Any advice on helping a 20 Year Old BMW lover?

[Trav]

Hi All.

So I have recently bought a 2002 318ti auto. I know, I know... Auto is not very sporty. But I was wondering if there were any cost effective ways of spicing up the power that it puts out? Money is an option seeing that I dont have much of an income. Just looking for idea's if anyone would be kiind enough to help it would really be appreciated.

Regards
Trav
:joy:

 

[abmi0000]

To be honest, there isn't a lot of trapped power in that car. It just wasn't meant for performance. Your first bet is to decat and do software. That's around R4-5k

 

[Ga-3M]

To be honest, there isn't a lot of trapped power in that car. It just wasn't meant for performance. Your first bet is to decat and do software. That's around R4-5k

+1 Unfortunately bud, if you could stretch your budget to do a full exhaust system plus the above you'd get a little bit of extra power but as Abmi stated above, there isn't a lot of power to be gained from the car.

 

[Dopi]

To be honest, there isn't a lot of trapped power in that car. It just wasn't meant for performance. Your first bet is to decat and do software. That's around R4-5k

+1, and maybe an air filter, my friend also has a 318ti with a cone air filter, nice deep almost straight six sound

 

[Trav]

Yeah it did feel like a bit of a cruiser to drive.. Oh well guess I will have to stick with what I have for now. Would like to build an M3 turbo in the future. but that would just be a track car

 

[jeff_denning]

As the guys say above, as tempting as it is - rather steer clear of modding the car. Once you've done a chip and seen that little extra gain you'll probably become addicted and end up throwing loads of cash at it (like I did :fencelook: )

Rather take the "modifying cash" save it up and buy yourself something nice at the end of the day :=):

 

[Peter@AEW]

Hi All.

So I have recently bought a 2002 318ti auto. I know, I know... Auto is not very sporty. But I was wondering if there were any cost effective ways of spicing up the power that it puts out? Money is an option seeing that I dont have much of an income. Just looking for idea's if anyone would be kiind enough to help it would really be appreciated.

Regards
Trav
:joy:

Trav I have a son slightly older than you are so I will tell you what I say to him.

You have a car that was designed for a specific purpose which did not include fast acceleration and high top speed nor sharp handling qualities or breathtaking stopping power.

Every cent you spend on that car will be a compromise without any real benefit of a Rand spend to performance gained.

My suggestion would be that you keep the car standard and you look after it without spending any money on accessories.
Instead save the money you would have spent on the accessories and when you have enough sell the car and buy one which will have more performance.

It will be far more cost effective in the long run.

If you look after it properly when it comes to time for it to be sold you will find an easy market as opposed to it being converted into an ill performing hot rod.

Not lecturing to you just sharing my thoughts with you.

 

[Trav]

Good idea Jeff. Think I am going to do that. A mate of my Dad's has the software and plug to do the ECU. Think I will just tamper with that and then leave it as is. Maybe kick the cat aswell

---

Thanks for the advice Alex. Any thoughts will help :ty:

 

[jeff_denning]

Good idea Jeff. Think I am going to do that. A mate of my Dad's has the software and plug to do the ECU. Think I will just tamper with that and then leave it as is. Maybe kick the cat aswell

---

Thanks for the advice Alex. Any thoughts will help :ty:

---

Sounds like a good idea bud, just don't drop loads of cash at it :thumbs: People will tell you to stay clear of me when it comes to cat's... awaiting moranor's flame trolling :rollsmile:

In my experience, the bigger the engine the more potential and "power unlocking" capabilities you'll have.

 

[CamZo]

Hi All.

So I have recently bought a 2002 318ti auto. I know, I know... Auto is not very sporty. But I was wondering if there were any cost effective ways of spicing up the power that it puts out? Money is an option seeing that I dont have much of an income. Just looking for idea's if anyone would be kiind enough to help it would really be appreciated.

Regards
Trav
:joy:

Trav I have a son slightly older than you are so I will tell you what I say to him.

You have a car that was designed for a specific purpose which did not include fast acceleration and high top speed nor sharp handling qualities or breathtaking stopping power.

Every cent you spend on that car will be a compromise without any real benefit of a Rand spend to performance gained.

My suggestion would be that you keep the car standard and you look after it without spending any money on accessories.
Instead save the money you would have spent on the accessories and when you have enough sell the car and buy one which will have more performance.

It will be far more cost effective in the long run.

If you look after it properly when it comes to time for it to be sold you will find an easy market as opposed to it being converted into an ill performing hot rod.

Not lecturing to you just sharing my thoughts with you.

What he said.....

I would rather spend that money on exterior mods for now....

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

I am with Alex and Jeff on this one. Rather save your cash for the next purchase.

 

[Twinz]

I agree 200% with a1exander :ty:

 

[Mr Occo]

Do what I did to my 318.....


NOTHING. leave it. want 330 power then buy a 330.

Im very happy with my 318 as my workhorse. I am currently underground building a secret toy which will be revealed later this year!

 

[CamZo]

But remember guys his 20 years old.... so mod it here and there and at most an exhaust for some tone. enjoy your car especially if its gonna be with you for a while.

 

[Raybimmer]

Trav , Alexander stole my thoughts ....:thumbs:
Take your car and look at it from a buyers view . Will you pay R10 000 more than stock because it has a chip , loud exhaust , 75 mm lower springs etc ?

Now if you lower the car 75 mm for example and you think it looks great what do you get , a harder ride and a pain to get over speed bumps ?

If you chip the car and fit a performance exhaust you must put the standard items back when you sell , nobody will give you good money for a noise bucket .

Now the positive , you have a well engineered car as a daily drive . You can save money to build a toy like a e36 with a 328i turbo motor over 3 years or so . Then you trade in the 318i and get a late e46 325i or a e90 325i .:thumbs:

Good luck .

 

[Philip Foglar]

Personally, I don't think it's going to worth the money to try and extract more power out of your car, so pretty much agree with what has already been said. Maybe invest is better lower profile wheels and tyres to improve the car's handling etc. Maybe even a strut brace and a few tasteful cosmetic mods. :thumbs:

Sounds like a good idea bud, just don't drop loads of cash at it :thumbs: People will tell you to stay clear of me when it comes to cat's... awaiting moranor's flame trolling :rollsmile:

LOL, cats have been known to hide in fear when they hear or see Jeff coming along!! :rollsmile:

 

[Dippies]

Ill put my money an Alex Jeff and Tiggy's advice.

Save and when the time is right buy a bigger BM, You will not be disappointed. :thumbs:

 

[moranor@axis]

not a good base to modify at all... problem is the work you do on it will still cost the same, but you will get less gain and you will never end up with power that will make you happy...

I would seriously consider looking at how much you can get on trade in for the car... there are plenty people out there that think the smaller engine bmws use less fuel you might find it will be really cheap to upgrade to a larger engine :rollsmile:

PS dont let jeff do a decat on your car... it seems to have varying results...

 

[jeff_denning]

not a good base to modify at all... problem is the work you do on it will still cost the same, but you will get less gain and you will never end up with power that will make you happy...

I would seriously consider looking at how much you can get on trade in for the car... there are plenty people out there that think the smaller engine bmws use less fuel you might find it will be really cheap to upgrade to a larger engine :rollsmile:

PS dont let jeff do a decat on your car... it seems to have varying results...

Pffft, please man.
I actually give a more "value for money" since the muffler gets removed too :rollsmile:

 

[moranor@axis]

not a good base to modify at all... problem is the work you do on it will still cost the same, but you will get less gain and you will never end up with power that will make you happy...

I would seriously consider looking at how much you can get on trade in for the car... there are plenty people out there that think the smaller engine bmws use less fuel you might find it will be really cheap to upgrade to a larger engine :rollsmile:

PS dont let jeff do a decat on your car... it seems to have varying results...

Pffft, please man.
I actually give a more "value for money" since the muffler gets removed too :rollsmile:

weight reduction is a good thing but who knows what might get gutted next time :rollsmile: