Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Olympia, WA
    Posts
    143

    Best Budget Performance/Handling Upgrades < $500

    I think a thread with all of the best performance/handling mods around for $500 and under would be a good thing for many people. Sorry if this has already been posted.

    Ill add to the list:

    BMW Performance Intake $310 USD
    BMW Performance CF Strut Brace $270 USD

    Lets keep them coming!
    Last edited by HaloArchive; 02-18-2011 at 10:49 PM. Reason: Prices

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Posts
    15,433
    Shelton, I don't think anyone has started a thread like this. Best mods for under $500 is a good idea.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Pompano Beach, Florida
    Posts
    621
    Active Autowerk's tune by far I paid under $200 at their open house

    So far really impressed with AA strut bar as well. Bolt on no mods and the car is noticeably stiffer. Less than $300
    Jon D -- 04 330cic Imola Red ZHP Vert -- Active Autowerke Exhaust, Software remap & Strut Bar, K&N filter, custom stereo[Alpine head unit (CDA105) w/Sirius Radio, Iphone integration & Alpine amp (PDX-5), Hertz speakers (165.3 F, 130.3R), JL Sub(CS110RG -W 1v2)], Color match grills, tint all around for when the tops up, custom painted 135s

    Other Cars
    2014 Audi SQ5 2015 GMC Canyon All Terrain

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Sandy Eggo
    Posts
    628
    Diff swap $300

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Mass
    Posts
    454
    dynotune nitrous big bang for the buck, the guys over there I know personally since they used to own the dyno shop I ran. they have great prices:

    http://www.dynotunenitrous.com/store...?idCategory=51

    I haven't installed mine yet but I have been at the road course with a car that had them and these felt great up front.

    http://www.treehouseracing.com/compo...9cd5314964.jpg

    2005 BMW 330i ZHP
    2004 BMW 330Ci ZHP A DIY Turbocharger Project!

    My site: www.E46Turbo330Ci.com
    http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/image.php?type=sigpic&userid=545&dateline=1337626488

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Liberty Township, OH
    Posts
    37,935
    Diff swap $300
    Not a typical price.

    Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
    Call Me Dane l 2/2004 330i ZHP l 18x8 ET45 BBS CK's wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sport AS3+ @ 245-40-18 l KW V1 Coilovers in front l KW V1 springs w/ Bilstein B8 dampeners in rear l BMW Performance Rotors l UUC StrutBarbarian l Racing Dynamics Rear Strut Bar l Jim Conforti Shark Injector l Light Birch Interior Trim l Bimmian Celly Mount l M3 Trunk Mat l l e90 Performance E-Brake & Shift Knob l M3 Tri-Stitched Boots l AL Headlight Retrofit with ZKW Lenses l CobyWheel Wrap w/M3 Stitching l LCM sw 4.5 triple blink and rear fogs l Maple Interior Trim

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Sandy Eggo
    Posts
    628
    Quote Originally Posted by danewilson77 View Post
    Not a typical price.

    Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
    That's what I thought as well, but I spent about 8 hours on eBay yesterday and found a few for under $300. Of course there's the cost of install as well if you decide not to DIY.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Vancouver, Canada
    Posts
    3,588
    Advance Driver training!

    As I have learned from the past in many endeavours, you have to learn how to handle yourself before you can grow yourself. Look at really huge bodybuilders who have grown so big that they start having back/joint problems. They grew their muscles before they conditioned everything else to handle that weight. Everything you begin in, you must start from the basics...learn how to do the basics REALLY well and build upon that after. Most people who own any car have never learned how to take full advantage of their vehicle in stock form. That's why you see wannabe racers with a lot of $$$$$$ in modded up cars that have crashed and totalled their car or make a fool out of themselves the 1st time they goto the track. We all know how to drive right? LOL.

    In my beginning years of driving I took driver training on small and large cars. Pretty soon people were amazed at what our AWD minivan can do and the limits I put on that thing scared people. I could make that thing do corners that most BMW drivers wouldn't take their car through.

    Invest in yourself and learn how to handle your own car before growing the car to match your limits. It took me 3 years of practice and training until I felt it was right to start upgrading my car performance wise. Today I fully appreciate what each addon does as I've learned the limits of myself and the vehicle in stock form. I modded my car to teach me how parts work and not work...not the impress the people around me who I don't even know.

    But there are all sorts of different scenarios.....Your first modification performance wise should be handling. Dyno'ing and tuning my car has only given the engine a tiny more power which doesn't mean much when I'm racing the minivan next to me to the grocery store. You may get the thrill of having a car faster than someone else's but who's really paying attention to that and recording it? Making the car faster should be the last thing on your list. I've learned that BMW has done an outstanding job on the engine from the start. No wonder why they are the ultimate driving machine...at least during the E46 years. LOL. I had tuners fly in from California put my car on the dyno and tune my ECU by taking it out and reprogramming it on the spot then reinstall and test. Not many gains were made from such a great design engine.

    So handling is the main thing you can improve on, but most of these addons will be more suited for the track to quicken your lap times compared to getting to work 2 seconds quicker. If I had to do it all again...I'd start with tires if you don't have them already. Then bushings to restore all the play that old bushings do to take away steering feel. Then a much more aggressive adjustable sway/stabalizer bar for the front and back to reduce the little roll the stock sway bar has already. If you're the type who has learned the feeling of understeer and oversteer in your car and you can make either happen in any given scenario, then the adjustable part of the sway will allow you to play around with the balance of the car to have more or less of whichever. After that then I'd either do springs if the lowering is minor but add shocks if you want to lower it aggressively. For more adjustability of how your car reacts to hard input, goto adjustable shocks to do the same as the adjustable sways do but in a much more finely tuned manner. If you're the type that wants to have the perfect height and love the control of how high the car should be, go with coilovers. They make nonadjustable shock versions too but as an enthusiast of handling you will want to spend the extra in adjustable. After that I'd goto wheels, either larger and/or wider so accommodate even more grip to each corner. This is when you'll notice all your suspension modifications at work because cornering will be faster and braking will be later with added confidence.

    Braking modifications are the last on my list just because BMW again has done such a wonderful job of over engineering the stopping power of the vehicle. The main part that most change are the pads. You'll want to change them if you're tired of brake dust and want to sacrifice hard initial braking bite with cleaner wheels. Your balance of the two is your choice. Brake rotor size is adequate for light to medium-light track application and all street use. Once a lot of track time comes into play you may want to increase brake size or change rotors to slotted and/or drilled for better heat dispersion. I find with just a rotor change and OEM pads, I can come to a near stop from 60MPH more than 10 times without the feeling of a lot of brake fade. This is when my rotors are glowing red at night too! I think the only time you need BBK's as functionality, are when you're on 24 hours enduro races...haha.

    Engine sound wise, if you want to pay for sound....then intake is the cheapest method, followed by muffler (or lack of muffler in some cases), resonator deletes, then full exhaust. Headers will add more raw/rasp to the sound as well as increase engine power marginally due to narrow and tight bends of the stock header.

    Power wise, Forced Induction, nuff said!

    Looks wise, the sky seems to be the limit there and it individualizes your car to the masses. Do what makes YOU feel good about yourself and don't let too many outside opinions force you into something you aren't comfortable with. Visual stuff is relatively inexpensive as long as you don't keep crashing into solid objects so if you did make a mistake that everyone else was cursing at you, you'll learn from that and grow as a modder to pass your added wisdom onto other n00bs.

    Our car is a reflection of who we are and how we feel. Enjoy the process and the journey as it's never a final destination. There's always something to be added upon in any aspect of life. Have fun and ask as many question as you need here...that's what a community/hive/mafia is all about!
    --Trevor--
    Vancouver, BC

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Ocean County, NJ
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    7,273
    Great write up, Rovert.
    -Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
    ZHP Pre-Ride Briefing

    2005 ZHP, Alcantara, Silver Cube, Nav, Sharked, BMW Perf Intake, BMW Perf CF Strut Brace, CF Valve/Fuel Rail Covers,
    Shadowline Grills, CF Splitters, Fog Light Inserts, Euro-mirrors, CDV Delete, Beisan vanos, GAS DISA, BP Coded

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Western WI
    Posts
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