[e92streakofalpinewhite]

Hello everybody, first time posting here. As of yesterday I became the proud owner of an '09 E92 328i 6MT in Alpine White. It has 74k miles on the odometer and by all measures has been very well cared for by its single owner. I really love this car but coming out of my S3 I'd like to see what I can do to make some modifications to help give it a little bit better power/responsiveness. Now, I understand I didn't buy the multiple variations of E92 that solves this problem but I'd like to at least give it a little bit of a boost (not literally) from where it's at currently.

Okay enough with the preamble. What I'd like is for some of you well informed bimmer folks to pretend you're in my position and let me know what you'd do with a budget of $3,000 to take it from stock to your imagined "final state". Any references to other helpful threads or other resources would also be much appreciated!

P.S. Attached a few quick shots I took with more to come once I get it cleaned up proper. Please ignore the dilapidated house in one of the photos, that is unfortunate the neighborhood eye sore.

[Noir]

3.91/3.64 diff ~150
3-stage IM ~350
Headers (Active Auto) ~700
Modified Intake Lifter Valvetronic Supports (MILVs) ~350 (310, with refund of your stocks)
Tune ~700

Total~2300

If you can snag a euro intake box, for ease of maintenance, I'd do it. But don't do it if the cost is stupid high.

Supporting:
Weight reduction is what a lot follow, I'll let you research those panels...
Suspension kit?
Squared set of lightweight Apex wheels to top it off... Roughly ~1k, before tires IIRC

[Noir]

Nice car, btw.

Welcome

[Biginboca]

First of all, that car is beautiful. I have a 2009 e92 328i also alpine white so obviously I’m probably a little biased but to me that’s the best combo you have.

Agree with what my friend Noir said above. For me the starting place would be 3.73 diff swap from an automatic and a 3 Stage Intake with Tune. These are absolute must do mods where the cost to benefit is off the charts. Next I’d do MILV’s, and Headers. Doing all these mods really wakes these cars up and makes the car a whole different animal.

After that maybe some exhaust mods to get her some sound and look into suspension. All the M3 suspension parts bolt up btw.

[E92William]

Pretty much all has been said above^ Personally with my car being an xi, it came with the 3.91 diff from factory. I put in a 3 stage manifold and flashed it to 330i with bimmerlabs, then put on a set of headers and it's a huge improvement from stock, lots more torque from as low as 2500 and more power all throughout the rev range.

[ccyccm]

I recommend deleting the clutch delay valve. It’s not a performance mod, but it’s going to make driving the car noticeably better—and if you’re doing everything else, why not!?

[neilvan]

here's my take(assuming your car is rwd):

CDV delete (Free)
Remove front alignment pins/Trim front strut stop 6mm (Free or alignment cost)
TRW front control/tension arms (~$400)
Used 330i manifold (300-500) + Bimmerlabs tune (Free)
Euro IAT (50)
secondary cat delete (usually free since the cats sell for close to shop labour)
PE MOD (~300)
E46 M3 Trans mounts (50)
MILVS (350-400) + aftermarket tune(500)
Dinan style Intake mod (50-100)

Beyond that get some used 330 front calipers brackets +Z4 aluminum hat rotors when you need brakes. OR save up for a nice set of wheels/tires. Personally Id also spend on some euro LCI tails as I just take red turn signals and LEDs are always cool

I skipped out on the diff because depending on where you are/driving style you may not want shorter gears for highway rpm/daily duties. Headers are great too(and Id skip the secondary delete if I were to) but some places need the cats for emissions and all that nonsense.

[Noir]

e92streakofalpinewhite if you can wait, I can save you some cost on that intake manifold. I'm switching to the n54s intake.. I can definitely say I think the big disa valve needs to be replaced, but you should still save roughly 200 bucks. Lmk.

[Volasko]

Originally Posted by neilvan

I skipped out on the diff because depending on where you are/driving style you may not want shorter gears for highway rpm/daily duties. Headers are great too(and Id skip the secondary delete if I were to) but some places need the cats for emissions and all that nonsense.

I would say your concerns about the diff swap was something that I feared too. I used to daily my car all the time and my commute to work involved about 80km's of hwy driving (both ways) and even after my cruising RPM was raised (about 15% more) I didn't notice that much of a difference with the livability of the car. The N52 engines are super smooth and even with higher cruising RPM's I didn't notice as much of a fuel economy hit as I would have expected. I even have a PE and there wasn't much drone to it either. The added torque is ABSOLUTELY worth it though, completely changes the way the car feels. Now my car came with the 3SIM stock, so its hard to compare between the two, but I would say the rear diff swap the best mod I did of all the work I put into my car (see garage for details). Plus its all plug and play so its not hard to DIY if you have some basic skills.

[neilvan]

Originally Posted by Volasko

I would say your concerns about the diff swap was something that I feared too. I used to daily my car all the time and my commute to work involved about 80km's of hwy driving (both ways) and even after my cruising RPM was raised (about 15% more) I didn't notice that much of a difference with the livability of the car. The N52 engines are super smooth and even with higher cruising RPM's I didn't notice as much of a fuel economy hit as I would have expected. I even have a PE and there wasn't much drone to it either. The added torque is ABSOLUTELY worth it though, completely changes the way the car feels. Now my car came with the 3SIM stock, so its hard to compare between the two, but I would say the rear diff swap the best mod I did of all the work I put into my car (see garage for details). Plus its all plug and play so its not hard to DIY if you have some basic skills.

For a toy/track car or something that's not usually daily'ed; I 100% get it. We have a few miata's and they have short gearing(Driving to work regularly is a nightmare)

In the family We have 2 N52s; standard N52 manual rwd) 3.23 rear end and one with the 3.38(6spd x-drive wagon). different cars but I honestly couldnt really notice an rpm diff between em.

We also have 2 N54 6spd cars; 1 with the 3.08 and one with the 3.46. Ignoring the fact that turbo cars like longer gears; the 3.46 sucks. Highway is annoying and it just doesn't feel right at any speed. Shit we are even looking at 2.81's out of europe. For the N52 I feel like the 3.46 might be a good balance if the driveshaft end was compatible

[rjahl]

Originally Posted by neilvan

For a toy/track car or something that's not usually daily'ed; I 100% get it. We have a few miata's and they have short gearing(Driving to work regularly is a nightmare)

In the family We have 2 N52s; standard N52 manual rwd) 3.23 rear end and one with the 3.38(6spd x-drive wagon). different cars but I honestly couldnt really notice an rpm diff between em.

We also have 2 N54 6spd cars; 1 with the 3.08 and one with the 3.46. Ignoring the fact that turbo cars like longer gears; the 3.46 sucks. Highway is annoying and it just doesn't feel right at any speed. Shit we are even looking at 2.81's out of europe. For the N52 I feel like the 3.46 might be a good balance if the driveshaft end was compatible

My 2 cents,

Do the three stage manifold and tune and call it the day. Put the balance of your funds into a savings/investment account.

You will have plenty of fun and the motor will be reliable and economical.

Have fun with it, its a great car and motor but it's never going to be the 335is so don't try to make it something it's not.

[E92William]

The 3.91 diff is not that bad on the highway, I actually feel the lower numbers are too long. I'm turning about 2k rpms at 60mph. This is on par with my e46 328ci which has a 5 speed and a 3.64 I believe. Plus unless you have a loud exhaust you won't even hear the engine at a higher rpm if you're doing say 80-100. Maybe I'm just used to when I had a 90s Honda and that thing would do 2500 rpms at 60!

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by E92William

The 3.91 diff is not that bad on the highway, I actually feel the lower numbers are too long. I'm turning about 2k rpms at 60mph. This is on par with my e46 328ci which has a 5 speed and a 3.64 I believe. Plus unless you have a loud exhaust you won't even hear the engine at a higher rpm if you're doing say 80-100. Maybe I'm just used to when I had a 90s Honda and that thing would do 2500 rpms at 60!

Agree! I had a 3.23 stock, went to a 3.73, and then changed it again to a 3.91. 3.73 (or 3.91 ) is perfect for these cars. I would not run anything less than a 3.73. I have no regrets whatsoever running my 3.91

This is with the 3.91 diff in 6th gear. Cruising at 90-100 feels calm and the torque is great I never have to downshift on the highway. These engines are so smooth you would never notice what rpms your turning without looking at the Tach. I figure the cars are made for the autobahn and cruising at 120-130 would have the engines spinning at 4K+ for long stretches so they are perfectly fine with it.

[lowrydr310]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

These engines are so smooth you would never notice what rpms your turning without looking at the Tach.

You got that right. I was accelerating onto a highway recently with my stereo relatively loud, more focused on safely merging rather than shifting, and the car was pulling hard then all the sudden I felt the power reduced. I looked down and realized I hit the rev limiter 7000RPMs and I didn't feel any vibration or roughness suggesting the engine was revving that high.

[aphael]

Beautiful car, I was in the same situation as you a half a year ago. This is a lengthy post but it will hopefully steer you in the right direction. Here are some things that I wish I knew. I am coming from a more all round perfomance mindset.

Clutch Delay Valve 100%, this has to be the first mod you do. It lessens the vague clutch feel. Still feels spongy since theres a spring that slows a down. There are some versions where its an OEM design and fits right in. Or you could take out the oem delay valve and just use some hose. Or drill the oem valve to be larger. Up to you.

330i 3 Stage Intake, really nice but do understand that if you need new DISAs are around 700$ from BMW. Aftermarket ones are pretty much trash and trust me you do not want to be doing this job multiple times if you aren't handy. I bought new ones from FCP, if you can get more than 1 life out of them its already worth it. Junkyard disas are going to be trash most of the time. Some people here are selling disas that work with the manifold so that may save you some money. If you are tracking the car go n54 manifold, I would have went n54 if I knew it was an option. Better top end power at a sacrifice of some torque in the low range. Also makes 7.0 - 7.5k rpm a lot more powerful. 3IS falls off after 6800 due to design.

Suspension. Don't get lowering springs on stock shocks, if you have 3k. I did this and I replaced it with coilovers after a week. I would spend the majority on this. Power isnt everything imo since I drive my cars hard on the backroads/track. Lowering springs will make your car feel choppy and unrefined (worse than stock imo). Koni Yellows with any lowering spring will ride excellent and perform great. Realistically, its the only good option under 1k. Coilovers in the same price range will give "32" levels of "adjustment" that really don't work and aren't linear. Buy once rather than twice. You won't ever beat a 335i in power, but you can certainly turn and brake faster than them.

MILVs, haven't installed these on my car yet but it will require taking the Valve Cover Gasket off. I don't want to mess with a new gasket so it will come in the future. Basically it adds lift to valvetronic, and thus adds 10hp across the powerband. Good value for money. Around 300$ if you send old ones back.

Now Catless Headers. Pretty time consuming and annoying job. You need to pair this up with a tune, this should come after the intake manifold. This will make your car sound insane like a touring car. But it is illegal if you have emissions testing. You don't have to do this. Don't do a muffler delete if your going to do headers. It will be insanely LOUD, but it sounds awesome at the same time. also don't delete your secondary cats, unless your going to replace them wtih a 100cell race cat. On cold starts it already smells like trash with secondaries. I can smell it from 20-30 ft away.

Some other stuff that has been covered. These are all great mods to do.
Clutch stopper, Rev Motoring Silicone Hose, ZHP shift knob, 335i front brake conversion (only if you need more stopping power, adds unsprung weight, 312mm to 348mm) M3 front lower control arms and tension struts, 3.73/3.91 diff, diy dinan air ram intake.

Headlight upgrade, I upgraded to a nice set of osram CBB d1s bulbs. The stocks were really faded and barely had any output when I got my car. I encounter deer a lot so vision is really important to me. There are some amazon ones that are good, DMEX is one brand that had good output. If you want another visual mod, a lot of people go LED angel eyes. Lux is the favorite here but is extremely expensive. Ebay ones work fine and have been fine for 6 months for me. It will be dimmer on the outside due to inherent design.

Lastly, enjoy the car for what it is. Rather than doing all the mods at once, do it progressively so you can see what you want from your car. I wanted a good neutral handling car with a flat ride, so I went suspension first. You can get wheels and tires. Stick with good tires and name brand wheels. I personally prefer 17 but 18s tend to look better, but ride worse and cost a bit more in tire and wheel.

Save the rest of the dough for maintenance, stuff will break and will cost a lot of money if you don't do it yourself. The e92 tails went out on me a month ago, the other strips are led and are usually unfixable. You may need a tuneup soon at that mileage as well if it hasn't been done yet. Maintenance is always more important than modifications.

Not to threadjack but here is a video of my car with a muffler delete + headers if you are interested. It really sounds much better than the n54 imo and without the obnoxious burble tune.

[e92streakofalpinewhite]

Guys I'm really floored about the time each of you took to provide a myriad of suggestions, thank you so much! This gives me a lot to consider and research. Once I start digging into these I may have some one-off questions if you don't mind providing further education/resources.

I also appreciate the compliments on the car - I've admired these E92s ever since they were released. It's rare to find a car that looks amazing from every angle. I've been biding my time until they became more affordable.. and now here we are!

I probably should have mentioned this before but I'll be driving this car 1-2 times per week at short/medium distances but occasionally taking it a few hours away to the mountains. My general goals for this car is to give it some more power (especially at the low end of the RPM range), give it a better tone without being 'loud', and handle better (likely in that order) without putting the old engine at too much risk.

Noir - definitely interested in the intake manifold!

[850CSi]

Originally Posted by e92streakofalpinewhite

I probably should have mentioned this before but I'll be driving this car 1-2 times per week at short/medium distances but occasionally taking it a few hours away to the mountains. My general goals for this car is to give it some more power (especially at the low end of the RPM range), give it a better tone without being 'loud', and handle better (likely in that order) without putting the old engine at too much risk.

So I’ve been following this thread because, while I’ve had my car for 15 years, I’m sort of in a similar boat. It’s basically deteriorated to trash (never had a garage or the time to work on it until now, lots of deferred maintenance) and this winter I’m working on basically restoring and enhancing it. Here’s basically my plan of attack so far, I think almost all of which has already been mentioned at various points:

• 3 stage IM + MAF-less tune
• Rev motoring intake boot + charcoal filter removal (and am looking for other [cheap] ways to generate some more induction noise — might switch to a eurobox)
• BMW short shifter, Turner rear shifter carrier bushing, AKG DSSR and delrin front carrier bushings, change trans and diff fluid
• Secondary cat removal
• Complete suspension overhaul (leaning toward B12 pro kit)

I was mostly driving an SL55 AMG for the past couple of years, so I scratched the power itch and now mostly care about having a car that’ll be fun on low speed limit city roads and smooth/quiet at 80mph.

Similar to you I don’t drive every day but will be taking the car on some longer trips with some frequency, so I think I’m going to leave the diff alone.

(I also did my oil pan, motor/trans mounts, and valve cover, and am replacing my flywheel and clutch etc, out of necessity)

Congrats on the buy. I think these cars, especially RWD manual N52s, are the last representatives of a bygone era and a tremendous value for money. And they can be extremely reliable if cared for.

[Noir]

Also, +1 on big's assessment with the 3.91 — more often than not I can just give it more gas and pass somebody in 6th gear ~ going roughly 80-90 to pass. It ultimately comes down to your preference on the gearing... I know what the end goal is for me and this LSD definitely makes it more fun and when I do get fully ready to start my track endeavors, I'm sure the shorter gears will be a pleasing help to take those straights.

I got you, bro. Glad to help.

[Noir]

Oi, just thought of something else. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please) the crank case ventilation system is prone to failure when faced with short trips. Wont happen in a day or anything like that — I think after a good while of doing so... Something to keep an eye on.

[rick100]

for power
AAheaders- 700 $ ( new , they had sales once in a while , may be able to find used)
3 stage intake - 300$ ( used, may be able to find it cheaper or more expensive)
milvs- 350 $ ( new, maybe be able to save 50$ on used ones)
tune - 650 $ ( cant do much here, that is the price, unless you want the free tune but im not sure it ll work with milvs and headers)
Exhaust - 500$ or so ( catback exhaust will be higher, last time a check it was 1000$ , but you can probably do a nice muffler , cat delete, may be able to save a little bit more here)
charcoal delete ( k and n filter) 100$ ( that is the cheapest way to do it , once you start getting into brand name intakes , it can easily triple that)
total - 2500$ at least
Labour - easy 1000-1500$ if you are taking the car to your mechanic to those all those mods. Maybe even more than that. So you are already over budget

3000k sound like a lot , but it really isn't. You could blow 3000$ in tires and coil overs alone, not even top of the line stuff.You could save quite a bit if you do the labour yourself and if you just start deleting some exhaust parts , it may sound like crap but it ll do the job

I haven't even consider the other parts
differential swap ( 300-600$ parts used plus labour) last time I asked about labour on this swap they quoted me 600$
suspension ( any decent set may start at a 1000$ plus labour) , labour to get this done is also around 600$
tires and rims ( 1000$ used) , I bought my arc 8s new and it cost me 2300$ , so 1000$ may be on the very low side

I mean you could easily double your budget on mods , and a lot of my estimates are based on used parts already. If you are handy and you can do all these yourself you may be closer to 3000$ , but once you start getting into tires and suspension its hard to save much money.

[JingChai]

I'm also in the Bay Area, would love to connect!

Originally Posted by aphael

Beautiful car, I was in the same situation as you a half a year ago. This is a lengthy post but it will hopefully steer you in the right direction. Here are some things that I wish I knew. I am coming from a more all round perfomance mindset.

Clutch Delay Valve 100%, this has to be the first mod you do. It lessens the vague clutch feel. Still feels spongy since theres a spring that slows a down. There are some versions where its an OEM design and fits right in. Or you could take out the oem delay valve and just use some hose. Or drill the oem valve to be larger. Up to you.

330i 3 Stage Intake, really nice but do understand that if you need new DISAs are around 700$ from BMW. Aftermarket ones are pretty much trash and trust me you do not want to be doing this job multiple times if you aren't handy. I bought new ones from FCP, if you can get more than 1 life out of them its already worth it. Junkyard disas are going to be trash most of the time. Some people here are selling disas that work with the manifold so that may save you some money. If you are tracking the car go n54 manifold, I would have went n54 if I knew it was an option. Better top end power at a sacrifice of some torque in the low range. Also makes 7.0 - 7.5k rpm a lot more powerful. 3IS falls off after 6800 due to design.

Suspension. Don't get lowering springs on stock shocks, if you have 3k. I did this and I replaced it with coilovers after a week. I would spend the majority on this. Power isnt everything imo since I drive my cars hard on the backroads/track. Lowering springs will make your car feel choppy and unrefined (worse than stock imo). Koni Yellows with any lowering spring will ride excellent and perform great. Realistically, its the only good option under 1k. Coilovers in the same price range will give "32" levels of "adjustment" that really don't work and aren't linear. Buy once rather than twice. You won't ever beat a 335i in power, but you can certainly turn and brake faster than them.

MILVs, haven't installed these on my car yet but it will require taking the Valve Cover Gasket off. I don't want to mess with a new gasket so it will come in the future. Basically it adds lift to valvetronic, and thus adds 10hp across the powerband. Good value for money. Around 300$ if you send old ones back.

Now Catless Headers. Pretty time consuming and annoying job. You need to pair this up with a tune, this should come after the intake manifold. This will make your car sound insane like a touring car. But it is illegal if you have emissions testing. You don't have to do this. Don't do a muffler delete if your going to do headers. It will be insanely LOUD, but it sounds awesome at the same time. also don't delete your secondary cats, unless your going to replace them wtih a 100cell race cat. On cold starts it already smells like trash with secondaries. I can smell it from 20-30 ft away.

Some other stuff that has been covered. These are all great mods to do.
Clutch stopper, Rev Motoring Silicone Hose, ZHP shift knob, 335i front brake conversion (only if you need more stopping power, adds unsprung weight, 312mm to 348mm) M3 front lower control arms and tension struts, 3.73/3.91 diff, diy dinan air ram intake.

Headlight upgrade, I upgraded to a nice set of osram CBB d1s bulbs. The stocks were really faded and barely had any output when I got my car. I encounter deer a lot so vision is really important to me. There are some amazon ones that are good, DMEX is one brand that had good output. If you want another visual mod, a lot of people go LED angel eyes. Lux is the favorite here but is extremely expensive. Ebay ones work fine and have been fine for 6 months for me. It will be dimmer on the outside due to inherent design.

Lastly, enjoy the car for what it is. Rather than doing all the mods at once, do it progressively so you can see what you want from your car. I wanted a good neutral handling car with a flat ride, so I went suspension first. You can get wheels and tires. Stick with good tires and name brand wheels. I personally prefer 17 but 18s tend to look better, but ride worse and cost a bit more in tire and wheel.

Save the rest of the dough for maintenance, stuff will break and will cost a lot of money if you don't do it yourself. The e92 tails went out on me a month ago, the other strips are led and are usually unfixable. You may need a tuneup soon at that mileage as well if it hasn't been done yet. Maintenance is always more important than modifications.

Not to threadjack but here is a video of my car with a muffler delete + headers if you are interested. It really sounds much better than the n54 imo and without the obnoxious burble tune.

[Torgus]

Why did you get rid of the S3? Isn't the e92 a downgrade?

But what everyone said here full NA bolt on mods if you want more pep for around 3k. You can see what they dyno if that is enough for you vs. stock to make the decision if dropping 3k is worth it. It's not going to be like the gains the S3 with full boltons and a tune will have or put down.

What do used SCs go for? Must be around 3k. Hold out for one of those? Not that I would own an n52 again but if I did it would have to be SC'd 100%.