Nope thats not a good thing to say, because then the dudes who put horrible camber on their car and whatever else dumb, they will think its fine to do that if you say it like that
@@KristjanLovesCars sure you're entitled to your opinion There are lots of things i don't like either but i can't step over a person's free will and rights because of it.
Many people overdo it. A short shifter, nice adjustable coilovers, and struts are cool, but there's a fine line you shouldn't cross if it's a multi-task daily car and not just a weekend ride.
While I agree that there's a balance to strike with modifications, a short shifter can be a practical and effective upgrade for a daily driver. It does improves shift precision and responsiveness without compromising comfort or practicality, worthwhile improvement for everyday use IMO.
@@xelkg.j3425 It is. I have adjustable short shifters in both my cars, and I love them. The stock shifter in the E30 has an absurdly long throw, it’s almost comical. The E46 is a bit better, but mine came with this weird homemade short shifter which was essentially just an original shifter but cut and welded. That wasn’t great, so I swapped it out for the same adjustable one I put in my E30. It works perfectly in both cars and makes a huge difference.
If you really want to go at it, get a shitbox car with a decent base and built that up as a weekend warrior trackday car, if you can afford it and only do some oem+ stuff on your daily car. I'm looking to get a mx5 nc for about 5-7k and built that up slowly to learn to work on the car and mod it a bit. Nothing crazy just get it up to spec to do well on say the nurburgring, maybe a bit more power later on the line if I am used to it being a rearwheel drive car. The 'fun' part is most of the stuff in such a car needs switching out anyway, so a bit better adjustable coilovers that are a bit stiffer and lower, good rotors and good pads, hardtop if it doesnt have it yet, some better door bushings, strut braces and or some chassis crossbeams, a bit stiffer sway bar and a better roll bar because the original is just trash. A bit better intake as well and get a bit more power. should be doable for around 10k give or take but will do most of the stuff myself.
Depends if u have 4 point aftermarket seat u need to disable ur airbags even if u don’t change the wheel…otherwise the airbag will blow ur head off…the movement on stock car of ur head go front and repel a bit the pressure…while with seats ur head will blow.
@@OGBemfa hello i have a 5 point seatbelt, full rollcage and a good seat. im not allowed to have airbags in drifting events since it will block my view if i crash. you are very wrong my friend its not dumb. i am safer without an airbag! and yes it still a streetcar
@@frexus9678 Well obviously you should remove the airbag on a race car with a roll cage and all that. I think we were talking about the cars without the roll cage here in this comment. But like I said in the video. Roll cages are absolutely necessary on a track car. But you need all the extra equipment, like you have to truly be safe in an event of a crash.
aesthetics really, they just look cooler than a lot of ugly OEM steering wheels. Obviously still a bad and irresponsible idea from a safety prespective though
Literally any kind of old cars are always cool, especially if you spot one thats fully restored and looks like it never had an owner but always taken care of
what rims and tyres would you recommend for m340i (20MY) ? It came with runflat tyres which are now near death (we run snow tyres here too so it takes longer to wear tyres down) and assymetrical rims - wider in the back...
@@lechproteanwider in the back means it’s staggered, find some nice forged wheels from manufacturers like enkei, bbs, bc forged, etc. (price does get up there but the quality and weight is worth it imo). As for tires whether you want all seasons or summers. For all seasons I’d recommend continental dws, for summers you have Michelin pilot sport 4s, Goodyear eagle f1, and Toyo r888r if you want to go really high performance. Edit: there are other good tires this is just the main ones I’ve heard of, I personally have no experience with any of the summer tires.
For tires, check Michelin PS4 S specific for BMW, aka "star". They are 2.0 in sportiness with same longevity as regular ones, from personal experience. As for forged wheels, I've had great experience with Atomic Wheels brand. Exceptional quality in everything (low wheight, strength, paint finish, etc) at a much lower cost than the usual brands. I have 2 sets, one with summer tires, one for winter of the AWZZ model on my 2024 Tesla M3P.
@@lechproteansome nice Michelins AS4 on some Apex wheels! Or Michelin Pilot Sport if you live in warmer areas. I have AS4s on some Apex SM10s on my BMW 😃 a lot lighter than the factory set up
It‘s the same as people buying „a big ass truck for work and heavy duty“ in the us to sit infront of cosco. People mostly forget about their real life when they wanna represent something….
You would think the 60 dollars of fuel they need to put in it every time they fill up would remind them of the reality of the situation, or the fact that they ran over their trash can the other day because they parallel parked too close and they couldn't see it over the obnoxiously high toddler murdering hood line.
cars are like shoes. you need one for the track, one for the twisty backroads, one for going 300kmh on the autobahn, a truck or a van to haul parts etc, one for going to work for cheap. you can never have too many cars, motorcycles or boats XD
i realized a few months ago i cant expect my car to both good to go over 300kmh in a interstate like road and also be good at everyday city traffic usage, so i opted for city usage, i'll eventually get a second car and mod it completelly differently for that, as i mentioned on my comment. people look as if im modding my own car to drive faster, but even tho it will, im modding it to be a better daily use car.
Growing up after driving lots of cars where I have done everything you just mentioned and way worse (aggressive clutches, welded diffs, daily driving semi-slicks) I came to the assumption that the only mods worth doing in every single car is a good set of pads, tires, and most important a very good alignment to match my needs. Having a daily that can put some spirited kilometers weekly is priceless, having a stripped daily lowered to the ground with solid mounts is the definition of misery - or I just not 20yo any more :)
a slight lowering 25-30mm (about an inch) with reputable manufacruter of springs like eibach or H&R or the other good brand names to get the little lower look but not ruining the handling.
I agree fully. Actually the 1st thing one should do with the car is to check tires and get the ones he needs and loves most. Only 4 small patches of rubber are what connect your car with the road. You can have whatever mods you want, but if those are bad, nothing else will matter.
It's like when James May used to talk about how he hates when companies engineer their cars for a hotlap on the Nurburgring. The result is usually a miserable car to drive outside the track.
If people wouldn't want a race car they wouldn't pay 3x the price for sport variant. Megane trophy rs got better time than bugatti Veyron, imagine that. And you can fly on the corners or track it but its still a car you could drive daily.
Exactly! If i remember correct James said that the M4 GTS is argubly one of the worst sportscars he's ever driven. He said it never worked and most of the time felt undrivable
The best mod (and one you can take from car to car) is a driver upgrade. If you spend money on advanced/track tuition it will make you quicker/safer and improve your enjoyment of any car. Plus your insurance is the same. This upgrade is known as 'upgrading the nut behind the steering wheel' 😁
Finally, someone who gets it. Its a safety system. You can't pick a certain part from a race car and put it in your street car and now think its a safer, because you probably just made it more dangerous and now you and anyone in the car is more likely to suffer more substantial injuries if you where to wreck. You need the whole system not one part.
I’m a tuner guy from birth, played NFS underground as a kid, Gran Turismo, read tuner magazines and loved modded cars but I now I like keeping my cars close to stock with very minimal mods. Struts, lowering springs, tires, wheels and brakes. No crazy fenders, kits, spoilers. I just want to drive the car the way the engineers intended it to drive and I find so much joy in it.
I couldnt agree more. A lot of these people who drive around in stripped out shitboxes would have their entire life changed the moment they sit in a stock LS400/430, BMW 750il, or any luxury car. Its fun to have a track car when you push it to its limit, but that happens very little of the total time. At least it did for me, sitting in a comfortable, quiet car for a daily drive is utterly blissful
@@E82GT Massaging electric heated seats are sick ngl. Haha but all jokes aside, you have a clean E82! I don’t think this comment reflects on you at all.
Yeah their lives will greatly change with an empty wallet trying to maintain a 2 ton road boat with 50 electronic modules, no easy access to anything that needs regular (often too much) maintenance, fd up fuel bills and no fun. Cars should be coming out of factories stripped out with everything else optional. Instead, one has to spend extra to have a good car with less weight and clutter in it. Stripped cars are the best. Every drive is an occasion. I'll give a pass for some Lexus cars coz a bunch of them were very well put together. Everything else is designed to rape consumers after a few years of ownership when they've already lost half their value coz they are so bloated with failure-prone junk.
I totally agree! I love the OEM+ style. For my E46 330Ci (you can see at my profile) I gave Eibach Pro Kit springs, they fit perfectly with 613M 5-series rims (8j + 9j with original tire sizes for E46). Exhaust is Schmiedmann plus Mg Motorsport - it's very cultural, the engine gained some power and it's just a little more racy. Bushings all original quality. Out of curiosity I put on a cold air intake, because now it is not my daily. Inside OEM except for Carplay radio and newly trimmed parts. After experimenting with aftermarket short shifters I rebuild the original but the "shortest" version - BMW engineers know what they are doing. Besides all the service all the time, fixing everything before it breaks down, a lot of detailing. To summarize. Now this car is 22 years old but in my opinion driving like new - I love this car.
Bemfa please please please make more videos like this, the driving the editing the way everything just comes together so well and keeps me so interested please make more like this Love you bro
PSA: Harnesses are meant to keep your body in place, seatbelts and airbags are meant to stop you in the longest stopping distance with minor damage during an impact. The problem with harnesses is the fact, that your head is not supported by them, and in case of immediate stop your neck supporting the weight of the head and helmet is highly likely to be damaged. That's why the ONLY proper way of driving with harnesses is ON TRACK with HELMET and HANS Device.
Exactly! Harnesses just change where the force goes and requires supplementary systems to work correctly. Without the full system it's pointless from a safety standpoint. Plus once you swap to a harness and a seat that can support it, you should also consider adding a cage or half cage, because now you're stuck upright in the case of a rollover. Personally I stick with the stock safety systems in my dual duty car. On track I lock the 3 point belt to help keep me planted in the seat, and use a Simpson hybrid s neck restraint system along with my helmet.
Have never had this happen and have used coilovers on almost every platform I’ve owned. I normally use the “rough road reinforcement plates” on my BMWs, maybe it makes a difference, have always done it for peace of mind.
Factory mufflers and active exhaust cutouts is the way to go if you want a loud car. Previous owner put a loud exhaust on my car and while its fun for rips around town or down backroads its absolutely miserable on commutes or long road trips.
I hate loud exhausts. I appreciate underpromising and overdelivering. Always keeping a little extra a secret. It goes with the personality of the car. For a rally car, sure. But I don't want the moped version of a car. If I have big fancy speakers, I'll still listen to my music at a reasonable volume. Louder doesn't make it sound better. Just more annoying.
Thanks a lot for this I'm a 34yo Bus driver I own 2 other cars one petrol for daily city driving and another diesel wagon for longer distances. Since I'm a petrolhead I do some sim driving in my free time so I just bought a BMW e36 323ti compact. Which will be used for spirited weekend driving and sliding. It won't be a dedicated driftcar so I've aquired a pretty pricey LSD 3.73 differential which will go in soon. Since this job requires the rear subframe to come out I plan to change the bushings as well. This video and some googling and forum searches helped me to decide what bushings should I change to OEM, sport or softer poly. The coilovers are new cheap rubbish those will be changed to KW V1 I don't want too much adjustability I believe those guys at KW that it's set up properly from factory. Firstly I've made sure all fluids are changed brakes etc... so the car is in a good condition as stock and now I will do some little mods step by step. My dream car is a GT86 but I think this little ugly bmw can be as good as that. I've refused to pay 3x the price for a coupe or other body shape and I like the old e30 style rear suspension on a compact which should be more playfull. Thank you for your advice about the bushings I can't wait to take it for a ride in the mountains
I'd also add racing clutch to the list. For most people driving a car in heavy traffic with an aggressive clutch would be measurable. Unless you're like me and perceive it not like a hard labor, but a chance to improve your skills on learning how to drive any car smoothly. Sometimes I'm so good with it, people don't even realize that the clutch is not stock. You also should remember, that driving such car smoothly on streets may cause quicker wear of the clutch. For me its not a huge deal, since I drive my car 1-2 times a week at max.
Very true, AND its incredibly expensive to do all the mods you're talking about! People spend so much of their hard earned money on mods that they end up regretting and its a real shame. I think it would help if people started looking at how all their mods interact in their car as a system. Everything should be in harmony together, for a purpose. That is really hard to do though!
This all comes down to maturing as a car enthusiast. When I was young, I wanted power, fast and loud. Forget comfort! But as I grew older, I learned to appreciate comfort measures a car has. I learned a few things about how a car has all these comfort and noise reduction items like bushings and insulations. OEM + is the way to go for a weekend sports car and not a track car. Modifying a car to a race car is so uncomfortable, how stiff and loud things can get. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun and great, but if you can have the same fun with slightly more comfort it’s even better. Owning an older car at OEM+ clean look just feels classier at my age than big spoilers with loud exhausts. So that’s just myself growing up and how my modifications have changed over the decade of me owning couple cars.
Yeah, exactly. I was the same in the beginning. Then I realized that the more you modify your street car, the less you actually want to drive it. While I never went too deep, I saw how far it could go... which is why I now focus only on small OEM+ improvements.
@ I can 100% relate to not wanting to drive the project cars. Sad but truth. It’s a great learning experience to go through all of this. We all learn! It’s an expensive hobby and it’s a luxury to modify as some may not have the opportunity to do such things. As consumers of cars, I’m thankful for your content for teaching other drivers your knowledge and experience.
@@OGBemfa im still quite young, but have a very old miata (first production year) 1989, and when i got it i wanted to make it proper racecar spec, but now as i have fixed it up and did rust, paint some better tires and rims and just making it nice, i noticed that i dont want some loud ass race car miata but would rather just want it to be the same original charm it has always been with just some modernisation stuff added to it, newer shocks and a little lower with some good brand name spring, no coilovers. i have just been slowly "rebuilding" it with new parts that are maybe a little better and u could say stage 1 tuning wise but from research are still very oem feeling and nice to daily drive (for example clutch, a little lighter flywheel, fancy equal length headers which apperently even ad a few horsepower to the car) while at the same time making it quieter because the stock headers were so leaky that it was so loud like a streight pipe (which a racecar would have and which i didnt like at all) now its nice sporty but still not loud sounding and u can feel that it just had those few added hp making it a little more nimble and fun, while also sounding smoother. its just ncie to build a opem+ daily driver than a racecar where u just wanna huck it into the next ree u see because u cant hear urself think because its so loud....
@@BadMax02_VR That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Making small and smart improvements, basically everything they should have done from the factory but haven’t, due to cost cutting or market preference…
Nice to see someone speaking about this stuff!! My "to go" first mod: high quality tires and some light wheels, not significantly larger diameter than the original.
I went with OEM+ for my dollar store 2.5L Jetta, different wheels that are wider but lighter, good quality 235-width tires with a stiff sidewall (stock was 205, GLI has 225), made a very noticeable improvement in initial turn-in and has ridiculous grip for my weekend mountain road use case. Stiffer rear sway bar and oem replacement suspension helped loads as well. Doesn’t ride stiff, but handles like you wouldn’t believe. Plus, it being a $1000 car really lets me beat on it without feeling too much guilt. Would never have been my dream car but cars like this grow on you after you find yourself in a tough spot. Little fella keeps on taking the miles and allows me a little bit of fun here and there, and I couldn’t be happier on such a tight budget. Your car is what you make it, and once you stop modifying for the image and do it for yourself you end up finding a whole new appreciation for the plain old cars still going on the road.
i did coilover and nice looking bucket seat and adjustable seat using larger brake disc calipers from crv on my slow ass 100hp ek civic , dont see any problem the seat hold the driver so much better in every corners ,so did brake kit and adjustable coilovers make the whole driving experience so much better
I still think *GOOD* coilovers are an upgrade almost no matter what. I threw some BC racing coilovers in an 03' camry, and it really livened up the responsiveness. I even PREFER the suspension feel in that car over my NEW 2024 Nissan Z. The suspension in my Z feels like a boat. It's not responsive, tight, and it just kind of sucks. One of the cooler parts about that suspension kit was that it had adjustable damping. I could make it feel like an old 70s car, or feel tight enough to want to break your back. Anyways, ANY car I get will be getting coilovers with adjustable dampening. I'm kind of interested in getting the Fortune Auto 500s because they have this damper style where it's soft over sharp bumps, but harder over smooth curves (atleast from what I see on the internet). Other than that, yeah I do tend to agree with every point in this video. OEM+ is the way to go. These cars had millions, some even billions of dollars of RND to perfect this car. Do you think your monkey brain with a wrench can outdo that? No. OEM+ is just a way to "fix" the shortcomings of a car, not redefining the entire thing.
First thing i did was removing rear seat bank. Trunk became a huge resonator which ampifilied the rolling noise of wheels into the car....didnt saved any fuel either...so not so good. 2nd thing i had done is getting used "Sport seats" from the top of the line model for my lowest end of the line model which was a big improvement in comfort and driving experience. And with a good set of just regular modern street tyres in stock config you also do a good improvement for your economy class tuning icon 75hp street racer f&f phantasy build...even a loud exhaust can drive you nuts when the car start to vibrate everywhere cause of low frequency like it was on a eg6 with just a mohr 130mm "silencer"...lol
This is my first time watching any of your videos and the transitions between the different sections pretty much sold me on your channel. Keep up the good work.
It's interesting being in my early 30s, and seeing all of my car friends approach the same age. The coilovers get raised, solid mounts are replaced with semi-solid, and some interior/comfort related amenities get reinstalled. All in all it makes me thankful that I never fell in that rabbit hole.
I got the same view on these things, I have 08 impreza, and the only mods i did to it, was wrc wing, mudflaps and gold wheels with the same size as oem.
Very solid advice. A guy at work recently talked to me about taking his car in to get an 8k turbo package and tune. First thing I asked him, had him stumped. "Why?". He didn't have ANY clear goals, he was happy with how responsive the car is and is happy enough with how fast it is overall. My advice to him was, just enjoy the nice car that you already enjoy. Don't rush to waste 8k without a clear goal in mind.
always had this in mind so my starting point was "what porsche gt street "track focused"cars have" , then i figure out, nice seats, cool interior withou little concessions and only half cage,thats it, no stripped out interior, no full cage etc
Back in the day I put mechanical gauges in the car. I use the plastic line for the oil pressure gauge. When I got to the track, they made me change it to the metal line. The metal line carried the engine noise inside the car. You can hear every click of the injectors, etc. Not a big deal, but it was one of many little disappointments that add up.
I’m surprised engine tuning didn’t appear on this list - with my last car (M240i xdrive) I added ~120hp over stock. It was cool for a couple weeks and to show my friends but once the tuning honeymoon phase ended, I had a car that was ultimately less reliable and less usable on the street. Plus the chassis and handling components were never made for that, and it showed. I never raced anybody ever so it was pointless. I found myself eventually using the low boost maps so it was SLOWER than stock to have more fun and use all of the throttle pedal. Now that I have an M2 Comp, I have the “slow” 6MT spec and have no intentions to tune it. Sure, I could have 600hp with a downpipe and a tune but then I won’t ever be able to use more than half throttle. 405hp is already plenty. Cool for bragging rights and for street racing sure, but objectively worse to actually drive on the road.
True! Adding horsepower to a car isn’t as simple as it sounds. It takes a lot to make the car feel truly optimized for the increase. However, I don’t have any firsthand experience driving cars with that kind of engine tune, so I can’t speak from personal knowledge. The other things I mentioned are based on my own experiences, so I feel much more confident talking about them. 😅
@@OGBemfa fair enough! It’s an easy trap to fall into with the turbo BMWs, but I feel you’re probably having more fun than in your cars than any of the newer turbo models. For a few months I owned a Z3M Coupe with the US S52 engine at the same time as my M2C and I’d be lying if a part of me didn’t prefer the ‘slow’ old Z on a back road.
Same happened to me, I had an earlier M235i RWD, bought it already tuned, it was fun for a couple months to have the power and speed, but it got old fast and didn't have any more tricks up its sleeve. Sold it for a 986 manual, and I can't ever look back. The M235i was my first and last automatic, and hopefully my only car over 3500lb.
@ yeah my xdrive auto with sunroof M240 came in at nearly 3700lb, I have a no-sunroof 6MT M2C so once I swap the exhaust to save ~40lbs I should come in under 3500. Definitely a lot more personality and fun than the M-lites which I still found to be rather meh. At least mine in particular.
When I got my E46 it already had the cheapest coilovers basically and an exhaust. It was so low, I could not even go into any parking garages or park without scratching a curb in the front for example. Absolutely hideous. Half a year later when I had the opportunity, I changed the suspension to lowering springs and sport dampeners. The car still is quite hard over some nicer new car. But it looks good and at this moment of my life I can accept and handle the low and bumpy car. I know it will change in the future. But we live in the moment so I will enjoy it for now. Changing the engine bushings and some others around the car made the car behave so much differently. Sadly I have a automatic gearbox, I would have preferred a manual one but thats how it is. I changed the oil there as well and it behaves super nice now. A lot less rattling all around and its much quieter because of the bushing and bearings that were changed. I actually miss the loudness. I converted to car to the m-package entirely in and out and the inside made a huge difference with the seats having padding on their sides. Other than that, the car is stock with many new parts. Getting most of the things you mentioned in the car isn't even possible or hugely expensive here in Germany so it's not worth it. Having a sporty car that doesn't weigh so much and handles really good is a really nice thing to have in the countryside or hillsides. Only having 170HP is totally enough, no need for any huge numbers that make your car less reliable and use more fuel. Adding turbos to cars that weren't designed for them is also a thing to mention on the list. Some engines can handle them with no problem but other things might come with it too. Ah and exhausts that are awfully loud are things you are going to hate yourself for at some point. It's nice to hear a good sounding engine but taking out most of the mufflers or straight-piping it is quite stupid because you annoy anyone around you and it's not nice to sit in. I sometimes see a guy on instagram with a pink m2 and he always has his window down to hear his insanely loud exhaust with lots of burbles and bangs, I can't understand why you would want to have you ears being hurt all the time be a nice thing.
The guy with the pink m2 (seen the vids) has a real m car. Most people with m cars enjoy the sound and like to hear it. And usually these cars have exhaust valves which can make them loud or really quiet when you want for longer more relaxed drives. No offence but you have a base model E46, you’ll never fully understand the m experience until you own one.
@@paulallen1899 well yes, that’s true and I also enjoy the sound but having insanely loud cars is just a unnecessary thing. Having a good balanced sound I something really, let’s say rewarding. A real m car, can sound really nice without blowing out everyone’s ears. There was also some video where he had his window down in the pouring rain, because the absolutely had to hear his exhaust and got lots of water on him when a car on the other side of the road came past him. It really can’t be that necessary. But you are right, that I would have to experience it to maybe have a better understanding for it. Two guys I know have m3 g80s, maybe there’s a chance to get a ride sometime
@ yea, driving with the window down and getting splashed inside is pretty stupid. A lot of the stuff you see on social media these days is just people doing things for views and maybe trying to go viral.
I’m cool with good coil overs and big brake kits when properly installed. You have to account for proportioning for the brakes, and for coil overs, I usually go with a good street set when the OEM ones go out. Nothing crazy low or stiff. Just something that handles good, and rides smooth
A lot of people do the same but with offroaders, kids get an old truck or suv as their first car and put 37+ tires and jack it up to the sky, makes it extremely impractical and kills the purpose if a truck cause the towbar is too high. I just ran 33s and no lift for my first truck, got me everywhere and still was good for towing and working
Coilovers are a must for spirited Driving, as stock are usually very soft. wheels can really improve how a car looks, but don't go to wide as the acceleration will suffer and the steering will be affected. The only weight reduction I would recommend is changing the seats for bucket or reclining seats. don't touch the sound deadening. stock seats are surprisingly heavy, especially powered seats. Only change the stock brakes if you actually need better brakes, otherwise its like adding downforce to grandmas car. Loud cars are fun, but don't go full blown Honda Civic at 3 AM loud as the entire neighbourhood will hate you.
Mods I've done are Intake, Exhaust and 205 wheels instead of the 195 stock. Already love it so much! I just need to change some bushings a new engine. Hopefully I can get some better seats that can hold me through some corners instead of throwing me out lol. A carbon Front end would help with the Weight Distribution.
This man speaks the absolute truth. Every hard lesson I've ever had to learn all summarized in one quiet, comfortable video. You couldn't have made this video in an over-modded car, you'd never be able to hear him screaming over the resonance.
I may have just finally found a car guy I completely agree with! I also have a 5sp E46, and have kept it 100% OEM. It gets a lot of compliments, with the most frequent being "oh i love how you've kept it original and haven't ruined it with modifications."
My first car was bmw e46 2.2 liter sedan made for rally and it had all the mods mentioned in this video (+straight pipe) except bigger brakes, new wheels weren't that much wider and instead of coilovers it had rally shocks. It was the best/worst first, it taught me how to mod, take care of it, drive a manual well, but it was uncomfortable af, loud, you would feel and hear every bump, because of bucket seats you needed to lean to see what is in your mirrors, then it would be raining, it sounded like you were outside, you needed to wear gloves because of racing wheel and headphones to not suffer hearing injury. But with all these flaws there wasn't anything like it and yes i got my self a dally besides the rally car ( to preserve the engine of course)
I totally agree and now that I'm in my late 40's I'm starting to appreciate the more comfortable GT cars. I needed this video for my current awareness.
I agree that people overdo it with aftermarket "upgrades". That being said; a larger contact patch is never bad. Poly/solid mounts or bushings are great, so long as they're being bought for the intended purpose. While I agree that there are a lot of misinformed purchases being made in pursuit of faster times or a faster car, a lot of these generalized "don't do this" "don't do that" statements don't apple to a very large demographic of vehicles being modified. Tons of cars benefit from stiffer suspension components: vettes, 99% of audis, most bmws, all mercs, mustangs, camaros, etc. Most modern cars are plagued by both unnecessary emissions and comfort equipment, and while eliminating these can definitely pose potential issues for the comfortability of daily driving, people wanting sportier, better handling cars are going to inevitably have to eliminate some of these stock hindrances. Literally all modern euros can be "gutted" for a track day in 10 minutes or less. Roll cages or any additional safety features are absolutely never a bad addition to a car being pushed beyond its factory limits. I agree with the overall message that there are a lot of misinformed purchases being made by people that just want a faster car, but pretty much everything in this video primarily pertains to kids that inherit/bought 20y/o shitboxes and proceed to prioritize mods over maintenance. I've daily driven multiple sensitive, responsive vehicles with heavily modded drivetrains and gutted interiors. I've had solid mounts, poly bushings, stiff suspension, bucket seats, and have experienced all the pros and cons of sacrificing elements of comfort for a more engaging car. I don't think there are many people that go that route that regret it, and worst case, they can reinstall the oem interior.
Thanks for the comment! You make some great points. I totally agree that mods like bigger contact patches, poly/solid mounts, and roll cages can be awesome, if they’re done for the right reasons. It really comes down to having a clear goal for the car. Stuff like stiff suspension and bushings make a lot of sense for track cars or aggressive builds, but for a daily driver, those trade-offs can catch people off guard if they’re not expecting them. Yes, the video was mostly aimed at people who jump into mods without really thinking about their car’s purpose or skipping maintenance first, like you've mentioned: the kids throwing parts at 20-year-old project cars before fixing the basics. Obviously the guys who know what they're doing and have a clear goal in mind already know all of this and don't need some random guy on UA-cam to tell them that, haha. Not trying to sound smart and tell people what they should or shouldn't do. I've also mentioned this at the end of the video. It’s clear you’ve had a lot of experience with modded cars, and you know exactly what you’re getting into, which is awesome. Not everyone has that level of awareness going in, and that’s where I think regret happens for some people. At the end of the day, it’s all about finding the right balance between comfort and performance for what you want out of the car.
Excellent points! If you make a Part 2, you might want to add large diameter wheels with tires that have tiny sidewalls. And lowering cars. People who do that then start complaining about how terrible the roads are😂. Meanwhile you have people who go the opposite (and more practical direction) of replacing 18” wheels with 17”. Gives the car some more roll in the corners but IMO that’s actually a Good thing: it makes the drive experience more Miata-like. And the car rides more smoothly, because the taller sidewall acts as part of the suspension cushioning. Taller sidewalls also make the car infinitely more resilient to damage. You can drive it more like a rally car, rather than driving like a boy in a bubble where the slightest imperfection in the road surface results in damage. Smaller diameter wheels reduce unsprung weight. And the tires cost less. F1 cars rocked 13” diameter tires from the 1970’s all the way until 2021! Even the VW Beetle had 15” wheels in the 1960’s, so it’s not like it was exotic technology. F1 has insanely large budgets, so it’s not like they couldn’t afford to make a racecar with larger wheels. They chose 13” wheels because it’s better for racing as fast as possible. Smaller wheels spin up faster, handle better, are lighter, make the car less susceptible to pothole damage, etc. They only switched to 18” tires in 2022, for marketing and fashion reasons. The other silly fashion trend is making the gap between the wheel rubber and the wheel well as small as possible. That makes the suspension travel smaller, which means that the engineers have to make the shocks stiffer, which makes the ride less pleasant. It also makes lap times longer and more nerve wracking. All the serious car reviewers (Matt Farah, Topher, etc) say they put the engine, throttle response, etc in track mode, but put the suspension in comfort mode. It makes them more confident in high speed driving, because the car feels more planted and less skittish when encountering road imperfections. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
Been through this for 10 years lol. Done everything, and I found the best solution for me. All I need now are just a tune, cooling, wheels, tires, coilovers, and front brake kit (to fit smaller wheels in front).
I put M3 CSL Replica wheels on my 330Ci (8.5x19 +40 front and 9.5x19 +45 rear) paired with Eibach Pro Street S coilovers. I did it mainly for looks and I'm very happy with it. Also added an Eisenmann exhaust which is as loud as german laws allow. I noticed that I went too far with mods when I installed a lightweight single mass flywheel. The 6 speed transmission in the E46 really doesn't like that. The sluggish engine response is mainly due to the ECU so the single mass flywheel didn't even help with that 😂A real lesson learnt. I feel like you can go crazy with any mods you like as long as it isn't your daily driver. It's a very fun way to learn how your car works.
You can tune out some of that laginess from the Electrical Throttle Body on the M54 to make it more direct, that will make much more difference, and help with heel toe.
@@PatalJunior I actually went to a tuning shop and paid quite a bit of money to get that done. It does respond better but it still feels very "tired" when trying to rev it for downshifts underneath 2k rpm. That is the rev range the engine sees the most... Above that it responds and revs quite nice!
It's my tip for any hobby you might get into. If it's the first time doing something, start with the small things! You'll not only learn _how_ to do stuff without regretting your decisions later, but also if you actually like doing the stuff in the first place! Start with the industry standard first, oem+, learn why people modify something and learn what you actually care about and like. Do it once, then you'll notice all the little things that didn't go smoothly and that you'd change if doing it again... Then do it again! :D
this is a video for people who have no idea what they're doing; for people who actually hit the track and fine tune things and are chasing lap times and skill, move along nothing to see here. this is more-so for the folks to do mods to looks fast but aren't actually fast.
Yep, I get quite a lot of comments from people here and on IG who are new to this stuff. That’s when I realized most people aren’t building track cars, nor do they have this knowledge. The ones who are building track cars already know all of this. Plus, in the grand scheme of things, there’s a very small number of people in the world who actually build track cars, haha. So yeah, beginner content for now. But in the future, I might get more specific with stuff. We’ll see!
Brilliant video with great knowledge, I couldn't agree with you more. What many people don't realise is that a production car is far harder to produce than a race car and in some cases performance cars and are engineered specifically for that purpose. Everything is engineered for safety of the layman while overcoming mountains of red tape with emission and safety regulations.
Nah, I'm cool with it. My car, bro. But thanks for your opinion, I guess. (edit) I remember years ago when people used to complain about ricers for doing pointless mods, and, nowadays, people are actually properly modding their cars, and this dude still complains about it. You just can't win lmao
Best mods in my opinion: -Quality suspension (Like KW or Bilstein, it will even be more comfortable) -Good tires (Not too crazy, but it will improve the feel and stability) -LSD (Besides cornering performance, it also improves safety in sticky situations) -Good and comfortable seats -Smaller engine mods, like air filter, spark plugs, cooling... In the end, the most important thing is doing a maintenance on time.
Great advice! I did however put a momo steering wheel (looks cool) and am going to put slightly wider and bigger rims + 45-45 lowering springs (it just looks cooler and that itty more stability is welcome, so stiffer sway bars are on the way aswell)
My car has a roll bar, a dished steering wheel without an airbag, lowering springs with coilovers, wider tires with larger rims (from 185/65/14 to 205/50/50), big brakes, it will get bucket seats with 4 point seatbelts and im planning on swapping a different engine transmission and diff in it. However it's a '92 Miata, that has no roll over protection stock. I literally can't sit in it with the stock steering wheel(which has no airbag) because it's inside my knees, the seats are very worn and too high for me (the seatbelts have to be swapped for that to be legal). My engine and transmission are both leaking rather consistently, that's why I'm swapping a complete NB sportive drivetrain (including the big brakes)
i found for a daily, a set of good lowering springs, better brake pads and rotors and lighter good looking wheels and a custom tune to squeeze out a few more ponies is all you really need
I do not agree with the wide wheels and tires and the coilovers (I do agree get a good set not cheap) but everything else is spot on. ESPECIALLY the solid mounts . A lot of people don’t understand that Big brake kits are more for heat dissipation. I like driving my race car on the street sometimes. Great video!
yep, agreed- huge, heavy cast wheels are not good, but a set of nice, lightweight forged wheels could even save weight over the stock wheels even while being much wider
plenty of platforms do not have good coilover options, and they require more frequent rebuilds which is very expensive. lots of people still think coilovers are special and offer some massive improvement
Absolutely agree with these points. Sometimes it just feels like people mod their cars for the sake of modifying them or simply just to fit in without actually thinking it through
love to see this video from a chanel that usually is followed by those raceboys. this is how we set a correct culture among our community. great video!
9:25 EXACTLY, i have a bone stock ae100 corolla with only a moderate muffler that makes cool I4 noises when on the throttle, but any drive longer than an hour and im completely miserable from the noise even at 3.5k rpms. Sound insulation is everything guys, not even mentioning the hearing damage so be careful out there :)
straight cut gears was absolutely the worst for me; it had gotten to the point that my gf would leave me if we went on roadtrips on my straight cut gear e46
Suggestions for mods for " street cars" 1. Coilovers suspension (visit local mechanic to fine tune it 2. Bucket seats (semi-patted for a bit of comfy) 3. Sick rims (based on your stock size fitment) 4. Semi sport exhaust (quiet enough for the road, good enough for performance) 5. slightly wider wheel (optional) 6. Modernized clutch kit (for manual transmission) 7. Weight reduction (for the hood and trunk) And lastly mods that fixed common issues of the car (either rust issue, leaks or other known issues about the car)
The first thing I thought of was mentioned(kinda) but not really lol Like running a cage with no harnesses, people should also really stop running harnesses with no cage... unless they want to break their collarbones in a 30mph collision
Definitely agree with this although it depends what your want your car to do! First, having 2 cars for the price of 1 helps to justify the cost but after that it's just about researching the best mods; I run an LCI 330ci 6MT(2004) which has been comprehensively uprated to be able to do laps at the Nurburgring and also be my daily driver - worst mods for the street are the solid engine mounts and semi-slick tyres which can both be noisy but after that pretty much everything you've said is spot on.....choose your modifications wisely!
My 330i touring has all of the mentioned things, minus big brake kit and rollcage. All solid or spherical bushings, 255 tires, Semi slicks, Coilovers, -3.2° of camber, bucket seats, quicksteer kit and more. It's my only car, I don't really daily it, but I enjoy driving it, even on the streets. I love the I6 sound in combination with the diff whine! But it also sees a lot of track use.
Yeah that's cool. Driving a track car on the street can be fun, as long as it's not your daily and have to drive to work on a cold rainy day while feeling sick haha.
100% agree for most cars. Some cars do need some upgrades like big brakes and wide tires. If your car is old enough, thinking 1980s and older is almost needed for sporty daily driving.
8:03 Thank you for saying this. The only way you can drive a rollcage-equipped car safely on the street is with a helmet, HANS device, and racing harness on. And nobody is modding their street cars for those things or going through all of that every time they drive. But if you skip any step, you are making your street car unsafe. Same goes for your passengers.
I doubt my 80s nissan is more safe without roll cage even if I don't wear helmet or have hans. I would be pancake even in slow speed roll over if my car was stock
@allux8236 only you know the answer to this question, but when you daily drive your 80s Nissan, which sort of incident do you think is more likely to happen to you: - rolling your car onto its roof - getting into a fender bender that knocks your head into your rollcage for a instant and damaging concussion If your answer is the first option, then I submit that the rollcage is the least of your safety worries
@@ITNoeticfirst of all there are plenty rollcages where the tubes are not that close to you and secondly there is the option to put simple insulating foam thingis over those tubes that are close to you. Alot of Rollcages increase protection not just in Rollovers, if you would be aware of how many older Cars are build like Tincans it would be a bit more obvious to you that these Cars do benefit from Rollcages in regular (non rollover) crashes cuz of simple stuff like there being a Tube behind the B-pillar.
Rollbar foam is either hard because it's meant for helmet contact and thus will still concuss, or soft and will not stop your head from cracking on the bar. And the human head has ways of finding surfaces in a car not necessarily close to where it sits when driving normally during a severe enough crash, even with your seat belt on
1. Wide wheels for no reason, I agree. It messes up the way the car is set up, I would definitely go with a nice set of wheels rather than putting a bigger tire for no reason. 2. Yes coilovers are super unnecessary for daily drivers, people throw them on for no reason, coilovers are made for track cars. Most people need lowering springs and that's it. Its also much cheaper lol 3. BIG BRAKE KITS ARE SO SILLY. The stopping power of the vehicle is not determined by the size of the rotor or caliper or pad, its about the force of the brake booster, so if the car has its stock brake booster and tires, it doesn't need it at all. Big brake kits are only useful for track driving when you need to worry about heat dissipation. 4. One thing you forgot the mention during the roll cage section is the steering wheels without an airbag on a modern car. Like you said, without a HANS, 6 point harness, helmet, then driving without a front airbag is incredibly dangerous.
good mods to do to your car: stainless steel brake lines (its just better) the best quality tires you can find (oem size) personal preference mods: vinyl wrap (its like paint but cheaper and i think has more options for customization) air suspension (its cool and possibly even better than stock) rims (oem size. make sure they're not heavier than the stock ones) ecu tune (will use more fuel for little to no gains but it can be rolled back so its ok) rear spoiler (depends on car model but hatchbacks generally take the most advantage from this, improving performance and fuel economy) good maintenance practices: engine tune up replace worn dampers replace worn bushings replace timing belt/chain replace all filters running the a/c on cold once a week so it doesn't randomly break (same for everything electric but this one is the most common) flush and clean the radiator replace all fluids check tire pressures replace cooling/fuel pump if your head/tail lights are plastic, polishing them will leave them like brand new (same for the paint but only in extreme cases) apply plastic restore to all visible non-painted plastic and rubber parts like tires (only on the outside face) and rubber seals like windows and door seals (increases lifespan except for the tires of course but makes them shiny c: ) wash the car by hand with a microfiber glove/cloth and wax it (should slightly improve aerodynamic drag by making the paint as smooth as can be, but only if you care enough about performance lol. also protects the paint from almost anything)
Completely agree with this. I've had my e46 M3 for over 7 years and I've changed all of the drivetrain bushings to Polyurethane and stiffened stuff up with race coilovers and then did a 180 and went back to full oem rubber and a oem style custom bilstein damper for performance and comfort.
I hate all mods in general. I would want my car to be as close to original as possible. I also hate these aftermarket screens that are in MANY used cars. The sellers present them as being a good thing, but I HATE them.
Depends on if you use your phone at all when in the car. It's much more convenient to have my nav and music laid out on a big screen built into the dash than to have to pull up my phone while i'm driving, unlock it, and then open whatever nav/music app I need, and then have to mount the phone somewhere visible.
@Soluscide you could buy a window, or dash, or rear-view mirror phone mount. My parents have a mirror phone mount and it's very useful when I am driving. I like screens, but only if they are OEM. I will buy my first car in July (probably a 320i E90 LCI). I see some of them with the cheaper non-iDrive dash and people have ruined them by putting aftermarket screens BELOW the air vents. When I see one, I am instantly put off. The more expensive iDrive versions have the OEM screen ABOVE the air vents, not below. If I buy one with an aftermarket screen (I really hope I don't), I will instantly remove it and replace the entire dash with the iDrive dash. Even though that version of iDrive is very old, I will not ruin the interior of my car, in an attempt to turn it into something that it's not. Let's not mention the awful aftermarket interior LED strips on some cars that are even worse.
@@Soluscide you could buy a window, or dash, or rear-view mirror phone mount. My parents have a mirror phone mount and it's very useful when I am driving. I like screens, but only if they are OEM. I will buy my first car in July (probably a 320i E90 LCI). I see some of them with the cheaper non-iDrive dash and people have destroyed them by putting aftermarket screens BELOW the air vents. When I see one, I am instantly put off. The more expensive iDrive versions have the OEM screen ABOVE the air vents, not below. If I buy one with an aftermarket screen (I really hope I don't), I will instantly remove it and replace the entire dash with the iDrive dash. Even though that version of iDrive is very old, I will not ruin the interior of my car, in an attempt to turn it into something that it's not.
I personally enjoyed the heavier feel on my steering wheel after getting wider tires and wheels, the driving felt much more connected to the road than a looser drive
Thanks for making this video. Lots of misconceptions about all of these mods, and you outlined them perfectly. Anyone that wants to apply these modifications either 100% knows what theyre doing or just hasnt found out yet lol. I learned the hard way, and barely even touched half this list. Like many, I had all of the mentioned ideas for my ride. With each one I tried, I became less and less interested in continuing with the wishful performance mods. The cage+five point is a big one. Definitely avoid installing a cage and harness restraints if you do not plan on wearing a helmet and hans device. A lot of cars came from the factory pretty good- someone with expertise and experience was given a briefcase full of cash to figure out a solution to a specific problem, just for the car you have. Improvements can be made, but on a street car a little bit can go a very long way.
I'm so glad you're giving advice for performance and safety reasons and not being another one of those videos that just say "You are not allowed to customize your vehicle because I don't like how non-stock cars look!"
finally someone is saying it, i hope other influencers catch on to this. people just want to be fast, or have race parts. decide you’re build type street/track/drift/drag/show and keep your build in its respective lane.
At the end of the day, do whatever brings you the most joy and puts a smile on your face. 😊
Nope thats not a good thing to say, because then the dudes who put horrible camber on their car and whatever else dumb, they will think its fine to do that if you say it like that
Ok then.
*Proceeds to destroy all of my neighbors' eardrums with my Civic at 3am*
@@KristjanLovesCars so what? It's their car and it is not illegal.
@@rickrolled7930 i dont care, it just hurts my eyes
@@KristjanLovesCars sure you're entitled to your opinion
There are lots of things i don't like either but i can't step over a person's free will and rights because of it.
Many people overdo it. A short shifter, nice adjustable coilovers, and struts are cool, but there's a fine line you shouldn't cross if it's a multi-task daily car and not just a weekend ride.
Yup!
While I agree that there's a balance to strike with modifications, a short shifter can be a practical and effective upgrade for a daily driver. It does improves shift precision and responsiveness without compromising comfort or practicality, worthwhile improvement for everyday use IMO.
@@xelkg.j3425 It is. I have adjustable short shifters in both my cars, and I love them. The stock shifter in the E30 has an absurdly long throw, it’s almost comical. The E46 is a bit better, but mine came with this weird homemade short shifter which was essentially just an original shifter but cut and welded. That wasn’t great, so I swapped it out for the same adjustable one I put in my E30. It works perfectly in both cars and makes a huge difference.
If you really want to go at it, get a shitbox car with a decent base and built that up as a weekend warrior trackday car, if you can afford it and only do some oem+ stuff on your daily car. I'm looking to get a mx5 nc for about 5-7k and built that up slowly to learn to work on the car and mod it a bit. Nothing crazy just get it up to spec to do well on say the nurburgring, maybe a bit more power later on the line if I am used to it being a rearwheel drive car. The 'fun' part is most of the stuff in such a car needs switching out anyway, so a bit better adjustable coilovers that are a bit stiffer and lower, good rotors and good pads, hardtop if it doesnt have it yet, some better door bushings, strut braces and or some chassis crossbeams, a bit stiffer sway bar and a better roll bar because the original is just trash. A bit better intake as well and get a bit more power. should be doable for around 10k give or take but will do most of the stuff myself.
Daily your race car. Problem solved
Another thing is when people take out the OEM steering wheel with an airbag for some quick release bullshit without an airbag
@krenzzie7290 Yeah that’s dumb, unless it’s an older car with a huge ugly steering wheel (like some 80s bmws, porsches…)
Depends if u have 4 point aftermarket seat u need to disable ur airbags even if u don’t change the wheel…otherwise the airbag will blow ur head off…the movement on stock car of ur head go front and repel a bit the pressure…while with seats ur head will blow.
@@OGBemfa hello i have a 5 point seatbelt, full rollcage and a good seat. im not allowed to have airbags in drifting events since it will block my view if i crash. you are very wrong my friend its not dumb. i am safer without an airbag! and yes it still a streetcar
@@frexus9678 Well obviously you should remove the airbag on a race car with a roll cage and all that. I think we were talking about the cars without the roll cage here in this comment. But like I said in the video. Roll cages are absolutely necessary on a track car. But you need all the extra equipment, like you have to truly be safe in an event of a crash.
aesthetics really, they just look cooler than a lot of ugly OEM steering wheels. Obviously still a bad and irresponsible idea from a safety prespective though
You know you're a car guy when you stop everything to point out an old cool car
Ford Taunus wagon, don't see that every day haha
@@OGBemfa It was also brown, and as a brown car enjoyer, thats ALWAYS nice to see.
Literally any kind of old cars are always cool, especially if you spot one thats fully restored and looks like it never had an owner but always taken care of
@@OGBemfa as a Ford lover, you got me hard there.
@@Birch_ON you are a rare breed
biggest and probably most noticable mod for a street car is a set of light weight rims and grippy tires in my opinion
what rims and tyres would you recommend for m340i (20MY) ? It came with runflat tyres which are now near death (we run snow tyres here too so it takes longer to wear tyres down) and assymetrical rims - wider in the back...
@@lechproteanwider in the back means it’s staggered, find some nice forged wheels from manufacturers like enkei, bbs, bc forged, etc. (price does get up there but the quality and weight is worth it imo). As for tires whether you want all seasons or summers. For all seasons I’d recommend continental dws, for summers you have Michelin pilot sport 4s, Goodyear eagle f1, and Toyo r888r if you want to go really high performance.
Edit: there are other good tires this is just the main ones I’ve heard of, I personally have no experience with any of the summer tires.
I agree lightweight wheels and good tires are legitimate mods for a car, I would argue driver mod is also critical.
For tires, check Michelin PS4 S specific for BMW, aka "star". They are 2.0 in sportiness with same longevity as regular ones, from personal experience. As for forged wheels, I've had great experience with Atomic Wheels brand. Exceptional quality in everything (low wheight, strength, paint finish, etc) at a much lower cost than the usual brands. I have 2 sets, one with summer tires, one for winter of the AWZZ model on my 2024 Tesla M3P.
@@lechproteansome nice Michelins AS4 on some Apex wheels! Or Michelin Pilot Sport if you live in warmer areas. I have AS4s on some Apex SM10s on my BMW 😃 a lot lighter than the factory set up
It‘s the same as people buying „a big ass truck for work and heavy duty“ in the us to sit infront of cosco.
People mostly forget about their real life when they wanna represent something….
You would think the 60 dollars of fuel they need to put in it every time they fill up would remind them of the reality of the situation, or the fact that they ran over their trash can the other day because they parallel parked too close and they couldn't see it over the obnoxiously high toddler murdering hood line.
@@bubbleman2002
Only really applies to modern trucks tho
@@bubbleman2002 lol Americans, 60 dollars wouldn't even fill up a 1000cc car in Europe.
@@user-ue6iv2rd1n Ok, at least we have SOMETHING good in Russia. Feeling up 64l tank costs me 35 bucks or so.
@@Vivicect0rdamn that’s nice, in the us it heavily depends on your state/region as it can cost far more in some cities and states than in others
cars are like shoes. you need one for the track, one for the twisty backroads, one for going 300kmh on the autobahn, a truck or a van to haul parts etc, one for going to work for cheap. you can never have too many cars, motorcycles or boats XD
i only have one shoes so this is not true
@母熊幼崽maybe you don’t have enough variety of activities.
Facts lol exactly why I have 3 motorcycles 😂 but unfortunately selling them to move lol
...
300 km/h on the autobahn...?
i realized a few months ago i cant expect my car to both good to go over 300kmh in a interstate like road and also be good at everyday city traffic usage, so i opted for city usage, i'll eventually get a second car and mod it completelly differently for that, as i mentioned on my comment. people look as if im modding my own car to drive faster, but even tho it will, im modding it to be a better daily use car.
Growing up after driving lots of cars where I have done everything you just mentioned and way worse (aggressive clutches, welded diffs, daily driving semi-slicks) I came to the assumption that the only mods worth doing in every single car is a good set of pads, tires, and most important a very good alignment to match my needs.
Having a daily that can put some spirited kilometers weekly is priceless, having a stripped daily lowered to the ground with solid mounts is the definition of misery - or I just not 20yo any more :)
a slight lowering 25-30mm (about an inch) with reputable manufacruter of springs like eibach or H&R or the other good brand names to get the little lower look but not ruining the handling.
Add an E85 tune or a Stage 1 and your rocking.
This.
I agree fully. Actually the 1st thing one should do with the car is to check tires and get the ones he needs and loves most. Only 4 small patches of rubber are what connect your car with the road. You can have whatever mods you want, but if those are bad, nothing else will matter.
You were just dumb. I bought a 350z at 18 and left it completely stock
It's like when James May used to talk about how he hates when companies engineer their cars for a hotlap on the Nurburgring. The result is usually a miserable car to drive outside the track.
If people wouldn't want a race car they wouldn't pay 3x the price for sport variant. Megane trophy rs got better time than bugatti Veyron, imagine that. And you can fly on the corners or track it but its still a car you could drive daily.
@@wadimek116 lol I got that car in Forza, it’s cool to look at tbh
@@NudaMan forza in 2025💔
@@wadimek116 There's a big difference between a Megane Trophy RS and a true race car.
Exactly! If i remember correct James said that the M4 GTS is argubly one of the worst sportscars he's ever driven. He said it never worked and most of the time felt undrivable
The best mod (and one you can take from car to car) is a driver upgrade. If you spend money on advanced/track tuition it will make you quicker/safer and improve your enjoyment of any car. Plus your insurance is the same. This upgrade is known as 'upgrading the nut behind the steering wheel' 😁
Finally, someone who gets it. Its a safety system. You can't pick a certain part from a race car and put it in your street car and now think its a safer, because you probably just made it more dangerous and now you and anyone in the car is more likely to suffer more substantial injuries if you where to wreck. You need the whole system not one part.
I’m a tuner guy from birth, played NFS underground as a kid, Gran Turismo, read tuner magazines and loved modded cars but I now I like keeping my cars close to stock with very minimal mods.
Struts, lowering springs, tires, wheels and brakes. No crazy fenders, kits, spoilers. I just want to drive the car the way the engineers intended it to drive and I find so much joy in it.
The rust on weight savings 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Speed holes!
I couldnt agree more. A lot of these people who drive around in stripped out shitboxes would have their entire life changed the moment they sit in a stock LS400/430, BMW 750il, or any luxury car. Its fun to have a track car when you push it to its limit, but that happens very little of the total time. At least it did for me, sitting in a comfortable, quiet car for a daily drive is utterly blissful
What if i dont like luxury heavy cars?? Don need massage electric heated seats.
@@E82GT you don't need a nice bed so why dont u go sleep under a bridge or on the streets somewhere? dumb logic
@@E82GT Massaging electric heated seats are sick ngl. Haha but all jokes aside, you have a clean E82! I don’t think this comment reflects on you at all.
Yeah their lives will greatly change with an empty wallet trying to maintain a 2 ton road boat with 50 electronic modules, no easy access to anything that needs regular (often too much) maintenance, fd up fuel bills and no fun. Cars should be coming out of factories stripped out with everything else optional. Instead, one has to spend extra to have a good car with less weight and clutter in it. Stripped cars are the best. Every drive is an occasion. I'll give a pass for some Lexus cars coz a bunch of them were very well put together. Everything else is designed to rape consumers after a few years of ownership when they've already lost half their value coz they are so bloated with failure-prone junk.
@papapetad Yes every drive is an occasion. Best part of owning a stripped out shit box is sitting in traffic with it like you do 90% of the time.
I totally agree! I love the OEM+ style. For my E46 330Ci (you can see at my profile) I gave Eibach Pro Kit springs, they fit perfectly with 613M 5-series rims (8j + 9j with original tire sizes for E46). Exhaust is Schmiedmann plus Mg Motorsport - it's very cultural, the engine gained some power and it's just a little more racy. Bushings all original quality. Out of curiosity I put on a cold air intake, because now it is not my daily. Inside OEM except for Carplay radio and newly trimmed parts. After experimenting with aftermarket short shifters I rebuild the original but the "shortest" version - BMW engineers know what they are doing. Besides all the service all the time, fixing everything before it breaks down, a lot of detailing. To summarize. Now this car is 22 years old but in my opinion driving like new - I love this car.
Yep, that's the way to go for a car like that!
@ I forget. Now I’m finalizing BBK. Rotors will be OEM 325x25 but with big Brembo Caliper from Alfa 159 ;) To be honest just for fun and better look
Bemfa please please please make more videos like this, the driving the editing the way everything just comes together so well and keeps me so interested please make more like this Love you bro
PSA: Harnesses are meant to keep your body in place, seatbelts and airbags are meant to stop you in the longest stopping distance with minor damage during an impact.
The problem with harnesses is the fact, that your head is not supported by them, and in case of immediate stop your neck supporting the weight of the head and helmet is highly likely to be damaged.
That's why the ONLY proper way of driving with harnesses is ON TRACK with HELMET and HANS Device.
Exactly! Harnesses just change where the force goes and requires supplementary systems to work correctly. Without the full system it's pointless from a safety standpoint. Plus once you swap to a harness and a seat that can support it, you should also consider adding a cage or half cage, because now you're stuck upright in the case of a rollover. Personally I stick with the stock safety systems in my dual duty car. On track I lock the 3 point belt to help keep me planted in the seat, and use a Simpson hybrid s neck restraint system along with my helmet.
The biggest ones are coilovers. Not having rubber on your shock mounts will simply crack the towers due to daily driving on rough roads.
Still have rubber shock mounts with coilovers
Depends on the set, some use the stock rubber. My K&W’s do
@@gianni_schicchii plan on getting some kws for my m4 do u have any suggestions on what i should buy additionally to them for street
Have never had this happen and have used coilovers on almost every platform I’ve owned. I normally use the “rough road reinforcement plates” on my BMWs, maybe it makes a difference, have always done it for peace of mind.
Well the K swap mounts are on steel
unironically the best video i've ever watched for modding cars, amazing info
Factory mufflers and active exhaust cutouts is the way to go if you want a loud car. Previous owner put a loud exhaust on my car and while its fun for rips around town or down backroads its absolutely miserable on commutes or long road trips.
I hate loud exhausts. I appreciate underpromising and overdelivering. Always keeping a little extra a secret. It goes with the personality of the car. For a rally car, sure. But I don't want the moped version of a car. If I have big fancy speakers, I'll still listen to my music at a reasonable volume. Louder doesn't make it sound better. Just more annoying.
It's also absolutely miserable for people around you. Don't be an ass.
Thanks a lot for this I'm a 34yo Bus driver I own 2 other cars one petrol for daily city driving and another diesel wagon for longer distances. Since I'm a petrolhead I do some sim driving in my free time so I just bought a BMW e36 323ti compact. Which will be used for spirited weekend driving and sliding. It won't be a dedicated driftcar so I've aquired a pretty pricey LSD 3.73 differential which will go in soon. Since this job requires the rear subframe to come out I plan to change the bushings as well. This video and some googling and forum searches helped me to decide what bushings should I change to OEM, sport or softer poly. The coilovers are new cheap rubbish those will be changed to KW V1 I don't want too much adjustability I believe those guys at KW that it's set up properly from factory. Firstly I've made sure all fluids are changed brakes etc... so the car is in a good condition as stock and now I will do some little mods step by step. My dream car is a GT86 but I think this little ugly bmw can be as good as that. I've refused to pay 3x the price for a coupe or other body shape and I like the old e30 style rear suspension on a compact which should be more playfull. Thank you for your advice about the bushings I can't wait to take it for a ride in the mountains
I'd also add racing clutch to the list. For most people driving a car in heavy traffic with an aggressive clutch would be measurable. Unless you're like me and perceive it not like a hard labor, but a chance to improve your skills on learning how to drive any car smoothly. Sometimes I'm so good with it, people don't even realize that the clutch is not stock. You also should remember, that driving such car smoothly on streets may cause quicker wear of the clutch. For me its not a huge deal, since I drive my car 1-2 times a week at max.
I actually had this on my list but decided to skip it because my gopro was already overheating too much 😅.
Yea when I see people put a puck clutch on their stock cars I cringe
Meanwhile the racing twin disc clutch in my race car feels like a stock one
@@EkaiMinhaha came here to say the same
Not gonna lie thats some S+ Tier editing
@@corollavirus4age thanks man!
Very true, AND its incredibly expensive to do all the mods you're talking about! People spend so much of their hard earned money on mods that they end up regretting and its a real shame. I think it would help if people started looking at how all their mods interact in their car as a system. Everything should be in harmony together, for a purpose. That is really hard to do though!
Exactly! Building a proper car with proper mods so that the car still feels like a car and not a tool, is hard, but doable! but hard haha.
And all the mods would be worth almost nothing if you sell the car. Sometimes even making the car worth less.
This all comes down to maturing as a car enthusiast. When I was young, I wanted power, fast and loud. Forget comfort! But as I grew older, I learned to appreciate comfort measures a car has. I learned a few things about how a car has all these comfort and noise reduction items like bushings and insulations. OEM + is the way to go for a weekend sports car and not a track car. Modifying a car to a race car is so uncomfortable, how stiff and loud things can get. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun and great, but if you can have the same fun with slightly more comfort it’s even better. Owning an older car at OEM+ clean look just feels classier at my age than big spoilers with loud exhausts. So that’s just myself growing up and how my modifications have changed over the decade of me owning couple cars.
Yeah, exactly. I was the same in the beginning. Then I realized that the more you modify your street car, the less you actually want to drive it. While I never went too deep, I saw how far it could go... which is why I now focus only on small OEM+ improvements.
@ I can 100% relate to not wanting to drive the project cars. Sad but truth. It’s a great learning experience to go through all of this. We all learn! It’s an expensive hobby and it’s a luxury to modify as some may not have the opportunity to do such things. As consumers of cars, I’m thankful for your content for teaching other drivers your knowledge and experience.
@ Well said. Thank you!
@@OGBemfa im still quite young, but have a very old miata (first production year) 1989, and when i got it i wanted to make it proper racecar spec, but now as i have fixed it up and did rust, paint some better tires and rims and just making it nice, i noticed that i dont want some loud ass race car miata but would rather just want it to be the same original charm it has always been with just some modernisation stuff added to it, newer shocks and a little lower with some good brand name spring, no coilovers.
i have just been slowly "rebuilding" it with new parts that are maybe a little better and u could say stage 1 tuning wise but from research are still very oem feeling and nice to daily drive (for example clutch, a little lighter flywheel, fancy equal length headers which apperently even ad a few horsepower to the car) while at the same time making it quieter because the stock headers were so leaky that it was so loud like a streight pipe (which a racecar would have and which i didnt like at all) now its nice sporty but still not loud sounding and u can feel that it just had those few added hp making it a little more nimble and fun, while also sounding smoother.
its just ncie to build a opem+ daily driver than a racecar where u just wanna huck it into the next ree u see because u cant hear urself think because its so loud....
@@BadMax02_VR That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Making small and smart improvements, basically everything they should have done from the factory but haven’t, due to cost cutting or market preference…
Nice to see someone speaking about this stuff!! My "to go" first mod: high quality tires and some light wheels, not significantly larger diameter than the original.
You're really right. Also, I can see the work put on editing this video, congrats for it, was really enjoying! :)
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
I went with OEM+ for my dollar store 2.5L Jetta, different wheels that are wider but lighter, good quality 235-width tires with a stiff sidewall (stock was 205, GLI has 225), made a very noticeable improvement in initial turn-in and has ridiculous grip for my weekend mountain road use case. Stiffer rear sway bar and oem replacement suspension helped loads as well.
Doesn’t ride stiff, but handles like you wouldn’t believe. Plus, it being a $1000 car really lets me beat on it without feeling too much guilt. Would never have been my dream car but cars like this grow on you after you find yourself in a tough spot. Little fella keeps on taking the miles and allows me a little bit of fun here and there, and I couldn’t be happier on such a tight budget. Your car is what you make it, and once you stop modifying for the image and do it for yourself you end up finding a whole new appreciation for the plain old cars still going on the road.
mk6?
@ 2005.5 very early mk5
@ mmm i see mk6 is basically a cheaper mk5 with a new body
@@dog3gold3n yeah basically, they also swapped the rear suspension for torsion beam when in the mk5 it was multilink if I’m remembering correctly
@@EpicLakitu yeah i have torsion beam in my mk6 but planning on irs swapping it so i can go on bags lol
i did coilover and nice looking bucket seat and adjustable seat using larger brake disc calipers from crv on my slow ass 100hp ek civic ,
dont see any problem
the seat hold the driver so much better in every corners ,so did brake kit and adjustable coilovers make the whole driving experience so much better
lovely video, i thought a rollcage was the safest thing ever 😂
I still think *GOOD* coilovers are an upgrade almost no matter what. I threw some BC racing coilovers in an 03' camry, and it really livened up the responsiveness. I even PREFER the suspension feel in that car over my NEW 2024 Nissan Z. The suspension in my Z feels like a boat. It's not responsive, tight, and it just kind of sucks. One of the cooler parts about that suspension kit was that it had adjustable damping. I could make it feel like an old 70s car, or feel tight enough to want to break your back.
Anyways, ANY car I get will be getting coilovers with adjustable dampening. I'm kind of interested in getting the Fortune Auto 500s because they have this damper style where it's soft over sharp bumps, but harder over smooth curves (atleast from what I see on the internet).
Other than that, yeah I do tend to agree with every point in this video. OEM+ is the way to go. These cars had millions, some even billions of dollars of RND to perfect this car. Do you think your monkey brain with a wrench can outdo that? No. OEM+ is just a way to "fix" the shortcomings of a car, not redefining the entire thing.
I agree. I said that I love coilovers and recommend them. But don’t recommend the cheap ones over nice set of springs and dampers.
Wow man your video popped up on my yt out of nowhere, but i was genuinely suprised by the quality! Keep up the good work man :D
Thank you!
First thing i did was removing rear seat bank. Trunk became a huge resonator which ampifilied the rolling noise of wheels into the car....didnt saved any fuel either...so not so good. 2nd thing i had done is getting used "Sport seats" from the top of the line model for my lowest end of the line model which was a big improvement in comfort and driving experience. And with a good set of just regular modern street tyres in stock config you also do a good improvement for your economy class tuning icon 75hp street racer f&f phantasy build...even a loud exhaust can drive you nuts when the car start to vibrate everywhere cause of low frequency like it was on a eg6 with just a mohr 130mm "silencer"...lol
This is my first time watching any of your videos and the transitions between the different sections pretty much sold me on your channel. Keep up the good work.
It's interesting being in my early 30s, and seeing all of my car friends approach the same age. The coilovers get raised, solid mounts are replaced with semi-solid, and some interior/comfort related amenities get reinstalled. All in all it makes me thankful that I never fell in that rabbit hole.
That e46 interior is so beautifully simplistic.
I got the same view on these things, I have 08 impreza, and the only mods i did to it, was wrc wing, mudflaps and gold wheels with the same size as oem.
Very solid advice.
A guy at work recently talked to me about taking his car in to get an 8k turbo package and tune.
First thing I asked him, had him stumped.
"Why?".
He didn't have ANY clear goals, he was happy with how responsive the car is and is happy enough with how fast it is overall.
My advice to him was, just enjoy the nice car that you already enjoy. Don't rush to waste 8k without a clear goal in mind.
always had this in mind so my starting point was "what porsche gt street "track focused"cars have" , then i figure out, nice seats, cool interior withou little concessions and only half cage,thats it, no stripped out interior, no full cage etc
Back in the day I put mechanical gauges in the car. I use the plastic line for the oil pressure gauge. When I got to the track, they made me change it to the metal line. The metal line carried the engine noise inside the car. You can hear every click of the injectors, etc. Not a big deal, but it was one of many little disappointments that add up.
most underrated video, i completely agree on all modification you mentioned
You nailed it. I just realized that I always look back at out car on the parking lot, and that this actually means I'm in love with it. 😍🥰
I’m surprised engine tuning didn’t appear on this list - with my last car (M240i xdrive) I added ~120hp over stock. It was cool for a couple weeks and to show my friends but once the tuning honeymoon phase ended, I had a car that was ultimately less reliable and less usable on the street. Plus the chassis and handling components were never made for that, and it showed. I never raced anybody ever so it was pointless. I found myself eventually using the low boost maps so it was SLOWER than stock to have more fun and use all of the throttle pedal. Now that I have an M2 Comp, I have the “slow” 6MT spec and have no intentions to tune it. Sure, I could have 600hp with a downpipe and a tune but then I won’t ever be able to use more than half throttle. 405hp is already plenty. Cool for bragging rights and for street racing sure, but objectively worse to actually drive on the road.
True! Adding horsepower to a car isn’t as simple as it sounds. It takes a lot to make the car feel truly optimized for the increase. However, I don’t have any firsthand experience driving cars with that kind of engine tune, so I can’t speak from personal knowledge. The other things I mentioned are based on my own experiences, so I feel much more confident talking about them. 😅
@@OGBemfa fair enough! It’s an easy trap to fall into with the turbo BMWs, but I feel you’re probably having more fun than in your cars than any of the newer turbo models. For a few months I owned a Z3M Coupe with the US S52 engine at the same time as my M2C and I’d be lying if a part of me didn’t prefer the ‘slow’ old Z on a back road.
@@mevans313 I know exactly what you mean 😄
Same happened to me, I had an earlier M235i RWD, bought it already tuned, it was fun for a couple months to have the power and speed, but it got old fast and didn't have any more tricks up its sleeve. Sold it for a 986 manual, and I can't ever look back. The M235i was my first and last automatic, and hopefully my only car over 3500lb.
@ yeah my xdrive auto with sunroof M240 came in at nearly 3700lb, I have a no-sunroof 6MT M2C so once I swap the exhaust to save ~40lbs I should come in under 3500. Definitely a lot more personality and fun than the M-lites which I still found to be rather meh. At least mine in particular.
Bravo Slovenac , everything straight to the point, keep up the good work 😂😄👍
When I got my E46 it already had the cheapest coilovers basically and an exhaust. It was so low, I could not even go into any parking garages or park without scratching a curb in the front for example. Absolutely hideous. Half a year later when I had the opportunity, I changed the suspension to lowering springs and sport dampeners. The car still is quite hard over some nicer new car. But it looks good and at this moment of my life I can accept and handle the low and bumpy car. I know it will change in the future. But we live in the moment so I will enjoy it for now. Changing the engine bushings and some others around the car made the car behave so much differently. Sadly I have a automatic gearbox, I would have preferred a manual one but thats how it is. I changed the oil there as well and it behaves super nice now. A lot less rattling all around and its much quieter because of the bushing and bearings that were changed. I actually miss the loudness. I converted to car to the m-package entirely in and out and the inside made a huge difference with the seats having padding on their sides. Other than that, the car is stock with many new parts. Getting most of the things you mentioned in the car isn't even possible or hugely expensive here in Germany so it's not worth it. Having a sporty car that doesn't weigh so much and handles really good is a really nice thing to have in the countryside or hillsides. Only having 170HP is totally enough, no need for any huge numbers that make your car less reliable and use more fuel. Adding turbos to cars that weren't designed for them is also a thing to mention on the list. Some engines can handle them with no problem but other things might come with it too. Ah and exhausts that are awfully loud are things you are going to hate yourself for at some point. It's nice to hear a good sounding engine but taking out most of the mufflers or straight-piping it is quite stupid because you annoy anyone around you and it's not nice to sit in. I sometimes see a guy on instagram with a pink m2 and he always has his window down to hear his insanely loud exhaust with lots of burbles and bangs, I can't understand why you would want to have you ears being hurt all the time be a nice thing.
Well said!
The guy with the pink m2 (seen the vids) has a real m car. Most people with m cars enjoy the sound and like to hear it. And usually these cars have exhaust valves which can make them loud or really quiet when you want for longer more relaxed drives. No offence but you have a base model E46, you’ll never fully understand the m experience until you own one.
@@paulallen1899 well yes, that’s true and I also enjoy the sound but having insanely loud cars is just a unnecessary thing. Having a good balanced sound I something really, let’s say rewarding. A real m car, can sound really nice without blowing out everyone’s ears. There was also some video where he had his window down in the pouring rain, because the absolutely had to hear his exhaust and got lots of water on him when a car on the other side of the road came past him. It really can’t be that necessary. But you are right, that I would have to experience it to maybe have a better understanding for it. Two guys I know have m3 g80s, maybe there’s a chance to get a ride sometime
@ yea, driving with the window down and getting splashed inside is pretty stupid. A lot of the stuff you see on social media these days is just people doing things for views and maybe trying to go viral.
Everything you said was spot on you are a true car enthusiast
I’m cool with good coil overs and big brake kits when properly installed. You have to account for proportioning for the brakes, and for coil overs, I usually go with a good street set when the OEM ones go out. Nothing crazy low or stiff. Just something that handles good, and rides smooth
Great advice, usually all you need for a street car is some good new high performance tires.
A lot of people do the same but with offroaders, kids get an old truck or suv as their first car and put 37+ tires and jack it up to the sky, makes it extremely impractical and kills the purpose if a truck cause the towbar is too high. I just ran 33s and no lift for my first truck, got me everywhere and still was good for towing and working
💯
Coilovers are a must for spirited Driving, as stock are usually very soft.
wheels can really improve how a car looks, but don't go to wide as the acceleration will suffer and the steering will be affected.
The only weight reduction I would recommend is changing the seats for bucket or reclining seats. don't touch the sound deadening. stock seats are surprisingly heavy, especially powered seats.
Only change the stock brakes if you actually need better brakes, otherwise its like adding downforce to grandmas car.
Loud cars are fun, but don't go full blown Honda Civic at 3 AM loud as the entire neighbourhood will hate you.
Top video stari, love da slovenci delajo tak content
Hvala!
Mods I've done are Intake, Exhaust and 205 wheels instead of the 195 stock. Already love it so much! I just need to change some bushings a new engine. Hopefully I can get some better seats that can hold me through some corners instead of throwing me out lol. A carbon Front end would help with the Weight Distribution.
This man speaks the absolute truth. Every hard lesson I've ever had to learn all summarized in one quiet, comfortable video. You couldn't have made this video in an over-modded car, you'd never be able to hear him screaming over the resonance.
I may have just finally found a car guy I completely agree with! I also have a 5sp E46, and have kept it 100% OEM. It gets a lot of compliments, with the most frequent being "oh i love how you've kept it original and haven't ruined it with modifications."
My first car was bmw e46 2.2 liter sedan made for rally and it had all the mods mentioned in this video (+straight pipe) except bigger brakes, new wheels weren't that much wider and instead of coilovers it had rally shocks. It was the best/worst first, it taught me how to mod, take care of it, drive a manual well, but it was uncomfortable af, loud, you would feel and hear every bump, because of bucket seats you needed to lean to see what is in your mirrors, then it would be raining, it sounded like you were outside, you needed to wear gloves because of racing wheel and headphones to not suffer hearing injury. But with all these flaws there wasn't anything like it and yes i got my self a dally besides the rally car ( to preserve the engine of course)
I totally agree and now that I'm in my late 40's I'm starting to appreciate the more comfortable GT cars. I needed this video for my current awareness.
I agree that people overdo it with aftermarket "upgrades". That being said; a larger contact patch is never bad. Poly/solid mounts or bushings are great, so long as they're being bought for the intended purpose. While I agree that there are a lot of misinformed purchases being made in pursuit of faster times or a faster car, a lot of these generalized "don't do this" "don't do that" statements don't apple to a very large demographic of vehicles being modified. Tons of cars benefit from stiffer suspension components: vettes, 99% of audis, most bmws, all mercs, mustangs, camaros, etc. Most modern cars are plagued by both unnecessary emissions and comfort equipment, and while eliminating these can definitely pose potential issues for the comfortability of daily driving, people wanting sportier, better handling cars are going to inevitably have to eliminate some of these stock hindrances. Literally all modern euros can be "gutted" for a track day in 10 minutes or less. Roll cages or any additional safety features are absolutely never a bad addition to a car being pushed beyond its factory limits. I agree with the overall message that there are a lot of misinformed purchases being made by people that just want a faster car, but pretty much everything in this video primarily pertains to kids that inherit/bought 20y/o shitboxes and proceed to prioritize mods over maintenance. I've daily driven multiple sensitive, responsive vehicles with heavily modded drivetrains and gutted interiors. I've had solid mounts, poly bushings, stiff suspension, bucket seats, and have experienced all the pros and cons of sacrificing elements of comfort for a more engaging car. I don't think there are many people that go that route that regret it, and worst case, they can reinstall the oem interior.
Thanks for the comment! You make some great points. I totally agree that mods like bigger contact patches, poly/solid mounts, and roll cages can be awesome, if they’re done for the right reasons. It really comes down to having a clear goal for the car. Stuff like stiff suspension and bushings make a lot of sense for track cars or aggressive builds, but for a daily driver, those trade-offs can catch people off guard if they’re not expecting them.
Yes, the video was mostly aimed at people who jump into mods without really thinking about their car’s purpose or skipping maintenance first, like you've mentioned: the kids throwing parts at 20-year-old project cars before fixing the basics. Obviously the guys who know what they're doing and have a clear goal in mind already know all of this and don't need some random guy on UA-cam to tell them that, haha. Not trying to sound smart and tell people what they should or shouldn't do. I've also mentioned this at the end of the video. It’s clear you’ve had a lot of experience with modded cars, and you know exactly what you’re getting into, which is awesome. Not everyone has that level of awareness going in, and that’s where I think regret happens for some people.
At the end of the day, it’s all about finding the right balance between comfort and performance for what you want out of the car.
Excellent points! If you make a Part 2, you might want to add large diameter wheels with tires that have tiny sidewalls. And lowering cars.
People who do that then start complaining about how terrible the roads are😂.
Meanwhile you have people who go the opposite (and more practical direction) of replacing 18” wheels with 17”. Gives the car some more roll in the corners but IMO that’s actually a Good thing: it makes the drive experience more Miata-like. And the car rides more smoothly, because the taller sidewall acts as part of the suspension cushioning.
Taller sidewalls also make the car infinitely more resilient to damage. You can drive it more like a rally car, rather than driving like a boy in a bubble where the slightest imperfection in the road surface results in damage.
Smaller diameter wheels reduce unsprung weight. And the tires cost less.
F1 cars rocked 13” diameter tires from the 1970’s all the way until 2021! Even the VW Beetle had 15” wheels in the 1960’s, so it’s not like it was exotic technology.
F1 has insanely large budgets, so it’s not like they couldn’t afford to make a racecar with larger wheels. They chose 13” wheels because it’s better for racing as fast as possible.
Smaller wheels spin up faster, handle better, are lighter, make the car less susceptible to pothole damage, etc.
They only switched to 18” tires in 2022, for marketing and fashion reasons.
The other silly fashion trend is making the gap between the wheel rubber and the wheel well as small as possible. That makes the suspension travel smaller, which means that the engineers have to make the shocks stiffer, which makes the ride less pleasant.
It also makes lap times longer and more nerve wracking.
All the serious car reviewers (Matt Farah, Topher, etc) say they put the engine, throttle response, etc in track mode, but put the suspension in comfort mode. It makes them more confident in high speed driving, because the car feels more planted and less skittish when encountering road imperfections.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
Editing is getting better and better
Been through this for 10 years lol. Done everything, and I found the best solution for me.
All I need now are just a tune, cooling, wheels, tires, coilovers, and front brake kit (to fit smaller wheels in front).
I put M3 CSL Replica wheels on my 330Ci (8.5x19 +40 front and 9.5x19 +45 rear) paired with Eibach Pro Street S coilovers. I did it mainly for looks and I'm very happy with it. Also added an Eisenmann exhaust which is as loud as german laws allow. I noticed that I went too far with mods when I installed a lightweight single mass flywheel. The 6 speed transmission in the E46 really doesn't like that. The sluggish engine response is mainly due to the ECU so the single mass flywheel didn't even help with that 😂A real lesson learnt. I feel like you can go crazy with any mods you like as long as it isn't your daily driver. It's a very fun way to learn how your car works.
You can tune out some of that laginess from the Electrical Throttle Body on the M54 to make it more direct, that will make much more difference, and help with heel toe.
@@PatalJunior I actually went to a tuning shop and paid quite a bit of money to get that done. It does respond better but it still feels very "tired" when trying to rev it for downshifts underneath 2k rpm. That is the rev range the engine sees the most... Above that it responds and revs quite nice!
It's my tip for any hobby you might get into.
If it's the first time doing something, start with the small things! You'll not only learn _how_ to do stuff without regretting your decisions later, but also if you actually like doing the stuff in the first place!
Start with the industry standard first, oem+, learn why people modify something and learn what you actually care about and like. Do it once, then you'll notice all the little things that didn't go smoothly and that you'd change if doing it again... Then do it again! :D
this is a video for people who have no idea what they're doing; for people who actually hit the track and fine tune things and are chasing lap times and skill, move along nothing to see here.
this is more-so for the folks to do mods to looks fast but aren't actually fast.
Yep, I get quite a lot of comments from people here and on IG who are new to this stuff. That’s when I realized most people aren’t building track cars, nor do they have this knowledge. The ones who are building track cars already know all of this. Plus, in the grand scheme of things, there’s a very small number of people in the world who actually build track cars, haha. So yeah, beginner content for now. But in the future, I might get more specific with stuff. We’ll see!
"All the gear, no idea" springs to mind :P
Brilliant video with great knowledge, I couldn't agree with you more. What many people don't realise is that a production car is far harder to produce than a race car and in some cases performance cars and are engineered specifically for that purpose. Everything is engineered for safety of the layman while overcoming mountains of red tape with emission and safety regulations.
Nah, I'm cool with it. My car, bro. But thanks for your opinion, I guess.
(edit)
I remember years ago when people used to complain about ricers for doing pointless mods, and, nowadays, people are actually properly modding their cars, and this dude still complains about it.
You just can't win lmao
Honestly, it's one of the reasons I actually like this video because it's not just another "Shitting on ricers" vid. But yeah you do you.
I feel like I was just in a seminar hosted by Nikki Lauda
Hahahaha
Best mods in my opinion:
-Quality suspension (Like KW or Bilstein, it will even be more comfortable)
-Good tires (Not too crazy, but it will improve the feel and stability)
-LSD (Besides cornering performance, it also improves safety in sticky situations)
-Good and comfortable seats
-Smaller engine mods, like air filter, spark plugs, cooling...
In the end, the most important thing is doing a maintenance on time.
Thanks for the video as personally.
loving these new videos, keep it up!!
Thank you!
Great advice!
I did however put a momo steering wheel (looks cool) and am going to put slightly wider and bigger rims + 45-45 lowering springs (it just looks cooler and that itty more stability is welcome, so stiffer sway bars are on the way aswell)
Good and informative video, but I'm going do it anyways.
Go for it 🫡
Having worked on a race car many years ago, it is indeed a totally different animal. Great video and sound advice.
My car has a roll bar, a dished steering wheel without an airbag, lowering springs with coilovers, wider tires with larger rims (from 185/65/14 to 205/50/50), big brakes, it will get bucket seats with 4 point seatbelts and im planning on swapping a different engine transmission and diff in it.
However it's a '92 Miata, that has no roll over protection stock.
I literally can't sit in it with the stock steering wheel(which has no airbag) because it's inside my knees, the seats are very worn and too high for me (the seatbelts have to be swapped for that to be legal).
My engine and transmission are both leaking rather consistently, that's why I'm swapping a complete NB sportive drivetrain (including the big brakes)
Daamnn you got 50 inch wheels on your miata, and here I thought my 16 inch were on the fence
Don't get 4 points. Either get 6 points or don't get harnesses
i found for a daily, a set of good lowering springs, better brake pads and rotors and lighter good looking wheels and a custom tune to squeeze out a few more ponies is all you really need
I do not agree with the wide wheels and tires and the coilovers (I do agree get a good set not cheap) but everything else is spot on. ESPECIALLY the solid mounts . A lot of people don’t understand that Big brake kits are more for heat dissipation. I like driving my race car on the street sometimes. Great video!
yep, agreed- huge, heavy cast wheels are not good, but a set of nice, lightweight forged wheels could even save weight over the stock wheels even while being much wider
plenty of platforms do not have good coilover options, and they require more frequent rebuilds which is very expensive. lots of people still think coilovers are special and offer some massive improvement
Absolutely agree with these points. Sometimes it just feels like people mod their cars for the sake of modifying them or simply just to fit in without actually thinking it through
love to see this video from a chanel that usually is followed by those raceboys. this is how we set a correct culture among our community. great video!
9:25 EXACTLY, i have a bone stock ae100 corolla with only a moderate muffler that makes cool I4 noises when on the throttle, but any drive longer than an hour and im completely miserable from the noise even at 3.5k rpms. Sound insulation is everything guys, not even mentioning the hearing damage so be careful out there :)
straight cut gears was absolutely the worst for me; it had gotten to the point that my gf would leave me if we went on roadtrips on my straight cut gear e46
Hahah yeah straight cut gears are next level mod.
Suggestions for mods for " street cars"
1. Coilovers suspension (visit local mechanic to fine tune it
2. Bucket seats (semi-patted for a bit of comfy)
3. Sick rims (based on your stock size fitment)
4. Semi sport exhaust (quiet enough for the road, good enough for performance)
5. slightly wider wheel (optional)
6. Modernized clutch kit (for manual transmission)
7. Weight reduction (for the hood and trunk)
And lastly mods that fixed common issues of the car (either rust issue, leaks or other known issues about the car)
The first thing I thought of was mentioned(kinda) but not really lol
Like running a cage with no harnesses, people should also really stop running harnesses with no cage... unless they want to break their collarbones in a 30mph collision
Definitely agree with this although it depends what your want your car to do!
First, having 2 cars for the price of 1 helps to justify the cost but after that it's just about researching the best mods; I run an LCI 330ci 6MT(2004) which has been comprehensively uprated to be able to do laps at the Nurburgring and also be my daily driver - worst mods for the street are the solid engine mounts and semi-slick tyres which can both be noisy but after that pretty much everything you've said is spot on.....choose your modifications wisely!
Man those weight reduction pics were hilarious 😂
great editing man! The movement and music had me rolling
My 330i touring has all of the mentioned things, minus big brake kit and rollcage. All solid or spherical bushings, 255 tires, Semi slicks, Coilovers, -3.2° of camber, bucket seats, quicksteer kit and more.
It's my only car, I don't really daily it, but I enjoy driving it, even on the streets. I love the I6 sound in combination with the diff whine! But it also sees a lot of track use.
Yeah that's cool. Driving a track car on the street can be fun, as long as it's not your daily and have to drive to work on a cold rainy day while feeling sick haha.
Best first mod is a quality set of tires for the application you plan on using the car for (auto cross, street/performance, touring, off road, etc.)
Stop modding your street car
No
100% agree for most cars. Some cars do need some upgrades like big brakes and wide tires. If your car is old enough, thinking 1980s and older is almost needed for sporty daily driving.
8:03 Thank you for saying this. The only way you can drive a rollcage-equipped car safely on the street is with a helmet, HANS device, and racing harness on. And nobody is modding their street cars for those things or going through all of that every time they drive. But if you skip any step, you are making your street car unsafe. Same goes for your passengers.
I doubt my 80s nissan is more safe without roll cage even if I don't wear helmet or have hans. I would be pancake even in slow speed roll over if my car was stock
@allux8236 only you know the answer to this question, but when you daily drive your 80s Nissan, which sort of incident do you think is more likely to happen to you:
- rolling your car onto its roof
- getting into a fender bender that knocks your head into your rollcage for a instant and damaging concussion
If your answer is the first option, then I submit that the rollcage is the least of your safety worries
@@ITNoeticfirst of all there are plenty rollcages where the tubes are not that close to you and secondly there is the option to put simple insulating foam thingis over those tubes that are close to you.
Alot of Rollcages increase protection not just in Rollovers, if you would be aware of how many older Cars are build like Tincans it would be a bit more obvious to you that these Cars do benefit from Rollcages in regular (non rollover) crashes cuz of simple stuff like there being a Tube behind the B-pillar.
@@DlK69 people usually forgets that racedrivers didnt wear hans until the late 90s
Rollbar foam is either hard because it's meant for helmet contact and thus will still concuss, or soft and will not stop your head from cracking on the bar.
And the human head has ways of finding surfaces in a car not necessarily close to where it sits when driving normally during a severe enough crash, even with your seat belt on
1. Wide wheels for no reason, I agree. It messes up the way the car is set up, I would definitely go with a nice set of wheels rather than putting a bigger tire for no reason.
2. Yes coilovers are super unnecessary for daily drivers, people throw them on for no reason, coilovers are made for track cars. Most people need lowering springs and that's it. Its also much cheaper lol
3. BIG BRAKE KITS ARE SO SILLY. The stopping power of the vehicle is not determined by the size of the rotor or caliper or pad, its about the force of the brake booster, so if the car has its stock brake booster and tires, it doesn't need it at all. Big brake kits are only useful for track driving when you need to worry about heat dissipation.
4. One thing you forgot the mention during the roll cage section is the steering wheels without an airbag on a modern car. Like you said, without a HANS, 6 point harness, helmet, then driving without a front airbag is incredibly dangerous.
good mods to do to your car:
stainless steel brake lines (its just better)
the best quality tires you can find (oem size)
personal preference mods:
vinyl wrap (its like paint but cheaper and i think has more options for customization)
air suspension (its cool and possibly even better than stock)
rims (oem size. make sure they're not heavier than the stock ones)
ecu tune (will use more fuel for little to no gains but it can be rolled back so its ok)
rear spoiler (depends on car model but hatchbacks generally take the most advantage from this, improving performance and fuel economy)
good maintenance practices:
engine tune up
replace worn dampers
replace worn bushings
replace timing belt/chain
replace all filters
running the a/c on cold once a week so it doesn't randomly break (same for everything electric but this one is the most common)
flush and clean the radiator
replace all fluids
check tire pressures
replace cooling/fuel pump
if your head/tail lights are plastic, polishing them will leave them like brand new (same for the paint but only in extreme cases)
apply plastic restore to all visible non-painted plastic and rubber parts like tires (only on the outside face) and rubber seals like windows and door seals (increases lifespan except for the tires of course but makes them shiny c: )
wash the car by hand with a microfiber glove/cloth and wax it (should slightly improve aerodynamic drag by making the paint as smooth as can be, but only if you care enough about performance lol. also protects the paint from almost anything)
Good info there! Running the A/C once a week is a good tip!
Stainless brake lines are very controversial. They can actually increase failure rates and honestly seem superfulous.
Also wheel alignment!
My car is all show, no go! Your car is beautiful bro! new subscriber, keep up the content.
I laughed at the "Oooh nice!" at 8:30 haha!
Typical car guy shenanigans 😊😂
what was it? I only saw an old wagon👀
Completely agree with this. I've had my e46 M3 for over 7 years and I've changed all of the drivetrain bushings to Polyurethane and stiffened stuff up with race coilovers and then did a 180 and went back to full oem rubber and a oem style custom bilstein damper for performance and comfort.
I hate all mods in general. I would want my car to be as close to original as possible. I also hate these aftermarket screens that are in MANY used cars. The sellers present them as being a good thing, but I HATE them.
Depends on if you use your phone at all when in the car. It's much more convenient to have my nav and music laid out on a big screen built into the dash than to have to pull up my phone while i'm driving, unlock it, and then open whatever nav/music app I need, and then have to mount the phone somewhere visible.
@Soluscide you could buy a window, or dash, or rear-view mirror phone mount. My parents have a mirror phone mount and it's very useful when I am driving.
I like screens, but only if they are OEM. I will buy my first car in July (probably a 320i E90 LCI). I see some of them with the cheaper non-iDrive dash and people have ruined them by putting aftermarket screens BELOW the air vents. When I see one, I am instantly put off. The more expensive iDrive versions have the OEM screen ABOVE the air vents, not below. If I buy one with an aftermarket screen (I really hope I don't), I will instantly remove it and replace the entire dash with the iDrive dash.
Even though that version of iDrive is very old, I will not ruin the interior of my car, in an attempt to turn it into something that it's not.
Let's not mention the awful aftermarket interior LED strips on some cars that are even worse.
@@Soluscide you could buy a window, or dash, or rear-view mirror phone mount. My parents have a mirror phone mount and it's very useful when I am driving.
I like screens, but only if they are OEM. I will buy my first car in July (probably a 320i E90 LCI). I see some of them with the cheaper non-iDrive dash and people have destroyed them by putting aftermarket screens BELOW the air vents. When I see one, I am instantly put off. The more expensive iDrive versions have the OEM screen ABOVE the air vents, not below. If I buy one with an aftermarket screen (I really hope I don't), I will instantly remove it and replace the entire dash with the iDrive dash.
Even though that version of iDrive is very old, I will not ruin the interior of my car, in an attempt to turn it into something that it's not.
@N1ckZ You can buy a phone mount yeah, but it's a lot harder to press the small buttons on your phone than the big buttons on a larger screen.
Engine mounts was the best mod I got for my miata, shifting felt so much better.
I personally enjoyed the heavier feel on my steering wheel after getting wider tires and wheels, the driving felt much more connected to the road than a looser drive
Thanks for making this video. Lots of misconceptions about all of these mods, and you outlined them perfectly. Anyone that wants to apply these modifications either 100% knows what theyre doing or just hasnt found out yet lol. I learned the hard way, and barely even touched half this list. Like many, I had all of the mentioned ideas for my ride. With each one I tried, I became less and less interested in continuing with the wishful performance mods. The cage+five point is a big one. Definitely avoid installing a cage and harness restraints if you do not plan on wearing a helmet and hans device. A lot of cars came from the factory pretty good- someone with expertise and experience was given a briefcase full of cash to figure out a solution to a specific problem, just for the car you have. Improvements can be made, but on a street car a little bit can go a very long way.
I'm so glad you're giving advice for performance and safety reasons and not being another one of those videos that just say
"You are not allowed to customize your vehicle because I don't like how non-stock cars look!"
finally someone is saying it, i hope other influencers catch on to this. people just want to be fast, or have race parts. decide you’re build type street/track/drift/drag/show and keep your build in its respective lane.