[Krenkoth]

Hi guys, I have a 2007 328xi that I got a few months ago. While I have seen plenty of forums about recommendations for upgrading these kinds of cars, I was thinking that it might be better if some people could just give advice directly for my situation as opposed to trying to piece together information from existing threads. So here's my question:

I want to make my car as fun to drive around as I can. I don't intend to do any racing, though I might try autoX with my dad eventually. So for driving to school, events, etc., what are the best bang-for-your-buck things to do? I am currently in high school, so I don't have a lot of money to spend on it and I also don't have a strict budget, so if there's something that is totally worth saving up for, I could do that.

TL;DR: best bang for buck mods for a 2007 328xi on a high schooler's budget.

[lordnikon]

The car per se is already fun to drive. Get some decent tires for it.

[oVeRdOsE.]

fun = manual swap. / thread


-Then tire, suspension is already very nice.
- open the air box with a dremel keeping the air filter frame and delete the charcoal filter. this is a very budget open filter that will give you sound
- delete the intake muffler and cap it with jb weld.
- Find a 3 stage manifold in a junk yard and find the free 330 tune
- aliexpress special set of headers.
- sport seat if not already equipped.

[Krenkoth]

Originally Posted by lordnikon

The car per se is already fun to drive. Get some decent tires for it.

What type of tires should I get? I believe the previous owner said that there are winter tires on it right now.

[Krenkoth]

Originally Posted by oVeRdOsE.

fun = manual swap. / thread


-Then tire, suspension is already very nice.
- open the air box with a dremel keeping the air filter frame and delete the charcoal filter. this is a very budget open filter that will give you sound
- delete the intake muffler and cap it with jb weld.
- Find a 3 stage manifold in a junk yard and find the free 330 tune
- aliexpress special set of headers.
- sport seat if not already equipped.

Is all of this stuff that I can do on my own?
- Manual swap sounds fun, but a quick internet search makes it sound like it would cost more than the car is worth.
- Charcoal filter and intake muffler sound good. What is an intake muffler? Google is showing me muffler deletes, but is that the same thing?
- I've seen a lot about the 3 stage manifold, I'll look for that.
- What are headers?

[Boston4]

If you're in high school and you are not mechanically inclined, as this thread suggests, you should keep money saved to fix it when it breaks. It's a more fun car than most as it sits today. It's a lot easier to ruin a car with aftermarket parts than it is to actually improve it. BMW paid teams of engineers to develop this platform for years - whatever you can buy for a couple hundred bucks is unlikely to materially improve the car. Also, if you spend all of your money on mods and then you can't pay the bill for someone to change the water pump because it failed, and you can't drive the car while you're waiting to be able to get it fixed, that's not fun.

That said, ditch the winter tires - buy a set of summer tires on a second set of wheels, so that you can swap back and forth seasonally. Driving on winters in warm weather (>45F), and especially driving on them aggressively, will wear them down insanely quickly.

[oVeRdOsE.]

Originally Posted by Krenkoth

Is all of this stuff that I can do on my own?
- Manual swap sounds fun, but a quick internet search makes it sound like it would cost more than the car is worth.
- Charcoal filter and intake muffler sound good. What is an intake muffler? Google is showing me muffler deletes, but is that the same thing?
- I've seen a lot about the 3 stage manifold, I'll look for that.
- What are headers?

then you should have got a manual one ,

jk aside.

remove the charcoal filter, remove the intake muffler and open the air box its free.
I was using a washable filter .



Header : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...Cquery_from%3A

but be aware this will delete the primary cat (might be an issue depending where you live) and it's not a quick job, but fairly easy.

[oVeRdOsE.]

Originally Posted by Boston4

If you're in high school and you are not mechanically inclined, as this thread suggests, you should keep money saved to fix it when it breaks. It's a more fun car than most as it sits today. It's a lot easier to ruin a car with aftermarket parts than it is to actually improve it. BMW paid teams of engineers to develop this platform for years - whatever you can buy for a couple hundred bucks is unlikely to materially improve the car. Also, if you spend all of your money on mods and then you can't pay the bill for someone to change the water pump because it failed, and you can't drive the car while you're waiting to be able to get it fixed, that's not fun.

That said, ditch the winter tires - buy a set of summer tires on a second set of wheels, so that you can swap back and forth seasonally. Driving on winters in warm weather (>45F), and especially driving on them aggressively, will wear them down insanely quickly.

being a p.eng myself, we are paid to design at the lowest safety factor, to reduce the cost so it can please the normal average user, under the lowest codes and standards regulations, and this under the warranty and extended warranty limit.

So no OEM is surely not better in many case, especially on a BMW, and especially when you want to beat it.

Can you fckup stuff by adding cheap mod ? ; for sure !


But I'm 100% with you; student + BMW = keep money to fix it.

[StradaRedlands]

https://www.xautomotive.com/products/xdelete

[Leucosticte]

-3 stage from junkyard
-free 330i tune
-set of decent tires
Best advice I have for what you're doing.

[jwalther]

New wheels with a good set of all season tires. Check the classifieds here, there are usually sets for sale.

Do you have cold weather and snow where you live? If so, as a new driver, you should keep your winter set for cold weather driving.

Enjoy the car!

[Cyril Sneer]

Seconding what's been said about favoring maintenance over mods. These cars will be reliable and satisfying to own if you stay on top of preventative and reactive maintenance. Neglect it, things will add up, and you will hate it. There'll be time for mods later.

You'll also need a new set of tires (and maybe wheels) ASAP. Watch your local classifieds, there's always take-off sets of BMW wheels with tires for sale cheap, people just want to get rid of them. With xDrive you gotta watch the tire sizes (research!).

Otherwise, simple, bang-for-buck options:
- Xdelete - I didn't like it set to full RWD on this car, but the stock AWD is way too front-centric. Need to lessen the front torque for the car to feel right. Xdelete license + DCAN cable, maybe $200?
- Pull the alignment pins for a small increase in front camber (search) ($free)
- Get an alignment. Ask them to set less toe-in (f&r) than BMW specs. Should help tire wear + steering feel. ($100?)

Later:
- 3SIM. I say later because unless you get lucky with good DISA valves included, you'll want to buy new ones at time of install = $$
- Suspension. Stock is far too floaty. Coilovers or springs. Don't go too low or you'll mess up the handling again.
- Lightweight wheel set with performance tires. Less unsprung, rotational weight pays off everywhere.
- Transmission tune? Flappy paddles? I know very little about automatics...

The intake muffler is a big plastic hemorrhoid dangling down from the tube between the intake cleaner and the engine. Can cut and fill as described above, or replace with aftermarket tube. I did aftermarket tube + euro intake (which I love) but didn't notice any difference in power or sound.

Lastly ... resist the urge to paint / plastidip the wheels black.