533i

im getting ready to turn my 84 533 into a trackday car.

just curious as to what i can do to get around 250-300hp maybe something similar on the torque side too.

HP = rpm x torque (approximately). More power from: mandril bent headers, cam (I have one too wild for road use), free flowing inlet, massive tune up then dyno time, gasket matching head ports, polish of inlet manifold internals (matte finish), raising the compression ratio, building the engine again and a tunable EMU. How's that?

do you think i would be able to do it myself for around $1500?

Depends on three things. 1)Your skill level; 2) Your tool kit; 3) Your contacts (i. e. who you can get to work cheap for a friend).