E46 over an E36?

H

high_rpm

New member
I've been away from SCCA since 2006. ITR was brand new, and I was last running an ITS Integra GS-R against the E36 bimmers.

I'm curious how the E46s are doing now. At the time, the 330i seemed like it had huge potential for ITR. And the 323i looked great for ITS.

I see that the weights are high for both vehicles. Are they still competitive?

I'm contemplating a re-renty to IT. Most likely an E46 but I want to make the right choice.
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high_rpm said:
I've been away from SCCA since 2006. ITR was brand new, and I was last running an ITS Integra GS-R against the E36 bimmers.

I'm curious how the E46s are doing now. At the time, the 330i seemed like it had huge potential for ITR. And the 323i looked great for ITS.

I see that the weights are high for both vehicles. Are they still competitive?

I'm contemplating a re-renty to IT. Most likely an E46 but I want to make the right choice.
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The 323 is great for ITS. Talk to these guys about the trials and tribulations of an e46 www.autotechnic.net/. Rob and Jeff are really good guys and really fast. They definitely had their share of heartache but seem to have the cars figured out in a big way now. The e46 wieghts are high for ITR I believ but you may need to double check that. The e36 is still a great and competetive platform and could be found for a reasonable price as so many are already built. I'm yet to see an ITR e46 but I believe Jeff and Rob are thinking about going to ITR with an e46.

R
 
A couple of e-46 choices that are resonably weighed are:

01-04 325i 2800lbs

99-00 328i 2900lbs

One of the nice things about the 330 is you can get the ZHP cams, for a nice hp boost, and it's legal too.
 
Z3_GoCar said:
One of the nice things about the 330 is you can get the ZHP cams, for a nice hp boost, and it's legal too.
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I believe that is incorrect. As far as I know, the ZHP package wasn't available until 2003, and the spec line only goes to 02. I would argue that the weight should be higher if that year is allowed since it was run through the process at the lower power. Not to mention the six speed transmission...

Grafton
 
I think the E46 is going to be great when I get the rest of the computer glitches worked out. I think for a club racer you might want to stay away from the 330. Everybody who has raced the 3.0 in GA and WC had a lot of problems with the engine harmonics when the engine was reved for extended periods of time. Talk to the guys at BW or Turner. I am not saying it cant be fixed, but I am not sure those issues can be fixed with IT legal mods. Not 100% sure though.

That ended any thoughts of a 330 for me, its already expensive enough. I think the 328 might be the way to go though.
 
madrabbit15 said:
I think the E46 is going to be great when I get the rest of the computer glitches worked out. I think for a club racer you might want to stay away from the 330. Everybody who has raced the 3.0 in GA and WC had a lot of problems with the engine harmonics when the engine was reved for extended periods of time. Talk to the guys at BW or Turner. I am not saying it cant be fixed, but I am not sure those issues can be fixed with IT legal mods. Not 100% sure though.

That ended any thoughts of a 330 for me, its already expensive enough. I think the 328 might be the way to go though.
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I would tend to agree with the 99-00 328i being the car of choice. Main reason being the use of the ZF transmission - the additional torque would be nice too. The E-46 already produces gobs of low end torque with the Double Vanos. I am contemplating switching to ITR as a 328i in the offseason. -100 lbs too!
 
I just saw an intake manifold off of a 328 e46 this weekend. Now I totally see why the hp is not any more than it is, and why the torque rating is so high. The intake manifold ports on the m52tu engined cars are noticably smaller than on the m54 cars. I am not really sure that intake manifold would be ideal for racing. I guess only time will tell.

Now for a street car, I bet an m54 manifold would be a nice upgrade for a 328.
 
madrabbit15 said:
I just saw an intake manifold off of a 328 e46 this weekend. Now I totally see why the hp is not any more than it is, and why the torque rating is so high. The intake manifold ports on the m52tu engined cars are noticably smaller than on the m54 cars. I am not really sure that intake manifold would be ideal for racing. I guess only time will tell.

Now for a street car, I bet an m54 manifold would be a nice upgrade for a 328.
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You're right, the same situation exists with the m-52 also. That's why the popular mod for m/s-52 motors is to swap in a m-50 manifold. I've talked with Greg Amy about this, and the best route to go with be to add a plastic spacer between the manifold and head as a gasket plate to match the ports. However, nothing can be done about the runner size which is the real bottle neck anyway. Also, with the m-52 the cams aren't verey aggressive, that's why a set of s-52 cams really wakes the m-52 up also. Of course all these mods are prefectly legal on a smog motor but not on an IT motor.
 
If the winter goes well, I should have an E46 328i ITR car for next season, just will have to take it to some schools and get the comp license, as its been a while since i've done any sanctioned schools...sold my WC car before I got to race it, and have been building the E46 mod car for a while (but its just about done).

Looking forward to racing next season...hopefully i can get the car done in time, should be an easy build.
 
The E36 is so damn simple, light and reliable, I'd still go for an early E36 325 even after all this time.
 
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