What Mods?

[Spy007]

Ok here it is in a Nutshell

I might get a bit of cash (R10 000) in the next couple of months. What would be the best way to spend it on the gopher regarding mods. It is a 2005 318i A/T Tourer.

It must stay A/T so no gearbox antics.

Would love to get as much power as I can for my buck So exclude the Chip and Decat. That will be done but not form part of the money I want to spend.

Any Advice Please and Thank you.

 

[StK]

E46 330 brake calipers and discs...Braided brakelines and clutch hose....HID Xenon's,Angel eyes,colour coded bumper strips,tinted windows.BBS LM's alloys or other equally cool ones.

 

[zaleonardz]

Cheapest for 10k.

See if you can do any or all of the following.

1. Change the gear ratio on the diff to a slighty higher ratio (will up fuel consumption a bit). but if you find the right diff, its like R1,500 from autofever. You just need to match the casing and output shafts. Your welcome to meet me on a saturday morning at Autofever - R1,500 ????

2. Replace airfilter R300

3. Service Injectors ???

4. Remove Cats and Replace with straight pipes.. R 3,000

5. Either a remap or a Unichip Series Q and a Dyno. R4,000? (after the cat replacement)

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Actually, I wanna add on to this...

Since you spend so much time in your Car,

I would do/add the following as well

1 x Replace front speakers with a decent set of splits
1x Install a 5 channel amp with some decent cabling.
1x Decent Hi/Low Converter...
1x DICE or something MP3 compatible device and an Ipod....
1x Small boxed sub

This should be about 8k. combine that with the 1.5k for the diff ... Thats the most significant 10k your going to spend

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Actually, I wanna add on to this...

Since you spend so much time in your Car,

I would do/add the following as well

1 x Replace front speakers with a decent set of splits
1x Install a 5 channel amp with some decent cabling.
1x Decent Hi/Low Converter...
1x DICE or something MP3 compatible device and an Ipod....
1x Small boxed sub

This should be about 8k. combine that with the 1.5k for the diff ... Thats the most significant 10k your going to spend

 

[Spy007]

What would a diff change Do??? Ratio i mean.
Ones I like so far.


Remove Cats and Replace with straight pipes.. R 3,000

5. Either a remap or a Unichip Series Q and a Dyno. R4,000? (after the cat replacement)

E46 330 brake calipers and discs.

Not to worried about external, wheels. I know it will look great but with the KM i do it will be a waist. Chips, dirt and wear and tear will kill me to maintain it. Also come c some of the roads I travell. I mean not potholes but Grand canyons.

 

[clutchplate]

option 1: NOS + Uni-Q chip & dyno

option 2: small turbo(3500), turbo manifold(2K+-), intercooler (R800), uni-Q+ & tune (2.8K) the rest should cover piping and other goodies.

you can do allot with 10K if you spend it really intelligently

 

[Spy007]

Me Likey this a lot.
Now the next interesting ? Doing the below option, what gains can I realistically expect from the
4 cyl N46b20 engine. Currently spec is 110kw 200Nm.
and Would like to thank clutcy or/and streetracer in advance for unknowingly volunteering to install this all, if and when it happens. Man you guys are da Bomb.


option 2: small turbo(3500), turbo manifold(2K+-), intercooler (R800), uni-Q+ & tune (2.8K) the rest should cover piping and other goodies.

Remove Cats and Replace with straight pipes.. R 3,000

E46 330 brake callipers and discs.

 

[clutchplate]

with the motor properly tuned and a small turbo you can get a good 160-180kW out of it I reckon at safe boost levels, if you upgrade later to forged internals and a better intake manifold/throttles you can get over 200kW if you crank up that boost haha and maybe allot more if you upgrade the turbo also...

but I reckon you will be kicking serious ass with a small turbo ... I've seen turbo builds for REALLY cheap lol. you just need to keep it together and get the right stuff for the right prices... even second hand stuff if your on a budget.

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btw, I have seen a 400+HP 2.0 4cyl bmw engine, it really has potential if your willing to put in the time and coin

 

[Spy007]

So I gues I bettter hope that this comes of and start saving a bit in the mean time.



MMM 160KW. Turn my gopher into ROAD RUNNER. Beep beep Woooooooooooooooosh

 

[andrewbuch]

AFAIK the e46 330i Brakes need 17" Wheels...

I would
1) add a set of 17" 330i Individual wheels
2) 330i Brakes
3) Better Suspension & Some sway bars etc to tighten up the handling
4) Then maybe Clutchys Turbo idea

 

[STREETRACER]

Spy, the diff is almost a no-no coz autos run very high ratios for example 4.40 diff ratios! so to find a higher ratio will be near impossible! I would do filter, full TNT exhaust branch and free flow, uniQ chip and with the rest of the money you can take the wife for a nice romantic dinner! the car will gain a good percentage of power.. but do not expect the figures of an 6cyl but easy the same percentage of gains!

But even with an 40wkw gain a slightly modded LIFE golf is still going to murder you..
A/T is a problem on small engines!

if you looking for a little more power do the mods i mentioned.
If you want to race get some NOS.. you will rape all sorts of golfs then! on a 45hp shot you will gain close to 100nm of torque.. If done by someone like Sabe coetzee or Dricus from Venom your car will be as safe as before!

 

[zaleonardz]

Interesting SR.

I did not know the auto's were that high. The one that came out of my V8 was a 2.93..

But I guess it kinda does make sense, and if the ratio is already that high, its going to be pointless going for one slightly higher...

See you learn something every day.

On a side note, since I dropped the diff from the 3.64 to the 3.15, the consumption on my 540 went from 15.0L/100 to 13.2L/100 on average according to my OBD..

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There is another mod you can do thats far cheaper.

Just go buy some happy grass from our cape town buddies, and you will FLY while doing 20km/h, and its cheap

 

[Gizmo]

Swap out the 4cyl for a 6cyl engine like a 328i motor. You can still use your A/T on the 6cyl motor. It will be the best Rand-per-Kilowatt conversion you can do. Oh and it will be reliable, the turbo idea is not reliable and you don't have the space in the engine bay to install one anyway...

 

[STREETRACER]

whohahaha :clap:
The 540 has about 1nm of torque more than the 318i :mmm: you can launch in 5th gear and still have a smoke show!
on the smaller engine A/T cars they go overkill with the ratios to get it going!

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agreed with Gizmo but that is going to be a bit more than R10k to get going!
Then i would rather sell and buy a 6cyl!

 

[Sankekur]

I have a spare e46 325i engine with a 5 spd manual gearbox that I am not using at the moment.

 

[clutchplate]

ooh, cool, whats the best price for the 325 engine ? mechanic girls needs a new engine, her 320 blew up the motor.

 

[Yulz9081]

Have to agree with SR! I did decat,freeflow,chip,filter on my 318 Auto and still dead! Well noticeable difference from stock performance etc but following my mech in his stock e36 328 made it look like i was in reverse! :bawling: Lol next car has to be a 6cyl! Cant stand the 4-cyl power anymore esp with auto box, and it drinks like a 6-cyl minus the power

 

[Spy007]

MMM So much to ponder.. 6cyl bit heavy on jiuce is it not compared to the 4? Will shop for a nice 328 engine and c what they go for. If I swap engines what else or is it plug and play?


If I win the lotto il just buy a M5 engine and drop it in. I love the Tourer and will NEVER SELL IT. and if all goes well it will be paid in full by December.

 

[Yulz9081]

@Spy
Well thats the thing, I may have gotten a friday car from the factory coz my friends 330 auto consumption is only 12.5l/100km compared to my 11.9 with mixed driving even after i drove the 330 to see for myself. So dont know if its just my car or what but its rather heavy for a 4cyl auto compared to the sixes even after every possible part replacement etc. to improve economy.

I understand your love for the touring, we replaced our E46 touring for the E91 in sportspack, damn i love to just stare at it all day

 

[Spy007]

Not just the love of it but it is my first ONE. Want to keep it forever and ever and slowly make it a sleeper 318 A/T tourer. Or jst until I can beat the other rep @ the company who has a 1.9TDI golf.

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FIY my avg consumption is about 9.5/10.5

 

[Yulz9081]

you have that consumption and its a touring! My sedan is heavier! I dont know what else to replace or do to bring it down :bawling: