Beginning Mods for my Ti

[NewEnglandBoy]

I was wondering what the first upgrades to my '95 Ti should be? I was leaning towards a lightweight flywheel and a short shifter to start off. I would like to either give my Ti a little more get up and go or a better stance with sway bars and a lowering kit. Any replies and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[L84THSKY]

How much money you got?

Originally Posted by NewEnglandBoy

I was wondering what the first upgrades to my '95 Ti should be? I was leaning towards a lightweight flywheel and a short shifter to start off. I would like to either give my Ti a little more get up and go or a better stance with sway bars and a lowering kit. Any replies and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[Tyler]

Since you have an m42 why not go for a chip,you'll get about 11hp gain from it. Once you do that you could do an exhaust and maybee a CAI. But it all depends on what you want to spend.

[NewEnglandBoy]

Around $500. I'm living off my summer job money until the spring.

[Tyler]

The chip will give you the most gain out of anything else you could do right now,i'd look into that.

[AlaskaBlue]

Originally Posted by NewEnglandBoy

Around $500. I'm living off my summer job money until the spring.

No way can you get a lightweight flywheel and clutch installed for 500 dollars. The chip would be good. Dinan is/was doing a 50 percent off on their chips. Maybe you should just save up. Then you could get some suspension work done and some sticky tires.

If you don't want to wait maybe look for a used big bore throttle body. Basically all of the cheap mods aren't going to give you much more power.

[ChItalian1027]

i'm lookin into a chip i know dinan does but does it come in stages? like stage one two three?

[ChItalian1027]

any suggestions on goin with a m-tech body kit?

[CirrusSR22]

If your car is getting up there in miles >90,000, I'd include bushings in your plans. The three things (fairly cheap too) that made a noticeable difference for me were:

• BMW X-Brace. Made the whole car feel more rigid, hard turn-ins were much improved. The harder you push the car, the more you'll feel it. $100 - $130

• 96+ M3 Control Arm Bushing. Steering felt much more firm and direct. $59

• Ireland Engineering Poly Subframe Mounts. Rear end feels more planted in the turns. Downside: road and driveline noise is increased. No polyurethane squeaks either since it's a non-moving part. Also, installation is quite involved and pressing/pulling out the old OEM bushings is tough. Use a propane torch and it'll be MUCH easier. I've heard you can even just melt them out, which if what I'd do if I needed to do it again. $100

------------------
EDIT:

• I'll add one more since you're looking for a short shifter. Buy a Z3 or M3 or some other stock BMW shift lever. They can be bought at the dealer or online for $50-$60. You might also want to look into the www.PelicanParts.com "Shift Bushing Super Kits". The kit replaces all the rubber and plastic shift linkages parts that wear over time making the shifter movement sloppy. $90

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/cata..._pg1.htm#item2

[roadrash]

How about some driving skills classes?

I'm not implying that you're a bad driver or anything like that. It seems to me that there's no point in raising the performance limits of the car until you can drive it safely at the existing limits.

Plus, if you "upgrade the driver" you not only upgrade your current car, but automatically upgrade every car thereafter.

Hmmm... I think I just talked myself into taking some classes once I replace the exhaust system. :-)

[tonyyy]

Originally Posted by CirrusSR22

If your car is getting up there in miles >90,000, I'd include bushings in your plans. The three things (fairly cheap too) that made a noticeable difference for me were:

• BMW X-Brace. Made the whole car feel more rigid, hard turn-ins were much improved. $100 - $130

• 96+ M3 Control Arm Bushing. Steering felt much more firm and direct. $59

• Ireland Engineering Poly Subframe Mounts. Rear end feels more planted in the turns. Downside: road and driveline noise is increased. No polyurethane squeaks either since it's a non-moving part. $100

this sounds like a good set-up for a cheap price. id go for this.


oh and btw, how much do the chips run for ?

[CirrusSR22]

Originally Posted by roadrash

How about some driving skills classes?

I'm not implying that you're a bad driver or anything like that. It seems to me that there's no point in raising the performance limits of the car until you can drive it safely at the existing limits.

Plus, if you "upgrade the driver" you not only upgrade your current car, but automatically upgrade every car thereafter.

That's great idea too. My local BMWCCA has classes a few times a summer, but I've never been able to make it.

[NewEnglandBoy]

I really wanted to upgrade the suspension components first, but it seemed as though the parts were a bit on the pricey side. So I just thought that some performance goodies would be a little more affordable. That setup sounds like a good deal. I'll have to look into getting those parts. Thanks you guys for all your help.

[mphmotorwerks]

What does the Z3 or M3 shifters do for our cars????

Originally Posted by CirrusSR22

If your car is getting up there in miles >90,000, I'd include bushings in your plans. The three things (fairly cheap too) that made a noticeable difference for me were:

• BMW X-Brace. Made the whole car feel more rigid, hard turn-ins were much improved. The harder you push the car, the more you'll feel it. $100 - $130

• 96+ M3 Control Arm Bushing. Steering felt much more firm and direct. $59

• Ireland Engineering Poly Subframe Mounts. Rear end feels more planted in the turns. Downside: road and driveline noise is increased. No polyurethane squeaks either since it's a non-moving part. Also, installation is quite involved and pressing/pulling out the old OEM bushings is tough. Use a propane torch and it'll be MUCH easier. I've heard you can even just melt them out, which if what I'd do if I needed to do it again. $100

------------------
EDIT:

• I'll add one more since you're looking for a short shifter. Buy a Z3 or M3 or some other stock BMW shift lever. They can be bought at the dealer or online for $50-$60. You might also want to look into the www.PelicanParts.com "Shift Bushing Super Kits". The kit replaces all the rubber and plastic shift linkages parts that wear over time making the shifter movement sloppy. $90

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/cata..._pg1.htm#item2

[CirrusSR22]

Originally Posted by mphmotorwerks

What does the Z3 or M3 shifters do for our cars????

It's basically a factory short shifter.

http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e36/dri...ift_lever.html