mods ??

[///02bmw325i///]

my dad has a 2002 325i and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of what I could do to give the car a little more speed, more horse power, more torque, BUT won't cost a ton. I can't afford a turbo or super charger seeing that I am only 15. The car will not be mine, he will still drive it too. It has a steptronic transmission also, if that helps. It is a daily driver also. If anyone has any ideas for me, please e-mail me at mystikaljn007s@columbus.rr.com or respond here. Thanks

[Kassel]

you could do a search, since this question as been beaten to death, but ur many options are Exhaust, Intake, Chip, SSK, headers... Intake Chip and exhaust would be best bet for first mods though

[///02bmw325i///]

do you have any websites that I could go to and buy parts online?
another thing, I have a new HP laptop and I was wondering if anyone knew how I could hook that up to the ecu or the car and use it to maybe change settings, I don't really know what I'm saying about the laptop but I would like to know if theres anyway to hook it up?

[3erdriver]

the websites are many...

www.rogueengineering.com
www.activeautowerke.com
www.ecisbmw.com
www.dinanbmw.com

those should be enough to get you started the first two offer exhausts that are very popular...the third is makes one of the most affordable and best quality intakes on the market (i have it on mine and the sound performance gains are great for the money) I'm a big fan of the first site...their power pulleys are also a great cost effective add on (also have these). Dinan is the American in house BMW tuner...their stuff is more expensive but youc an buy them at select BMW dealers and they don't void any warranties because they're licensed by bmw (or something like that). Do searches on the board for anything else you might need you'll find that DTM Power is one of the best resources you could ever find for modding your BMW...not only do you get good advice but you can meet people who have the same interest (BMW tuning) in your area. 3 years ago i was where you are now and this board has given me amazing knowledge of the BMW tuning industry and my car itself. Good Luck!!


P.S.(re: the computer) - I assume you're talking about a setup like in the Fast and the Furious...don't need it...don't ever do it unless you put a turbo or supercharger on AND roun it at the track...it's ALOT of money for something completely unnecesary on a daily driver.

[///02bmw325i///]

thanks a lot for the site's. I was refering to the setup mildly like in the fast and furious, but more like connecting it to the ecu and re programming it ? I dunno if that's right. but some people here have set ups like that.

I found DTM power because of my love for bmw and I have learned a lot from it and I hope to learn a lot more in the future. right now I know a lot about imports (e.x. honda's, toyotas, acuras) becuase for a long time I thougth my dad was going to get a honda accord. This seems like a very good place to come for info on this subject. On mufflers, would you have any specific one you would recommend for the car, that are under 600 with out a loud sound but something a little louder then stock, I was looking on m3 motorwerkes and they have and muffler that is an active autowerkes under street sounding mufflers and it seems like a nice one but I'm not sure. if you have any advice on it, please let me know. good, bad ?

[Kaisake]

An easy and less expensive way to re-map, would be to get a Shark Injector. http://www.bimmerworld.com/html/conf...46-325330-.htm

If you want a muffler that sounds a bit louder than stock, but not by much -go with Supersprint.

[3erdriver]

Originally posted by Kaisake
If you want a muffler that sounds a bit louder than stock, but not by much -go with Supersprint.

Agreed...the supersprint is for the most part a stock sound, with a little deeper tone. I considered getting this exhaust, for hte sole purpose of the adjustablilty of it (sort of)...if the sound is too mellow for you, you can cut out a resonator (or both)... and get a sound more and more aggressive. I however have a different favorite exhaust after shopping around...I'm in love with the Rogue Engineering Exhaust...I'll be placing my order in teh next week or two...it is definitely louder than stock, however it isn't obnoxious which is exactly what i want. My advice for you is to shop around, most manufacturers have sound clips and/or videos on their websites so listen to a variety and then make a decision. I reccomend the Supersprint, Rogue, Active Autowerke, and UUC exhausts for price and quality, I have heard nothing but good things about the Dinan, Racing Dynamics, Hamann, and AC Schnitzer, but in my opinion those are too expensive. As for price, I don't know many prices exactly but I can say that the exhaust i mentioned above (the ones i reccommended) will be at or around 600 dollars so you should be set. For the computer setup, I still wouldn't reccomend it. I understand what you want now, you want to be able to plug it in and remap the ECU...Honestly at 15 there is no way you will have anywhere near the knowledge neccesary to program the fuel maps etc correctly, it just takes years of experience and experimentation...plus as I said before it's not neccesary on a daily driver, especially one that is not a Forced Induction (turbo/sc) setup. It's different for Hondas Toyota's etc. I also follow the Import scene very closely and I know there are kits like this out there for civics integras, supras, etc, but they offer programs with them and the maps are preset in them and you just chose, with a comparable BMW setup you will have to do ALL the programming, and I know I would never do that on my dad's car...the gains aren't worth the risk of bodily harm (my old man still scares the shit out me when he's mad even though he's 50). The BMW engineering is alot more complex than the Japanese (hence the price) and it's best not to mess with that, maybe one day a kit similar to those on the Imports will come along in the bmw community, but until then...as Kaisake said the shark injector is a great way to do this without the complexity of having to remap things yourself, Dinan also does a good job with software (although it's kind of expensive at 399 per upgrade and there are several different upgrades...a trend with dinan) I would reccommend the transmission software it does wonders for the steptronic (the most, and possibly only, hated part on the E46) they also have a stage one software download that raises the rev limit removes the speed governor and gives a little HP boost. So i would save your money and time and go with a premade software download.

[///02bmw325i///]

thanks. I've heard of shark injectors before but I don't know much about them. I tried to research them but I havent found much information on them. if you can help me out (anyone) please let me know about em

[///02bmw325i///]

about the computer, thanks for your input, I figured it was something un necessary for me, or even the car, the problem with most of the things is that I don't know how to install a lot of the things for instance a chip or a shark injector or how to work it (naturally a laptop would be much harder so I will rule out that). I can install a muffler, intake and most things like that. But it would be very hard to do headers or things like that becuase all I have are some ramps that I can put the car on and some jack stands. I don't have a lift or any big way to get under the car. I have heard a lot of good things though that say the shark injector is the best way to go or to have something from dinan. but the problem with dinan is it's pretty expensive. another thing is I have pretty much NO idea how a shark injector works, all that I really know is that it has something to do with codes. and I'm not even sure if that is right. if you have any places that I can get some more detailed info on them that would deffinately help. I just bought an intake earlier today just to give the car a little more power, not much tho, its a BenFer Performance Cold Air Intake from m3motorwerkes and I was lookin at this muffler ( http://www.m3motorwerks.com/products...tion.php/II=18 ) it looks like a great one for the price $529 but I don't know really. for as long as I've loved BMW's I still have a lot to learn and opinions really help me a lot on what is really good for the cars and worth my money. so thanks for all the help from everyone

[andrewyim]

you should get proper consent for adding performance mods to your fathers car. it would suck to spend all that and have ot take it back off.

[///02bmw325i///]

hes allowing me to do it as long as I don't do anything like turbo or nitrous or sc so he can still drive it, it will probably be my car when I turn 16 or a little older but I am allowed to do most modifications to it as long as I pay for it myself

[3erdriver]

sounds like a nice dad...I had to wait till I was in college and the car was in my name till I could mod it. Anyway, the Shark Injector is not hard to use at all...you get this electronic hookup that plugs into the diagnostic port under your hood (you take off the plastic cover and there's the plug) then you push a button (unsure exactly as i've never done it I just know the general idea) and it reprograms the software for you...the best part of this system is that you can flash it back to stock anytime you want (i.e. when you're takin it to the dealer). The exhaust you have picked out is a good one...AA is a very reputable company and i've heard nothing but praise about their exhaust. If you already have the intake and I assum will have the exhaust soon, go to www.rogueengineering.com and pick up their e46 power pulleys...they replace two pulleys on the engine, they don't add much peak horsepower...only 1 or 2...but it spreads out the power band and makes more usable power (these gains can really be felt). THe best part about these is that they're like 180 bucks...most performance for your money of any part out there.

[///02bmw325i///]

He is letting me mod his car and my own when I have gotten through college me may give the 3 to me or he may trying to sell it to get a 5 or 7 but we don't know yet, it may just become my car after hich school.... he is being nice about it becasue I've studied cars pretty much all of my life..... so he trusts me a lot, I understand how to install pretty much most of the basic parts out there but there are still somethat I don't know how to install. theres a lot of other parts that I don't know how to install too..... but the shark injector sounds easy enough to install with what you said so I will forsure look at getting a shark injector the power pullies look hard to install. would it require movng the engine or lifting the car up high ? I dont know if I would be able to install the power pullies with just pretty basic tools and with out a lift. any sugguestions ?

[3erdriver]

the pulley's aren't hard to install at all...they just take time and patience...i installed mine but you could get a shop to install them for cheap. It doesn't require a lift or movement of the engine...you basically just take the fan out and work your way down there and take the pulleys off and replace them...pretty straight forward the only complicated part is taking hte fan out and getting to the pulleys. If you can install an exhaust i'd say you'd be fine to install those...good luck.