TheBeast

I have a question. My friend has a hooked up 96 M3 and when i race him im always on his *** but i never pass him. I got a stock 97 C36. The other day a hooked-up C43 put a spankin on him. Is the C43 that much faster than a C36 or When the car is modified is there a amasin increase in power. Because his M3 has a good amount done to it. Well i would like some feedback. cuzz i would love to drop him one day, without gettin a supercharger. Thankz

Mercedes Tuner

Stock E36 M3 - 240HP
Stock W202 C36 AMG- 276HP
Stock W202 C43 AMG- 305HP

If the M3 is a manual tranny it has a gearing advantage over the Mercedes. The C36 is in the middle, but is not faster then an M3 due to the automatic tranny. The C43 has the electronic tranny and has alot more engine torque which helps alot, along with having another 60Hp then the M3.

It also depends on the driver, and what mods were done to each car.

steve s

hmm. he must not shift too well. m3 should've, if shifted properly, be able to pull on u until autobahn speeds, where r cars really shine (and auto tranny doesn't matter that much)...same goes for c43. the c36 and c43 r almost identical...a slight edge to the c43 simply by numbers...(0.1 sec faster by c43 for 0-60 and 1/4 mile..sometimes the same numbers even).

perhaps ur car is a little tired? how's the mileage?

TheBeast

Mine has 21,000. And i dont know my friend shifts pretty good. And i wasnt there with him to know how he was going but i know his car is fast, i can never pass him, im always on his ***. But he told me that the race was pretty tight but he just started to pull away. i just wish i knew what the guy had on his car. because if it was just an intake and exshust and a chip. then thats amasing. Because the M3 has a remus exhust, and a 1000 intake system that came with a chip and everything. well mine car is misfirin around 4000 rpms now so i have to fix that before anything. but when i get that done i want to do work on the engine. well thats for the feedback. Keep it coming. AMG status lol.

Distinctive

Ive driven both the E36 M3 and the C43 AMG. I was more impressed with the M3 than the C43 in all catagories. What I did notice about the C43 was that when cruising at 20-40 mph speeds and than punching it feels like your being launched into outer space. But off the line its a different story, the M3 is .3 tenths faster in the 1/4 mile the the C43.

C43BlkAMG

C43 has a driver adaptive chip in the computer. if you cruise around normally then it won't rip away on green upon demand.
If you are heavy footed on take off all the time then it will respond on demand. C43 is a 'SLEEPER". My son and I have totally different driving habits and I hate having the car back after he has driven it because it "Hammers" me at every green light for a day or so.
You have to take the c43 on the highway from time to time to blow it clean.
An M5 would need a great gear shifter not to loose to an OEM C43.

ladd

I have had many head to head highway races in my C36 - 97 against the M3.

As for the M3 - I would say it does have the gear advantage. On the highway - however - the C36 did stay side -to-side with the M3 (NOT 2002 M3).

As for the the C43 - I have only had one side by side confrontation and the C43 edged in front of the C36. It was at full throttle - speeds over 130 on a light traffic highway.

Bottom Line: I would feel safe and excited driving any of the cars.

The M3 is a great car. So is the C36 (very clean). But the C43 wins. period.

LADD

FrankW

Same driver and stock car, from a stop the S52B32 E36 M3 will have the upper hand. From a roll around 60 mph the torque from C36/43 will pull away from the M3.

much better gearing helps the launch of the M3 and more torque helps the C36/43 get going at speed.

Modded E36 M3 might be a different story. All depends on how much $$ they put into their cars.

Distinctive

The same could be said about the lesser E36 M3.

brobbins01

I have a Black '96 C36, the wife drives a '98 red M3. I am a Porsche salesman, and my wife sells BMW both in Madison Wi. Obviously we have been out driving together. The M3 is a quicker car. period. My C36 is a faster car. If we are rolling and I have the car runnung hard will pull on the M3 at roll on speeds. In town the M3 is a faster car. The M3 is one of the most balanced and controllable cars I know. Differences? I am cramped in the M driving for any distance, I'm 6'3. It's stiff and loud for more than an hour or two, and the stereo is weak. The MB is a close performer with far more comfortable attributes. If we are going anywhere locally, Chicago is two hours, we will take the MB. Fast highway runner with panache to boot.

TheBeast

THankz for the replies but has anyone doen like alot of engine work to their car. And another thing, Those the C36 get a good amount of power if i were tro put an exhust and an intake. And what else would be a good addition to it. What else could i do to the car to improve its performance. sometihng not to high on the price rnage.

Distinctive

Even basic mods for Mercedes are pricey.

Denlasoul

Beast:

I hear you on the $$ issue, but to really make improvements you will have to shell out the dough. To be on the budget side, I would suggest upgrading your intake to an HKS or make your own. There are several people doing this right now with their C280's and C36's. Next I would go with a chip of some sort. You will have to do your research on this too, there are many companies out there saying we have this much hp and tq gain...blah blah blah. I would suggest finding someone with a particular chip and ask them questions. I bought a chip a few months ago but havent had the time to install it yet. (UpSolute, btw)

As for changing your exhaust, I wouldnt suggest it. AMG does a fairly good job in fine tuning their engines and exhausts. If you chage it, you might actually lose hp. With the non AMG cars you might get a little difference, but I doubt you will get anything significant with a new exhaust. Think about it, an exhaust might run you about half the price of a chip!

Good luck,
DLS

steve s

hehe, yeah.

if u r serious. maybe u should visit renntech sometime, helmut used to work for amg before forming renntech.

J Irwan

The Beast

What year is you friend E36 M3
if he has the 3.0 L motor, the $1000 intake he is taking about is the kit which include (euro HFM, cold air take system, and chip-software)

on the 3.0L OBD I a healthy E36 M3 proven to have around 270 hp

so don't feel so bad about that..


As for improving your C36
I would get a chip and intake

I have Powerchip .

Here is their website Powerchip Au.


Regardz,

J Irwan

nicosusername

stock e36 m3 is 321 hp i think

Distinctive

That would be in Europe.

US spec E36 M3...240hp (5spd)...E46 M3 333hp
Euro spec E36 M3...321hp (6spd)..E46 M3 343hp

J Irwan

Guys just FYI , not to be confused :p

US E36 M3 (95) 3.0L 240 HP (OBD I)
US E36 M3 (96-99) 3.2L 240 HP (OBD II)

Euro E36 M3 (93-95) 3.0L 286 hp
Euro E36 M3 Evo (95-98) 3.2L 321 hp

US E46 M3 3.2L 333 HP
Euro E46 M3 3.2L 343 HP


On E36 M3 US spec and Euro Spec have totally different engine.

Where E46 US and Euro Spec has the exact same engine.
Lower HP output on US E46 M3 due to catalytic converter.

However the best E36 M3 to be tuned is the OBD I (3.0L version)
With the Euro HFM, chip , intake, cam, and injector it will produces 300hp at crank.


Check out some back issue on the European car.


Hope this clear some confussion.

Regards,

J Irwan

FrankW

i thought the number difference between Euro and US E46 M3 is because of the calculation differences. So what you said applys to C32's Euro 354 and US 349, right?

J Irwan

Frank you're are correct the is a unit hp different between European and US spec (DIN HP )

For example my C36 Euro spec 280hp but US spec is 276 hp

However E46 M3 due to some restriction on the cat to meet certain EPA requirement the HP shrink from 343 DIN HP to 333 hp

I am not sure about C32 though.
As far as I have read so far, I don't recall hp being shrank to meet certain EPA requirement
It could be due to the lower emission the C32 and other AMG model has.

Since the BMW M car engine seems to be more high-strung NA engine (highly tuned), it is possible they have higher emission than AMG model. (just my thought $0.02 )

Regardz,

J Irwan

FrankW

Then for the C32 is probably the calculation difference between SAE and DIN hp. because there is only 5 hp difference unlike the M3's 10 hp difference

TheBeast

Well i just wanted to tell youz that my boy put a wide body kit on his M3 and it looks sick. But i aint havin no luck with my car. A week after it came out the body shop. someone hit my car while it was parked. The killed my whole grill and cracked my bumber and i have two knot on my hood. Im never gonna get my car up too par with the M3. and let me tell youz i miss doing 140 on turn with my car.

FrankW

sorry to hear that...

the insurance should cover the damages tho, but it will take sometime.

TheBeast

Naa i have the lowest coverage. Insurance dont pay for it. But im gonna pout it in the shop this week. It all happens when i wanted to get the two-tones seats and the intake. But now the only thing i think im gonna do is black out my grill and my bumper (the part between the two fog lights) i think it would look hott since my car is silver and i did it on photoshop. ohh well maybe my luck will change.

FrankW

ouch, that blows...

you mean blk out the slate on the front end? yeah, that would look tight. There's a guy on the 208 forum blk out his 430's front slate too. It looks pretty nice.