re: camshafts worth it?

[John G.Burns <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>    I was wondering if replacing the factory camshafts with an aftermarket one will improve low-end torque? Is it worth the money?
 
> 99' 328is

On a non-VANOS car camshafts are made "hotter" to help high
end breathing. This is great for high rpm horsepower but
will make the car idle less stabily and harm low end torque.
Race cars idle like sh*t and have a very narrow power band.

Your car has VANOS on one camshaft, perhaps both if it's a
late 99 (not sure about US models). So you already have a
pretty good setup. What ever you do will not improve low end
torque, you need more cc's for that. It will improve the high
end. I recently read about someone who fitted cams from an
US M3 and loved the results, I think his car was a 325i
though (M50 or M50TU). I'd only do this to a manual car, not
an auto.

In your position I'd be tempted to see what sort of deal I
could get on a new 330i with 231bhp. The M50 2.5 and M52 2.8
both have the same power as the Merc and VW six cylinder
engines. Coincidence? Nope. German insurance is more
expensive above about 193bhp. So the 2.8 was never the
engine it should have been. The new 3.0 does not suffer this
artificial power restriction and the wee men from Munich
have been left to do their best ;-)

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Email: john@domain.elided, John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland
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