Where to start!?

Got a great deal on a 93 325i. Had a blown head gasket , had to replace the shifted assembly and bushings and put a rear sway bar on it. Now I'm looking to get some more power and this thing is "German" to me sooo. Any suggestions on a good starting point?

Here's my baby

Start off with a leakdown test and verify the cylinders are holding compression. Then remove the engine from the vehicle and remove the head. Don't bother keeping the bolts as they are Torque-to-Yield bolts. remove the cams, valves, etc and send the head to the machine shop to verify its condition. If it is warped or cracked, repair it or get a new one. Go from there.

The head gasket is already repaired car runs great I'm just lookin to start modifying now that I know I have a solid baseline to work with. But as far as the head went I replaced all the valves had the valve seats worked on had the head decked I had to use a slightly thicker head gasket after they were done decking the head did all new valve stem seals so it's basicly a new head on there now

Nice car, glad to hear you got that head gasket replaced. How many miles are on the engine.

You can't really get any meaningful power gains in these cars without spending thousands and thousands of dollars, and even then, the gains are minimal. Your best bet is to focus on the handling and braking, which is what these cars do best. For a little extra acceleration, you could swap in a differential from an M3, but things like headers, exhaust, intake, etc. are only going to net you a few extra HP, and won't really affect acceleration. It might sound like you're accelerating faster with a loud exhaust, but it's just a matter of perception, not reality.

I don't see anything suggesting your car as the "m package".

Nothing exterior does but inside everything is badged with the m package badges the engine cover says MPower and it's got the m50 engine

And the car has 200k on it but the engine looks good internally cross hatches are still in the cylinder walls and it still had okay compression but haven't checked since I replaced the head gasket hopefully went up a bit since the old valves weren't sealing well at all

Right, the M50 engine is not an ///M engine. The M3 came with the S50 and S52. The M50 is just the basic 6-cyl which came in all 325 models. Seems like the previous owner of your car just put some ///M do-dads on the inside.

I'd imagine that your compression is good if the HG was replaced correctly.

I'm assuming it is but now I'm curious and gonna go check what's a good number for that engine?

What are your thoughts on the turner motorsports chips?

What are your thoughts on the turner Motorsport chips?

They're good for a little bit of power, but it won't revolutionize the power delivery at all. I'd go with a chip from TRM over Turner, though.

Don't bother spending money on power modifications until you have replaced every single part associated with the cooling system, and have gotten fully caught up with all other maintenance (suspension, brakes, gaskets, plugs, filters, bushings, diff/trans/steering fluids, etc.). My guess is your car is overdue for thousands of dollars of maintenance before you should spend a dime on power mods.

I've done all the mant I could see needing done I got it for 800 and am in almost three grand now I did the cooling system because I head that that is the weakest part on these yhings

Ah, good, so you've got the most important stuff behind you. Anyway, like I said, I'd go with a chip from The Racer's Market (TRM Tuning) over a Turner chip. But the installing a 3.23 LSD from an M3 will get you a bigger increase in acceleration than a chip (and costs around the same).

Where's a good place to get the rear end?

bavarian auto recycling

Get a turbo off ebay and have fun.

Craigslist.

Idk bout the turbo and stock internals have had bad experiences I'm just lookin to build a fun reliable car so I'm liking the idea o using parts out of other bmws cuz I know the quality is there and Craigslist in Montana sucks for bmw parts cuz there aren't a lot around here. What year dance will fit in there

Idk bout the turbo and stock internals have had bad experiences I'm just lookin to build a fun reliable car so I'm liking the idea o using parts out of other bmws cuz I know the quality is there and Craigslist in Montana sucks for bmw parts cuz there aren't a lot around here. What year dance will fit in there

Stock internals can handle 8-10psi. Especially if you've replaced the HG. Plenty of fun to be had at 10psi.

Or get a supercharger. Cheaper and safer.

Last super charger I looked at was nearly 4gs I like the car but I don't like it enough to dump 4gs in a supercharger if I were to throw that kinda money out there it would get coolovers sway bars brakes and all the **** to keep it on the road

Good. Just testing you.

These cars are best for handling. That's where you'll see very nice gains for modest $$. If you want large power gains you will need much more money.

That's kinda what I figured I was just seeing if anyone had little tricks. I am liking the m3 rear diff ideA tho. I think I'm having vanos issues with mine at the moment any tricks for diag with that?