of your flow rate and end up sapping power and torque.

Head work including a head port and polished and 3 or 5 angle valve job will really help to release the potential of the engine. Your clutch can fail as you increase the power if it starts to slip and the standard clutches are only ever good for power gains of up to 46%. Fit a performance clutch to avoid power loss through the transmission. The best mods in our opinion for your Z3 are remaps, sports camshafts and induction improvements.

Turbo engines are just crying out to be Reprogrammed. You will see significant power gains on most modern turbo charged cars including diesels making a remap one of the most cost effective and significant modifications for your money.

We've also seen some tuners playing with twin charging conversions and making some seriously high power gains.

The most impressive power gains for NASP engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. Superchargers are usually easier to add than a turbo. Turbos increase power in increasing proportion to increasing engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.

Superchargers however will give a boost which is directly proportional to engine speed so is easier to map. Adding forced induction will generally require a lower compression ratio or water injection.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Handling modifications are usually your first port of call for the Z3.

Fully adjustable suspension allows you to fine tune the handling of you Z3 greatly improving your drive.

Drop the car by as much as 25mm - 37 mm and fit sports stiffer dampers, bigger drops will need other modifications in most instances.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

As alloy wheels are less heavy they improve performance and they help to cool the brake disks. Pay attention to your choice of tyres (tyres) for your car, a good soft compound tyre can really enhance your cars handling. The drawback to large rims on your Z3 is that you're altering your effective final drive ratio and this will have a negative effect on acceleration.

Although some people have installed larger rims without problems we would restrict ourselves to a 18 inch rim size as the maximum.

There is a more updated version of this BMW Z3 Tuning article on TorqueCars.com.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Z3 options in more detail with our Z3 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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