E30 Zone

I've currently got a M40 powered 318i, which is great as a daily run around, but I'm looking to start doing 7 or 8 trackdays a year. I'm thinking of selling the the 318i and buying a 318is to use as my daily drive and for doing trackdays. What modifications would you guys suggest making to a 318is for the track?

Why not just keep the 318i as a road car then buy a 325 as a track car? The 325 is not much more expensive than the 318is and a lot more powerful.

As far as mods go,

Decent suspension/ bushes
Uprate the pads, disks and get some braided hoses
Strip out the interior, fit a roll cage and a couple of bucket seats

That will do you for starters, if you want more you could -

track tyres (yoko a048's)
fibreglass panels
Big brake kit
Chip the engine

It depends on your budget and what sort of a comprimise/bias you are happy with, a roll cage/bucket seats/harnesses would be advisable for a car used for plenty of track days but you might not want that on a daily driver.

m3ben05 wrote:Why not just keep the 318i as a road car then buy a 325 as a track car? The 325 is not much more expensive than the 318is and a lot more powerful.

As far as mods go,

Decent suspension/ bushes
Uprate the pads, disks and get some braided hoses
Strip out the interior, fit a roll cage and a couple of bucket seats

That will do you for starters, if you want more you could -

track tyres (yoko a048's)
fibreglass panels
Big brake kit
Chip the engine

But a 318is is better in the corners, and surely thats what track days are all about at the end of the day?
Not that 325 is a bad track car, used to have one as my 'ring bitch

Agree with the rest of the stuff, decent brake fluid too

Fair enough, iv never driven a 318is so i cant comment. I guess it would depend on how much you want to change on the car. I would imagine that a 325 with decent suspension would be better handling than a standard 318is.

Suspension and bushes are your number one upgrades on a track.

Get some GAZ coilovers and Powerflex bushes.

If you then feel you need more power then do some upgrades to the engine/management.

A 325i will be faster on the straights and maybe exiting out of corners but the 318iS will be much better in the corners.

I want the better balance of the 318is, as I want the car for handling over power. Looks like it's a pretty simple case of sorting the suspension and breaks then, and stripping it out is I want to take it that far.

m3ben05 wrote:Fair enough, iv never driven a 318is so i cant comment. I guess it would depend on how much you want to change on the car. I would imagine that a 325 with decent suspension would be better handling than a standard 318is.

318is and 325i have the same suspension!! exactly the same!

Surely the spring rates are different?!

Only the front springs, obviously to account for extra weight up front but the struts, ARB, bushes etc are the same.
The rear ARB can be 12mm on a 325 unless its a Sport or its got M-tech suspension which means it would have 14.5mm like the iS