Best tuner for BMW 3 series

[DTM8]

Just wondering

Who tunes the 325i/330i/325xi/330xi sedan the best, preferably the 325xi or 330xi sedan?

There are many good tuners for BMW, just want to know your perspectives.

Thanks

[TT]

What do you mean exactly? As for performance or look? Or quality? :D

[coombsie66]

Ive always admired dinans work, especially what they did on the M5, very impressive. But it depends as TT said, what u want to do and how much u wanna spend!! (as always!!)

[DTM8]

Well, performance and quality wise. I really dont like that whole body kit thing.

I respect Steve Dinan's work as well, but its expensive!

[NYCHonda]

I love Hamann.

[WhiteP]

Probably Hartage.. their machines are amazing... look at the Z4

AC is too popular.. so I don't really like it...

[Fast_car006]

You can get ASA super chargers through Renn-sports.net That's the best bang for the buck in terms of horsepower.

[TT]

As WhiteP said, if I'd have the money (and maybe something better than an E36 320i), I'd go with Hartge... I really love their work usually :D

But also Alpina always does some smooth and not to hard core stuff :D

[StanAE86]

One of the key considerations will likely be your location and the location of your car. I think finding authorized dealers for some of the European tuners is difficult in the US. Plus, you're talking "tuners" versus companies that just put stuff together as their own package.

I have a Dinan car and while some people hate Dinan and don't think his prices are justified, his work is chronicled in the Big 3 car mags (Road & Track, Car & Driver, Motor Trend) and have been since the late 1980s. "Performance without compromise." I had no second thoughts in bringing my car there, but I'm located in Northern California, so it didn't hurt that Dinan is located close-by. Before I had a BMW, I visited Dinan with a friend that had a Dinan 3 and got to see the place and take an informal tour. There were european cars being worked on there, by people who shipped their cars from Europe to Dinan. When they have access to tuners like Schnitzer, etc., but decide to absorb the expense of shipping a car to the US for Dinan to work on, I think speaks loads and loads as to Dinan's quality and reputation.

Yes, he's expensive, but you get what you pay for.

[fritzintn]

First off, lets clarify what year range of cars your talking about. If in the US I'm guessing its the E46 (2000+ models) generations 3 series?

I also give my nod of approval to Dinan. For those who are interested in not doing their own work, worried about warranty issues (since the E46s are still rather new), and not comfortable mixing and matching aftermarket parts for a complete 'package', then Dinan is for you.

My girlfriend has a 1995 M3 w/ Dinans older powerdyne based supercharger (they now use Vortec units) and their stage II suspension package. I don't mind being the designated driver when we go out in her car :).

[StanAE86]

I'm not entirely familiar with BMW's entire line, but I think the model referred to as "xi" is the AWD model that BMW brought back in about 2000, previously designated the "ix" models.

Fritzintn makes a good point about the warranty. While it a common misconception that Dinan work doesn't void the BMW warranty, it in fact does. However, Dinan matches the BMW warranty with his own, for all his parts, which effectively keeps you under "warranty coverage" even though it's not BMW's own warranty. Also, having the Dinan parts does not raise any eyebrows when you bring the car in for service at a dealer. Any mods done are put into a database so that the dealer will know what Dinan mods you have on the car.

Fritzintn is a lucky bastard. I'd love to give a s/c E36 M3 a try...

[Epic2112]

Stan, just out of curiosity, what do you drive?

[StanAE86]

Hey Epic,

I have an E34 M5:

http://www.bmwmregistry.com/detail.php?id=1177

I see you have "the real M3". If I could get away with an E30 M3 as my daily driver I'd do it. I still love the fender flares and everything about that car, but my job sends me driving and sometimes I have to go through snow...so I have a Subaru Forester instead. :(

My friend always tells me this legendary story about a track event he went to a long time ago at Sears Point. There was an E30 Dinan M3 there. Red, with a license plate that said, "RKTEER" - Rocketeer. Total sleeper with the exception of the rollbar and auxillary gauges in the center dash...including a boost gauge. It was turbocharged by Dinan and was ripping off amazing lap times. Steve Dinan was also there and my buddy got a shot of his supercharged 540i passing by, sounding like NASCAR. :D

[ninopan]

if I had to chose a BMW tuner, i d go with hartge: top quality and performance, but you have to pay the price... if you want to upgrade your 3serie to like 280hp, then alpina would also be a good solution, because it creates models BMW does not produce: 280hp doesnt attak the supremacy of the M3 and is much better than a regular 330i or 330xi for exemple: they work hand in hand with BMW ( the engine of the X5 4.6is is built by alpina ... ). to me hamman is just too much, i don t consider their job as a "class" tuning, but it s very subjective.
So finally hartge or alpina, but Hartge for the look....

[tforth]

Another tuner you may want to consider (on the East Coast at least) is Turner Motorsport. They walk the talk, in that their shop isn't even open on the weekends during the summer, because that's when they race!

In addition, I think you could take some solace in the fact that no less than 2 McLaren F1s are serviced there (one is an LM - only 5 of these were made). In fact, the LM until very recently, called this shop home. You can see pics of the recent move at:

http://dugmar.smugmug.com/gallery/71983/2/2945278

I heard that they are the only approved McLaren service centre in the states...

[StanAE86]

Oh yeah, definately, Turner Motorsports is a reputable name in the business. I think I have one of his posters in my garage. =)

[Sm@ck]

It depends what you want to tune, and whats locally available.

Power:
If you are getting a xi then I presume you will seriously limit the tunability of the car. Unless your idea of tuning is simply shoving a kompressor or turbo onto the motor to get a few hp's(like 40hp or so but not much more) more, without sacrificing longevity of motor + drive train.
Most tuners will not touch an xi, and I would be very sceptic of any tuner adding any components (from the regular RWD line) and seriously increasing the HP without any mods to the drive train, and software. Ask if he had any prior expierence with tuning an xi!

Ideally you want to test drive the product, so I would choose a relative local tuner. BEcause a turbo/kompressor, solution varies from tuner to tuner, and even though the results may be an extra 40hp for both, you will find that the change in the dynamic motion of a car will differ. So poicking the right one will be a question of purpose (drag, or Track), style, and personal prefrence (some people like a good sudden "boost", some prefer a more gradual increase over the entire RPM spectrum! I am afraid only a test drive will do!

Suspension (too often ignored):
IF you want to spend time on the track I would recommend investing in this first, before adding and motor enhancements. In the ideal world, you would want a suspension with a type of "Force DAmper Control" system (Currently available by AC Schnitzer for the M5). This system allows you to set the dampers into three different modes (street, sporet, track), all from a flick of the switch.
However unideal world, so only testing a tuners suspension solution yourself will determine the "ideal solution", However if you want you can always build in a suspension system yourself, and play around with the settings to find your own right solutions. These sytems can best be ordered form the Internet.
If the tuner installs the suspension system, make sure you have the wheels which you want to drive with already installed. I know cases of people having their cars tuned and setup, only to get new rims a few weeks later form the internet (because tuner rims are expensive) to find that their suspension setup is ruined.

To summerize; you can buy a kit from tuner A, or tuner B, however the fine art of tuning, is to setup/tune a car for your own personal needs and driving style. Whereby a kit from a renowed tuner will be good, it may not be thje best solution for you. You are much better off working together with a local company/mechanic (or even BMW dealer)who can setup and change settings for your needs. This aspect of tuning is not to be underestimated, imo.
Best tuner a = a matter of preference and probably a combination of products from different houses!

I will be heading of this weekend to the nurburgring (I live only 200km away, lucky me :p), time to give my A3 a few sessions on the track! I am so happy its summer!!!!

[bmagni]

hamman
i hate tunning by the way if u havent noticed, but iv read some bout him, n pretty nice things, well a friend of mine died in a hamman cooper s....... so...... up to u... if u can drive it ok

[skituner]

i dont know about the rest of the mods they have but you must get an ac schnitzer exhaust it sounds sooooooo niceeeee

[itsthepham]

Dinan - Hamann - Alpina - Hartge - AC Shcneenentizer something like that

[Tomerville]

AC Schnitzer.

[itsthepham]

Thanks for the correction. =]