BMW Werkz banner

what should i do next?

  • full suspension: coilover, strut tower bars, camber plates

    Votes: 8 61.5%
  • full engine: build a spare block

    Votes: 3 23.1%
  • both: cheaper suspension and start with the engine

    Votes: 2 15.4%

poll time: what next?

1K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  thekid 
#1 ·
alright guys, i need your opinion on something here. either way it's a bit childish and not very responsible, but it's something i want to do. i found out that i'm getting quite a bit back for my taxes, and i'm trying to decide what to do with my car next. the following is my mod list so far.
-17inch M3 wheels wrapped in 235/40series Nitto NT450 tires
-330i exhaust
-Turner Motorsports chip
-Turner Motorsports track sway bar set with rear reinforcement kit
-ATE PowerDiscs up front, new OEM rear rotors
-AXXIS Metal Master pads all around
-braided stainless steel brake lines all around
-Turner Motorsports steering stop kit

the car handles quite well as it is, but i think it needs something more done. but i would also like to start building my engine for boost. so right now, i have 3 choices as follows:
1- do up suspension completely. bilstein coil-overs, raicing dynamics strut tower bars, and kmac camber plates
2- grab a spare block and head and start building for boost (micro-polished crank, o-ringed block, pauter rods, cp pistons, head and block decked, etc.)
3- buy kyb shocks, with eibach springs, and then buy the spare block and do what i can with what i have left
 
See less See more
#2 ·
or instead of the kyb/eibach combo, what about the bilstein/h&r combo from turner? this one i would rather not do kyb's and eibach's but i can get them cheap from work. i'm leaning towards option 3 right now, but i would still like some opinions on this.
 
#5 ·
well, i found a place online that has a used block ready for shipping for 350bucks which includes shipping and a 6month warranty. i think that is a pretty good deal, considering all the other quotes i got were for around 500, but those have also been cleaned and tested. but then again, i would like to get rid of my wheel gap. you can see in this picture that it needs to go.


right now i'm leaning towards getting the block and the bilstein/h&r combo from TMS, and starting with the block. i dont want to put in a built engine without upgrading the suspension anyways. keep your thoughts coming guys.
 
#7 ·
I vote springs, shocks, and swaybars. What's the ballpark figure we're talking here anyway?
 
#8 ·
i dont know about the UUC system, it just doesnt sound right to me. i dont know. and walsru, i already have the sway bars. the ballpark figure i'm looking to spend is between 2500-3000. maybe more if i decide to sell my S13. but if i go with coilovers, i want to finish the suspension with the mounts and strut tower bars and camber plates. if i do the bilstein/h&r combo, then i'm just going to get that strut mount kit and then work on the blocks machine work. if i just do the engine itself, i'm going to do the machine work and start assemling it with a 2.8l crank, pauter rods, and cp pistons. i dont think i will be able to get all of that on my budget though. keep the thoughts coming guys.
 
#10 ·
92_325i said:
walsru, i already have the sway bars.
Sorry about that, I was skimming and only looked at the reinforcement part.

Have you thought about the hot cam swap? That's one of the best parts about the non-vanos.

So my vote goes to
Hot cam: $600
New chip or reprogram for cams: $250 . . . ish
Bilstein or Koni shocks with H&R or Eiback springs: $700 ish
Lightweight Flywheel: $500-600

I also think you need a spoiler.
 
#11 ·
the cams are hold until i get to assembling the full engine. right now i want to concentrate on getting the bottom end machined and complete. then i will get the cams and work on the head. new flywheel and clutch will bolted to the newly built engine as well. and i have never liked ground control products. i never used to hear good things about them, and it's stuck in my head.
 
#12 ·
92_325i said:
the cams are hold until i get to assembling the full engine. right now i want to concentrate on getting the bottom end machined and complete. then i will get the cams and work on the head. new flywheel and clutch will bolted to the newly built engine as well. and i have never liked ground control products. i never used to hear good things about them, and it's stuck in my head.
I agree with you about ground control, they have a terrible stigma in my head, but I have been told that they are much improved. I would still go with the Bilstein coil-overs. This won't eat your whole budget and really is not that much more expensive (300-400) than springs and shocks (depending on what kinda deal you can get). I also agree with you about KYB struts... I would never put them on anything I own... ever... even if they were free. The othre thing I would look at are te custom springs on bimmerworld.com.. I'm looking at switching to those come summer, if I can find anyone else that uses them...

As you can prolly tell my vote is for suspension. Spend the 1.3k it will take to buy and install the coil-overs and use the rest to buy the block and start working on it. Won't get the engine as quickly, but at least you'll still have a lot of fun until you do.

edit: forgot about the camber plates... you can still do it... just once again, another couple hundred dollar hit out of the rest... so maybe 1.6 or 1.7k for the suspension, which will still leave you some left over...
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top