What is the best performance upgrade you can buy with $6000

[335ICoupe]

Originally Posted by Rom3n

Rumor has it there will be a low cost entry level Supercharger for the E9X M3 very soon that makes nice power

[powertrip]

Gotta pay to play . I've grenaded a few FI cars in my time, so I'm not too worried about my M. When you get your car up and running you need to take me for a ride Jon .

Originally Posted by Jonmartin

Yup

[H Bomb]

if you only have 6k and are looking for one thing i would reccomend the Dinan Full Exshaust System with the matching software. i just added my midpipe today and it is amazing i love it. here is what you would get and a basic break down. labor figures are on $100 per hour to make things easy. obviously this could be up or down based on your local shop

Dinan Rear Muffler $2,000
6hp
5tq
1.6hr labor- $160

Dinan Midpipe- $2,300
23hp
21tq
2.3 labor- $230

Dinan Software for midpip and muffler- $1,000
9hp
8tq
.5 labor- $50

Total hp- 38hp gain
Total tq- 34tq gain
Total parts- $5,300
Total labor- $440
10% dinan discount started as of today- minus $530

Total- $5,210

that would leave you with about $800 left for gas money to have fun

Originally Posted by M3Mikey

What is the best performance upgrade you can buy with $6000???

(Preferably one single upgrade... not a bunch together like exhaust intake flash etc. that add up to $6000)

[mastek]

Originally Posted by H Bomb

if you only have 6k and are looking for one thing i would reccomend the Dinan Full Exshaust System with the matching software. i just added my midpipe today and it is amazing i love it. here is what you would get and a basic break down. labor figures are on $100 per hour to make things easy. obviously this could be up or down based on your local shop

Dinan Rear Muffler $2,000
6hp
5tq
1.6hr labor- $160

Dinan Midpipe- $2,300
23hp
21tq
2.3 labor- $230

Dinan Software for midpip and muffler- $1,000
9hp
8tq
.5 labor- $50

Total hp- 38hp gain
Total tq- 34tq gain
Total parts- $5,300
Total labor- $440
10% dinan discount started as of today- minus $530

Total- $5,210

that would leave you with about $800 left for gas money to have fun

holy 50-point profit margins Batman!!!!!!
U Paid $5200 for a $2500 setup ?? ....


oh and btw...... Best "performance upgrade" for these cars out right now = MOTON STREET/TRACK COILOVER KIT

[H Bomb]

please please please show me a muffler, midpipe with cat delete, and matching software for $2,500. and good quality stuff and that has warranty. believe me i shopped around and anything comparable to what i have was either more money or the same

i do agree on the susp, but i don't track so as a DD my car was fine.

Originally Posted by mastek

holy 50-point profit margins Batman!!!!!!
U Paid $5200 for a $2500 setup ?? ....


oh and btw...... Best "performance upgrade" for these cars out right now = MOTON STREET/TRACK COILOVER KIT

[MrHarris]

Chip + full exhaust!

[QTRM3]

^^ +1 it is the only way to go if not considering forced induction..... and do not forget the pulley.

Good luck .

[BarryC]

Based on my experience - the best mod has been the Motons for approx. $5k. I don't miss EDC one bit. Car is much more buttoned up and even my wife is impressed with the improvement in handling. More hp is nice but the one mod that most improved the driving experience has been the motons.

GL,
BC

[XunXunDCT]

Originally Posted by isugoo

Flash, air filter, exhaust, x-pipe.

Or (not really performance mod way),
decent set of wheels, exhaust, flash

+1

[tightie]

Originally Posted by J08M3

G Power will cost you over $25k by the time you buy a new engine!!

Ignorant.

[H Bomb]

how much harsher is the ride on the street over the stock?? obviously i know it handles better at the track, just wondering how much the street ride suffers

also just curious why you would spend that much on a great susp package and then put 20 inch wheels on the car. not being a smart ass would really like to know. from everything i have read 20 inch wheels hurt the handling/ride and are heavy

thank you

H

Originally Posted by BarryC

Based on my experience - the best mod has been the Motons for approx. $5k. I don't miss EDC one bit. Car is much more buttoned up and even my wife is impressed with the improvement in handling. More hp is nice but the one mod that most improved the driving experience has been the motons.

GL,
BC

[H Bomb]

i know quite a few guys with the Dinan S3 E46 M and a couple guys with the Dinan S3 E39 M5 and they have never had problems. there SC kits may not be the most hp but i think there track record for reliability is the best

Originally Posted by Ca$hOnly

I doubt for the E92 M3 because they are still too new. However if you go to the e46 forums, every single tuner has had S/C cars blow at some point. It's just a part of the game.

[aus]

Originally Posted by H Bomb

please please please show me a muffler, midpipe with cat delete, and matching software for $2,500. and good quality stuff and that has warranty. believe me i shopped around and anything comparable to what i have was either more money or the same

i do agree on the susp, but i don't track so as a DD my car was fine.

What do you need the warranty for?

[H Bomb]

you don't need it but it is nice to have. knowing my stuff doesn't void my warranty and has its own warranty is nice. if i ever have a problem with my car it is covered under warranty. not sure if you were being sarcastic or what

but i would really like to see those items i listed above for 2,500. i don't even think there are any out there

Originally Posted by aus

What do you need the warranty for?

[Jonmartin]

Originally Posted by H Bomb

you don't need it but it is nice to have. knowing my stuff doesn't void my warranty and has its own warranty is nice. if i ever have a problem with my car it is covered under warranty. not sure if you were being sarcastic or what

but i would really like to see those items i listed above for 2,500. i don't even think there are any out there

You still void your warranty with Dinan stuff bud..

[H Bomb]

that is odd, how come then my Dinan S2 E46 M3 and my Dinan S2 E39 M5 were always covered under warranty at the BMW dealer when there was a problem with the cars??

my dinan dealer is an independent shop so i would assume if it was voided then BMW would of sent me to Dinan to cover it. never happened

other friends of mine had the same mods but other companies and got turned away at dealers when they went in for problems. they tried fighting it and all and end of the day they payed out of pocket for problems i didn't

that doesn't seem like my warranty was voided but hey i could be wrong

was someone joking in the other post or did your car blow up?? if so i know they are fixing it as you stated but what is there warranty on the SC kits?? i have always wanted to go SC but never did, maybe would do it on this car if i could swing it.

thanks for the info

Originally Posted by Jonmartin

You still void your warranty with Dinan stuff bud..

[Jonmartin]

Your BMW warranty is voided. You supposedly get a Dinan warranty and some people say it works some people say it doesn't I can't comment as I never bought anything fron Dinan never have probably never will. If the warranty works then great its the least they could do for those high prices.

Yes my car did blow, it cracked a piston ring due to a bad map (I was the first with that setup) . It is being repaired and the cost is absorbed by G-power. G-power will cover your car if you get it installed at a Authorized Dealer like Autotalent.

Originally Posted by H Bomb

that is odd, how come then my Dinan S2 E46 M3 and my Dinan S2 E39 M5 were always covered under warranty at the BMW dealer when there was a problem with the cars??

my dinan dealer is an independent shop so i would assume if it was voided then BMW would of sent me to Dinan to cover it. never happened

other friends of mine had the same mods but other companies and got turned away at dealers when they went in for problems. they tried fighting it and all and end of the day they payed out of pocket for problems i didn't

that doesn't seem like my warranty was voided but hey i could be wrong

was someone joking in the other post or did your car blow up?? if so i know they are fixing it as you stated but what is there warranty on the SC kits?? i have always wanted to go SC but never did, maybe would do it on this car if i could swing it.

thanks for the info

[swamp2]

Very roughly in increasing cost

1. Driving schools, plural
2. Brake pads maybe Carbotech XP10 and or XP8
3. High flow air filter
4. Pulleys
5. Secondary cat delete
6. Cross pipe
7. Software
8. High flow cats
9. Cat back exhaust

The power items, if done intelligently could give you very close to 500 hp.

[J08M3]

Originally Posted by tightie

Ignorant.

from the man with the blown engine

[J08M3]

back to topic though... at $6k I'd do full exhaust first, then depending who you go with you'll probably have enough left over for a tune

driving school is good, brakes and suspension don't really need to be upgraded unless you will be on the track...

[BarryC]

Originally Posted by H Bomb

how much harsher is the ride on the street over the stock?? obviously i know it handles better at the track, just wondering how much the street ride suffers

also just curious why you would spend that much on a great susp package and then put 20 inch wheels on the car. not being a smart ass would really like to know. from everything i have read 20 inch wheels hurt the handling/ride and are heavy

thank you

H

Ride quality depends on the shock settings but when set at 0 compression and 1 rebound (out of 7 settings for both) the ride is slightly firmer than the normal EDC setting. Yes you feel more imperfections in the road but the bumps/dips are very soft. My stock E46 M3 rode a lot worse than this setup. Also, this setup passes the wife test and as I've said before she's impressed by the setup to the point where she was bragging to her 80 something parents who could give a shit about suspensions. So the actual trade-off of improvement in handling vs. degradation in ride quality is very good.

As far as the 20" wheels are concerned - I bought this suspension setup primarily for improvement in track performance where I run 18" wheels. On the street I honestly can not feel much in the way of reduction in handling or balance of the car. I was really worried about going with a 255/295 tire combo as far as increasing understeer but it honestly made very little difference. Also, the Volk G2's are pretty lightweight for a 20" wheel so I would assume that helps some. I agree 20" wheels are not optimal for handling/ride quality but I like the look....

One important caveat, I am having some noise coming from the rear shocks especially on a bumpy surface at slow speeds. It's not noticeable if you're listening to the radio or have the windows down. The noise diminishes as you increase the rebound stiffness. I've been in contact with Moton and they have been very apologetic and are working on a solution. Basically they are doing a redesign of the dampers and have promised to provide replacements. I didn't act like it was a huge deal because I was so happy with the handling improvement that a little noise was a minor IMO. But the the guys at Moton have been super responsive and I'm expecting a fix pretty quickly.

Thanks!
BC

[DoNDoN]

Fabspeed HFC and X Pipe, some sort of axle back, filter, pulley, springs, custom Powerchip tune