Future Modding

[komodo]

You guys have made me start to question if a turbo is a good idea after all....

Let's just try this and see where it goes. If you had, say $5k to spend on my car, how would you do it?

I'm debating doing a balance of looks and power, or just going all out on power. When figuring prices, calculate with the price of parts installed.

A 6-speed tranny conversion would cost about $3k.
A 5-speed tranny conversion would cost about $2k.
ACS Type 3 Replica Rims (the choice i made) would cost about $1k.

Those are just a few things to consider, but none might be used.

What do you think?

[delmarco]

combined your list cost more than my car...is worth right now.
And about 80% of what your car is worth...

Harry...I'm telling you this because I love you dude... just get an M3 since you're spending loads of cash on performance mods.

[Rooz]

These are the wheels Harry:

http://www.ocwheelwurx.com/wheels/wheels4.html




OCW Sells them (the company I got my rims from) I think they sell them cheaper than my wheels by either 100 or 200... not sure, contact Mike, he's a great guy who owns that place and ask him, tell him Rooz sent you, he might give you a better deal...

[mrkbik]

I think I would go with the 6 speed and the wheels. I think the fun-to-drive factor outweighs pure power. You can always get a turbo down the road if you still feel the need for speed.

[EuroStyle]

5sp tranny conversion, then...Dinan supercharger! Your car will be faster than balls! Plus you will finally get your Dinan badge.

Don't buy a turbo, they are way too much money, and work.

Forced induction is the easy rout, to massive hp. If you go that rout, make sure you research it before you start buying parts. For example I noticed that you did the fan delete. If you go FI you might actually want to put your fan back on to help w/ additional cooling, etc, etc.

-Matt

[Chris]

i think the 6 speed would be completely useless. The car doesn't have enough power to actually use all 6 gears... it'd be a total waste. unless you're going for MAJOR FI in the future, i'd go 5-spd and rims

[E36Bimmer]

with all this money you can def get an M (5 spd this time) and swap everything you can over to the new one and start fresh.. That by far is the most logical route..

[komodo]

(yes rooz, those are the rims )

But also consider one major factor. In a few years when I step out of college, I'm going to be struggling to make ends meet and establish my life, like everyone else. The difference in insurance between a 328 and an M3 for a 22 year old is signifigant... I'd rather keep my 328 and mod it over the years. You say sell my car and get an M3, I'd lose a TON of money on it, plus there's the thousands of dollars it'd cost to transfer all my stuff over that's now inside the car (don't forget about things like all the wiring and modifications for the computer system). So say I do that, I'm now driving an m3... to what avail? I just gained 0.2 liters, lost 2 doors, and have a little stripe on my leather seats. The 328 is a big step up from the 325 because how similar it is to the m3 already, sharing things like pink fuel injectors for example. As far as suspension, I have an oem m3 xbrace installed already, and the rest of the suspension components are very simple to upgrade to better than a stock m3. So basically, I'd spend THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of dollars to get a car so incredibly similar to the one I currently have, and then get raped by insurance... I don't see the benefit honestly.

[Rooz]

^^ FINALLY someone that has the same view on "Just sell your car and get an M3" as me

[billycuth]

where can you get a tranny swap for 2k? My intrests just perked up. And besides the site ROOZ posted, where can you by those replicas for $1k?

[komodo]

Originally Posted by billycuth

where can you get a tranny swap for 2k? My intrests just perked up. And besides the site ROOZ posted, where can you by those replicas for $1k?

I was planning on getting mine from OC Wheel Wurkx.

Tranny swap for $2k? Anywhere, talk to your local mechanic.

[delmarco]

that makes sense Harry..I stand behind your decision.

[catalyst]

Originally Posted by chrisdoesntknow

i think the 6 speed would be completely useless. The car doesn't have enough power to actually use all 6 gears... it'd be a total waste. unless you're going for MAJOR FI in the future, i'd go 5-spd and rims

Im not even going to comment on this.

Originally Posted by komodo

But also consider one major factor. In a few years when I step out of college, I'm going to be struggling to make ends meet and establish my life, like everyone else. The difference in insurance between a 328 and an M3 for a 22 year old is signifigant... I'd rather keep my 328 and mod it over the years. You say sell my car and get an M3, I'd lose a TON of money on it, plus there's the thousands of dollars it'd cost to transfer all my stuff over that's now inside the car (don't forget about things like all the wiring and modifications for the computer system). So say I do that, I'm now driving an m3... to what avail? I just gained 0.2 liters, lost 2 doors, and have a little stripe on my leather seats. The 328 is a big step up from the 325 because how similar it is to the m3 already, sharing things like pink fuel injectors for example. As far as suspension, I have an oem m3 xbrace installed already, and the rest of the suspension components are very simple to upgrade to better than a stock m3. So basically, I'd spend THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of dollars to get a car so incredibly similar to the one I currently have, and then get raped by insurance... I don't see the benefit honestly.

Harry i completely agree with you, youve made some good points. There is no reason to sell your car imo, youve already dropped large amounts of cash on it, and you would be taking a huge loss in selling it.

Ask yourself what you want out of the car? Handling? Power?

With the budget that you have i would forget the turbo, forget any engine swaps, and focus on what will make the car more fun for you during everyday driving.

S52 Cams and a 6 speed will make a huge difference in your car, jrhaile even said the difference once he installed s52 cams in his m52 was insane, he said it felt like 50 more horses.

An M52 with cams, m50 manifold, pullies, exhaust, OBDI conversion, CAI.. all the goodies will put out +-250 horses, couple that with a 6 speed transmission and stick a short differential out back, and you will have one insanely fast car, you will be able to rape stock e36 M3's to death...

Lets figure price..

s52 cams - 400
Installation - 900 (at most)
6 speed - 2000-2500 (possibly much less)
Diff 500-1000 (maybe more depending on custom work..)
Installation - 1000 or more

Grand total: $5800

Its my opinion that doing a 5 speed swap into the car is a waste of money, you mine as well go big and get the 6 speed if your going to do a tranny swap, because all you will have after a 5 speed swap is a stock 5 speed 328.. not that there is anything wrong with that at all, but if your going to take the monetary hit that associates with swaping a 5 speed into an auto, you mine as well add something even better that will raise the value of the car.

Also, with the 6 speed in the car, if you ever have the money to drop an s52 in it, you will already have a sick setup waiting for it..

I think you should seriously consider what ive said.. i think its the best bang for buck you can get with the stock motor.

[billycuth]

how do you make a purchase on that site?

[///95M3]

5 speed and a blower. SLLLEEEPER.
Although I would much rather have a turbo set up its worth the money. My friend Brett has a Turbo 328is w/ an M3 engine (450-500whp)bbaz and my friends Mike techno 550 has two turbo bmw's(one 325is and 527i(bored) and they are so much better then a supercharged set up, they dont lag like you'd think and they are nothing but nonstop power. They did the work themselves, its not that hard of a job.