LivesNearCostco
04-10-2014, 03:58 PM
Want the family's general advice on maintenance and mods. Over 4 years of ownership, I have done most of the standard maintenance for my car: GAS DISA upgrade, Beisan VANOS seals, FCABs, RTABs, VCG, OFHG, CCV, FSR, fuel filter, guibo (twice), CSB, cooling system (except water pump, which was replaced at 75K), etc. Everything should be solid on maintenance except the plastic coolant/water pipes and the oil pan gasket. Mods include coilovers with camber plates, front swaybar, Shark Injector, aFe intake, pulleys, and lightweight wheels for track.
Trying to decide what to do next. I want to emphasize reliability, then handling, then cosmetic/appearances, then power. I'm considering...
TRS headlight retrofit--already ordered kit
Water pipe/return pipe. One appears to be slowly leaking. Requires removing intake manifold.
Oil pan gasket and baffle. Oil pan seeping. Already bought parts. Baffle requires finding someone who can weld aluminum.
AIM Solo or Solo DL for data acquisition at the track
New OEM harmonic damper, as preventative maint. on theory the old one must be worn out
Rear subframe bushings and epoxy reinforcement plates (already have bushings but not reinforcements or epoxy)--current bushings appear in decent shape
Coby wheel--current steering wheel cover is worn and tattered
Cat-back exhaust--am only interested if it increases power, not for sound
Bimmerbrakes headers, or Magnaflow manifolds w/cats that might flow better than stock
The ZKW HID retrofit is the obvious since I've paid for the parts, but what next? Oil pan leakage is annoying but livable, and might not seem to messy if replacing the water pipe stops a slow coolant leak. Just seems like a huge effort to R&R the intake manifold, and bigger effort to remove oil pan, clean it really well, and take it to a welder.
Assuming I can do one of these every 2 or 3 months. What would you do first?
Trying to decide what to do next. I want to emphasize reliability, then handling, then cosmetic/appearances, then power. I'm considering...
TRS headlight retrofit--already ordered kit
Water pipe/return pipe. One appears to be slowly leaking. Requires removing intake manifold.
Oil pan gasket and baffle. Oil pan seeping. Already bought parts. Baffle requires finding someone who can weld aluminum.
AIM Solo or Solo DL for data acquisition at the track
New OEM harmonic damper, as preventative maint. on theory the old one must be worn out
Rear subframe bushings and epoxy reinforcement plates (already have bushings but not reinforcements or epoxy)--current bushings appear in decent shape
Coby wheel--current steering wheel cover is worn and tattered
Cat-back exhaust--am only interested if it increases power, not for sound
Bimmerbrakes headers, or Magnaflow manifolds w/cats that might flow better than stock
The ZKW HID retrofit is the obvious since I've paid for the parts, but what next? Oil pan leakage is annoying but livable, and might not seem to messy if replacing the water pipe stops a slow coolant leak. Just seems like a huge effort to R&R the intake manifold, and bigger effort to remove oil pan, clean it really well, and take it to a welder.
Assuming I can do one of these every 2 or 3 months. What would you do first?