Spend my £300?

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tommtb
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:46 pm

Hi everyone i have £300 i didnt know about so i have decided to spend it on my newly bought 325, i was planning on new wheels but have fallen for the BBS option so im sticking with them.

The car currently needs nothing doing to it so i was planning on spending the money on some simple tweaks under the bonnet, can you provide some suggestions please?

If there are any not so simple suggestions they are welcome as well as i have free access to a race mechanic, well ill pay him in pints...

Oh and ive gone for an IS lip too as its got an Mtech1 spoiler fitted

Cheers, Tom
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gooner1
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:48 pm

Hottuning 6 branch Tom, for the asthetics if nothing else.
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tommtb
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:04 pm

i would like a bit of extra performance from the tweaks too by the way lol

ive seen bad things said about the hottuning branch too (dont want to get off topic and start a debate tho)

cheers
jaffro
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:11 pm

Hi everyone i have £300 i didnt know about
your lucky ive just had £200 taken by o2 for a phone i never used a infact no longer have the sim card :cry: :cry:
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daimlerman
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:20 pm

I would reccomend the Hottuning 6 branch as well.Best £200 I have spent.The remaining £100 will not quite buy the other two bits of exhaust you will need.. :cry:
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tommtb
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:25 pm

ouch about the phone mate, i hate crap like that i wish i could get by without a mobile...

so the 6branch is out the window then lol

there are no small mods you can do to the engine here and there to help it run as well as possible and release a couple of bhp here and there???
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Batesy8
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:31 pm

throttle body? big bore? go on!
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tommtb
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:35 pm

havent heard of that mod before yet mate, any prices and benefits off the top of your head? ill have a search too

cheers for the shout
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:37 pm

good service - spark plugs, oil, oil filter, air filter, distributor cap, rotor arm, etc if it hasn't been done already

daimlerman wrote:I would reccomend the Hottuning 6 branch as well.Best £200 I have spent.The remaining £100 will not quite buy the other two bits of exhaust you will need.. :cry:
what other 2 pieces of exhaust are needed?
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Batesy8
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:43 pm

Check the shop for bbtb's, around 150 i think and about a 7bhp gain? Throttle response is much improved.
daimlerman
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:43 pm

daimlerman wrote:I would reccomend the Hottuning 6 branch as well.Best £200 I have spent.The remaining £100 will not quite buy the other two bits of exhaust you will need.. :cry:
what other 2 pieces of exhaust are needed?[/quote]Centre and rear of a three piece system,unless you are lucky enough to have a three piece system already,of course. :D
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tommtb
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:49 pm

mine has got an aftermarket stainless system so will have a peak at whether its a 3piece after work

BBTB sounds pretty good to me, would that work well with a zone chip or the other popular chip on here? ive already put cash aside for that and the IS lip before i noticed my £300 lol

how tricky is the BBTB to fit the search hasnt thrown much good stuff up...shout if anyone knows of a fitting guide?

cheers for the help so far

more suggestions are welcome!
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:52 pm

Right performance wise £300 will buy you nowt for a 325i,

A BBTB and Zone chip will set you back £250 odd, and while IMO worthwhile won't actually gain you much if anything. But add those and change your air filter (for a clean new one not a fancy cone thing), now that will make you feel like it was money well spent at least.
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:02 pm

Sports seats if it has not got them allready.
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:14 pm

LSD if it hasn't got one fitted already. I reckon that that will be my next mod. Under bonnet though, I reckon a zone chip, throttle body, oil change, dizzy cap / rotor and standard air filter should perk up your 325 no end..
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tommtb
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:14 pm

has them already, it was a showroom model so has the tech1 spoiler, heated black leather sports seats, sports suspension and cruise control form the factory.

im not really worried about getting more power for the £300 just thought id spend it on the car rather than beer?
if theres 10-15 break to be had overall it would just be a happy bonus...?

its going to have a big investment next year so ill wait for proper power until then.
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:15 pm

Do a trackday and get some instruction
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tommtb
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:15 pm

has the LSD too lol, cheers for the suggestions mate sounds like a good plan for now...until some more get put forward
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tommtb
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:16 pm

nice idea mate but im not a trackday man myself, its my everyday car too

i get the track experience in my mates cars though, cant beat it for a laugh
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Ya55lne
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Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:42 pm

Cant you just have it re-mapped? More performance, better fuel economy, better response with the throttle and so on....

It cost about £250-£300 to do so!!
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tommtb
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 10:26 am

does remapping really have a big benefit on these cars?

and is £250-300 a realistic price seeing as thats all the cash? Actually who is good on here to talk to about it?
Ant
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 10:41 am

for £300......................

Given that the CR on the M20 is very low, a good head skim, refurb and push the CR up to around 10:1 would net a much bigger gain than anything you can bolt on, and if you can get the spannering done for beers, that is within your fundage.

or..

new dizzy cap and rotor.

proper service

fit BPR6ES plugs

check/setup the TPS correctly( they never are )

Replace cambelt and to valve clearances

new throttle cable

brake fluid change.

and then get a dyno plot done to see what you have now,

no point in the 6 branch at this stage IMHO, looks nice, sounds nice but will not net a massive gain on its own( 1 or 2 HP with a few lbs/ft lost below 4K ),

I'd recommend a cam change first, but thats outside your budget for now.
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tommtb
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:01 pm

thats strange...i was just writing an email to your address on the Atech website

cheers for the professional advice it sounds like a good choice of options to me! the only problem being that im using it as an everyday car so the head skim could take some time to get organised and done could it?

the mate with the spanners hasnt worked on a bmw but has alot of experience with peugeots and cosworths so how straight forward is upping the CR? Would i be better getting it done professionally if so how much?

Cheers for the help
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tommtb
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:01 pm

it had a service a month or so ago just before i bought it and was stamped in the history, so im good there.
Ant
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 2:30 pm

service or proper service ??? I spend 50% of my time un-doing other peoples bodges of late :lol:

if you pre arrange with a machine shop for a time and date, quite often a skim can be completed whist you wait.

working the CR out is pretty easy TBH, have a look at the engine number and see what you have, 84 6E or 84 6K ?? its important to know which you have as the CR changes( pistons not head ) and obv you need to know the starting CR before any machine work is carried out

as for the guy doing the work, its all nuts and bolts, and TBH the M20 is like a 6 cyl pinto in some respects, if he needs an assist, there is a rebuild article on the mainsite and wiki

:thumb:
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tommtb
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 3:52 pm

well a BMW dealership service how does that rate? probably not the most extensive service you can get, though i didnt read through the details, just checked it was a proper place...

ok great ill have a check of the engine number and let you know if thats ok with you mate?

so it could be done in a weekend if the skim was done on a friday basically? he works for a company called extec rebuilding old formula one and le mans cars among other things so he should be ok lol its just a voyage into the unknown.

how much is a second hand head likely to be just out of curiosity?

appreciate the help, Tom
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shafiq
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 5:05 pm

i think you should buy some decent alloys (secondhand) for about £100 and buy a cheap second m tec hand kit for £200 :cool:
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tommtb
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 5:12 pm

i think 15" BBS alloys are perfectly decent for now mate they suit it perfectly, i would like bigger ones but not for £100...would do it properly and get some serious wheels if i decide on that route, maybe some hartges or genuine alpinas...im dreaming now

ill see how my IS lip and Tech1 spoiler combo works for a bit before i do any bodywork...whats your car got added on? did you mean a tech2 kit?
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Ya55lne
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:06 pm

tommtb wrote:does remapping really have a big benefit on these cars?

and is £250-300 a realistic price seeing as thats all the cash? Actually who is good on here to talk to about it?
Not to sure how much effect it will make on these cars.
I had it done on my golf gt tdi 110bhp and fu*k me that thing took off like a rocket!! It brought it from 110bhp to around 143bhp. But it made my fuel economy alot better and the drive was smoother aswel, car reacted spot on.

It worth finding out about how much of a difference it would make on your car.

I had mine done for less then that price to be honest but i had a good friend of mine do it for me, but thats the sort of price they do go for, obviously all cars differ but im sure it will be around £250 - £300 for an e30.

Give this garage a call and speak to them about it, they know there ins and outs on these things so they should help you and tell you what gain you will get from it and price etc...... www.mpmotorsportz.co.uk 01296 436800
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:04 pm

Getting large percentage power increases out of turbocharged engines is inheriently easy when compared to NA engines unfortunatly.
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:13 pm

I have a M20B25 head for sale which has been, crack and pressure tested, skimed, pro cleaned, new valves and guides and the inlet ports slightly opened up. Ready to be built up and fitted. £200.
http://www.bmrperformance.co.uk

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tommtb
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Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:39 pm

yeah i was going to say that about the remap option...still sounds like you got a good job done on your car mate, nice one

thats sounding pretty good mate, do you have reciepts for the work done on the head?

does sound like the head work and increasing the compression ratio could be the way to go, ill see what ant says about your offer if thats ok mate

cheers
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