[Richbot]

This is basically the entire design brief for the mods I've done on my car, except for the low budget part, lol, that's been out the window for a while. But edgier, faster, more fun, without ruining the car as four person four door every day street car, that's been my main goal with my car. You've already got a lot of the best bang for buck covered but I'll shade in some of what I did and why:

Square 275/35-18 on 18x10's, don't overthink it, I tried overthinking it, Iw as wrong . Edgier without ruining the car = Michelin PS4S, or 265/35-18 Yokohama A052 if you really don't care about tire wear/noise/deep puddles. The Conti ECS is a nice in-between option too, if you're the type who wants good handling but slightly lower ultimate grip in exchange for friendlier breakaway characteristics for funsies, they're also quiet and not-squealy at the limit which is nice.

Look at the forged Bimmerworld TA16's if you want an an OEM-like look, they're ZCP-like in styling. I have the Contis on my TA16's. It's the nicest wheelset I've ever owned. IMO - Get forged wheels, that you like, the first time, you'll be less likely to get itchy about trying new wheels a year from now. They're not 3x the price of the cast Apex's, it's more like only 40-50% more money now. I've owned a lot of wheels and I wish I woudln't have spent all that money on wheels that aren't this nice.

Camber up front - 2-2.5 ish (Dinan fixed plates are cheap and effective for getting this much camber without adding moving parts) makes a big difference in how stuck the front end is, which makes playing with the rear end easier and more fun, and you can rotate tires now with your square setup, so wear isn't really a big issue. I have the Dinan plates with Sachs front coilovers, the street ones. I'd keep EDC if I were you. If you're doign springs, look at doing the Dinan-style shaved guide supports and bumpstops too, you'll want that suspension travel back.

Dinan front swaybar. Easy button. There are other front swaybar options that are also good, but I have the Dinan. I wouldn't bother with the rear on a street car especially a street car with square wheel/tire setup.

Stoptech or PFC direct-replacement front rotors - another spot to shed easy, bolt-on weight "while you're in there" on your next front brake change, and that rotor weight has under-appreciated knock-on impacts like taking some flywheel effect out of the rotating assembly at speed, which shows up in better response at your fingertips. I have a Stoptech front 355mm brake kit, but if I were doing it again, I'd probably just get lighter rotors, there weren't many options back in the before times when I got the Stoptechs

Lighter battery next time your OEM one craps out, there are really nice LiFePo drop in options that shed 50lb from the car without much work, if you're using the car as a weekend warm weather car it's an especially great option. Between the battery, wheels, rotors, and exhaust mods, you'll have a car that's 100lb lighter than it was from the factory, with no real downsides.