# New M3 Owner wondering about a supercharger.



## The Otherside (Jun 30, 2009)

What would I look to be spending? Im guessing kits come with all the components I would need?

Any links or info pages would help. Im sick of cheap bolt ons that get me no where. I want real power.

Im Over seas right now and will have money to stick into my car when I get back next January. Im not gonna throw out any figures, becasue I really have no idea on cost, and I dont want to embarrass myself (more than I already am.)

Id really like to get it ready for Bimmerfest 2010.

Thanks for your time.

-Justin


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## mrnile (Jun 25, 2009)

Depends on how much power you are looking to have...a supercharger now will get you anywhere from 350-600 rwhp and a turbocharger can get you to 800+ i believe. the cheapest s/c i have seen runs you around 6K and the crazy turbo is around 35K...all of which does not include install. hope this helps.


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## The Otherside (Jun 30, 2009)

Thanks! Thats WAY more money than I would have guessed. Id have to take out a loan for that! Maybe if I do my finances next year I could afford one.

Thanks again.


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## The Otherside (Jun 30, 2009)

Could it REALLY cost that much to make these parts!? Or are these companies making 1290% profit on everything they sell?


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## trebellius (Aug 24, 2009)

I'd check into tuning the engine as a first possibility.

The bottom line though is yes engine performance mods cost a crap load of money. You've already bought a very high performance car. If a bottom line SC costs you $6K, I'd figure you are looking at $ 10K installed. For the additional horsepower, it's not a bad deal.

But really. How fast do you want your car to go? If you are looking to push your 1/4 mile time down to less than 12 seconds, be prepared to pay....no matter what kind of car you have.


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## Ryan... (Dec 16, 2008)

Ok trebellius, you pulled those numbers from the mythical @ss of a unicorn.

AA makes a supercharger kit for $4200. It comes with everything you need, with detailed instructions and wonderful customer support. Those kits will give you 360 bhp (320 whp), that's over 100hp from stock. Here's the link.
Plus you can upgrade the supercharger later on for more power gains.

When I find my M3, I'll be supercharging it without a doubt. Turbo kits will provide bigger numbers, but they cost a ton more, can't be installed yourself (unless you have diagnostic/tuning equipment in your garage), are way more complicated to fine tune/adjust. A supercharger can deliver more power lower in the RPM range w/o lag because it's belt driven. A lot of times you can bump power up by adjusting the belts.

As for install, AA recommends 7-9hrs for install depending on your mechanical knowledge. My uncle has supercharged Porshe boxters and one e46 M3 already (AA kit, it uses the same supercharger, just different software mapping), and he said with two guys it took under 5 hrs to do the e46, and the Porsches ran over 10hrs because of limited space/knowledge. Assuming the shop he works at is similiar to other performance shops around here, $150 an hours still only comes out to $1500 for the Porsche drivers, and $750 for the M3. So even if you can't install yourself, you could get your car supercharged for under/around 5k.

Another thing to keep in mind is: can you car handle the boost? AA kits are excellent and keep a very stock like feel (but with extra power obviously ), but there is going to extra stress on your engine. I believe it's recommended you do a compression/leakdown test, and it wouldn't hurt to change spark plugs (I hear people do that very frequently because most FI cars run slightly rich or lean regardless of tuning). Also, make sure your radiator/water pump are good, and all hoses are good, not cracking or ripping.

Holy **** I'm on a roll here! You should also look into upgrading your brakes too, even upgraded pads like HAWK, and some braided brake lines will help you bring that baby to a stop after some spirited runs up and down 41 

If you can tell I've also been obsessing about supercharging an e36 m3! I plan on doing everything I just wrote, and most likely taking out the seats, replacing them with some racing buckets (leave the rears out), and tossing in a bolted roll cage ala Porsche GT3. 
When you get back I should have a new car, and we gotta roll together sometime, cruise college ave in appleton and pick up chicas lol

Just found this if you want more power still: link


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## The Otherside (Jun 30, 2009)

Well when you decide to SC your vehicle... MAKE SURE you let me know. I want to bet there for the WHOLE process. I want to see if from start to finish, THEN Ill decide to do the same. I could probably swing 6000 total for a SC once I get enrolled in college and the WIARNG starts paying me for it 

Thanks for all the input and links!!!! You got me exited again!


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## The Otherside (Jun 30, 2009)

And yes, OF COURSE we need to cruise! Look out ladies!!


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## Ryan... (Dec 16, 2008)

haha, I'm not sure my lady friend would appreciate that! But she's a good sport and enjoys pointing out hot chicks, so she'll proabably wanna tag along..

Also, i may be picking up an already supercharged 95 M3 from some guy in Chicago, that's assuming he doesn't sell it on me...


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