[1charlie1]

Hi i am about to aquire a e46 ac schnitzer from a family member.

When the car was new it was tuned by ac schnitzer. May have been brought directly from them.

The car has lowered suspention, (can hardly fit fingers in wheel arches)
A full ac schnitzer body kit,
ac schnitzer wheels
ac schnitzer exaust system
Badge

and the interior trim is all ac schnitzer, It has Dark black wood trim with the ac schnitzer logo.

The car is done very tastefully, aparently the upgrade on the standard e46 was in the region of £15,000 to £20,000 over the standard price.

The car is Listed on the V5 as a e46 323i/Ci.

I was just interested if anyone knew if this was a full ac schnitzer car, and any likely peformance increases it may have (short of getting it on a dyno). And anything that may have been done to the engine. Or was it purely cosmetic. (i wouldnt have though so at that price).


Thanks for your time.

 

[Hassan]

Pics please!

 

[gbl]

if it was tuned by Ac Schnitzer then it most likely is but post pics

 

[1charlie1]

will take some tommoro, thanks so far.

 

[1charlie1]

here are some, sorry its a bit dirty has been sitting for a while as it needs new dampers at the rear for the mot.

 

[fingz999]

The car is Listed on the V5 as a e46 323i/Ci.

Thanks for your time.

not sure on it being a official etc but ci at the end is odd as thats normally for coupes? the saloon is normally se or sport

might be worth looking to see if there is a plaque anywere in it that stats maybe in the engine bay if you havent noticed one in the interior i know other oem tuners do this

 

[fingz999]

another thing that would make me think its a se with upgrades is the trim around the window any acs ive see nhave had black likethe sport versions but again that doesnt mean its deffinatly not could always drop htem a email

 

[Unknownsoldier]

Go to BMW with the Key and get it scanned, that will give you details of how the car left the showroom on it's first time, mine told me about the M-tec suspension wheels etc. etc. so it will probably tell you about it too

Tom

 

[hamish262001]

To the best of my knowledge....

schnitzers were done in whatever spec the owner wanted to pay for

Mine was done from new by the UK schnitzer agent in 1995 http://www.rossiters.ltd.uk/
my cars first owner was Chriss Rossiter

spec was 328 touring ACS3S included wheels, spoilers, springs, shocks, roll bars, exhaust, intake manifold, ECU remap, short shift
Unfortunately it didnt get the full 3.2 litre engine upgrade:frown
and has also lost the spoilers over the years

I susgest you research the history and maybe contact ACS or rossiters

very few schnitzer cars get the full spec due to cost

 

[1charlie1]

I have just had a look in the service booklet and it says

model 323I
typ AM32

First registered at: BMW Niederlassung Dusseldorf.

How mutch would the engine upgrade have cost. Is there anyway i caould tell if this has been done, or do they bore the engine, so it will still look the same.

Thanks for the help sofar guys, i have also sent an email to the company in germany and the U.K

 

[mikaveli]

Like UnknownSoldier says, take it to BMW and get the original sale info - that'll tell you if the engine was included.

But...
"The car has lowered suspention, (can hardly fit fingers in wheel arches)
A full ac schnitzer body kit,
ac schnitzer wheels
ac schnitzer exaust system
Badge

and the interior trim is all ac schnitzer, It has Dark black wood trim with the ac schnitzer logo.

The car is done very tastefully, aparently the upgrade on the standard e46 was in the region of £15,000 to £20,000 over the standard price."

Bodykit, wheels, exhaust, and interior - that could easily be all the 15k used up. Schnitzer stuff is nice, but because of the cost - you mostly only see cosmetic Schnitzer mods. If it had the engine too, it would have probably got a Schnitzer model number instead of the standard BMW one - I doubt the original buyer would have paid for a 323 to get it modded this way.

 

[1charlie1]

Hi thanks again,

I was informed by ac schnitzer uk that the only mod available for the 323 was a 3.2 engine being installled,

could anyone tell me from these pictures which engine is installed in mine.

Thanks charlie

 

[fingz999]

thats a 323 mate exactly the same as mine

 

[mikaveli]

Hi thanks again,

I was informed by ac schnitzer uk that the only mod available for the 323 was a 3.2 engine being installled,

could anyone tell me from these pictures which engine is installed in mine.

Thanks charlie

Surely it would tell you your displacement on the V5 confused:confused

But yeah, stock engine. Don't worry, the insurance on a Schnitzer 3.2 would bankrupt us all :eek

 

[1charlie1]

Cheers for the help everyone,

Yeh i was woried about the insurance since im only 23, but as its stock direct line have said there will be no change from my 156 2.0ts. Althought i have just said it has a factory fitted sports pack.

Dont know what the law is exactly, but if the options were chosen at the time of purchase and istalled from new is it still clasified as modified?

One last thing guys with the, mods mentioned earlyer a ECU remap exaust and intake manafolds, what is the rough BHP gain.

 

[mikaveli]

Dont know what the law is exactly, but if the options were chosen at the time of purchase and istalled from new is it still clasified as modified?

Yes, it's modified from the manufacturers standard spec. Technically you should tell your insurance about all the schnitzer parts fitted.

But the engine would have been the biggie, if you're involved in an accident in a 3.2 litre Schnitzer engined beast, when you've insured it as a standard 323 - you'll find that your insurance is void - no payout - and you'll be in big trouble with the fuzz.

 

[sam_c]

Am I right in thinking that the E46 ACS cars were released prior to the sports / larger engines (i.e. before the 328 became the 330, 323 the 325 etc)? I'm sure I read something to that effect in Total BMW or something whilst at the garage a while ago - they tested an early E46 full ACS car and new it cost over £50k! Looked good though - pretty sure that the article said very few were in existence due to cost.

I could be very wrong the above as I can't remember the exact details of the article

 

[baderlfc]

here are some, sorry its a bit dirty has been sitting for a while as it needs new dampers at the rear for the mot.

i want them wheels!!

 

[jamiewright1990]

if it was a 3.0 or 3.2 wouldnt it have the m power emblem on the intake manifold? or is that just on the e 36?

 

[Collister5]

Thats deffo only a 323 engine not a 3.2