M coupe mods

[spitfire304]

Hey fellas, im new to this forum, and was wondering if you guys could give me some information. I am researching the M coupe and what i wanted to know from you guys is that does this car respond well to mods? Does it take a lot of money to make to go fast. The power i am talking about is around 320whp. Any help would be appreciated :thumbup:

[mng]

Hey fellas, im new to this forum, and was wondering if you guys could give me some information. I am researching the M coupe and what i wanted to know from you guys is that does this car respond well to mods? Does it take a lot of money to make to go fast. The power i am talking about is around 320whp. Any help would be appreciated :thumbup:
the first question: S52 or S54?

[terrapen73]

In case you aren't sure what S52 and S54 mean:

S52=1999-2000 M Coupe 240hp from the factory. Easier to modify with a much larger selection of mods including some nice supercharger setups for lots of power.

S54=2001-2002 M Coupe 315hp from the factory. Hard to do any meaningful power upgrades without spending lots of money and a small selection of power related mods.

Both vehicles are a blast to drive and terrific cars. If you like to mod then the S52 is what you want. If you like a factory prepped package that you can just drive then the S54 is plenty.

I think you will look at having to go to a supercharger to get that kind of power out of the S52 or else do some internal work along with every bolt-on besides a supercharger. Being BMW's and rare cars with a small aftermarket the cost of any mods is not cheap. You have to look at a Mustang or Evolution or similar to get power gains for cheap.

I honestly don't know if you can get to 320whp on an S54 right now without spending many, many dollars at Dinan or AA or a custom shop. I am sure someone else on here could answer that for you. S54's from the factory will run sub 5 seconds to 60 and around 13 seconds at 112ish in the quarter. For me that is plenty fast for now. Very few cars that I have ever been in or around are faster. Most of the time then it comes down to who is driving.

Good luck with your selection.

[spitfire304]

Terrapen, thanks for the info. I am actually looking at the Evo, but mitsu warranty problems and poor customer service is a big turn off. What i am getting from your post is that the M coupe both the S52 and the S54 are kinda like the 350z in modifications. To gain significant power you must run forced induction.

I have another question for anyone, how much hp could i theoretically gain if i did the following mods to a S54 or a S52 assuming i used the best parts, exhaust, cams, Headers, grounding kit, cold air intake, maybe dinan chip don't know much about those though.

Terrapen: You said the S54 runs 13 in 112 in the quarter? Do you mean low 13's or high 13's?

[Mpire]

One guy got mid 12s out of a stock S54...

[terrapen73]

I mean 13-13.2. I have a friend with a 2001 S54 roadster that ran a 12.9 at 113 at the local dragstrip. That's bone stock with a good driver.

You can do a gear change for around 500 bucks (diff is like 300 plus install) to 3.73 gears and probably pick that time up a little. I haven't seen any track reports but know a couple of S54 folks have done this mod and been very happy with it. Factory is a 3.15. Some folks are also using a 3.46 so as not to be at high RPM at highway speeds.

[spitfire304]

Can anyone give me a rough estimate, how much hp could i theoretically gain if i did the following mods to a S54 or a S52 assuming i used the best parts, exhaust, cams, Headers, grounding kit, cold air intake, maybe dinan chip don't know much about those though.

[nathanLa]

<a href="http://www.eurosporthighperformance.com/cams.html">Eurosport Cam Kit</a>

[Mpire]

Can anyone give me a rough estimate, how much hp could i theoretically gain if i did the following mods to a S54 or a S52 assuming i used the best parts, exhaust, cams, Headers, grounding kit, cold air intake, maybe dinan chip don't know much about those though.

S52:

You start with 240 (Which is more like 250 on most dynos... the 95 3 litre was 240)

You can get maybe 300 to 305 with all the mods under the sun. Thats track pipe, cam kit, intake, cat delete, bored throttle body, lightweight flywheel, exhaust, pulleys, and everything else. For serious big bucks you can do forced induction...Probably 350 or so.

S54:

You start with 315, but it could be a bit higher because the M3 is rated at 333....

You can get probably 365 with all the mods under the sun... Cams, euro headers, euro cats, intake, larger throttle bodies, and there will be many more mods... You can get a good 450 hp from supercharger thats just out...

[spitfire304]

Doesn't sound to promising

I think im leaning towards the Evo, i love the power, handling, and heritage.
See ya boys on the street or at the track.

[Mpire]

An S54 will take an evo bone stock...

[MCoupe321]

An S54 will take an evo bone stock...

Off the line, Evo's are faster (4WD), but in the long run the coupe is faster..

However, with a few simple mods..like Exhaust, downpipe, and intake, the evo will take on the Coupe..

I own both..S50 Euro M Coupe with GruppeM intake and Hamann Catback..and an EvoVII, Blitz Exhaust, downpipe, BOV, and HKS intake..

Both rock, but in different ways..

Its too expensive to mod the coupe!

[dwm]

Doesn't sound to promising

I think im leaning towards the Evo, i love the power, handling, and heritage.
See ya boys on the street or at the track.

I would say don't forget to drive 'em both. They're very different in character in almost every way (starting with AWD versus RWD, ending with 4 seats versus 2 and the Mitsi econo-car interior but for the steering wheel and seats). :) For the same price, I'd pick an S54 M coupe for a mostly-street car, with a 3.73 LSD in it and aftermarket suspension. But the Evo RS is a steal (new) if you don't need/want A/C, power windows, and other weight-adding junk, warranty issues be damned (which you'll void with more boost anyway).

[Mpire]

Maybe so, but I think you will look better in the BMW. Prejudice I know, but in 10 years, you still have a mitsubishi lancer. Not that the BMW holds up much better...

[spitfire304]

"Its too expensive to mod the coupe!"

That is the deciding factor in which car i prefer. I am on a budget and cannot go to crazy. Im looking to spend 3-4k on my car in terms of mods. And that 3-4k can go a lot further on the Evo than on a S54. I can easily get 320whp with 3-4k on an Evo.

The image or prestige of owning a BMW means nothing to me. I know which cars are fast, i know which cars i like. I could care less whether the guy next to me at the stop light knows what kind of car im driving, thats why i like the Evo. Only real enthuasists know its heritage and potential.

I forget who said a S54 could take an Evo stock for stock, i believe that an Evo would smoke a S54 around any track. But the S54 is faster down the drag strip, but thats not what im looking for.

[terrapen73]

The M Coupe is an excellent track car. I just looked around at some SCCA results and was not able to find too many results where both an EVO and an M coupe had both run the same course. Only one time was the EVO faster and that was in a modified class so no idea how fast it may have been. In the 3 or 4 other occurences of both running the same course the stock S52 M coupes were beating the EVO by 2-3 seconds usually. I could not find an example of an S54 but since it is faster than an S52 then it stands to reason it would be faster than the EVO.

You kind of sound like you are leaning to the EVO and I will admit I considered one hard before I bought my M coupe. Having owned two 3000GT's in the past, turbo and non, and being totally unhappy with the reliability and customer service of the company I passed. I could not be happier with my decision. As a previous poster said you really need to drive them both and compare. I have driven an EVO and my M coupe seems a much more solid car overall. The way they feel and sound on the road and under hard acceleration is totally different.

[MCoupe321]

Being used to the M Coupe, I get such a thrill when I drive the evo around..

But practically thinking, as a daily driver, I'd go for the Coupe..

Drive both..for 3k-4k, you can get your evo up to 400+ HP easy.. Exhaust, intake, wires, fuel pump and boost controller, and you'll be smokin Coupes around the track and on the drag strip!

I love my Coupe, but for modding, Evo is a piece of cake..