Snow Is Coming.. Let The Mods Begin!!!

[Bimmer///Man3]

Ok living in Ma. completely sucks for anyone in a rear wheel drive car especially on those slushy days. Over the last 4-5 months I've saved up $7,000 to mod my car during the winter. I already have full CAI, cat-back exhauslt, Dinan chip, M3 body kit, M3 spoiler, M3 rims, clear corners, clear tails, short throw, bilstein sport shocks, brembo crossdrilled rotors, and a fair sound system. I love my car dearly. I'm without a doubt having my engine and tranny rebuilt and having my heads ported and polished by a friend of mine that is a great mechanic. My top goal is getting my car turbo charged.. Does these seem out of the question for my car? Its only a 318i 5 speed. But Its a lot less then dropping an m3 engine in it. I've heard about people turbo charging there 318's but is there any in the forum?? I am looking to get my car to be one of a kind and I have a limited but resonable budget but would like to spread it not just for engine but also for the cosmetics.

[TMac325is]

turbo charging a 4 cylinder will hardly do anything when compared to turbo charging a 6 cylinder

in my opinion it wouldnt be worth the money at all

if you need ways to spend 7 grand, just looking at your car i have a few ideas...

window tint
zkw euro ellipsoid headlights
angel eyes
HID
drop your car an inch or two
get bigger AC Schnitzer rims
new paint job (if you feel it needs it)
front splitters
top of the line Alpine head unit
navigation system
m3 sport seats
a JL W7 sub
m3 mirrors

[bigred318]

Originally posted by TMac325is@Dec 1 2004, 04:55 PM
turbo charging a 4 cylinder will hardly do anything when compared to turbo charging a 6 cylinder

in my opinion it wouldnt be worth the money at all

if you need ways to spend 7 grand, just looking at your car i have a few ideas...

window tint
zkw euro ellipsoid headlights
angel eyes
HID
drop your car an inch or two
get bigger AC Schnitzer rims
new paint job (if you feel it needs it)
front splitters
top of the line Alpine head unit
navigation system
m3 sport seats
a JL W7 sub
m3 mirrors

[snapback]241517[/snapback]

that would work none of which will let you go any faster... but then again it is an 318 and they dont go fast anyways... If you have 7g i would put your car up for sale get some good money out of it (sounds like its a good car) and buy a 325/328. Then i would worry about a turbo etc. Turboing a 318 wont do much if anything make you as fast a a slighty modded 328. and for 7g that isnt very good. theres the downing atlanta super charger for the 318s also check those out everyone on this site loves those... They seem to put the car up to around 200hp or so i hear.. wstill not incredibly fast but a huge difference from the stock 318. But if i was you and really wanted to get a faster car i would sell and buy a 325 or something. Hell even take the parts on your carlike your m3 bumper etc that you really like to put on your next car... Just my 2 cents

Hope it helps!

David

[thekid]

As per my sig I have a 318i also. I have thought a lot about the potential of the car. I think that what you should do is go ahead and turbo it. But here's the thing. With basically any F/I kit that you could buy for the car it is not going to give you the results that I at least would want for seven grand. The supercharger mentioned above might be your best bet, just because getting something that will work that good and make more power will definately be a time consuming and money consuming project. While it will "only" get you as fast as "slightly modded" 328 (that's what they say) you'll have a better weight distibution and better handling (which is what I like more) and you'll be as fast (if not faster). Also its 3,500 and even if installation was 1,500 you still have two grand for other mods that will help to give you more power. There's my two cents.

[robbins6103]

sell it, put it down on an M3.

[bigred318]

now we are talking.... but maybe not an m3

David

[BlantonG13]

This is a tough one to deal with. 318's will always be relatively slow because of obvious reasons. However, the 318 is also one of the lightest BMWs there is, thus allowing for amazing handling, even when compared to the other 3 series brothers. Spending a good deal on suspension and handling, will make the 318 sick. You can do that for around 3k for pretty much everything you need. Then from there, try boring the block out and throwing in some bigger pistons. That shouldn't be near as expensive as turbo work and it would increase your displacement and raise the compression ratio. There's no replacement for displacement. I don't know if this has ever been done in a 318 or if its even possible. I know the Dinan stage 1 turbo system only boosts numbers to about 180 HP and 170 tq or something similar (you can look it up). Increasing the displacement would probably do something similar in numbers and still keep the car naturally aspirated. Its up to you though, I like the sound that turbos make though

These are just my opinions, goodluck with the search for something to do though!
I wish I had 7k to throw into my 318

[bimmerfan620]

sell the 318 and buy a 325 or better.. If your considering doing a turbo kit, it's going to be a shitload of work in which I doubt your ready to do handle. That 4 cylinder motor won't hold up for long with a turbo kit. It's plain and simple, you would be a lot better off buying a 6 cyl. bmw. There's just so much more room to work with it.

[24valve]

Originally posted by Bimmer///Man3@Dec 1 2004, 04:15 PM
Ok living in Ma. completely sucks for anyone in a rear wheel drive car especially on those slushy days. Over the last 4-5 months I've saved up $7,000 to mod my car during the winter. I already have full CAI, cat-back exhauslt, Dinan chip, M3 body kit, M3 spoiler, M3 rims, clear corners, clear tails, short throw, bilstein sport shocks, brembo crossdrilled rotors, and a fair sound system. I love my car dearly. I'm without a doubt having my engine and tranny rebuilt and having my heads ported and polished by a friend of mine that is a great mechanic. My top goal is getting my car turbo charged.. Does these seem out of the question for my car? Its only a 318i 5 speed. But Its a lot less then dropping an m3 engine in it. I've heard about people turbo charging there 318's but is there any in the forum?? I am looking to get my car to be one of a kind and I have a limited but resonable budget but would like to spread it not just for engine but also for the cosmetics.

[snapback]241485[/snapback]

I'm probably speaking heresy here in a BMW forum, but here goes...

Sell the 318 and buy a Porsche 944 Turbo S. I think you'll enjoy the supercar performance a lot, and if you can afford to save $7,000 over 5 months to mod your 318, you'll sure be able to afford maintenance and mods to take your turbo S to 300+ hp with relative ease.

[robbins6103]

been playing Gran Turismo there Blanton? -->"There's no replacement for displacement"???

[bimmerfan620]

the saying is true. It's the law of physics. There is no replacement for displacement, since you can practically always make more hp with a bigger motor regardless, but look at the way that you are going to most widely spread out your cash. You want to spend a little on cosmetics, then start planning the project out. Open a word document, create some columns, and start listing off mods you want to do for exterior, and mods you want to do for the powertrain. Add prices, and you can narrow down where you want to spend the money at. I can tell you korman/mosselman sells a turbo kit for the 318 if you are set in stone on doing that, and they are a good price.

[///M Power]

You really should take Bimmerfan620's advice.


And all the mods tMAC listed seemed to be visual rather than performance form a quick glance.

[bavarianmotorsurgeon]

I have to agree with the bulk of the guys here in saying that turboing your car probly wouldnt be worth what youd get out of it. Ive been doing a lot of research lately as i was considering turboing my 325, and its really a lot of work and even more money. To acheive only say 200 horses for seven grand, when you could have another 100 horse than that at least out of the 325 for about the same amount. But i have to say the handling characteristics the smaller engine gives are enticing. Its a tough one when you have a car you already love, but also want to go fast. Heck just throw a bigger engine in it. (making it sound easier than it is obviously). Its all about what youre willing to sacrifice, slightly better handling for hp, or vice versa.

[catalyst.]

I agree too it is a waste of money considering you could buy a 80-120k 325 for the same amount of money and you would have a much more workable canvas for modding.

if you have the ability to save even more money i would save for another 5 months and then drop an e34 m5 engine in it. The engine would most likley run about 7 grand and labor would be around 5-6?

[Tochenzo]

damn it already looks like a VERY nice car, the only cheap mod left i can think of is tint