Build and advice for Heidi

[Her name is Heidi]

Copy and paste from my introduction on the new member page.

I wanted to take the time to introduce myself as I am a new member to the ZHP Mafia, but a long time follower and owner.

I have been the lucky owner of a 2003.5 (May build date) Black over Natural Brown, 6 spd, slick top ZHP sedan since 2006. This was, and still is, my dream car when from the moment I purchased the car from an old man that didn't realize what he bought when he ordered the car. Therefore, I was able to purchase the car for a CRAZY good deal for the time and an even better buy when you look at today's prices. But I purchased the car over a M3 at the time because, like many of us, BMW did not make a M3 sedan in 2006 and a sedan was the most practical car for me heading to college. (Yes I did get this car for high school graduation but I was only able to afford/justify it due to receiving full scholarship to college via ROTC)

The present day state of the car is average, and with my first child on the way I want to keep the car as safe and reliable as ever. Therefore, I have started updating/modifying the car. I have been following the ZHP Mafia since it was first founded 6 years ago? but never thought to of joining until I started a "project". Now that I have started my project I need help and advice. There is no better place for both than the Mafia family. I am currently located in the Fort Bragg/Southern Pines, NC area and willing to meet up with any members close by.

A little about the car. As stated its a Black (paint is bad!) over Natural Brown 6 spd slick top sedan with 140,000 miles on the clock. All maintenance is up to date with the only major stuff left being a cooling system, clutch and brake overhaul. I just got done installing a full suspension upgrade with Bilstein B16 PSS10s and PowerFlex Bushing throughout the car. Therefore, my future plans are to update/upgrade the still original brakes, do some cosmetic maintenance and start down the power adder road with the usual tune/headers/exhaust/intake/LSD. Looking to track the car a little but mainly continue to drive the wheels off the car.

New questions that I would like some advice on:
As stated above I have gone with PSS10s with bushing throughout, but did not upgrade sways or install strut tower braces. Which leads to the first questions. Are sways really going to make big difference to the way the car will handle? Looking at Hotchkis kit off ECS. Will strut braces front and rear help prevent any issues like mushrooming or anything along those lines? and will they make a difference to the way the car will handle enough to justify the price for both strut braces and/or sways?

Final question for this first post: Brakes are next on the hit list with my OE brakes still hanging in there at 140K. I would like to go with StopTech ST40s up front, but are they really that much better, for the money, than good slotted rotors and great pads?

[Her name is Heidi]

[Her name is Heidi]

[BMWCurves]

New questions that I would like some advice on:
As stated above I have gone with PSS10s with bushing throughout, but did not upgrade sways or install strut tower braces. Which leads to the first questions. Are sways really going to make big difference to the way the car will handle? Looking at Hotchkis kit off ECS. Will strut braces front and rear help prevent any issues like mushrooming or anything along those lines? and will they make a difference to the way the car will handle enough to justify the price for both strut braces and/or sways?

Final question for this first post: Brakes are next on the hit list with my OE brakes still hanging in there at 140K. I would like to go with StopTech ST40s up front, but are they really that much better, for the money, than good slotted rotors and great pads?

I can't help with most of that as I've kept my car pretty stock. I would say if you want to try and prevent mushrooming up front, you should install the strut reinforcement plates (BMW part no. 51717036781). They're about $20.

As far as I know, sway bars can have a very significant impact in how a car handles. I personally plan at some point to increase the size of both the front and rear sway bars a small amount with an E46 M3 front sway bar and a 330Ci rear sway bar.

I'll leave the rest to other members.

[NoVAphotog]

Final question for this first post: Brakes are next on the hit list with my OE brakes still hanging in there at 140K. I would like to go with StopTech ST40s up front, but are they really that much better, for the money, than good slotted rotors and great pads?

BMWCurves hit the nail on the head. Should have done the Rogue Engineering rear strut mounts and the Genuine BMW Front Strut Reinforcement plates. Not to hard to add them after the fact though. Especially the front ones. Just lift that side, unbolt the strut and slide them in.

As for brakes. Based on my limited track/autox experience...I would say that upgrade is not worth it for the money. I have basic plain jane rotors up front with basic pads. I swapped in a set of Hawk HPS+ pads for my first track day along with fresh fluid. As a beginner that was more than enough, shit I have people that race saying plain rotors and upgraded pads are all you need. I would do headers/tune before a big brake kit for our cars...

[Her name is Heidi]

NoVAphotog there are no signs at all of any issues with any of the towers just thinking about the long run. The same can be said for the front brakes. Just think and thought why not if it will improve the car for the rest of it's life. Currently think about StopTech slotted rotors, Hawk HPS+ 5.0 and SS lines. Plus if i need to rebuild any caliper the BBK would only be just out of reach...

I do want to do headers/intake/tune next all at one time. Not sure what full exhaust system I want to go with.

[bimmergofast]

Are sways really going to make big difference to the way the car will handle?

Yes. Do that.

Will strut braces front and rear help prevent any issues like mushrooming or anything along those lines? and will they make a difference to the way the car will handle enough to justify the price for both strut braces and/or sways?

Strut braces aren't going to make nearly as much difference as sways in handling. My experience has been that I couldn't really tell when I added, but after removing for maintenance it did feel ever so slightly looser. As for mushrooming, there are certainly claims that a front strut brace will prevent it, but don't know that there is really any way to prove it one way or the other. I went ahead and installed the reinforcement kit when I did new struts- was cheap and easy.

[Vas]

Welcome.

If your car is still on the original cooling system ( waterpump, thermostat, expansion tank, etc) that would be the first thing to tackle. Consider a cooling system overhaul before the colder months arrive so you wont have any issues during the winter.

Turner Motorsports has a good kit available that covers pretty much all of the cooling system. Just add the pulleys,belts and tensioner and you will have a robust cooling system

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-3...AQEBAgEBAQEBAQ

As far as the brake overhaul. Consider a set of rotors and good pads/fluid/lines. Something along the lines of Brembo or Zimmerman for rotors and Cool Carbon Hawk or EBC or Hawk for pads. Then add fluid and lines.

I would not worry about the clutch unless you are having issues with it.

And in regards to the suspension, add the front reinforcement kit using the plates for the front and rear.

[Her name is Heidi]

Vas the car is running on the original cooling system. With that being said I am closely watching the system! At the first sign of any issues everything minus the radiator will be replaced unless the issue is the radiator. I truly think the brakes will go first because the fronts are the original brakes. I have budgeted for mostly everything so I am just replacing items as I go month to month depending on how much i'm driving the car and how much i'm home to work on the car. So as stated brakes/cooling/clutch are all original and on the hit list for replacement. As I replace things I want to upgrade them if there is a better aftermarket option.

Today's project is super easy and boring but needs to happen. I am replacing the fog lights and the lower front grill.

[anandoc]

Vas the car is running on the original cooling system. With that being said I am closely watching the system! At the first sign of any issues everything minus the radiator will be replaced unless the issue is the radiator.

I am sure you know what you are doing - but when the expansion tank blows up spontaneously, you will have seconds to react and might end up with a warped head in the worst case.

You mention in your first post that you want to keep the car safe and reliable - the cooling system scores last in the reliability checklist on the E46 platform. Forget brakes, forget suspension - you should really address the cooling system before anything if reliability is important to you.