Useful power for a daily driver e30

[Isostar13]

I've got a stock m20 right now. I could go for maybe an additional 35-50hp for dd.

[Holland]

OBD1 S52 will do wonders.

[Killacortes]

For a daily? Stock M20B25 without a chip, or perhaps an M50B25 non vanos for those, "I don't like timing belt" people.

I daily drive my e28 528e with a 2.93LSD and an M20B25 swapped into it. 25 - 30mpg, slow but its comfy.

M20b25 drop right in with no mods?

[VinniE30]

What's exactly is the point of this question?
You can daily drive anything.. You can daily drive a bugatti veyron.
It's simply a matter of your preference and money. It's a tradeoff between what you consider "fun"(if that's what you want) and money and reliability.
It depends on a lot of things, namely do you care about gas mileage and other costs?

Do you use that power everyday? Do you floor it everyday?

I daily an m30e30 and I love it, but it's not for everyone.

IMO, the best power for a daily e30 would be between 200-300hp. But it really depends on how you're getting that power and the engine. A S52 e30 is very daily drivable but a turbo m20 e30 will be less so.

[mujjuman]

About 130 hp/tq is good enough for daily IMO.

Minimum I want is around 180hp

[Exodus_2pt0]

I loved my 400+whp GLI. I drove highway 95% of the time so it was a monster... Until the cyl #1 piston let go and my forged rod cut through the block like a miter saw....

I'm looking for 350WHP out of my m20 down the road, should be fine with RWD and good tires.

The GLI was worthless from anything but a 2nd or 3rd gear roll.

[325ix]

IMO it's a matter of opinion. Some people are, are happy with eta engines. Some are happy with 500hp.

[James Crivellone]

For a daily? Stock M20B25 without a chip, or perhaps an M50B25 non vanos for those, "I don't like timing belt" people.

I daily drive my e28 528e with a 2.93LSD and an M20B25 swapped into it. 25 - 30mpg, slow but its comfy.

[Joe G]

i used to daily a 490awhp S4....I miss those days.

[Kershaw]

300-400whp is fine for a daily.

[mr walker]

1st thing: I'm sure this thread has been made before. I Googled it and didn't immediately find anything. So there.

2nd thing: I realize this is a highly subjective question. People will probably disagree with whatever number you reply. Deal with it.

3rd thing: Look, we all [hopefully] know about HP vs TQ. Please don't turn this into one of those threads or I will e-stabyouinthefacewithasolderingiron you.

Now that's out of the way, what do you guys think is the maximum useful and practical power for a DD e30? Think about it this way: a good friend of mine had a turbo VR6 A3 Golf. It made 535whp. It was his daily driver. But it was a never ending rolling burnout. It wasn't "useful" or "practical".

There's obviously way more to this than power/torque...tires, power delivery, NA vs FI, etc. Feel free to chime in with all of that stuff too.

For reference, isn't there a guy on here that daily's a 400hp+ turbo m20?