I need more speed...

[RajeKryptix]

[FONT=Geneva][SIZE=1]I drive a 1995 BMW 318I convertible. I really like the car except for one thing, it is the slowest car I have ever driven. The 4-cylindar motor just isn't cutting it for me. I really need to do something. I was wondering whether it would be smarter to bore it out, and follow those lines, or just go with the direct upgrade and swap to a larger engine. My only request is to stay in the 4 maybe 5 grand range (only a request).

Also, It is an automatic. I wante'd to change that out to a manual 5 or 6 spd. I was wondering how much extra work/money that was going to take. And if its not worth it what do I do about that granny shiftin tranny?

Thanks, Nick!

[brien4787]

you are not going to get a whole lot of speed with the convert 318
u might get some more, but if you want a lot, i would just sell the car, and get a 6 cylinder

[thekid]

YOu really will be better of selling the car and getting a 325 convert or 328 convert. You can do the swap but you need soooo much more than just then engine. By the time you buy it all and pay some one to swap it in for you and sell all your old stuff, you could have just sold your car and bought a 6cyl with the money you wanted to spend on the swap, and prolly have enough left for a nice dinner if not a couple.

[BlantonG13]

Downing-Atlanta Supercharger...they are running at good prices right now...somewhere around 3500 or so...check Bavengine.com for a swap if you really are into that idea. Selling it would be the best bet though because by the time all that is done especially for a tranny swap...it would be expensive.

[wulley1]

the supercharger is probably your best bet, especially for Downing-Atlanta Kit. They are a well known company with a great reputation.

[bitcore]

In terms of price Vs. preformance, turbo or supercharger, but it wears down your engine much much more and the automatic transmission kinda kills the point of a supercharger because of it's serious loss of power through the torque converter.
For a REALLY instant & cheep increase in preformance, swap differntials for one with smaller gears. Your top speed will be a whole lot less, but you'll acelerate faster. Of course, this is just really a temporary solution and isn't a power increase, just a conversion.
I'm *not* really sure but it *may* cause the AT's computer to be confused since thr RPM's dont match the expected speed. I doubt it though.

In all honesty, it's best to sell it and get a 328 or 330 or something.

Engine swap: Engine block, engine computer & wiring harnasses, new ECU, new transmission, new driveline, new differential (auto transmission E36 diff's have much much smaller gearing than manual transmission E36 diffs) and of course, all of the engine components - water pump, AC compressor, alternator, exhaust (including headers, cat, and muffler) You'll need to beef up the suspinsion a bit to handle the extra engine weight & I'm sure there's a lot more that I didn't list...
To really be cost effective, you need to swap with at least an M engine, V8 (like frank_de_jonge is doing) if you can... BMW engine's have so many electrical components & sensors, it's crazy.

Hopfuelly frank_de_jonge will see this thread and post what he's had to do to the car. If you search the forums for his threads, you'll see a couple threads where he posted pics of his chopped up & very kickass 318