5 Mods you loved / 5 Mods you didn't

[jareds941]

10 years of ownership

loved

apracing BBK 355mm rotors
Carbon fiber roof Found one for 800 shipped and I installed the roof myself
Coolerworks solid shifter
18X10 et25 apex arc 8 square setup
sparco evo 2 us with brey Krause manual adjustable sliders
cage built by TC design with the subframe reinforced

bonus
Areo: splitter, nine lived racing 70” wing

hated
4.10 went down to 3.9
removed sound denting track car
fourtune auto 510. The suspension is to stiff but love it because it feels like its on rails
hard Motorsport door panels. I changed to a carbon fiber insert with the OEM top section
AC delete. Because track car

I'm attempting to install the Hard door panels now. Man, that is not a very well made product. the "holes" don't line up to anything on my car...I'm going with nutserts but it's proving to be very time consuming and furstrating...all for a mod that serves little "purpose" other than making my track car look a little less ghetto. Can't even imagine trying to make the CF version fit knowing what I've had to do thus far.

[sc_tr0jan_m3]

10 years of ownership

loved

apracing BBK 355mm rotors
Carbon fiber roof Found one for 800 shipped and I installed the roof myself
Coolerworks solid shifter
18X10 et25 apex arc 8 square setup
sparco evo 2 us with brey Krause manual adjustable sliders
cage built by TC design with the subframe reinforced

bonus
Areo: splitter, nine lived racing 70” wing

hated
4.10 went down to 3.9
removed sound denting track car
fourtune auto 510. The suspension is to stiff but love it because it feels like its on rails
hard Motorsport door panels. I changed to a carbon fiber insert with the OEM top section
AC delete. Because track car

Nice another customer of Tony! I’ve been a longtime customer of over 10 years. And will be shipping my car back to Tony for phase 2 of my build.

What wing you running in the rear and what splitter you running in the front?


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[Ghost_M3]

10 years of ownership

loved

apracing BBK 355mm rotors
Carbon fiber roof Found one for 800 shipped and I installed the roof myself
Coolerworks solid shifter
18X10 et25 apex arc 8 square setup
sparco evo 2 us with brey Krause manual adjustable sliders
cage built by TC design with the subframe reinforced

bonus
Areo: splitter, nine lived racing 70” wing

hated
4.10 went down to 3.9
removed sound denting track car
fourtune auto 510. The suspension is to stiff but love it because it feels like its on rails
hard Motorsport door panels. I changed to a carbon fiber insert with the OEM top section
AC delete. Because track car

[r4dr]

Bear in mind the calipers are from megane 250/275 not from porsche. Some say they re the same with others i.e. aston martin but they aren't, although I don't know if they are the same with the 996.
The system 's been bled several times by 2 different persons as well as removed and refilled rbf. Humidity % of the brake fluid was checked also.

The calipers are different for sure, but according to BuildJournal (who knows if they're right) they're pretty close to the 996 front calipers as far as brake torque. In fact they claim Megane fronts + 996 rears is closer to stock (unsure if they're referring to CSL) vs. 996 F + R.

Either way, strange but good to hear feedback. I could only find feedback on the kit on M3Cutters in the UK where they had positive reviews, but I haven't installed mine yet. I'm actually considering just selling the kit and refreshing the stock parts since I'm unlikely to ever track the car.

[gorilla69]

I have the kit sitting in my living room right now, but based on what he's saying I think it's a setup issue with his car. It uses the same rotor as every other Brembo retrofit including the 996 caliper, and running just the fronts is within 1.6% of the stock setup so it's not like you're losing a ton of brake torque up front.

Someone who put 996 calipers on had similar issues with feel and it turned out they hadn't properly bled the system after install. I believe RBF660 needs to be flushed regularly (like, every race or two) as it's a pure race fluid with no longevity. Either way, it's intriguing.

Bear in mind the calipers are from megane 250/275 not from porsche. Some say they re the same with others i.e. aston martin but they aren't, although I don't know if they are the same with the 996.
The system 's been bled several times by 2 different persons as well as removed and refilled rbf. Humidity % of the brake fluid was checked also.

[r4dr]

Maybe it’s not worth to get the brembo bbk from freaky parts then because I was looking to get that kit.

I have the kit sitting in my living room right now, but based on what he's saying I think it's a setup issue with his car. It uses the same rotor as every other Brembo retrofit including the 996 caliper, and running just the fronts is within 1.6% of the stock setup so it's not like you're losing a ton of brake torque up front.

Someone who put 996 calipers on had similar issues with feel and it turned out they hadn't properly bled the system after install. I believe RBF660 needs to be flushed regularly (like, every race or two) as it's a pure race fluid with no longevity. Either way, it's intriguing.

[Ramo]

After the overhaul the vanos never managed to work properly and it would always fail the test. It was performed by a BMW specialist, so I don't believe it was his fault. Plus it was done as preventive maintenance and before that, Vanos was running faultless. He checked timing 4 times and removed - re-installed vanos 3 times. I bought a used unit and solved the problem.

The brakes don't seem to have enough power and they show signs of fatigue earlier than expected. Plus pedal bite is not as firm as expected. I run ds2500s with rbf660 and during fast mountain drives I'm out of brakes soon...

Maybe it’s not worth to get the brembo bbk from freaky parts then because I was looking to get that kit.

[gorilla69]

Hmm, what's the reasoning with these two?

After the overhaul the vanos never managed to work properly and it would always fail the test. It was performed by a BMW specialist, so I don't believe it was his fault. Plus it was done as preventive maintenance and before that, Vanos was running faultless. He checked timing 4 times and removed - re-installed vanos 3 times. I bought a used unit and solved the problem.

The brakes don't seem to have enough power and they show signs of fatigue earlier than expected. Plus pedal bite is not as firm as expected. I run ds2500s with rbf660 and during fast mountain drives I'm out of brakes soon...

[r4dr]

- Ohlins Road and Track Coilovers (Custom valved and with Ohlins camber plates/swift springs setup)

What spring rates did you end up at? Did you go through 3DM?

[VisorM3]

Hmm, what's the reasoning with these two?

Had the same question going through this thread lol

[BMWahba]

Love
- Carbon Roof, very noticeable weight difference from a sunroof car and looks amazing.
- AutoSolutions "Autocross" Kit, by far the best feeling shifter of any car I have driven. I love it.
- Vincebar install while totally re-building my entire rear end, including painting it, powdercoating the subframe, all new bushings etc. The peace of mind as well as the feeling of the car transformed night and day from stock rubber worn junk.
- Karbonius CSL Center Console
- Ohlins Road and Track Coilovers (Custom valved and with Ohlins camber plates/swift springs setup)


Hate
- The installer of my roof, screwed me a little bit.

Other than that nothing, I have researched every purchase 50x over to make sure I'd like what i was doing! I have a Karbonius box waiting to be installed, hopefully I love that lol

[r4dr]

Would not mind not spending money for:
- Beisan vanos kit
- Freaky parts Brembo BBK

Hmm, what's the reasoning with these two?

[shibui]

I got news for you, super loud muffs don’t sound good on any car.
Surprised how many times CSL airbox is mentioned in the regret column.


favorites, pretty much all I’ve done to it:
headers with scza and race cats - just awesome
kn 57 - surprisingly loud, have to compare it to the csl intake someday
CSL software for smg
B12 - I’m sure there are better out there but i don’t regret it, well, maybe regret not going full coilover
Gloss black grills and gills

Regerts:
smoked anything - they don’t fit right and they don’t last.

I dunno, I’m a fan of Italian V12s with loud mufflers. Maybe it’s because they’re Italian they have the license to be more flamboyant. Some V8s too. Not all V8s though.

/shrug

[Icecream]

- Loud section 3s, just doesn't sound good on our cars.

I got news for you, super loud muffs don’t sound good on any car.
Surprised how many times CSL airbox is mentioned in the regret column.


favorites, pretty much all I’ve done to it:
headers with scza and race cats - just awesome
kn 57 - surprisingly loud, have to compare it to the csl intake someday
CSL software for smg
B12 - I’m sure there are better out there but i don’t regret it, well, maybe regret not going full coilover
Gloss black grills and gills

Regerts:
smoked anything - they don’t fit right and they don’t last.

[shibui]

Have had my M3 for 8 years now and it's been through a few variations.

+

- Proper coilovers + Hotchkiss Hollow Sways
- Lightweight wheels (previous owner had some heavy ass 19" wheels so it felt like a brand new car when I did this) + square setup
- Removing weight and lightening the car to around 3k lbs
- CSL body bits (still in love with the design today)
- Euro Center Console Conversion

-

- Loud section 3s, just doesn't sound good on our cars. I've since modified the stock one and it's perfect IMO and goes well together with the sound deadening removal.
- Matte black grills... black wheels... (personal taste)
- Staggered setup (just don't like how the car behaves with too much stagger)
- Progressive springs with cheap coilovers
- Losing my cupholders (keeping it that way though, I'll manage)