Ok, so I was bored last night and I've been wondering on what my beemer can do 0-60 wise.

I went on the by-pass heading to upton from bidston (so it was legal ) and got Izzy to time it for me.

The first attempt was 14.53, 2nd was 12.55, 3rd was 14.76, 4th was 16.36, 5th was 15.52 and the final attempt was 13.36. So 12.55 secs being my fastest time, I thought that was rather crap.

I think the car can do better if it had a better driver lol. When I was doing it, I had some problems with gear changes which I'm still unsure of how to overcome. So I was after a bit of advice.

It's what probably slows me down the most.
I can't seem to change and the exact time to get enough power into the next gear. The first few attempts I tried changing at about 5500 and I just kept loosing power as with most BMWs you do have to change quite early to prevent power loss in the higher revs. So then I started changing at about 4500 which got the power to continue smoothly.

The other thing with the gear changes is that I cant just go straight to the next gear, I have to take it out of gear into neutral and then put it into gear, I know that probably doesn't make sense as thats how you actually change gear, but I can't explain it any better lol. Any ideas on how to get around that?

If your serious you need to find your powerband (BMW forums should be able to help). Theres no point staying in a gear after its peak.

Sounds like a problem with your gearbox (syncromesh) if it wont go into gear.

What is the book time on your Beemer? 12secs is apauling your right, but it might be about right (I dont it tho)

A quick look found 12.7 secs for the 316i compact so with mine carrying more weight, It's about right unfortunately. It goes into gear, just not as quick or smooth as other cars I've driven. Aparantly, it's meant to have that "notchy" feel. Even other people have said to me, it's difficult to change gear quickly.

Can't seem to find any info on the e36 316i powerband.

As it's currently standard, I'm obviously looking to improve these times, so I'm after the cheapest and easiest way of increasing bhp.

Get a new car mate, that ones spending all the money in your wallet before you get the chance to open it

Power band is around 6400rpm

Practice matey thats all you need and YES your time should be quicker but dont forget your cars older then when it came out so the book fig want be the same as yours is now.

Was going to pop into the rock lastnight seen you there all alone at about 11pm.

Joe, Finding the optimum change point is hard as u need to find a medium between torque in 1st,and the torque you'd get if u changed into second. U want to rev it high in the lower gear but dont go too high as torque drops off at high revs.but u also have to get high enough so that ur in the strong torque section in the next gear when the clutch is re-engaged (pedal up)
12.55 is a good time IMO for a car THAT heavy with such little power,my old 1.4 scort done terrible 14 second 0-60,and a 1/4 mile of 19.5sec at 70MPH

You need to change at approx 6,500 or when you just enter the redline. Petrol engines have more BHP than torque typically so the higer the revs the better (Within Reason)......

On your gearchange your either panicing (Trying too hard) or you have a lazy clutch or faulty gearbox.

My old impreza done 0-60 in 3.9 Seconds and a quarter mile at 12.9 Seconds

Many a time i wouyld miss a gear when on the strip or testing my 0-60 times down to trying too damb hard

if ur going to trax they have a 0 to 60 timing thing there.i got 6.7 in my 2.0 corsa before i started the rebuild with the new mods an nos then it was silly quick.i managed to keep up with a pulsar gti.r which was tuned up to 270bhp i was about 10ft behind him from a standing start upto 100mph an that was with out the nos.god dam it i need another fast car

also you have to take into account wind/hills on this 0-60 time.

the best way imho oppionion is to get a good 0-60ft time, this will take loads off your time.

try and get a legal place to tst some other cars ie corsa 1.4, xr2i, and the likes as you will get a rough idea how quick your motor is.

for a 12.5 it is not bad for the age of the car

for some engines the redline is a safe rev limit for the internal parts of the engine, through time these rev limits change as in a xr2 cvh engine the safe redline is 5800rpm while the standard rpm redline is 6300rpm iirc. but this does depend on the condition of the engine.

So thats why it needs a clutch No wonder its making a funny noise, the poor little engine is shouting in protest!!

TBH I think they are pretty fair times, its quite a big car, and the 1.6 will struggle to get it all moving from a standing start

Plus, as Im sure others will confirm, BMW's really dont like being thrown through the gears quickly

Dont forget you should find out what the maximum power output at what revs is for your car.

For instance, everyone always says "redline it" or take it 6500, but for example in my RT (manual) I get maximum BHP @ 5750rpm. Going to 6500rpm would make no difference, in fact if anything it would slow the car down.

Do you have an air filter on Joe? This is one of the easiest ways to potentially increase brake and should make the engine more responsive and a bit faster no matter what if you get a decent brand performance air filter.

....or I can offer a free air box drilling option

lol, my mate done that in his 1.2 Clio, it sounded awful. I often mistook it for a dyson vacuum cleaner.

Its french - are you sure it wasnt actually Dyson powered

At the end of the day its a free mod, if you dont like it, you can always get another air box from a scrapper, put tape over the holes, or go and buy a cone filter :rolleyes:

It was a 2002 1.2 16v Extreme so i presume at that age it is a multipoint injection.

My car doesn't seems to sound any different.

I can vouch for box drilling,its ace (and the noise is BETTER (imo) than K&N cone)

Best way to improve acceleration is to remove weight (thats free)

I'm skinny enough as it is..I dont wanna loose any more weight lol Cheers for the response guys...stuy, i might take up on your offer...get yourself a drill and meet me at the rock at 9pm lol...or i can bring one if needs be?

The battery on mine aint up to much anymore, so if you have a drill .....

I can bring the right drill bit, gimmie a text if you want me to do it for you

Your gear selector or release bearing is playing up, not necessarily broken though. Won't be syncromesh, unless all of them went at the same time.

I didnt mean for YOU to lose weight joe. I meant for the car to lose weight. Such as leaving the spare in ya shed,and taking the trim out (altho it looks a bit ugly then)

is urs a 1.6 or 1.8? u sud be able to go quicker then 12odd secs.

I did mine like in wet condition so it wasnt specific. mines 1.4 n i managed to get 13.9 secs in Wet condition, i wonder wot i cud get in dry condition

Supose its izzy thats slowin ya down jst kiddin hun

Joe and stuymac, a drilled air box is cool. stuy did mine and now mine whistles.

Joe bring ya drill with you tonight and stuy will sort it out for you. However you might need some tools to remove the box if its screwed in.

thats quite bad for yours pomp. Mines a heavy mother****er. I've been thinking, maybe I should go for more style than speed seen as unless I get a bigger engine, it's going to almost be impossible to improve more than 2 or 3 secs. I'll try the spare wheel idea though er...but the plastic trim...that weighs feck all doesnt it?

*will be bringing tools to the rock tonight* lol

Well i wasnt timin it like, me cousin was n he was peepin ova but from his angle he prob cudnt c it prop.

Say like i saw it hit 60mph n he prob see it wen i hit 65-70mph. i should time it meself nxt time, obviously on a legal place!

Couldnt make it tonight matey, working but if you havnt managed to do it yet, and want it doing, just gimmie a shout

iv had 0-60 in 9.6 secs in my vectra and 8.2 in my birds corsa.

ay thats good that, whats the engine sizes?

*shouts* STUYYYYY!!! I STILL AVNT DONE IT SO GET YA ASS OUT AN DO IT!!

got it down to 7.5 in birds corsa got a video to prove but duno how to post

I know someone who can do BMW engine conversions, might be getting one done by him, I'll let you know how I get on... If you're looking for a naughty car, my AX might be coming up soon, and that's quite naughty

how much would I looking at? Is he local?

engine conversion=high insurance.Best just to sell and get urself a 320 mate. a conversion from a 4 pot to a 6 pot will be quite a bit of hassle aswell,definately a loom change there

I simply wouldn't declare it in the insurance. They dont check under the bonnet, unless the the cars all smashed up and there is no bonnet!! lol

I was thinking of keeping this one, and just doing a few bhp increase mods (chip, de-cat, induction kit) or just do it up looks wise, rather than spend time, effort and money on performance.

I was also thinking of getting a 325 off my mate, strip it down, put any decent stuff like leather seats e.t.c in this one, which will make the 325 lighter and then I can use to as a trackday car

exhaust and induction on a 1.6 yeah,not de-cat and chips,wont get u a thing

And not declaring.U may get away with it,but what if u dont?? and the insurance company abandon u and u get sued to fix the brand new merc u hit and the compo for his broken hip????????

They will notice the difference between a 2.6 and the other engines,especially as they'll wonder why they can see 6 HT leads instead of 4

1.8i and even the newer M43 1.9i are both 4 cylinder. It would be pointless doing a swap for a 1.8 for 13bhp more so I guess that idea would be out the window. I'm deffo thinking about getting a 325 though for a trackday car

Engine conversions don't always mean high insurance, my car has got an engine which is 4 times more powerful than the original and declared it's only costing me £28 a month to insure...