Mod the hell out of the 335i or C6?

[Don Vito Corleone]

I'd be a little concerned about your CPO with those mods, even with a friendly dealership, they're going to balk with all that crap.

Yeah, I would guess most dealers will say no to any warranty coverage on an engine with such expansive mods.

 

[Imported]

In fairness the mods he is proposing (with the possible exception of the turbo/meth mods) shouldn't really affect daily drivability or reliability. The 335i is not one of history's most reliable cars anyway. Some combinations of brake discs/pads will allow for swapping between road and track pads without swapping discs (I've heard the Performance Friction offerings are good in that respect), so really all he'd need to do is change wheels/tires/pads to make the car a track beast. It would help if Schroth made a Quick-Fit harness for the E90 - I don't think they do at this point - so you'd have better retention than a mere seatbelt.

Fair enough. In my situation, I was wanting to put in a roll cage or roll bar in the G35.. just not feasible if its a daily driver since one is pretty much required in my car to put in a harness.

 

[JCH13]

In fairness the mods he is proposing (with the possible exception of the turbo/meth mods) shouldn't really affect daily drivability or reliability. The 335i is not one of history's most reliable cars anyway. Some combinations of brake discs/pads will allow for swapping between road and track pads without swapping discs (I've heard the Performance Friction offerings are good in that respect), so really all he'd need to do is change wheels/tires/pads to make the car a track beast. It would help if Schroth made a Quick-Fit harness for the E90 - I don't think they do at this point - so you'd have better retention than a mere seatbelt.

The sport/track suspension mods and 19" wheels will definitely impact street driveability. It may not be bad for short drives, <30minutes to rectal pluck a number, but the car will get increasingly uncomfortable as drive durations increase.

OP: as an alternative to modding the hell of your current car, or buying a more dedicated track car, you may consider just getting an extra set of wheels with serious tires on them and running stock. If you're looking to have fun it's a great way to go, and you might even be competitive in stock classes if you want to be more serious about it.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

The sport/track suspension mods and 19" wheels will definitely impact street driveability. It may not be bad for short drives, <30minutes to rectal pluck a number, but the car will get increasingly uncomfortable as drive durations increase.

OP: as an alternative to modding the hell of your current car, or buying a more dedicated track car, you may consider just getting an extra set of wheels with serious tires on them and running stock. If you're looking to have fun it's a great way to go, and you might even be competitive in stock classes if you want to be more serious about it.

For what it's worth the Bilstein suspension on my M3 is perfectly comfortable even with the car riding relatively low. I don't know what damping settings are in place (I haven't bothered to pull the wheels to check), but in my experience it's possible to get a reasonable, streetable ride out of an adjustable suspension while still getting good track performance.

 

[Elfear]

+1 for C6.

A stock LS2 Vette will make somewhere in the 320-340rwhp range and be a couple hundred pounds lighter than the 335i. I'll bet with all the mods the BMW wouldn't be all that much faster (maybe even slower?) than the C6. Plus a lightly-modded Vette can make some serious power. I've seen cars with bolt-ons and a cam make 500+rwhp.

If you're trying to save a little money, have you considered a C5 as a 2nd car?

 

[EightySix Four]

+1 for C6.

A stock LS2 Vette will make somewhere in the 320-340rwhp range and be a couple hundred pounds lighter than the 335i. I'll bet with all the mods the BMW wouldn't be all that much faster (maybe even slower?) than the C6. Plus a lightly-modded Vette can make some serious power. I've seen cars with bolt-ons and a cam make 500+rwhp.

If you're trying to save a little money, have you considered a C5 as a 2nd car?

I was using cash to justify the mod bug, it's not about the money.

 

[Howard]

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=331881

 

[exdeath]

I was using cash to justify the mod bug, it's not about the money.

Your fault for buying a factory FI car dumbass :awe: Like you didn't know this was going to happen... LMAO

I like how you went from stock to JB in a week, and like 3 seconds after installing the JB, you're talking about upgrading turbos, meth injection, etc

 

[Zargon]

LOL yeah......just give it a week or two and the urge might settle, a little

 

[Excelsior]

C6.

 

[EightySix Four]

Your fault for buying a factory FI car dumbass :awe: Like you didn't know this was going to happen... LMAO

I like how you went from stock to JB in a week, and like 3 seconds after installing the JB, you're talking about upgrading turbos, meth injection, etc

Never mentioned ugrading the turbos. The stock ones will outperform the fuel system which peaks out at 540 rwhp, and without building a supplemental fuel system can't go further due to the DI. Methanol is just because I live and play in Texas and racing season is >95* for the most part, not because I plan on boosting that high. I kind of find it funny that everyone looks at the list, notices the meth, and is like "whoa there, that's not a DD anymore" when it's the one mod I did for reliability... Lol. You know I don't like leaving performance on the table

And everyone here knew if I bought another FI car I'd go nuts. Oops.

 

[Zargon]

a buddy ran meth/water injection on his DSM via a cooler in the front seat, was very hilarious but never really failed him


I thik the C6 is going to be way more rewarding on the track

 

[KentState]

If you are serious about tracking a car, then you want a second one to DD. One accident, part failure or whatever and you have nothing to drive to work on Monday. Plus, a 400rwhp 335i is going to be about 200 lbs more than the Vette. Like said above an LS2 will do 340rwhp bone stock. Put an exhaust, cam and tune you pick up 50hp. People are also doing the rear wide body conversion to run larger tires.

 

[Fenixgoon]

C6. More speed off the bat and more headroom if you want to get really crazy

 

[Imdmn04]

Sell 335i, buy used M3.

 

[ayabe]

Never mentioned ugrading the turbos. The stock ones will outperform the fuel system which peaks out at 540 rwhp, and without building a supplemental fuel system can't go further due to the DI. Methanol is just because I live and play in Texas and racing season is >95* for the most part, not because I plan on boosting that high. I kind of find it funny that everyone looks at the list, notices the meth, and is like "whoa there, that's not a DD anymore" when it's the one mod I did for reliability... Lol. You know I don't like leaving performance on the table

And everyone here knew if I bought another FI car I'd go nuts. Oops.

Well....sure meth is for safety but you're introducing another component into an already complicated system. I would never, ever do that with a DD - I'd rather run slightly lower boost. Same reason I ran a 91 octane map even though 93 is the norm around here. That 3HP wasn't worth the risk in the FL heat/possibility of a bad tank of gas.

 

[Tristicus]

So have you picked the color of your C6 yet?

:awe:

 

[alkemyst]

OP if you want to mod the car do so...if you want to track it you don't need to mod it though.

I doubt many that modify their BMW's esp buying anything but the M3 in the 3 series ever make it to the track to race.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

OP if you want to mod the car do so...if you want to track it you don't need to mod it though.

I doubt many that modify their BMW's esp buying anything but the M3 in the 3 series ever make it to the track to race.

Actually some local members of the BMW club have highly modified E36 and E46, non-M cars that are track beasts. Obviously the 335i is a much more powerful car to begin with, and thus has greater ultimate capacity for speed, though it's also more complicated and probably less reliable. I don't think the OP is looking to race - just to do trackdays - and the 335i is a pretty strong platform for that (though almost certainly not as good as a C6).

 

[EightySix Four]

Well....sure meth is for safety but you're introducing another component into an already complicated system. I would never, ever do that with a DD - I'd rather run slightly lower boost. Same reason I ran a 91 octane map even though 93 is the norm around here. That 3HP wasn't worth the risk in the FL heat/possibility of a bad tank of gas.

My Sky ran >25psi of boost on 93 octane and no meth...

 

[Arkaign]

Hmm. $ for $, actually maybe :

High-miles / mechanically worn C5. Strip it all down, toss in new crate motor + SC + tranny + rear end + wide wheels + race tires + brakes + roll cage + seats + etc. Could get it under 2700lbs without too much trouble once totally stripped, and with ~800-1000+rwhp possible with the right build, it could be a screamer and a half.

Plus you don't have to brutalize your DD to have something psycho fast.

 

[Tristicus]

Hmm. $ for $, actually maybe :

High-miles / mechanically worn C5. Strip it all down, toss in new crate motor + SC + tranny + rear end + wide wheels + race tires + brakes + roll cage + seats + etc. Could get it under 2700lbs without too much trouble once totally stripped, and with ~800-1000+rwhp possible with the right build, it could be a screamer and a half.

Plus you don't have to brutalize your DD to have something psycho fast.

So buy a body and frame and go from there? :hmm:

 

[alkemyst]

Actually some local members of the BMW club have highly modified E36 and E46, non-M cars that are track beasts. Obviously the 335i is a much more powerful car to begin with, and thus has greater ultimate capacity for speed, though it's also more complicated and probably less reliable. I don't think the OP is looking to race - just to do trackdays - and the 335i is a pretty strong platform for that (though almost certainly not as good as a C6).

My point is too many justify mods to track their cars, both are mutually exclusive

 

[Arkaign]

So buy a body and frame and go from there? :hmm:

Hah, yeah basically

The worn C5 would actually be the minority cost of the project, the rest of it would probably cost a tremendous amount more. The end result would be insanely good though.

 

[Throckmorton]

Buy a used Miata and turbocharge it. You can spend half what you want to spend on mods for your BMW.