What should be next on my car?

[M3Gonz]

Hey folks, there's so much out there, and so many opinions on what the best things are to do with our cars in terms of performance and maintenance. Here's what I have done already, I'm wondering what the next logical (key word here) steps should be? ('99 E36 M3, 32k miles)

Upgrades thus far: Dinan suspension (Front & rear), Dinan cold air intake, Dinan software (stage II), new bushings all around (including RTAB's), headlights already done, B&B triflow exhaust.

Considering : UUC front/rear sway bar upgrade, throttle body, M50 manifold


Should I look at ways to improve handling or ways to improve engine performance?

Thanks!

[Bimmerman535i]

What deficiency in the car are you trying to solve? What do you use the car for?

the logical next step is to go drive it -- autocross, track days, fun runs, etc. Car might be perfect as is.

[NeilM]

Depends what you want to do with the car. Only 32K miles — wow.

UUC sway bars are OK, will likely work fine with the Dinan suspension.
M50 manifold would open up the engine's top end. The TB is unnecessary.

Neil

[Hova]

Hey folks, there's so much out there, and so many opinions on what the best things are to do with our cars in terms of performance and maintenance. Here's what I have done already, I'm wondering what the next logical (key word here) steps should be? ('99 E36 M3, 32k miles)

Upgrades thus far: Dinan suspension (Front & rear), Dinan cold air intake, Dinan software (stage II), new bushings all around (including RTAB's), headlights already done, B&B triflow exhaust.

Considering : UUC front/rear sway bar upgrade, throttle body, M50 manifold


Should I look at ways to improve handling or ways to improve engine performance?

Thanks!

How do you drive your car? Do you ever rev past 4k rpm? If so, then an M50 manifold is a great upgrade.

Throttle body doesn't add much power, it's not worth it. They tend to only add 2-3hp.

Do you want to reduce body roll? Swaybars. I run a UUC front sway bar on medium, and the stock sway bar in the rear. I feel like it's a great compromise. The stock car is setup for understeer, and a slightly stiffer front bar will induce oversteer, so right now it feels really well balanced.

32k original miles on an E36 M3, you should consider keeping it stock if you plan on selling it in the future.

I have a brand new UUC front swaybar still in the box sitting in my office that I don't plan on using. PM me if interested.

[JitteryJoe]

Tires are possibly the best upgrade you can do for a car. You running great tires? What about cosmetics? What wheels are you running. It is not all about suspension & engine which, it seems, you have already made investments.

[TostitoBandito]

Yeah I also vote for tires/wheels. Not only can you decide whether you want to run wider tires for more grip or change from staggered to square for less understeer, but many aftermarket wheel choices will also offer weight savings over stock even in wider sizes (I think my Apexes were 7 or 8 pounds lighter per wheel). Or, you could source a specifically sized set of BMW wheels and run those. There's a lot of ways you could go and it can potentially make a big difference in both looks and performance.

[Hova]

Can second the difference lighter rims make. Going from my heavy Contours to Apex ARC-8's felt like the car accelerated way quicker.

[M3Gonz]

Thanks everyone for the ideas so far, I'll look into some lighter rims/tire setups for sure.

Like a few said, at 32k miles everything I'm doing so far I'm making essentially reversible, and I have a whole rack of the stock parts I've taken off and replaced.

I'd like to improve the handling for sure. We have a '98 M3 (with a billion miles) that isn't nearly as fast as the '99, but it handles way better between the UUC sway bars on it and the Koni suspension and slightly lower stance.

[NeilM]

I have Michelin PS4S tires on both my M3 track car (transit/wet track) and my Golf R (daily). Awesome grip and surprisingly not harsh.

Neil

[bluptgm3]

Dinan suspension uses Koni Strut and Shocks, plus proprietary Springs.


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[AttackLax]

Not sexy at all, but have you considered your cooling system? From everything I have read, the plastic parts are ripe for failure if they havent been replaced. For piece of mind, I just replaced my entire system (water pump, fan, fan clutch, belts, thermostat, tstat housing, hoses, radiator, and expansion tank) with upgraded parts from Stuart and Mishimoto. It would have taken a day or two if I didn't goon the torquing of a water pump nut/stud.

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[fasteddie313]

500-600 hp turbo setup