5 Mods you loved / 5 Mods you didn't

[poss]

Love:

1. SMG CSL flash (a must do) and recalibration - makes the SMG a pleasure to use
2. Topside subframe reinforcement, subframe mount plates and poly subframe bushings - peace of mind and nicely stiffened up the rear
3. Decent aftermarket strut brace - the genuine one is purely decorative
4. replace puny ski-pass subwoofer with a 10" Rockford Fosgate and 200W amp
5. SMG relocation - longer lifespan hopefully and no probs with overheating

Hate:

1. Poly engine mounts - idle vibration too much for a daily

[T-Rex]

Solid thread, and very informative as a Diff upgrade is one of the two mods I have planned for this year. My car is purely a weekend toy at this point; ~80% canyon / 20% track.

Love:

• Turner CSL Intake / HTE custom tune - The V1 box was a piece of shit; I'm cautiously optimistic the V2 box will hold up better. That said, I absolutely love the sound, power, and overall change to the powerband
• Recaro SPG - You don't know what you're missing in terms of feedback until you get a proper seat. I thought otherwise and was wrong.
• Avant 4 - Rest of my audio is nasty, 20yo HK, but I love Carplay and iBus features
• Brembo DB9/996 conversion - Outstanding performance without having to spend $6k+ on brakes; lifetime free rotors thanks to FCPEuro
• OE CSL bootlid - 'nuff said
• MAINTENANCE - not a mod, but the best thing I spend money on for the car

Hate:

• 95A Engine mounts - loved how responsive the car was, but it rattled my teeth at stop lights. Ended up removing them.
• First "performance" tune for CSL box - Dead spots all over the rev range, terrible part-throttle response. They did a great job on my ECU, but would not recommend the tune.
• Hawk HPS pads - high dust, squeaky, and not an improvement over stock
• RPI scoops - A great waste of $80
• Sylvania HID DS2 bulbs - This is a tough one, as the problem isn't with the bulbs per se. Certainly an improvement over stock, but still doesn't get close to the light output I want. I will be doing new projectors at some point.

[Inizes]

there's also living with the fact that you knowingly made your car pollute a lot more just because (_insert any sad excuse here_) that drives people to run cats

That didn’t seem to be the reason why, most people cite the smell thus my discussion about it. Not trying to make the impression I don’t care about the environment though.

[usdmej]

but just surprised I hear so many complaints about the smell of catless when it never bothered me too much.

there's also living with the fact that you knowingly made your car pollute a lot more just because (_insert any sad excuse here_) that drives people to run cats

[EthanolTurbo]

Should you be enjoying the smell of E85 being burned through your car though? Health wise that sounds terrible lol

Ingesting alcohol kills hundreds of thousands of people a year in the US, I've yet to hear of someone die from smelling it through an exhaust. 🤷♂️😉

[Duck360198]

5 LOVED:
- OEM CSL Front Seats (by far the best mod I've ever experienced)
- OEM CSL Decklid
- OEM CSL Door Cards
- Brembo GT
- Dinan Exhaust

5 HATED:
- 4.10 (previous owner of vehicle)
- Short Shifter (previous owner of vehicle)
- Multi-function steering wheel retrofit on a ZCP car (previous owner of vehicle)
- Plasti-dip Grilles (previous owner of vehicle)
- CSL Style Splitters on a standard bumper (previous owner of vehicle)

[Sharocks]

E85 solves a lot of the catless smell issues as it smells great.

Should you be enjoying the smell of E85 being burned through your car though? Health wise that sounds terrible lol

[EthanolTurbo]

I’m assuming you’re referring to the smell outside the car and not inside? Maybe it’s because I’m young but I really don’t find the smell of catless to be “unbearable.” I wouldn’t call it pleasant but the exhaust rarely enters the cabin so I don’t really mind it.

E85 solves a lot of the catless smell issues as it smells great.

[BMWahba]

I’m excited to do my CSL box after reading this thread 😎


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mrgizmo04]

Are you saying the ss oversized twin pipe resonated s2 got rid of your rasp?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

*With my setup, which includes race cats in section 1 (which act as resonators), yes.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Grke46m3]

Great thread.

My car's purpose spans daily with baby and road trips with bike rack all the way to track.

Love:
-Ssv1 with race cats and tune (have done the CA smog thing a few times, driving around for a while on stock headers and tune, HUGE difference)
-4.10 (lot of debate on this on the forum)
-Ohlins R&T, especially running them on softer settings (even on track) with more flat ride-ish springs
-Not yet installed, but I think I will love Coolerworx Pro shifter
-Schroth Quick Fit Pro - I'm on stock seats and will stay on them for a while, so this thing is an absolute game changer to keep me planted. I also use the Simpson hybrid HANS with it (which can also be used with the stock seatbelt).

In between love and hate:
-AJ Hartman delete panel. This one is more toward love because I'm tall and gained headroom space, supposedly also dropped ~32lbs from the top of the car (although can't say I really noticed it), but, it's a pretty coin, I broke a few tabs on b/c pillars getting the old liner out and getting to the sunroof, I haven't fully sourced the new liner yet, with sunroof glass gone that eliminates a mounting point for the gorilla suction cups and mount I used for the cam. So it was a lot more work/time/$ than I anticipated.
-ST40 front kit, (I haven't installed the rear yet, sitting somewhere in the garage from when I bought a full set used a few years ago), but I experienced knockback on track before I swapped my front wheel bearings (none since then), I don't actually use the quick pad swap feature because I run PFC08 year round (and truthfully I can prob swap pads just as quickly on the stock caliper), so I'm still getting to grips with this kit. I'm leaning toward "love", sticking with it and installing the rear kit as well (retains parking brake), and running it, as the car is seeing more track time, decent pads in the right shapes/sizes for older Porsche models can be had from FCP, 355 rings (both front and rear on the kit) last a long time (fronts have seen a lot of abuse so far).

Not so love:
-Eventuri - sound-wise I can't hear it over the exhaust and the diff, power wise I'm not sure there is anything extra. Positive is that it makes getting to PS fluid easier .
-E85 kit - while there are plenty of ethanol gas stations within 10mins and paying 25% less for fuel is nice, I have to always do some math to keep it under E50 or less with my mods and stock injectors (which are not straightforward plug and play to retune and rescale new injectors). If (which is unlikely) I end up doing a true CSL box and cams, and keep stock injectors, I'll have to run even lower ethanol %, since the other mods will require more fuel and will put stock injectors closer to their max even without any ethanol. Then it's a rabbit hole for new injectors, fuel pump, wideband o2, retune, then either swapping injectors for smog every 2 years or getting a new "stock" tune to rescale the injectors. Anyway.
-SS oversized S2 - I am a rasp guy, so prefer the stock s2 here (my full system is ssv1, race cats, sport ss muffler). Butt dyno is very subjective, I think the oversized s2 does add a few hp, but oh well.
-Shifter and levers. I've tried a few, with all refreshed shifter bushings, etc, they all feel like cheese compared to my s2k. Hopefully I didn't jump the gun putting the Coolerworx Pro chassis mounted shifter in the love category even though I have not installed it yet. Loved the action of CAE/RTD that I tried in other cars.

Might add few other things if I think of something.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Are you saying the ss oversized twin pipe resonated s2 got rid of your rasp?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[jayjpl]

Loves:
- Manual swap from SMG (unsure if that counts as a mod )
- Yellow Tag steering rack
- Poly Subframe bushings
- ZHP shift knob
- Stud conversion
BONUS: Rear strut bar

Not Loves:
- Front lip or carbon splitters
- Fake alcantara re-wrap (diy, will be going to coby probably)
- smoked corners
- poly diff bushings (too much diff whine)
- *can't think of a 5th

[M3logik]

Best:
Karbonius CSL Airbox - By far the best mod that you can do to an E46 M3.
Lang Racing CF Roof - Who doesn't like legit carbon fiber action?
OEM CSL Trunk - A beautiful piece of art. No wings allowed.
Recaro Sportster CS Seats - Beautiful aesthetic , very solid support for a street seat.
Supersprint Full (Header Back) Exhaust System - When paired with a CSL airbox, you really can't go wrong

Worst:

None that I can think of.

[repoman89]

Most people don't even get cars that have what your PO did. Be thankful, I've seen some wild comebacks on these cars lol

Lol true, and I can’t really complain because he kept it in great shape and barely drove it. Plus got some decent money back selling off parts.

[Sharocks]

Like: everything I've done to it. Karb box and SSv1 with cats + PC tune, OE CSL trunk / Mile End diffuser, Nogaros, clear IR/UV blocking tint

Dislike: everything PO did to it. KW V2, AP headers (catless), SG CSL trunk / diffuser, Evolve tune.

Actually not everything he did, love the AS SSK.

Most people don't even get cars that have what your PO did. Be thankful, I've seen some wild comebacks on these cars lol