The consensus amongst the E46 crowd is that if you're going to do cams, go all the way and get the Schrick cams. Labor is ~7 hours, and in the end you'll pay a few hundred dollars more for double the gains. Used ZHP cams can regularly be found for half of the new cost.
A tune isn't absolutely necessary, but I'd do it in order to realize the full potential of the cam upgrade. You'll want a quality tuner to do a custom dyno tune unless you find a mail order tune that takes advantage of the aftermarket cams.
There was a guy that went all-out WRT E46 bolt ons and got 237 whp (with Schrick cams); that's about the limit without really digging into the engine. I can PM you his name if you're interested.
|