Getting used to power

Oxide™

Oxide™

Oxide™

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Joined
26 Dec 2007
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When I got my stock E46 330i a couple of months ago, compared to my previous Bora v5, I initially thought 'holy heck, 1st and 2nd gear are quite immense' acceleration wise.

I think I may have just got used to the power as it now feels underwhelming. Is this normal or is there an issue with the engine I need to get looked at? :(
 
I've got used to the power of my ST now, driving it is nothing like when I first took it out on a test drive, slightly changed when I got it remapped, but I'm getting more used to that as well now. Still puts a smile on my face though :D
 
Same here in my VXR, 300bhp up from a 100bhp 1.6 Focus. I feel it'll be the same story when I get a 400-500bhp Monaro/VXR8. I wonder though if I could actually get bored of a 500bhp Supercharged V8.
 
Depends totally on the size of the road and the sense of speed that a narrower road can give.

A twisty B road my car feels almost too fast for, but a 4 lane motorway it just feels adequate.
 
I got used to my CTR quite quickly but throwing it down a nice local B road and getting used to the cars handling enabled me to enjoy what power it had and it never got dull.

The MX5 is the same, much less power than the CTR but taking advantage of the LSD mid corner and the flat feeling handling makes using the full 130-140bhp quite rewarding. It feels great when the back end squats a bit and pushes you through a corner.

Some fast cars don't feel that fast even with first impressions, it's just a number on the dial. It's how it feels and is delivered for me, rather than the amount of it.
 
People mistake familiarity for boredom. I doubt an F1 car feels fast to Lews Hamilton, but you dont seem him itching to trade it in for a Saturn V Rocket.

That said given its an older 330i the VANOS oil seals are probably shot which wont be helping the urge below 3k.
 
I've got used to the power of my car far quicker than I hoped. Been driving 6 months and have gone from the car I learnt in (1.3 diesel Suzuki Swyft) to a 2.0 Mondeo (which felt so fast at first) and now have an ST24. Still feels plenty quick and makes a great noise though!
Don't get the chance to open it up much locally due to so many slow and busy roads, so it's nice when I get to blast down the ring road every now and then!
 
[TW]Fox;17281905 said:
People mistake familiarity for boredom. I doubt an F1 car feels fast to Lews Hamilton, but you dont seem him itching to trade it in for a Saturn V Rocket.

That said given its an older 330i the VANOS oil seals are probably shot which wont be helping the urge below 3k.
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After reading about the VANOS issue you speak about, I called the technician from an indi bmw garage that bmwland recommend for my area 'barkersmotors'

me: Hi yes, I have some queries I need some advice on before I book a service in with you (I'm hoping this can stretch until December when the MOT is due)
tech: sure, fire away
me: I think I may have a power issue, could it be the VANOS seals?
tech: and where did you hear this from?
me: loads of forums and intaweb posts :D
tech: there's good advice and bad advice on the web, vanos seals is bad advice
me: ???
tech: it appears the web has made this to be a big issue and it really isn't

So I don't know who to believe on this issue tbh, I probably have just become accustomed to the acceleration, which sucks massive llama pits :eek:
 
Is he actually turning down work :confused:

At the end of the day the car will drive fine and get you from A to B with dodgy VANOS seals, but the power delivery and performance will be different. Thus some people think it's worth it and a problem and some don't really care.
 
Peerzy said:
Is he actually turning down work :confused:

At the end of the day the car will drive fine and get you from A to B with dodgy VANOS seals, but the power delivery and performance will be different. Thus some people think it's worth it and a problem and some don't really care.
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It was only one thing on my list, I had 5 other things including a biggie, correcting the gear lever sticking under 5th gear, which is common but apparently it's a gearbox out job to replace 2 seals and at the same time look at the flywheel (whatever that all means) quoted around £1000 just for this :(

[TW]Fox;17284349 said:
Yea, its all made up. We should have rung Barkers Motors.
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As I say, I'm confused. On one hand he does actually work on bmw's all day so should know what he's talking about, and the other hand is the intaweb opinion :confused:

Thomas. PLease. said:
Is that really the only thing you enjoy about driving the car? seems a little single minded to me. I don't enjoy driving just for the thrill of accelerating in a straight line.
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It's not the only thing I enjoy, I love everything else about my car (well except the tramlining). It's just the only thing that's in the back of my mind is all
 
[TW]Fox;17281905 said:
People mistake familiarity for boredom. I doubt an F1 car feels fast to Lews Hamilton, but you dont seem him itching to trade it in for a Saturn V Rocket.
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I bet if you offered him one...
 
Shock, Horror - BMW specialist disagrees with internet advice.

I know who I'd trust, but of course, you could always get another opinion from another specialist.
 
You do get used to it. I suppose it's like a drug in that once you get used to a dose, you start to require more to get the same sort of effect from it. You can chase this to the extreme, but really there is more to cars and driving pleasure than massive power and acceleration ....as nice as it is, it does become a little impractical and rather expensive to keep pursuing it past a certain point.

I think that point is about 300bhp ...going much beyond that kind of power output ..while not driving a road rally special, i.e. something with a degree of luxury; wood and leather and such, the kind of cars I like basically. It gets very expensive to do much beyond that.
 
I find each time you upgrade, you spend a fortnight going "vroooom-weheeeeey!!!!" and then you can still tell it's still faster, but the rush has diminished to normal levels.
 
Oxide™ said:
It was only one thing on my list, I had 5 other things including a biggie, correcting the gear lever sticking under 5th gear, which is common but apparently it's a gearbox out job to replace 2 seals and at the same time look at the flywheel (whatever that all means) quoted around £1000 just for this :(
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It's not been known about for that long and unless you drive a brand new 330i and then an older one back to back you'd probably not suspect something was wrong. And I doubt he works on many sub 3-4 year old 20k mile E46's given there are none left.

Its entirely up to you but I feel its more than just made up piffle.

http://www.beisansystems.com/faq.html
 
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