This week, I finally get to write something from the perspective of an expert. Fortunately, those have resulted in some accurate, concise, and informative articles. I’ve had to bother our product specialists, brand teams, and engineers to find out what it is that enthusiasts want for those vehicles. Some of these, I’ve had to do a bit of research to speak about.
In the case of the 318 specifically, it will never be a fast car, but rather an update of the original 2002’s spirit…sideburns optional of course.If you have been following along with our blog for the past year, you have seen plenty of ‘best mods’ articles about some of our customer’s top-choices for performance cars. Everything will be fairly subtle with the intent of making a well-rounded package. Being this is a fun car for nostalgic purposes, so are the modifications I plan to make to this car. The next move forward would be a lighter flywheel to complement the chip, but that’s also a more involved job.Ĭhipping an e30 is nothing new, as tuners have been doing so since the 1980’s. An e30 325i is still going to pull down low better than a 318, but this certainly dials in the 318’s fuel mapping to get it off the line easier (especially when the average minivan or Prius will blow the doors off a stock e30 at a stoplight). The Final Verdictįor $150 I don’t think you’re going to get any other easy power related bolt-on part. An autocross would probably see the most benefit from the extra revs. As I drove the car more, I noticed that downshifts into the power band were much more responsive once I got back on the gas, and the buzz bomb M42 would keep pulling to 7,000 RPM if I wanted to make that commitment. While not immediately impressed, I had figured that I wasted my money for something making slim to no difference. Now the power delivery comes on a bit earlier and smoother. Before the chip, the 318 would only make a bunch of noise until 5,000 RPM, then it would start moving. Off the line wasn’t anything to write home to mom about, but the delivery was much more linear.
Once the needle was situated at normal operating temperature, it was time to put the car through its paces. The car needed to warm up, so I putted around the neighborhood for a bit before romping on the accelerator. One of the first things I noticed the idle was smoother, even for a cold December evening. Three and a half hours and 1200 calories later, I fired up the car and took it for a spin. I was eager to see if the chip made a difference, so I buttoned up the glovebox and proceeded to go out for a hamburger and a beer with my friends. With the ECU out of the car, I opened up the cover and installed the JC chip in place of the one that had probably seen the Berlin Wall come down. Being that I’ve been around these cars my whole driving career, one could say ECU removal has been slimmed down to a ten minute task. Once I got home from work one Friday, I pulled the car into the garage, undid the battery, and started disassembly of the glove box. The M42 isn’t horrendously slow, but it could certainly do with some more pep. The most tangible thing I remember from my M20 days is the bump up in redline (gotta ’69 the tach!).
Software upgrades have always been a marginal gain as far as I’m concerned.
So a C-note discount plus free shipping on a $250 Conforti Chip meant add to cart, and proceed to checkout. When Black Friday rolled around this year, Turner Motorsport had a sale on all software upgrades. Like most penny pinching e30 owners, I like searching for deals on parts and pieces for the car. This also means the car makes substantially less power, comparatively to an e30 325i, let alone any of the 24 valve motors. It’s rougher, louder, and really likes the snot revved out of it. The four-banger Bimmer is definitely a different animal. In recent years, finding a clean e30 has proven to become a challenge, so when the ad popped up to buy my painfully original 1991 318is, I had to act quickly.
From M20 powered cars to S52 swapped e30’s and e36’s, I was always a six-shooter fanboy. Since the time I was sixteen up until recently, the only BMW’s I had really driven or owned were all six cylinder cars.