BMW Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News

JAWS Motorsport has been hard at work on their E46 M3 S54 supercharger kit. They recently posted details and performance numbers from their kit. On their Dynomite dyno they hit 529 wheel horsepower at 12 psi of boost. A stock SMG M3 with an aftermarket muffler hit 307 wheel horsepower on this same dyno. The M3 clearly gains a lot of horsepower with this kit but the proof is in the 60-130 mile per hour sprint of 8.79 seconds which is just phenomenal. ...

Wow, this part sure came quickly. Craving a carbon fiber roof for your F10 M5 which does not have one from the factory unlike the new F12 M6? Challenge Engineering has you covered with their carbon fiber replacement panel that weighs only 11.5 pounds. Details were not provided on the weight savings but we would guess it will save close to 30 pounds at a high point in the car which will improve handling. ...

Yep, we're suckers for a good time lapse supercharger kit install video. Just 10 days ago we posted an Active Autowerke supercharger kit install time lapse and it's great to see a similar video for a different M3 kit to compare. Much more goes into an installation such as this than most people realize. VS Motorsports was able to complete this install in 5-6 hours but it will take someone with less experience likely double this amount. ...

BMW introduced the N63TU (technical update) motor with the 6 Series Gran Coupe. The N63B44TU gets its power boost from the addition of Valvetronic (variable valve timing system which replaces the conventional throttle butterfly) and new tuning. As expected, this updated motor will be going into all N63 vehicles such as the 550i, 550GT, 650i, and 750i. Curiously absent are the X5 and X6. Why BMW would continue to give them the standard N63 when they are replacing this motor in all other models we have no clue. ...

BMW in the new F30 3 Series offers a start/stop features to conserve fuel. This feature is enabled by default every the time the car is started but can be turned off by drivers with a button. Apparently this feature has infuriated some owners who want it disabled permanently. BMW is giving dealers permissions to enable a last user mode which will remember if the driver had the feature turned off and not require it being disabled again. ...

Here is the first intake setup available for the new F10 M5. Coming from Gruppe M and made out of carbon fiber this is not going to be cheap as Gruppe M intakes usually aren't. What you get for the $3500+ price (estimated) is great looking pieces with grille ducts to route more air. The gains are 16 horsepower and 30 pound-feet of torque at the crank. The question becomes is it worth the cost? ...

A report back in June stated there would be no manual transmission option on the next generation M5 but that the option would still be there for M3 owners. The head of M Albert Biermann stated, "The M3 needs to have a stick shift. It will always have a stick shift." If the M3 needs to have a stick shift why is Autoweek reporting there will be manual transmission for the next generation M3? ...

Seemingly out of nowhere BMW posted an E36/7 generation Z3 which is sporting a M70 family V12 under the hood. We do not know the exact specs on this V12 but it clearly appears it is from the M70 series which means a 5.0, 5.4, or 5.6 liter V12. This likely is the M73B54 used in the 7 and 8 series models from the 90's so 326 horsepower and 363 pound-feet of torque. The swap is factory clean as it should be with BMW doing it themselves. ...

The CTS-V with its 6.2 liter supercharged LSA V8 is a very potent car. In a drag race it is expected to run low 12's but what happens in the video below versus a Renntech tuned DCT 335is goes to show how big of an effect conditions can have especially on a positive displacement supercharged car generating a lot of heat such as the CTS-V. This run took place at PBIR (Palm Beach International Raceway) in 85 degree weather and 1800+ Density Altitude. ...

Car theft in South Africa is a major problem. However, we do not think that justifies excessive use of force by one South African BMW dealer. Auto Uhmlanga BMW sent an armored car, armed team, and a helicopter to the workplace of a customer who had kept a loaner for too long. They got the car as a team looking like the delta force bursts into your place of work and demanding your car keys is likely effective. ...

Velos Designwerks recently did a custom tune for BimmerBoost member Jimefam's F10 BMW 550i. This user was having trouble finding a tuner who was able to tune his car around his mods and disable the check engine light he had as a result of his catless AR Design N63 downpipes. For a while now Dinan seemed to be the main option for these motors but they were not willing to do custom tunes. ...

BMW Motorsport team RLL managed a 3rd and 5th place finish at the 2012 Mid-Ohio ALMS Grand Prix. BMW gets its fourth podium finish in what has been a tough season so far with new regulations slowing the M3's a bit. The finish was good enough to keep BMW in second place 20 points behind Chevrolet who looks like the favorite to win it going forward. BMW continues to blame the new regulations and says they simply are not fast enough to compete due to them. ...

We really like to see time lapse videos like this which show all the parts in a supercharger kit and the installation process. Goes to show it takes a bit of work to install one of these but that someone with mechanical skill can do it themselves as well. This is a level I kit which is not the most powerful kit Active offers. Mustang dyno numbers for the car in the video were 317 wheel horsepower stock and 345 with bolt ons. ...

There has been some controversy regarding the 231E factory software update on the E9X M3. Claims have been made regarding BMW providing a more aggressive tune by some vendors who have been touting the new software as adding power which in our opinion is unsubstantiated and solely to make money. We recently came across this dyno of a car with the 231E software that was then tuned with VF-Engineering aftermarket software. ...

By now you know that BMW released diesel M models. You should also know that we do not get these fantastic 381 horsepower and 546 pound-feet of torque models here in the USA. Definitely sad especially when we get fed a constant stream of Efficient Dynamic marketing BS from BMW. We wish this was not a consolation but the performance of the M550d is not as impressive as we hoped it would be. ...

The exhaust tone of the new F10 M5 is a major disappointment and an area routinely criticized on the new car. Especially with BMW feeling they need to pipe in synthetic engine noise to make up for the weak stock exhaust tone. In comes Akrapovic with their exhaust system to remedy this weak point and their exhaust most definitely improves the exhaust sound. Not only does the exhaust give the car the sharper tone it so desperately warrants it also saves weight and adds power. ...

Here are the latest spyshots of the F80 M3 making their rounds on the internet. We aren't huge on spyshots usually but these reveal some details. First of all, the front bumper design appears to mirror the new F12 M6. Simple, elegant, nothing radical. There is also a slight hood bulge similar to the E9X M3 series. The brakes certainly appear to be quite large filling out the rims in front and in back. We would not be surprised to see 19's as standard with optional 20 inch rims (hopefully with a different design). ...

Just to preface both Evolve and Cobb are vendors on BimmerBoost for good reasons, they have great tunes powering some very fast BMW's. What you see here in this video are two very different tuned vehicles. The E60 M5 with a Stage I Evolve tune and Eisenmann race exhaust for its naturally aspirated 5.0 liter V10 is the camera car. The E82 135i has the Cobb Stage II aggressive with downpipes and a twin turbo N54 3.0 liter I6. ...

Like it or not electric automotive performance is a field set to rapidly expand in the next decade. Most of us do not yet take electric cars seriously as a performance alternative to internal combustion but here is an electric hill climb race car that should get enthusiasts to at least entertain the notion of electric performance. The electric E36 M3 rally driver Bill Caswell drives in the video below features a single Warp 11 electric motor for a claimed output approaching 700 horses. At that power level the juice only lasts about 12 minutes. ...