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 M3 Forum
 Thinking about a M3 Purchase
 European vs. US M3
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| Author | Topic: European vs. US M3 |
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jlinam unregistered |
posted 09-13-2001 08:55 PM
 
I am in the market for a 1996-1998 M3 and I know that the European market E36 M3s had around 320 hp while ours have 240 hp. Does anyone know what creates this huge difference? Is it still the 3.2 liter? Different gearing, cams, compression? If anyone can help me out I would appreciate it. IP: Logged |
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Frank Administrator Posts: 207 |
posted 09-13-2001 09:05 PM
The US M3 had the 3.0 (1995) or the 3.2 litre engine. The hp rating was 240-245 for the US version. The main difference I believe was a revised cylinder head that had individual throttle valves for each cylinder; similar to the E46 M3 engine. Hope that helps. IP: Logged |
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jlinam unregistered |
posted 09-15-2001 12:56 AM
Thanks, that seems to make sense. So would it be possible to get a Euro spec head and swap it out. It seems that that would be a no brainer to get some serious power, but since I haven't seen it mentioned much I'm assuming that it may be prohibitively expensive. Any ideas on ballpark prices for that? IP: Logged |
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Frank Administrator Posts: 207 |
posted 09-15-2001 09:32 AM
I dont think it's that simple actually. I think the heads were the PRIMARY difference but I believe there were many other changes which would probably make it cost prohibitive/impossible for a simple switch. I think if you have a US Spec engine, there are many other ways to increase hp, especially if you are willing to modifiy beyond simple bolt-on items. There's a bunch of links to BMW tuners in our links section. Links IP: Logged |
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