[lamboworld]

I have owned my M3 for about 18 months now and I have modded it and taken it back to stock and I figured that I would give my thoughts.

Performance mods:

The only mods that give any real power N/A power are Headers and Gearset. There are a lot of other N/A mods on the market and you can spend a lot of money on them. IMO the only way you can make any real power are with Headers and 410's. Even then, the power that is made is minimal. I had roughly 5k in performance mods and my car made an additional 17hp. Not worth the money to me.

I don't have any experience with F/I but this is probably the way to go if you don't care about getting away from N/A. I know that I did not want to go F/I becasue I like the natural S54.

The BMW engineers have done such a nice job with this engine that there is not much horsepower to gain unless you rebuild the engine (expensive).

After all of the mods , I liked the car better stock. It was quiter, rode better and I have a lot more money in my pocket. If I decide to sell this car and buy another BMW I think that it will be the 335i. The N54 is a great engine with tons of potential. Exterior doesn't look as nice as the E46 M3 but the interior is a little nicer. Doesn't have the raw feel of the M3

Suspension:

I did not do any suspension mods on my car but there probably some really nice upgrades depending on what you are looking for. I am sure that there is a lot of potential over stock.

There may be a lot of people that disagree with me but I just wanted to give my .02 to anyone that is thinking about modding their M3.

It is a great car stock.

I think that my favorite mods are EAS Aurora Angel Eyes and the BMW Performance short shifter with ZHP ship knob. The CDV removal is also a must.

If I keep this car I will upgrade the suspension but that is probably all.

I had 19" Alufelgen SF-71 wheels and I loved them. They are one of the best looking wheels for this car. However, you lose performance when you increase the wheel size to 19s and the ride is not as good.

Just some rambling thoughts I figured I would share.

[TitaniumSilber]

Thanks for the post!

[Rutkowski]

How about Schrick camshafts, OEM CSL airbox and 100 cell cats? That's what i am doing to mine.

[vividracing]

Good post, thanks.

I know a lot of people can be apprehensive about modifying their car, especially when it's something like an M3. Why mess with 'perfection'? Don't the BMW designers and engineers know more about how this car should perform?

Really it's not always about increasing performance. Sometimes people just want their car to be a little more personalized. Maybe they want a slightly more aggressive exhaust note. Maybe they want slightly stiffer suspension.

Again, your post is very useful. Hope it helps someone out there decide whether they really want to mess with what is obviously a very good car in stock form.

Thanks.

Graeme

[Reach]

I think its a great post as well.

I have always heavily modified my cars, and the M3 has really given me cause for restraint. I promised myself I wouldn't go all intake-exhaust on this car, and so far I'm doing OK.

With my current mods, I believe I have 'personalized' it: AST suspension, Autosolutions short shift kit, ESS tune. Of course I do religious maintenance and replacement of the consumables (bushings, bearings, ball joints).

I'm having a real hard time not dipping into the credit card for some headers and gears now. But I have to question... if I do that for 'go fast', what is the end goal? Supercharge? Unlikely. I use this car for DD'ing and HPDE fun.

Modifying a car is all about what you want out of it. My advice to anyone I talk to who is talking about modifying is to know what your end goal for your modifications are, BEFORE you start. Otherwise you just end up with some slapped on parts and questionable benefits.

[darnelld]

Originally Posted by vividracing

Good post, thanks.

I know a lot of people can be apprehensive about modifying their car, especially when it's something like an M3. Why mess with 'perfection'? Don't the BMW designers and engineers know more about how this car should perform?

Really it's not always about increasing performance. Sometimes people just want their car to be a little more personalized. Maybe they want a slightly more aggressive exhaust note. Maybe they want slightly stiffer suspension.

Again, your post is very useful. Hope it helps someone out there decide whether they really want to mess with what is obviously a very good car in stock form.

Thanks.

Graeme

well said

[bolestuff]

My car is basically a stocker, and I'm very happy with the street performance of it. To go much faster than the car can easily go around the hills is already dangerous. If I tracked it and it was not my DD I would look into more mods. Also, I have a very low mile car, 03 under 25k, so replacing non worn out parts doesn't make sense for my use case. The one thing lacking is a good exhaust note. With the stock stereo turned up a bit you can't hear the exhaust at all. Hence my recent purchase of the Scorza exhaust on the group buy right now. If you haven't listened to some sound clips you should.

[Mookster]

I never mod my M

[daytonaviolet]

mine is stock spec as well

[ImolarotII]

Originally Posted by daytonaviolet

mine is stock spec as well

I see what you did there.