Scarlet (#Project333Ti) vs. Z4 M Coupe

[e30polak]

Was merging onto the freeway headed to work this morning and saw a black, stock looking Z4 M Coupe spiritedly weaving through slow drivers on the ramp ahead of me. I quickly made some moves and got behind him before the lanes opened up. I left it in 2nd, doing about 40-45 mph (roughly 4,000 - 4,500 rpms) we both hit it and make our ways over to the fast lane, got up to about 90 in 3rd. He got a slight jump on me, but also had a passenger. I slightly started to pull up to him and closed the original 2 car length gap between us when he initially hit it. After that we had some fun cat & mouse for a couple minutes through light traffic. I see a thumbs up out of his window, so I pulled up to the left of him and realized it was John Batte (photographer), who I met at MFest a few years back. His Z4 has an exhaust, but not sure if anything else.

Never got a clean run in, but overall happy. My car currently has a failing clutch, massive exhaust leak at the headers and I have my e46 m3 6 speed sitting in the trunk. I figure with my car at 100%, without the added weight, I would've pulled him. The 6 speed swap is happening this week and the exhaust is being addressed. Unfortunately won't be putting in the rebuilt 3.25 diff for a few week because it's not ready (currently have 2.93s). Also going to be doing some testing to see what works best for my car. First going to put my car on the dyno after the fresh clutch to get baseline numbers. Next I want to put and M50 manifold on to see the real difference between that and my Schrick manifold. If it's close, I'm going to have my manifold ported some more and re-dyno it, if it's noticeably less, than I will leave the m50 manifold on. I also will swap in 24# injectors, 3.5" maf and an off the shelf tune for those mods from RK Tunes and see if that helps. Once I see what works best out of all the combinations, I will have RK Tunes dyno tune my car with the best set-up when he's in town next time!

[Foda420]

Sounds like a fun run! If you're closing one of them down now I'm sure you'll pull me pretty good although I've never ran one to know where I stand. Unless I leave a bunch of stuff at home, like my tools, spare, back seats and food baby.

Gotta do my subframe so my car likely won't be ready for at least a couple weeks, not sure what your timetable is but I'd love to get before/after runs so you can compare your mods' real world effects.

[e30polak]

Sounds like a fun run! If you're closing one of them down now I'm sure you'll pull me pretty good although I've never ran one to know where I stand. Unless I leave a bunch of stuff at home, like my tools, spare, back seats and food baby.

Gotta do my subframe so my car likely won't be ready for at least a couple weeks, not sure what your timetable is but I'd love to get before/after runs so you can compare your mods' real world effects.

That will work for me. They're definitely quick cars! I remember chasing one back when I had my s52 e30 and held even in 3rd, but got pulled on by a CL in 4th.

I'm curious to run you with the 2.93s and then with the 3.25s. By the time I have the 3.25s I'll also probably try the injectors, MAF and manifold swap. I really hope the Schrick manifold is holding it's own, as it was already lightly ported, but could definitely use more. I love the low end and mid range torque it provides, but I won't need it as much with the 3.25 gears. My car was a torque monster when I initially had those in, felt like my old s52 with even shorter 3.46 gears!

I was thinking about going with cams, but would only want to spend the money on regrinds. I want to swap an s54 in by January or February of next year, otherwise I would look into the IP Dominator cams that Da Infammus is running.

[Da Infammus 1]

Nice! Seems like you're having fun even with a handicapped car lol. The only z4m that's local to me that would race is a vert, so I'm not even gonna bother LOL. Crazy that your car is basically an almost stock s52, that power to weight ratio must be working wonders for you!

[Butters Stoch]

OP , you ever think about going F/I on this car ? You seem to have a ton of mods that add up $ real fast , your going to be getting to *or already at* that point where its tons of work and $ to gain single digit HP'ers. Iirc your no foreigner to F/I, or do you already have turbo car ?

[e30polak]

Nice! Seems like you're having fun even with a handicapped car lol. The only z4m that's local to me that would race is a vert, so I'm not even gonna bother LOL. Crazy that your car is basically an almost stock s52, that power to weight ratio must be working wonders for you!

Well to be fair it has one of only a few 3.3L modified crankshafts (originally an m50 diesel crank from what I heard) that was done by a race engine builder that RMS used to use. It has s52 bore, 11:1 pistons, running a 0.90 MLS, probably bringing it to 10.5:1 after the block and head were decked for who knows how many times. I also have a fully port and polished head, port matched raceland long tubes, 3" exhaust, a lightly ported Schrick intake manifold and a Dinan intake. Between the slightly larger crank, pistons, head and proper bolt-ons, it makes for a very nice powerband! I want to see if the Schrick needs more porting or not, and how it really does top end wise vs. the m50 manifold. I'm guessing the off the shelf tune from RK Tunes is pretty close to ideal as well. The car also has a slicktop/sunroof delete, which probably takes away at least 30-40 lbs without the motor, harness, and the bare skin of the panel. Just wait for me to get my 3.25s back in, this thing was a beast when I originally had them in! Power to weight is why I love light cars with bigger motors! I need to weigh my car, but I'd guess it's about 2700 lbs without me in it.

OP , you ever think about going F/I on this car ? You seem to have a ton of mods that add up $ real fast , your going to be getting to *or already at* that point where its tons of work and $ to gain single digit HP'ers. Iirc your no foreigner to F/I, or do you already have turbo car ?

As much as I love FI, I've only owned boosted fun/weekend cars. I love the NA reliability for daily driving! The 500whp, 4 door s50 turbo e30 we built when I was involved at Castros was a riot at only 2500 lbs! That being said, my s52 e30 has always been my favorite car( even more so then my s54 e30 m3). There's something to be said about a snappy, light weight, car that I can toss around, with predictable power, that can still average 22-24 mpg street and highway.

I have one of the healthiest s52 set-ups I've driven, and I want to see how much extra I can make without spending much money. I've spent maybe $10k on this Ti, including the car. I'm very frugal with my builds and always find deal on anything I buy, I also don't pay labor, because I help and market all my friend's shops that work on my cars. I had the full z3 M Coupe suspension and brakes from futureroadracer's e30, that was free after rebuilding the car for a customer. The 3.3L bottom end was free as it came with the Dakar yellow e36 m3 that I sold to Castro's father. I did a bunch of photography and promote for Bimmerheads, in exchange for the ported head (had a spare head from another build, with s52 cams). The Schrick intake I bought for a deal back when I had my red e30, but that damn thing wouldn't clear my brake booster because of the long runners. I got my Dinan intake for $50, and Raceland headers are cheap. Exhaust was dirt cheap for me as well, and the tune from RK was donated by Castro. The maf cost me $40, I have 24# injectors from an old build, and I have a spare m50 manifold. I have Castro's dyno to my disposal for cheap and Jordan will tune my car cheaply. I'd like to make a solid 240-250whp/240+ wtq on 91, if I'm not already there.

As for FI, my E39 touring had a Vortech V1 running 10 psi, that I removed from it and held onto for this build. However, when I managed my own shop last year, I was commuting 84 miles a day and didn't want to kill my gas bill. I also realized that I'd rather go s54 than put a blower, as I can get it done for basically the cost of what I can get for the current motor and bolt-ons I have on the car. Also, the s54 with a CSL style intake and the right exhaust produces the best music to my ears that I've had the pleasure of enjoying (only thing better would be an s65 with a nice exhaust and carbon intake plenum by Mossleman). As long as things keep going well for me, I will swap the s54 in early next year and swap to either a 3.64 ring & pinion I have laying around, or a 3.73 (both will be a riot with my 6 speed)!

[Da Infammus 1]

Ahh so it's essentially a built n/a s52, I'd like to get my hands on that short block and put my cylinder head on it and see what happens lol.

[e30polak]

Ahh so it's essentially a built n/a s52, I'd like to get my hands on that short block and put my cylinder head on it and see what happens lol.

If it wasn't so affordable to go S54, I would look into your cams, as I think this car would be a monster with them on E85!

[GG///M3]

Well to be fair it has one of only a few 3.3L modified crankshafts (originally an m50 diesel crank from what I heard) that was done by a race engine builder that RMS used to use. It has s52 bore, 11:1 pistons, running a 0.90 MLS, probably bringing it to 10.5:1 after the block and head were decked for who knows how many times. I also have a fully port and polished head, port matched raceland long tubes, 3" exhaust, a lightly ported Schrick intake manifold and a Dinan intake. Between the slightly larger crank, pistons, head and proper bolt-ons, it makes for a very nice powerband! I want to see if the Schrick needs more porting or not, and how it really does top end wise vs. the m50 manifold. I'm guessing the off the shelf tune from RK Tunes is pretty close to ideal as well. The car also has a slicktop/sunroof delete, which probably takes away at least 30-40 lbs without the motor, harness, and the bare skin of the panel. Just wait for me to get my 3.25s back in, this thing was a beast when I originally had them in! Power to weight is why I love light cars with bigger motors! I need to weigh my car, but I'd guess it's about 2700 lbs without me in it.



As much as I love FI, I've only owned boosted fun/weekend cars. I love the NA reliability for daily driving! The 500whp, 4 door s50 turbo e30 we built when I was involved at Castros was a riot at only 2500 lbs! That being said, my s52 e30 has always been my favorite car( even more so then my s54 e30 m3). There's something to be said about a snappy, light weight, car that I can toss around, with predictable power, that can still average 22-24 mpg street and highway.

I have one of the healthiest s52 set-ups I've driven, and I want to see how much extra I can make without spending much money. I've spent maybe $10k on this Ti, including the car. I'm very frugal with my builds and always find deal on anything I buy, I also don't pay labor, because I help and market all my friend's shops that work on my cars. I had the full z3 M Coupe suspension and brakes from futureroadracer's e30, that was free after rebuilding the car for a customer. The 3.3L bottom end was free as it came with the Dakar yellow e36 m3 that I sold to Castro's father. I did a bunch of photography and promote for Bimmerheads, in exchange for the ported head (had a spare head from another build, with s52 cams). The Schrick intake I bought for a deal back when I had my red e30, but that damn thing wouldn't clear my brake booster because of the long runners. I got my Dinan intake for $50, and Raceland headers are cheap. Exhaust was dirt cheap for me as well, and the tune from RK was donated by Castro. The maf cost me $40, I have 24# injectors from an old build, and I have a spare m50 manifold. I have Castro's dyno to my disposal for cheap and Jordan will tune my car cheaply. I'd like to make a solid 240-250whp/240+ wtq on 91, if I'm not already there.

As for FI, my E39 touring had a Vortech V1 running 10 psi, that I removed from it and held onto for this build. However, when I managed my own shop last year, I was commuting 84 miles a day and didn't want to kill my gas bill. I also realized that I'd rather go s54 than put a blower, as I can get it done for basically the cost of what I can get for the current motor and bolt-ons I have on the car. Also, the s54 with a CSL style intake and the right exhaust produces the best music to my ears that I've had the pleasure of enjoying (only thing better would be an s65 with a nice exhaust and carbon intake plenum by Mossleman). As long as things keep going well for me, I will swap the s54 in early next year and swap to either a 3.64 ring & pinion I have laying around, or a 3.73 (both will be a riot with my 6 speed)!

Sounds like a lot of fun. Do share some exhaust knowledges for s54 swaps. I"m thinking about ditching the Y pipe and AA trackpipe for the stock section 1/2 from the e46 m3. Maybe a aftermarket section 1 with resonators to get rid of the rasp. Thoughts?

[e30polak]

Sounds like a lot of fun. Do share some exhaust knowledges for s54 swaps. I"m thinking about ditching the Y pipe and AA trackpipe for the stock section 1/2 from the e46 m3. Maybe a aftermarket section 1 with resonators to get rid of the rasp. Thoughts?

No need for a merge, just do dual 2.5" all the way back. Generic X-pipes have proven to hurt performance, as do 99% of Y merges to single systems. IMO the best sounding muffler for the S54 is the AA Gen 3 catback for the e36 (I ran that as my rear muffler, with a borla center muffler on my m3). In the videos I have the same airbox you're running GG.

Videos of my exhaust:





OnUrLeft's exhaust inspired my own, he had 2 resonators in the middle and the AA Gen 3 out back:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVKJ_gGYlkk