Losing from a roll to a 95 m3 with a CAI...

[M3Alpine99]

my mods are listed as below... i know my vanos solenoid is going bad and maybe the whole vanos unit...

we were rolling at about 60 MPH and hit it at the same time... he immediate pulled away... we were both in 3rd...

Can a bad vanos unit or solenoid mess up my performance this much? i was reading one post where it was decreasing his torque on a dyno by 25lb/ft...

any other ideas... my car is a 99 5 speed... 98K on the clock... runs like a dream...

[LuxoM3]

What kind of CAI?

If it was the EURO HFM, CAI and JC Chip he's got at least 10 hp on you if not close 20hp. From what I gather, the OBD-1 EURO HFM set-up seems to yield more consistent power than the comparable OBD2 set-up...

Then again, he might also be a little more adept to shifting...

my opinion.

[WytLytnyn]

Could he have had a LTW flywheel? different gearing?

[Nadroj]

time your self 0-60 or get a dyno hmm maybe he just got a lucky engine with a lil more hp than normal ones, it happeneds

[M3Alpine99]

shifting is not the issue... i can shift...
and its jsut a cosmos CAI... not euro setup...
i have the full setup though...
oh well i knew some of the motors just have more power...

also what about the vanos solenoid and unit? decrease in power if its going bad?

[Crazy 13immer]

How do you know your VANOS is going bad? (I'm just curious, I don't know much about VANOS). I know some motors do have more power, but with just the CAI, you should pull easily on him with all the mods you have. Hmm.. If you lost, I would assume you are right about the VANOS. Is there a way to test the solenoid? I'd like to find out.

[MasterM3]

its really disheartening when that happens isn't it?

i was under the impression that bad vanos would restrict power in the lower rpm's. If you were going at 60 in 3rd I guess you would be pretty low in the rpm band and could possibly see how bad vanos might slow you down.

but then again, as i read your mod list, you don't have extensive mods like cams or anything. intake, exhaust, throttle body etc are all nice mods but don't really show their gains until about 100 mph. keep in mind a stock m3 and a m3 with dinan intake, exhaust will get identical 0-60 and 1/4 times.

I'm thinking maybe the M50 might have given him a slight advantage as we all know that the m50 just rips it up at higher rpm's.

[E36M3E]

you want my opinion? all those big bore mods have slowed down the speed of the intake air path and you have lost low RPM torque (the curve has moved over a bit). in 3rd gear at 60 you should be at relatively low RPMS where the torque of the S52 is usually king.

you need a M50 manifold to take proper advantage of that 3.5" path you have installed.

just my opinion.

[CosmoE36]

hey bro i dunno either.. we can run them again though. all i have is a cosmos CAI and a chip from racing dynamics all it seem to do was increase redline as far as i can tell.

i was sure you were gonna have my a$$ thats why i told u guys i would stay last behind eveyrone else when following you all
i got 140k on the clock.

all i know is that i had a 98 M3 and this 95 pulls much harder than than my 98 did with just CAI and software.

[Patrón]

hey bro i dunno either.. we can run them again though. all i have is a cosmos CAI and a chip from racing dynamics all it seem to do was increase redline as far as i can tell.

i was sure you were gonna have my a$$ thats why i told u guys i would stay last behind eveyrone else when following you all
i got 140k on the clock.

all i know is that i had a 98 M3 and this 95 pulls much harder than than my 98 did with just CAI and software.

[Chuck Finley]

see mods listed in sig..3.5" HFM, intake, chip, exhaust...above 60 or so my best friends 98 M3 pulls pretty good on me (could be my vanos, as it is rattling) but he pulls me pretty good up top...but off the line i kill him...

[CosmoE36]

see yours is a 95 your friends in 98 and he pulls on you up top

mine is 95 and M3ALPIN99's car is 99 and he has lot more motor mods like yours done and i pulled up top on him i couldnt beleive it.. i beleieve we went at it twice with same outcome both times..

there has to be something wrong like M3Alpine99 says like his vanos unit or something because he has bigger motor and more mods done.

[danp412]

S50 FTW

[Def]

Get an M50 intake manifold, those Dinan bolt-ons pretty much do nothing.

And yes, having no VANOS control could slow your car down significantly.

[BOX HEAD]

yeah somethings not right here, but either way I always get a smile when ever I see an s50 beat it's newer brother......makes me feel better....I would however look into your vanos, I can feel mine kick in at around 4000rpm, but I also have an s50 so yours may be different as I've not had the pleasure of driving an s52. Hope you get it figured out though

[CosmoE36]

either somethings wrong OR i just have a pretty strong motor

[Realhotguy77]

I usually beat most cars I race and all I have is a cosmos cai. I took an STI from the line by half a hood.
EDIT: My car is a 98'.

[Nadroj]

i donno thats weird, i wonder if there is any way to check you vanos look around on the internet. also if you really wanted to test if your car was slower than stock you could just go dyno it or get one of those gtimers or barrow one from some one

[96bmwcosmosm3]

MY cars quick as shit i took it out yesturday after it was away for about 2 and a half months cause it was nice out and the roads were fairly clean. i smoked a wrx that had some decent work done or at least it sounded that way. and fooled around with a sti on the way home had a cars length on him as well!!! now she is back under the cover again after her bath make a long story short though i think my motor is one of the stronger ones cause ive played around with soem other M's and i kept comin up on top!!!

[M3Alpine99]

well ill gonna look into the mods...
and need to do an M50 manifold obviously to get some torque back and some more pop

[PointMEby]

Hey Holsten(sp. sry) I need to take a ride in your car sometime. That way I can see if your car is running slow. When I met you and saw your times at Commerce i had a feeling something was wrong with your car. I don't know but your car shouldnt be running 14.8's etc. like you are. Also from what I have seen, it dosnt seem like its your shifting. I managed a 14.4 (with only intake and exhaust) on my first run ever with a 2.6 60(really high launch) and your car should be smoking a time like that.

[M3Alpine99]

Hey Holsten(sp. sry) I need to take a ride in your car sometime. That way I can see if your car is running slow. When I met you and saw your times at Commerce i had a feeling something was wrong with your car. I don't know but your car shouldnt be running 14.8's etc. like you are. Also from what I have seen, it dosnt seem like its your shifting. I managed a 14.4 (with only intake and exhaust) on my first run ever with a 2.6 60(really high launch) and your car should be smoking a time like that.

yah i know... im pretty sure i need a vanos unit... under 4 grand i for nothing... im gonna do the M50 for sure

[MasterM3]

well ill gonna look into the mods...
and need to do an M50 manifold obviously to get some torque back and some more pop

you lose some low end torque with an m50. lol

what you gain is peak HP

[BaLLZacK]

If your vanos unit was not working you would definitly know, there would be a huge loss of torque down low.... also you never know if the 95 was bought used it might have cams , I've seen it happen before...

[CosmoE36]

If your vanos unit was not working you would definitly know, there would be a huge lose of torque down low.... also you never know if the 95 was bought used it might have cams , I've seen it happen before...

yea exactly. if his unit or solonoid was malfunctioning then he would/should FEEL a dip or loss of power down low not up high... it would not be a smooth transition of power from low to high RPMs if VANOS was not operating correctly.