[FangsOut]

Hello Everyone,

This will be my first post. I am posting in this thread because I currently live in Atlanta.

I have grown up in BMWs. That is not to say that I am particularly knowledgeable about them, because I am not. I have no mechanical background and no sport or competitive driving experience. I just love them. When I was in the 3rd grade, my parents bought our family’s first BMW, a very slightly used 1995 E38 740iL from the German Embassy in Washington, DC. It became my car to drive senior year of high school and I kept it through college and after. That car was in my family over 15 years before we sold it a few years ago for a couple grand. Not bad. It racked up over 200k miles without any major issues.

After the 7series was sold, I began to drive a 2003 E39 530i that my parents were ready to get rid of. It was nearly 10 years old, had about 120K miles, and fit my needs perfectly. About a year ago, it started having some issues… expensive issues. I was extremely fortunate to have been able to use my parents’ hand-me-down cars as my own up to that point (as long as I paid for the insurance, gas, and general maintenance), but it was time for me to purchase my own car. I had been working hard, making a good salary, and saving for a few years. In early November, I purchased a 2011 E90 335i AT M-Sport with approximately 20k miles on it. Originally I had been looking for a MT, but eventually I got impatient and decided that an AT would actually be better for me since this is now my daily driver and Atlanta traffic can sometimes be a pain. Needless to say, I have fallen in love with this car.

I have 8 months remaining on the original manufacturer’s warranty and 2 years of certified pre-owned warranty after that. I don’t want to make modifications that will cause a major stink at the dealership during the 8 months remaining on the original warranty. I am ok with making more significant modifications in the CPO period. My understanding is that the warranty on any particular part will be voided by a modification if the modification can possibly be responsible for causing the part to fail. The entire warranty can also be voided if it is determined that the car has been modified for racing.

The car is used as a daily driver, occasionally spirited, and rarely tracked. With that in mind, I would like to make modifications that are targeted towards daily street performance rather than race performance.

Longevity, durability, and reliability are extremely important. I plan to have this car for 10+ years and I do not want to be doing major repair work down the line if it can be avoided. Any modification I make will need to keep that in mind. I will not hesitate to spend more for the better part (due to design, material, or construction) especially if it will potentially have a positive impact on longevity, durability, and reliability. I understand that there is a significant amount of horsepower that can be extracted from the stock motor through various modifications and tuning, but increasing hp/torque is not my only goal. Quality over quantity is what I’m after. A 35% increase in horsepower should be more than enough for me.

Below is a list of the performance modifications I would like to make.

Group 1 (to be completed all at once ASAP)
1) Downpipe
2) Chargepipe
3) Oil Catch Can
4) Drop-in Filter
5) Custom Tune

Group 2 (to be completed after I come off original factory warranty)
6) Front Mounted Intercooler
7) Custom Exhaust
8) Limited Slip Differential

Group 3 (when time and money permit)
9) Intake
10) Oil Cooler
11) Suspension/Handling Modifications

I look forward to being an active member on this forum and getting to know many of you. Pictures to come.

Cheers,