Cheap E36 Mods

[mboor]

i see the gap. you might have to loosen the headlight and adjust the pads they are mounted to. They screw in/out for adjustment.

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the bottom of the headlight almost looks like its tucked underneath the front grille panel just a little bit...

[angeleye540i]

I see it now, just needs a slight tweak on the HL housing probly...

[adam.e36.328i]

Im either saving up for, a paint job, wheels, exhaust, sound system, lowering springs, intake, strut tower brace. Which should come first?

[Butters Stoch]

Im saving up for,.... Which should come first?

[adam.e36.328i]

Boi, im looking for stuff under 500ish lol

[blckstrm]

Im either saving up for, a paint job, wheels, exhaust, sound system, lowering springs, intake, strut tower brace. Which should come first?

I wouldn't do an intake - period - unless you're upgrading to a 3.5" tubing, 3.5" MAF, 24 pound injectors - the whole thing. Just do the airbox debaffle and call it a day.

Your best bet for improved looks and performance at the same time is lighter, wider wheels and wider, better tires. Keep the old tires to put snow tires on, which will let you run some good summer tires. Apex Race Parts sells inexpensive, high quality wheels that look great. There are several other lightweight and inexpensive wheels as well if you're looking for a different look.

As for tires, you'll get people arguing all day long about tires, but Michelin's Pilot Super Sport tires are among the best and will have the longest tread life by double or more. I just got 30k miles out of a set, and they're warrantied to that distance. A lot of the other summer tires won't make it 15k, let alone 30k.

That's where I'd start.

[JEC928]

Im either saving up for, a paint job, wheels, exhaust, sound system, lowering springs, intake, strut tower brace. Which should come first?

In order of importance:
1) Radiator, hoses, waterpump, expansion tank.
2) Front Lower Control Arms.
3) Rear Trailing Arm Bushings.
4) High perf brake pads and new rotors (stock size, they are big enough for the car).
5) Good tires.
6) Nice wheels.
7) Euro-style bright headlights (Depo)
8) Exhaust (Cold Air Intake is $20 of Home Depot stuff).
9) Adjustable Coilovers .
10) Paint/plastidip/vinyl wrap.
11) Strut tower brace.
12) Sound system.

Note that along the way 9000 little things like door handles, glove box, shift boot, plastic trim, etc, will interrupt the "mods".

[mslevin]

Look at Sumitomo HTRZIII for cheap(er) tires. I had them on my E36 and they were awesome and held up well for a 10k miles, lots of autox, and a couple track days. Only took them off bc my new wheels came with tires.

[ColtonBH]

Boi, im looking for stuff under 500ish lol

Where the hell are you getting a car painted for $500? Unless you're doing it yourself

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[mslevin]

Buy 75ft of cheap vinyl wrap and wrap your car. You could probably do it for $300ish.

[adam.e36.328i]

My paint is really bad. Ill get like a $200 maaco paint job with the same color

[JEC928]

My paint is really bad. Ill get like a $200 maaco paint job with the same color

In general Maaco makes cars uglier, not better.
Unless you do a few dozen hours of prep work: removing trim, filling in stone chips & dents, masking off muffler, etc, it's going to be poop.
If you have rust, set the car on fire. Only way to get rid of that stuff.

[OldBavarian]

Meguiars makes a great system for polishing paint that is very user friendly and can restore even the most scratched, sun damaged finishes, assuming the clear hasn't started peeling too badly yet. Buy a cheap buffer from Harbor Freight and some of the Meguiars polishes, buy a coarse polish and a fine one. They come in tan colored bottles. Go slowly and do it out of direct sunlight when the paint is cool to the touch. From the pictures, your paint doesn't look too bad, but I know pictures can hide a lot of blemishes.

[adam.e36.328i]

Well for intake, would the debaffle be good with a k&n drop-in?

[JEC928]

Well for intake, would the debaffle be good with a k&n drop-in?

These motors have a stock intake system designed to reduce noise while not impeding flow.
So CAIs and debaffling stock intake box only increase the noise, but have no measurable performance increase. My stupid Home Depot CAI is louder than my stock exhaust for 0 horsepower gain, lol.
Stock intakes are worth like -$0.020, so no harm if you hack it up - go for it.
If you use an oil-filled air filter like K&N, it's fine just make sure you clean your MAF more often.

[angeleye540i]

Where the hell are you getting a car painted for $500? Unless you're doing it yourself Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

u don't have budget painters up there? Macco?

[angeleye540i]

These motors have a stock intake system designed to reduce noise while not impeding flow. So CAIs and debaffling stock intake box only increase the noise, but have no measurable performance increase. My stupid Home Depot CAI is louder than my stock exhaust for 0 horsepower gain, lol. Stock intakes are worth like -$0.020, so no harm if you hack it up - go for it. If you use an oil-filled air filter like K&N, it's fine just make sure you clean your MAF more often.

or u can use a Carbon Fiber and or ceramic coated Dinan snorkel intake and actually Reduce IATs and alittle restriction too

The air tunnel dyno doesn't lie... All others do tho

[ceemourkake]

Hey guys I got a 98 328ic a while back … it was sitting for three years in field… surprisingly after a new battery it ran. I’ve cleaned it as best I could and believe me it was a disaster. There was mold inside the car. Soon after I put a new 140amp alternator in as I was having issues with the top (solved) I’ve done the filters and all the fluids. The clutch was completely gone so I’ve sent it away to a shop to be done.. The car is in good shape somehow and has 145k on it. I’ve obviously decided to keep it and more or less have it as weekend car. I also have OEM 16 rims for it that are brand new just shipping for tires Suggestion what to do next ?