Whats some good engine modifications for an e30 316i?

[jaistanley]

Nathan looks like Gollum from lord of the rings in that photo....

My precious......


Jai

[penton08]

Nathan looks like Gollum from lord of the rings in that photo....

My precious......


Jai

[UweM3]

don't ant to sound like your dad, but at 17 you should not want to have "going faster" as the first thing on your list. Learn to drive the car properly (i.e. novice track day with some instructions) and hone your skills. Thats is going to make you faster in the first place, not fiddling with your the cars power.(which isn't going to change a lot with your car and budget anyway)
Hammering down high speed on full throttle is not cool, but doing some good lines around Brands Hatch is.
Safety first.

[N00b]

don't ant to sound like your dad, but at 17 you should not want to have "going faster" as the first thing on your list. Learn to drive the car properly (i.e. novice track day with some instructions) and hone your skills. Thats is going to make you faster in the first place, not fiddling with your the cars power.(which isn't going to change a lot with your car and budget anyway)
Hammering down high speed on full throttle is not cool, but doing some good lines around Brands Hatch is.
Safety first.

^
Pretty good advice tbh.
Instead of spending money on the car itself (other than bringing it back up to factory condition) the OP should spend his money as described above. You don't need big power or l33t handling to enjoy yourself (not to mention learn a thing or two) on the track.
There's also the argument that if you learn your craft on something relatively low powered you will be ready for more powerful cars by the time you can afford to buy and run one.

[Brianmoooore]

don't ant to sound like your dad, but at 17 you should not want to have "going faster" as the first thing on your list. Learn to drive the car properly

Exactly! 16 year old local lad found out that yesterday when he flipped a Land Rover on a road near me. Killed instantly.

[UweM3]

don't ant to sound like your dad, but at 17 you should not want to have "going faster" as the first thing on your list. Learn to drive the car properly

Exactly! 16 year old local lad found out that yesterday when he flipped a Land Rover on a road near me. Killed instantly.

I am very sorry to hear this. My condolences to his family.
Had two losses myself recently, so I know the devastating feeling.

[hazd31]

i was 17 not long ago (only 19 now)

as a kid its all about going faster! fortunatly for me, i chose slightly underpowerd tanks, 1.4 mk3 golf and my 320i cabby, being involved in motorsport heavily from a young age you learn from losses but once passing my test its all about racing on the road.

I have slowed down now, a bit, but i found a lot of kids crashing around me, while trying to keep up in overpowerd 1.1 french turds, i have learned from their mistakes, and believe my 320 with as little power it has and all the weight it drags along is a fast enough car for the road! any more power would be put to waste.

[MarkT]

Best thing to do is to fit better breakes, suspension and a decent set of tyres wouldn't go a miss. Get the car doing what it does best. Going round corners and stopping well. I don't think cars with uprated brakes cost more to insure. It's a safety feature ;)

[hazd31]

Best thing to do is to fit better breakes, suspension and a decent set of tyres wouldn't go a miss. Get the car doing what it does best. Going round corners and stopping well. I don't think cars with uprated brakes cost more to insure. It's a safety feature ;)

good idea, matching pairs of tyres is always a start

Insurance will charge more for brakes, same as they would with a roll cage, they obvously assume if the car has been uprated it is going to be driven hard

[Dave_M3]

I agree. I'm a much better driver from learning how to drive a car with a sloppy 316i for a year than if I jumped straight into the modded iS I got after it.

I still would have put a 4.45 diff in at the time if I knew how much of a difference it makes to a 316!


Most important part of an E30 to spend money on is tyres though...

Be it a 316 or a Sport Evo, good choice of tyres will make or break the car. It amazes me how people spend loads on suspension, brakes and engine mods and then throw a set of ditch-finders all round.


Sorry to hear about the local fella Brian

[MarkT]

Hear hear on the tyres.

Shortlist should read...

Shorter diff £40 or so
better tyres £160-200
strip out interior £free
better brakes poss 325i ones £40
better suspension £sky's the limit

Striping out the car should help improve braking and handling. Should provide a nippy well sorted little car. Worth investing in these things to prepare for bigger/better engines. Also should look in to a good service for the current engine and look at replacing bushes, arb droplinks, and wheel bearings where necessary should tighten it all up.