so if you had 3k to spend on mods on a BONE stock 95 m3... how would you spend it?

[UniversityofOm3]

title says it all. elaborate.

[MrBlah]

lower a little, cold air intake, some rims & tires maybe

that's about it

[///MikeD]

midpipes/catback, 3.5" hfm, tuning, coilovers, tires...is that over $3k yet??

[raoke]

Hows maintainence? You can easily drop a few hundred on that a lone.
Not knowing what else your car needs or has, mileage, and what you want from it here's what I'm thinking.

Oil/Filter - 80
Diff/Tranny Fluid 50
Brake Pads 150
rsm 100

Springs/Shocks ~ 600
Velocitymotoring vb1's w/ tires ~ 1000
ssk ~ 200

820 left

Spend the rest on either
~ Cams

or

Headunit -300
Intake + Chip ~500
or piece together a used euro hfm+intake+chip for around that
maybe you have enough left for some pullies

or

aggressive gearing for torque
maybe you have enough left for some pullies


I wouldn't go exhaust without any other engine mods first.
I recommend making a diy clutch stop- I made one today for under 2 bucks.

[motorsports321]

i would get GC full coilover kit, x-brace, swaybars, ssk, new brake pad, and sign up for auto-x and track time.

[Lohe]

depending on the cars shape...

Maintnace 500-800
( t-stat, w pump, maybe radiator, oil, control arm bushing, rtabs+ shims)

Fan delete 50
Pully's 280
Intake,MAF,software 800
And the rest one some nice suspension

[raoke]

Look in the for sale section, I've found plenty of things!
I might be able to get gc track/school for 1200. Let me know.

[Patrón]

diff
ltw flywhl
cams
3.5 kit
all used
/fread

[raoke]

^Besides the hard part of finding the cams, you can do the above for around 2k used and still have some left over for suspension. That sounds pretty good.

[djoelt1]

Buy 1 helmet and 14 track days.

[SG_M3]

i would get GC full coilover kit, x-brace, swaybars, ssk, new brake pad, and sign up for auto-x and track time.

totally. Don't waste your money doing power mods first, no return on your money.

Cam kit is going to cost you mroe than 3k installed.

[jayhudson]

Suspension, brakes, helmet, track time, track time, track time.

Jay

[ffej]

Suspension, brakes, helmet, track time, track time, track time.

Jay

:werd: for most people, "suspension" might only mean replacing the dead shocks and the RTABs & CABs

$3000 = up to eight track days (if you include fuel, pads, tires & hotels...)

[VNG704]

aftermarket cam shafts.. about 2 grand + so. then some lowering springs,2-300 and intake kit,~200. the few 100 bucks left you can fix the usuals problems, you'd love it.

[jmitro]

Suspension, brakes, helmet, track time, track time, track time.

Jay

+2

[Lohe]

:werd: for most people, "suspension" might only mean replacing the dead shocks and the RTABs & CABs

$3000 = up to eight track days (if you include fuel, pads, tires & hotels...)

true not every one is a track hound I like it alot but... I DD my car more than drive on a track.

[mobil1]

Invest it, capitalize off the gains, put towards a house...but if you must spend it on your car, save for twin screw.

[M3jes]

Invest it, capitalize off the gains, put towards a house...but if you must spend it on your car, save for twin screw.

I have to agree, invest your money. You can buy your mods later with the interest from the money you invested.:redspot

[m3chaser]

^^^^^^^ sooo very true. if you want power for farely cheap then shop around for a used s/c in the specialty parts for sale forum.

[nodsc]

+2

+3

but you probably dont want to hear that. The only person that can answer this question is you. What are your priorities? With an older car id say maintenance first.

[ffej]

true not every one is a track hound I like it alot but... I DD my car more than drive on a track.

I hear you....but even a bone stock 95 is more than enough car for probably 95% of the drivers in the US to get into trouble --- :pullover

[Shock(/\)ave]

Invest it, capitalize off the gains, put towards a house...but if you must spend it on your car, save for twin screw.

If you want to be smart with the money or get the ultimate in performance upgrades, listen to this man.


^^^^^^^ sooo very true. if you want power for farely cheap then shop around for a used s/c in the specialty parts for sale forum.

Used superchargers are often great buys, too, if you know enough to spot potential problems.

Personally though, if I had to spend the money I would drop it on a pair of original Bosch headlights and a full cloth and amaretto vader interior from Germany. The car already handles beautifully and is already fast enough, so I would the nicest interior available as that's where you spend most of your time with the car. The headlights are required to make the car look as good as it should.

The balance would go toward track days. :buttrock

[Aradaiel]

Buy koni SAs off fleebay for $550, buy the GC coil over kit for $400 and then get 255's all the way around.

[dacman3]

maintence first, if thats done either full suspension or save a lil more for FI

[SG_M3]

Buy koni SAs off fleebay for $550, buy the GC coil over kit for $400 and then get 255's all the way around.

don't do that, buy the track/school kit. The shortened struts are worth the money. I'd do 245's also, less of a gear hit and sharper feel.

[SJTrance]

What exactly do you want to do with the car? Are you interested in tracking the car or is that not your thing? Are you into making it fast just for the street and have a nice stance? You into stereos. If you tell us more of what you intend to do with the car, we might be able to narrow it down better for you.

[Trackout]

title says it all. elaborate.

If it's a street driver, get some decent struts and save the rest for maintenance.

[artikxscout]

can we make these threads as a sticky? i know it's redundant, but it does keep the forum alive :P.

I'd go for a CIA, HIDS, Clears, Muffler, and Lower it. In that order.

[WTFCIRCUS]

totally. Don't waste your money doing power mods first, no return on your money.

Cam kit is going to cost you mroe than 3k installed.

I know of a friend that had his Sunbelts put in for 1700$ but yea I say do as much maintaining as you can and worry about mods later do some suspension work if need be.

[malter]

go to vegas and put it all on black. you got 50% chance of doubling it

[Bassmaster]

If im spending on non FI performance mods...I would buy from the classified section as much as possible looking for:

CAI intake. "dinan"
Performance Chip (AA,Turner etc..)
UUC underdrive pullies
" Crank pulley" staying with the stock fly wheel.
AA Gen III exhaust
AA track pipe.
UUC short shifter.
Tein coilovers.

You would have a much quicker better handling M3. Mine with those basic bolt ons would do 5.1 0-60 and pull 140 mph easily.

[biggafigga]

Gas for about a month. Just kidding... sorta.

[sideshow]

if you have a bone stock 95 m3...the thing is getting to be 11 yrs old. I have probably spent $3k on maintanence parts and preventative mods alone. Let's see x-brace was mentioned, some TME's and urethane tranny bushings that uuc now sells. New shock absorbers as the ones on a 95 are probably dead like mine were. Then there's always the Edge list of maintanence items like control arms and RTABs. good luck

JOEY

[Sadiq]

4 channel amp - $250
sub amp - $350
500w sub - $350
3-way components up front - $300
2-way components in back - $300
navi head unit - $1200
iPod adapter - $50
iPod - $200

= $3,000.

Coilovers - $1400
Rims + tires - $1600

= $3,000.


Used Supercharger - $3000

= $3,000.


WTF do you want to do with the car!?!? Answer.

[dscypl3]

Invest it, capitalize off the gains, put towards a house...but if you must spend it on your car, save for twin screw.

example of a very smart man.

as mobil1 said, if it must be spent I would take care of maintenance, car control clinic/driver education/autocross/track time/etc., suspension, then maybe some nice tires if you have money left over.

[GreenBeem93]

3.91 diff and 6spd tranny

[Badgtho is back]

title says it all. elaborate.

sell the 95, use that money plus the 3k and buy one with a 3.2

[joenationwide]

some good advice, some questionable. :confused

to get the most out of your cars performance, here is the simple answer:

Ground Control track/school kit (shortened single adjustable shocks, coilover perches, and your choice of spring rate) - $1300?

Kosei K1 17x8.5" wheels and Falken Azenis RT615s - $1300

96+ upper strut hats/mounts - $70 used.

Understeer SSK w/delrin bushings - $125

Cosmos CAI - $125

X-Brace - $125

Knowing you can spank almost any other street car in the twisites - PRICELESS

[TheNorthWaves]

i would spend $500 upgrading the stereo, $50 for a leather dye/repair kit for my dove vaders, $120 for new floor mats, $350 for ZKW lights, take the two door dings out of my passenger door, and save the rest for maintenance.

[Sadiq]

what are you gonna do with $500 on the stereo? all you can do with that is a new HU, sub, and sub amp. the speakers inside the car are pretty miserable.

[Matthew/E36]

go to vegas and put it all on black. you got 50% chance of doubling it

only 47.37%

I would add a +1 for saving money for maintenance, unless you can cover that later. Also, track driving is the best investment for pure enjoyment, so I would invest in some track time!

[TheNorthWaves]

yeah maybe $1k on the stereo ;)

[parkpy]

tires, maintenance and track days!

[MASTADON]

Nice tires

Intake

exhaust

chip

suspension

head/tail lights

done.

[slowcheetah]

1000 - Digital SLR
100 - Zaino Wax Kit
400 - Hot Hooker
-----> Photoshoot

1000 - intake, chip, injectors, HFM
500- exhaust


Done.

[e30s50bizzle]

Cold Air Intake(ex. Jim Conforti)$350 or make one
HFM used $150
Ebay Headers ( the long tube ones) $215
Remove or Gut Cats(exhaust shop) $150
High Flow lightweight exhaust $400 used
Swap 3.0 for 3.2 block(if you do your own work) $500
Cams $700 towards them
Dyno Tuned Chip $500

I could make $3000 stretch if need be.

[HBpredhunter]

i would recomend just keeping it maintained, and well polished/cleaned.

i wouldnt wanna neglect how the car looks (cracked lights, missing body plastic, etc..)
over haviing an extra 5wrhp.

then if youve done everyhting, then id go some fun stuff like sway bars, an x brace, better shocks unless the stock ones are fresh, tranny mounts, short shifter.

i find with these low powered cars suspesnion and driveline mods are more fun than power mods, cept for turbo/sc/ big cam kit.

to put it this way, my car is basically mint for a 99, and before i do anything else i still need to get a flex disk in there sometime, i could use new underbody plastic (some held on with zip ties at the moment) and a good polish kit (pc combo)
after that i wanna replace my shocks and mounts im still stock after 65k.
also a short shifter too, then after its all said and done save up for big power mods. prolly a turbo.

[WTFCIRCUS]

some good advice, some questionable. :confused

to get the most out of your cars performance, here is the simple answer:

Ground Control track/school kit (shortened single adjustable shocks, coilover perches, and your choice of spring rate) - $1300?

Kosei K1 17x8.5" wheels and Falken Azenis RT615s - $1300

96+ upper strut hats/mounts - $70 used.

Understeer SSK w/delrin bushings - $125

Cosmos CAI - $125

X-Brace - $125

Knowing you can spank almost any other street car in the twisites - PRICELESS


How much did Azenis runs you? I have my koseis from my old car and I'm dying for some Azenis.

[WytLytnyn]

Roth IRA. Then do it again every year until you retire. By then, you will have had plenty of cars to F with.....

[bimmerdriver99]

Keep it simple:

*Matinece such as bushing Tranny mounts ect.
*Suspension: coilovers or spring shock combo
*Upgraded pads
*Short shift kit
*cold air intake
*Exhaust
*Software
*HID's w/ projectors.

HA ok well not as simple but those are the basics you could windle with 3k. and they are all pretty much DIY, if you have pretty decent mechanical skill.

[joenationwide]

How much did Azenis runs you? I have my koseis from my old car and I'm dying for some Azenis.

The Azenis are only $130/tire from vulcantire.

[Mr.M]

maintenance, coilovers, and tires for track prep, assuming the money is for parts only. if not, tires maintenance and as many track days as you can.

[cyanprinter]

Invest half of it, then pads/(rotors if needed), suspension upgrade (gc kit), any maintance (which might include a pro paint detail), then track time.

[ChristopherL]

Ted (Original Poster) already has an e30 M3 that is prepped for track use, and an e30 M3 2.5l that also see's occasional track use.

I would wager the e36 is primarily aimed at daily driving/commuting.

Ted,
Sell me the car, take my money, and your $3k... and put a hefty DP on an e46 ;)

[TIATO]

Elaborate on maintenance status. Maint up to snuff? How many miles?

If not:
Radiator
Coolant Hoses
Thermo Housing
Thermo
Water Pump
Coolant Flush
LCA Bushings
Control Arms
Tie Rods
RTAB
Shock Mounts
Tranny Mounts
Motor Mounts
Oil Pump Nut
Rotors
Brake Pads
Brake Fluid
Brake Lines
Trany & Rear diff FLuid
Shocks & Springs

If those items are up to snuff:
Id say
GC C/O suspension
Sway Bars
Bebaffle air box
Tranny Mounts
Stromung
Shifter Bushings

[e30s50bizzle]

Everyone is yappin about maintenace he asked about mods. Maintenance is a given on any car.

[Daved]

Maintenance and suspension.

[Daved]

Everyone is yappin about maintenace he asked about mods. Maintenance is a given on any car.
Because it's common that people spend their maintenance money on mods.

[TIATO]

Everyone is yappin about maintenace he asked about mods. Maintenance is a given on any car.


You would be surprised....not all owners maintain as they should.

I just bought a very well documented, single adult owner and dealer maintained '96 M3 and I STILL had to put over 1k into it for preventative maintenance - Radiator (I replaced the ORIGINAL radiator), belts, hoses, rear shock mounts, rear shocks, various trim bits, oil pump nut.

[persiandude]

maintenance, coilovers, and tires for track prep, assuming the money is for parts only. if not, tires maintenance and as many track days as you can.
you forgot to mention blue tape...

[Crazy 13immer]

Because it's common that people spend their maintenance money on mods.

Who would do such a thing? Not me...... :devillook

[ZimDoc]

Shocks, good tires, brake pads and the rest on trackdays.

[BeamerJill]

interesting post (and replies)