BMW E46 2.5 liter engine under-rated ??>>>>>

[JULIAN]

BMW rates this engine as having 170 crank hp. Today I was looking at the July 2002 EUROTUNER magazine and see that they were testing a E46 323 with the 2.5 liter engine. They installed a cold air intake, Dinan software for the ECU, and exhaust. They said that thing dynoed 171 RWHP !!!! That is a little over 200 hp at the crank with just bolt on mods. I know people will say that dynos differ, that engine has 4 valves per cylinder, etc. but still if that engine was really making only 170 crank hp then it would be really similar to the 2.5 liter M20, my car a 1991 cabrio totally stock made 143 RWHP, making almost 30 RWHP with just bolt ons is really nice or that engine is just underrated by BMW and is probably making more like 190 crank HP.

[M3ntal Kev]

My guess is that the engine is probably really making 190hp to begin with. One thing that's important to consider is that there has to be some sense in product positioning. No point for BMW to have a 2.5L that makes 200hp and costs a lot less than a 3.0L that makes only 20-30hp more. By under-rating the 2.5, they have a better chance to move more 3.0L units as the jump in performance looks much more substantial for the significant price markup.

Just my $0.02,

[M3Pilot]

A remapp should be able to get out any power that has been programmed out.
But becareful of you car is still under warrenty.