yeah, especially for a BMW... but 28 RWHP on pump with no modifications is unrealistic.
Also headers and a tune on an e46 M3 will only give you about 20 RWHP if you are lucky. Most of the popular tunes are primarily throttle mapping. [re-mapping the fly-by-wire throttle pedal vs. throttle body mapping].
But that 28 is also on a Euro Spec M3. they have a different exhaust setup from us here which gives them the 343BHP numbers. Now that being said, the euro version only puts down only about 7 more RWHP... but can gain 20 RWHP in the US with headers(with no cats in them) and high flow cats. So they are obviously not coming tuned to take full advantage of their better exhaust system.
that being said, they just might be able to squeeze 28 RWHP out of a euro motor with a hellacious tune. I agree that is probably not the safest thing in the world.
A US spec S54 in an e46 M3 will gain no more than 20 RWHP with a maxed out tune of fuel, ignition, AND vanos. Vanos tuning counts for half of that gain alone... and its not easy. its one thing to tune simple variable valve timing systems even the earlier single vanos is easy. Pick the two different timing settings and the degree at which you want it to change.
But the S54 has Dual Vanos... This system is constantly adjusting over a 60 degree change based on airflow and throttle. And its two separate cams with separate movement. So now you have to tune the intake cam on a full map table for each load point, and then do the exhaust cam and tune them against eachother to perfect the overlap. And more than just peak power, proper vanos tuning can create gobs more torque in the low end, which this car really needs.
So in order to do this correctly, the tune would have to be done with a beta car on a dyno for well over 10 hours. And after all that I would not want my stock motor pushing that hard, so the tune should be backed down a notch for reliability purposes which is basically pulling a degree or two from the timing. That should still leave a safe 15 RWHP which is actually still a good deal in the e46 M3 world for chip tunes.
Carma should put up some dyno sheets of before and after so people can see the actual change. This is the beauty of a local shop doing in-house tuning. You can see the difference in front of you. Unlike many big name chip tunes that claim HP and do give some through leaning out the rich spot above 6500 RPM adding a degree or two, and then the rest is throttle mapping without touching the vanos which would take a lot of time.
Heck, i slapped a piggyback on my S54 with complete and independent control of fuel and timing... no vanos control. and picked up 15 RWHP at the peak. However I also have full bolt on mods.
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