BMW Z3 3.0 - Fiona

A little update on my 3.0.

Had Fi put on the rolling road to see how she was running after all the work. She is actually bang on the factory quoted figures. Not bad for 17 years old and 96k.

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Now of interest to me was the thought of how to squeeze more out of the restricted engine. Reading Mike Fishwicks article on the Cold Air Intake and the fact that the size is less than that of a 1.8 vw golf has made me wonder. So stay awake and watch the post... something is afoot...
 
When you look at how small the air inlet is at the side of the headlight with the bonnet closed it’s amazing the Z3 does not cough and splutter more. It’s a tiny gap.
 
I'm looking forward to getting a remap next year and seeing if a K+N filter and new exhaust make much of a difference. Great result though.
 
You sure you didn't draw those lines on Paul? ;) looks like pencil to me :D:D:D:D

Only kidding mate =))=))
 
@Madtoady

Yes they will make a difference. The issue for me is that the air getting to the cold air intake is via a small aperture along side the headlight recessed behind the front grill. The surface area of the panel filter is so small considering it's a 3.0. So air must be in short supply. The filter needs to be better and shielded from the heat of the engine bay too. Therefore looking at a design of a heat shield around a cone filter that also has a secondary air supply to it.

Great articles have been written, one by Mike Fishwick and also a 2.8 shield was made by @5harp3y which gave good results as did @Mnbrennan 's smurf on the rolling road.

A way off but it's one of those things that needs to be looked at to improve the smoothness of acceleration and delivery of power through the rev range.
 
I genuinely don't believe there is a need for heatshielding on these cars. The bays don't get that hot when driving. Especially in the UK

Both mine and @Disca car made 15bhp ish more than the quoted standard with no additional heatshielding

I've driven mine hard, in the middle of the summer and the intake pipe is still cool to the touch.

To add to this I think the only real way to get lots more air would be to remove the headlight or foglight and run a duct.

Saying all of that, I would be great to see what you come up with, there are some amazing materials available now to try this with
 
I work in the field of Acoustics and design all sorts of enclosures and heat shielding. So who knows what the possible is. Calling in a few favours from the engineering companies I work with too.
 
pgunter said:
I work in the field of Acoustics and design all sorts of enclosures and heat shielding. So who knows what the possible is. Calling in a few favours from the engineering companies I work with too.
Click to expand...

I'd be happy to buy one from you if you can make up 2 ☺️
 
Would certainly be interesting to see what sort of heat shielding could be done and whether it would actually make a difference.

As @5harp3y said we have already seen additional power over stock with the cone filters, mine recently running at 208.1hp, what was more epic was the amount of bass that comes off the intake whilst on the dyno, you could feel it vibrate through you with an epic humming noise as it went up the rev range :)

I'm currently looking into the manifold swap and then maybe a way to get a bit more air into the engine bay.
 
pgunter said:
I work in the field of Acoustics and design all sorts of enclosures and heat shielding. So who knows what the possible is. Calling in a few favours from the engineering companies I work with too.
Click to expand...

Sounds very cool
 
Well the next phase of sorting out Fiona today was the removal of the 'Smog Pump' which is an emissions unit needs for some of the USA States. Not required for the UK. This is the Smog Pump, the large black cylinder unit and also the valve at the side before it connects into the exhaust manifold.

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First you remove the pipe and then unplug the unit which has a connector at the base.

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Then two T25 screws to remove from the valve releases the rubber hose giving you better access to the connection into the Manifold.

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Interesting condition on the inside of the valve pipework.

Then the removal of the Nut on the right and the bolt on the left and a small pipe will release the valve leaving you with this.

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You can then apply some exhaust paste when you have cleaned up the area ready for the fitting of the blanking plate which I purchased from @t-tony as shown fitted below.

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Now this will leave you a small hose that was connected to the diverter valve. Looking for something that was suitable to seal this pipe I came across a good use for an IKEA shelf support pin. It slides in and the ridge makes a perfect fit.

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Sealing the pipe this way and then using some tape I was able to fold it back on itself so that if needed at a later date the pump can be refitted.

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Well all sorted and runs lovely as before but now with a lot of extra space.

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With thanks to @t-tony. I believe he has a few of these left and is also able to make more of these blanks.
 
I thought those just helped it run a bit smoother during cold starting by adding additional vacuum to the VANOS.
That being said I don't know very much.
Enlighten me :D
 
Thank you @GazHyde ... Been a busy day as working on the next few items too for Fiona...
 
Great precise write up Paul! Engine bay looks better without that lump of junk there.

Tony.
 
Thank you @t-tony ... that plate fitted perfectly and as you said, a hell of a lot of junk now out of the engine bay that was basically not needed for the UK.
 
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