Mods and upgrades explained - Very Long!!

Maintenance.
Suspension.
Performance.
Cosmetics.

Originally Posted by LifelessonE3693

The suspension is a must change for my e36. I hit about 70...turn on the ol' cruise and get sea sick. It has a mad bobbing. was told to get the whole thing replaced but struts and all is expensive. I'm 19 with a super super tight budget. Any help pirate? also would like a lot more kick in becky's ass (thats what i named her) you think the best first upgrade to performance would be a computer tweak?

spanks a lot for all the help so far

-T-rev

Welcome to the fest!

Your screen name tells a story on owning a BMW. Your life lesson for today is that maintaining an E36 is going to cost. They are great cars, and well worth the effort.

Ed (jonesin) has it right. You should do maintenance first, but considering your description of your car bobbing at speed, I'd say get some new shocks and struts on it quick. If you have stock springs, you can get Monroes or some other low priced set of shocks and struts and they'll be OK for quite a while (although not the best).

About time!!



Sent from my SPH-D710 using Bimmer App

Very helpful post pirate, don't think my bank balance will like you much though haha

How would i bore out my throttle body? Im am considering an m50 manifold swap. But as ive seen on this post there is more to be done than to just swap out intake manifolds.

Originally Posted by jtneuner93

How would i bore out my throttle body? Im am considering an m50 manifold swap. But as ive seen on this post there is more to be done than to just swap out intake manifolds.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=544874

thanks for that but what is the definition of boring out a throttle body? does it simply mean buying a wider diameter throttle body, or is it something i could do to my stock one?

Son, I am going to assume that you actually read that you actually read that thread, and that you genuinely haven't ever heard of google.

When you enter big bore throttle body into google, not even entering E36 this is the first thread that pops up: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...d.php?t=234025

spending 700 bucks on a large bore throttle is just plain ludicrous unless you have a built race engine. VAC motorsports has a variety of them, the cheapest being a hair under 600 bucks.

Originally Posted by Kdoherty

spending 700 bucks on a large bore throttle is just plain ludicrous unless you have a built race engine. VAC motorsports has a variety of them, the cheapest being a hair under 600 bucks.

There are other vendors, such as Riot Racing, which sells their BBTB for $250 + $100 core

Originally Posted by jayjaya29

There are other vendors, such as Riot Racing, which sells their BBTB for $250 + $100 core

orly.... maybe that could be beneficial when i strap on the snail.

Originally Posted by Kdoherty

orly.... maybe that could be beneficial when i strap on the snail.

Their website sucks, but here is a link:

http://www.westcoastriots.com/obd2.h...CT_ID=18601765

what a interesting thread although one vital thing has been left off (unless i missed it), not a performance mod but the best supporting mod for any engine and that is junk the plastic water pump and thermostat housing! i found this out the hard way having bought my 328i from a mate who had not used it for 16 months, thermostat stuck and head went pop along with the radiator. i got a alloy thermostat housing from a popular parts store here in the UK which was very lucky as they not restocked them for 2 years and a cast metal waterpump which i may upgrade to the performance pump available in the US.

anyways i have a replacement engine to fit which will get the stainless headers my mate added and a decat pipe, the M50 manifold convertion is top of the list, got the manifold but not the throttle body or plumbing, engine will get full service with NKGs and i will get a CAI then im having it flash mapped at a dyno across from my work. i want 230-240bhp and by look of it its well in reach with whats been mentioned on this site. i will update when all is done.

Looking for somebody that has the e36 RTAB pocket problem looking at the AKG plate

I have a 1997 318ti hatchback with less than 50,000 original miles on it. I want to up grade the sound system and have done some research but need some questions answered. First off I have a basic cassette deck receiver with 10 speakers and an BMW stock amp mounted in the trunk on the driver side quarter panel wall under the side carpet. I have a Pioneer DHX3500U receiver, new. I have the adapter harness for the stock BMW receiver plug and the Pioneer. My situation is the rear speakers. They are playing at 50% at best. They pop and crack at half volume. Initially I wanted to replace the rears with some mid level aftermarkets, looking to spend around $150 or so. The stock speakers are 411/2" rounds. I have been told and have read that I can not just plug aftermarket speakers into the BMW harness and amp. That it will ruin the speakers. From what I have learned the BMW amp is not compatible with after market speakers. I am trying to confirm these things and I am also trying to find out if I can by pass BMW amp and use my MOSFET amp that is internally in my new Pioneer deck? Can I unplug the input and output on the amp and plug those two lines directly into each other and this would bypass amp. is this true? or is there a better way to do this? Have also been told I cant run the other 8 BMW speakers from the MOSFET amp in my Pioneer deck. That the BMW speakers will not work with any other amp than a BMW. So, is it possible to put new rear speakers in car without changing all 10 and also get around the stock amp? Long question, I know. What I thought was gonna be a great afternoon DIY project seems to be turning into a technical high skilled job. Any help, info, ideas welcomed.
Keep on Bimming
Paul Corazzo

Ive never heard that about the stock amp


The only reason they arent plug and play is because the stock speakers have a harness that it plugs into where it then goes into the amp but you can easily just cut the connector off and splice the aftermarket speakers onto the wires and they will work just fine.

leave the stock amp alone unless you really have the time to decipher which wire is which
but imo the stock amp is really good

Originally Posted by team22racing

I have a 1997 318ti hatchback with less than 50,000 original miles on it. I want to up grade the sound system and have done some research but need some questions answered. First off I have a basic cassette deck receiver with 10 speakers and an BMW stock amp mounted in the trunk on the driver side quarter panel wall under the side carpet. I have a Pioneer DHX3500U receiver, new. I have the adapter harness for the stock BMW receiver plug and the Pioneer. My situation is the rear speakers. They are playing at 50% at best. They pop and crack at half volume. Initially I wanted to replace the rears with some mid level aftermarkets, looking to spend around $150 or so. The stock speakers are 411/2" rounds. I have been told and have read that I can not just plug aftermarket speakers into the BMW harness and amp. That it will ruin the speakers. From what I have learned the BMW amp is not compatible with after market speakers. I am trying to confirm these things and I am also trying to find out if I can by pass BMW amp and use my MOSFET amp that is internally in my new Pioneer deck? Can I unplug the input and output on the amp and plug those two lines directly into each other and this would bypass amp. is this true? or is there a better way to do this? Have also been told I cant run the other 8 BMW speakers from the MOSFET amp in my Pioneer deck. That the BMW speakers will not work with any other amp than a BMW. So, is it possible to put new rear speakers in car without changing all 10 and also get around the stock amp? Long question, I know. What I thought was gonna be a great afternoon DIY project seems to be turning into a technical high skilled job. Any help, info, ideas welcomed.
Keep on Bimming
Paul Corazzo

most of us run aftermarket speakers, and decks on the stock BMW amp. I myself have the stock BMW amp driving my shelf and door speakers which are all Kicker brand and then i have a separate amp that's bridged to run just a sub. it gets confusing but its all quite simple honestly

No reason whatsoever that you couldn't splice in the existing speakers, but if they're crackling now, a new amp/head unit probably isn't going to help.

I wanted some opnions onTHIS kit

I'd looking into redoing the suspension on my 325is, and I wanted to know, is that the best route to go, or is there a cheaper way I can do it? How are the quality of the parts, an do you see any missing/weak links in that kit?

Today is my first day on the forum! Glad I joined, TONS of good info here.
I just recently updated my sound system. I have a 99 323i E36 Vert. Stock amp, stock speakers (10 speakers), aftermarket head unit. (The guy who put the head unit in got frustrated trying to hack into the stock system and only got the 2 speakers in the front kick panels to work. So I pulled the head unit and started over.) Here's my experience:
The stock speakers can only run from the stock amp as it has built in crossovers. If you try and run the stock speakers straight from an aftermarket head unit, you will not like the results, unless you are good at buying aftermarket crossovers and configuring them to the stock speakers. Just a pain.
Also, since the stock amp has built in crossovers, you will drive yourself nuts trying to figure out the wiring to make this work with aftermarket speakers. In addition, the stock amp is not 'adjustable' like aftermarket amps and again, you won't like the results.
It's just my opinion, but if you want a really nice system, just unhook (or remove) the stock amp and speakers and run all new. It's a bit of a DIY project but I did this and the results are AMAZING. Again, just my opinion, but the stock system is just not worth trying to hack into if you really want a nice system. If you shop around and Google for a while, you can do an entire new system for less than $800.
I bought a nice 6 channel amp and two sets of infinity Kappa separate component speakers with crossovers. One set for the front and one set for the rear. The amp and speakers were a total of $500. I also bought a 10 inch subwoofer (I went cheap here, for the time being) with a small enclosure for $100. The head unit the guy put in had pre-amp outputs for front, rear and sub. I ran all the RCA's to the trunk and ran all new speaker wires. Took me about 2 days of ripping the car apart and putting it all back together, but the results are WELL worth it.

nice! this helps alot man.

Hi there just wondering if the iriduim 8 plugs are the best for my m52 2.8 as the shop I went to order them from said their system only recommended those plugs for the 2.5, and apparently recommended a copper based plug for mine? Can anyone clear this up for me? Cheers Aaron

Originally Posted by azaharafat19

Hi there just wondering if the iriduim 8 plugs are the best for my m52 2.8 as the shop I went to order them from said their system only recommended those plugs for the 2.5, and apparently recommended a copper based plug for mine? Can anyone clear this up for me? Cheers Aaron

buy the copper ones, the iridium is a waste

The Iridium ones work really well....for a while, until it burns the tips off. The copper ones keep going, and going, and going.....

Not trying to hate but where I'm from I think Tyres are spelt Tires. And smother is spelt smoother, always good to check spelling when doing a write up I think….

Ok CAI…. This topic has frustrated me quite a bit. When it comes to these cars, I think if anything your CAI is going to be sucking in warmer air, as the factory box as a direct connection to the front of your grill. CAI's that go down below your engine are silly too because roads are usually really hot. I suppose if you have properly done a heat shield you might get back to the same air temperatures your OEM intake was getting. Secondly, Yes CAI's make your engine sound pretty beefy, and ya you'll get more air flow and more HP, but I really really think people should think hard (especially considering we are talking about old E36's, and parts aren't getting any easier to find) about what they value more, the life of their engine, and engine oil, or the 10 (at best) extra HP. I know cone air filter manufacturers love to advertise how their filters never need to be replaced and filter just as good as paper filters (if they are oiled, and who wants to constantly be oiling their filter) but you can't defy the laws of physics, they do not filter the air nearly as well as just a plain old paper filter. However I'm willing to consider that depending on where you live this might not be a big issue.

I enjoyed the rest of your write up, thanks for the post!