[martin10chk]

Hi - Swapping over to this forum as I sold my 1 series F21 (M135i) and bought a pretty cheap (well given market conditions) 2013 316i Touring as a more practical load lugger. Love the 3 series for its extra space and comfort over the 1er although the drop in performance form 320bhp to 136bhp along with the extra weight is 'noticeable'! Anyway this being a chance to experiment I got BM3 and remapped it (Stage 1 91 Octane - the most tame of the OTS maps). Wow - what a difference. This is certainly never going to be a track weapon but it feels very much more lively than stock. It pulls really well from 2000 rpm up to 6000 rpm and 3rd gear (its a manual) is a brilliant overtaking gear now. This BM3 map probably takes it to around 200bhp and the butt dyno agrees. For those interested - this was a first-time BM3 use and I have to say it was very easy. I was cautious in buying a good charger (15 amp) with 'supply mode' to keep the battery supported during flashing, but TBH it was so quick I don't think it would have been a problem at all as long as battery is in reasonable condition. Oh and icing on the cake. Previous owner had the car serviced at a non-BMW garage and they had failed to correctly reset the service timer. The BM3 installation seems to have corrected that as a part of its 'clean up' process.

[SuperHamz]

Welcome buddy, I didn't even realise they did a 316i, I thought the lowest one was a 320i!

Upload some pictures.

[martin10chk]

Originally Posted by SuperHamz

Welcome buddy, I didn't even realise they did a 316i, I thought the lowest one was a 320i!

Upload some pictures.

They are rare. The lowest of the low! One more cylinder than the 318i though. Only made from 2012-2015 iirc - its the 1.6 N13 engine. Quite capable.

[martin10chk]

Originally Posted by martin10chk

They are rare. The lowest of the low! One more cylinder than the 318i though. Only made from 2012-2015 iirc - its the 1.6 N13 engine. Quite capable.

Some photos

[Londoner]

When you look at the specs of even the lowly 316i (130mph, 0-62 in 8.9 secs) it's as quick (with a higher top speed) as most 90s hot hatches. Appreciate expectations have changed, but to this 46 year old, that's still some very respectable specs, that I for one thought was "pin to back of seat" quick, when charging about in an AX GT back in 1993.

At 200bhp it must be considerably quicker as you say. A few subtle external mods could make that look very very tasty. imo!

[martin10chk]

Originally Posted by Londoner

When you look at the specs of even the lowly 316i (130mph, 0-62 in 8.9 secs) it's as quick (with a higher top speed) as most 90s hot hatches. Appreciate expectations have changed, but to this 46 year old, that's still some very respectable specs, that I for one thought was "pin to back of seat" quick, when charging about in an AX GT back in 1993.

At 200bhp it must be considerably quicker as you say. A few subtle external mods could make that look very very tasty. imo!

Well I am even older and so can remember when 200bhp was supercar territory! So yes it is all about expectations. My sense after driving a few of the different flavours of 3 series (I tried a 320i, 328i, 318i and 340i) was that they were all pretty similar until you get to the 340i. But I was definitely looking to save some cash and get a bit more economy so wasn't going there. And when I say 'pretty similar' I mean 'pretty good'. Enough performance for most real world driving that I ever do. That was a part of the issue with the M135i. It was (to me) astonishingly quick, but the percentage of driving time during which I used even 75% of the available performance was probably close to zero.

Interested in hearing what external mods are suggested!