Car Modifications

I realise this probably isn't the best forum to do this - but i thought I'd give it a shot anyway.

So I bought a BMW 1 Series about a year ago. Test drove models from the whole range, from the M135i all the way down to the 116i (never enjoyed the diesels on the 1 series). I ended up buying a 2013 116i purely for insurance purposes but ever since I've found myself wanting more power when i put my foot down (should've just gone for the 3.0 straight 6).

With the context explained, could any fellow petrolheads advise on what mods I would need to do to take it from a boring 130hp to something slightly more exciting? I realise it'll never come close to anything like the M135, but I do enjoy just putting my foot down sometimes.

I'm not too interested in chavving up the car, so loud exhausts, cat deletes, bodykits, etc aren't things I'm interested in. But for example, if I wanted to remap the engine to a stage 2, lets say, what would I need to upgrade? Intercooler, cold air, forged crankshafts, etc? I don't intend to take it on track days, just in daily use, so the more inconspicuous, the better.

Which websites are best to look at; purchase parts from? I'd still want the car to be road legal. I'm quite new to modifying cars so go easy on me.

TLDR; want to make my car faster, how do i go about doing it.

TIA.

Reply 1

StriderHort

Whenever I buy a new car the first thing I do is start looking up the owners forums, tbh you only really want advice from people who already own it and know from experience what can and cant be done.

Unless you have very deep pockets and absolutely positively love the car to death, you'll find stage 2 modifications insanely pricey for what you would get. The advice you very often get given in these situations is just go and buy the faster model if it already exists (which it does)

If you really just want to give it a little kick then you'd probably get good results out of simply having it well tuned, it's a small turbo car so does having tuning potential. I'm seeing tuning places quote gains of 30-84hp for it which is nothing to sneeze at for a few £100

Reply 2

Anon2463

Original post by StriderHort

Whenever I buy a new car the first thing I do is start looking up the owners forums, tbh you only really want advice from people who already own it and know from experience what can and cant be done.
Unless you have very deep pockets and absolutely positively love the car to death, you'll find stage 2 modifications insanely pricey for what you would get. The advice you very often get given in these situations is just go and buy the faster model if it already exists (which it does)
If you really just want to give it a little kick then you'd probably get good results out of simply having it well tuned, it's a small turbo car so does having tuning potential. I'm seeing tuning places quote gains of 30-84hp for it which is nothing to sneeze at for a few £100

You're probably right - babyBMW or alike is probably best to post this in.

Yeah i think you're probably right - I already have it mapped to stage 1 since its the same engine bmw use in the 118i, just detuned. So i think its gone from 130 to 170/180 already for around £300, solid value for money. I was just looking up things like cold air intakes, and apparently they're around £400 and apparently only give something like +15hp anyway :frown:

.

I absolutely do not have deep pockets :lol:

though i wish i did. Oh well, maybe I'll just wait and buy a proper motor in 3 to 4 years - i really like how the F22s look but its hard to find a nice 240i at a reasonable price currently that hasn't been ragged around.

Cheers anyway

Reply 3

StriderHort

Original post by Anon2463

You're probably right - babyBMW or alike is probably best to post this in.
Yeah i think you're probably right - I already have it mapped to stage 1 since its the same engine bmw use in the 118i, just detuned. So i think its gone from 130 to 170/180 already for around £300, solid value for money. I was just looking up things like cold air intakes, and apparently they're around £400 and apparently only give something like +15hp anyway :frown:

.
I absolutely do not have deep pockets :lol:

Yeah cold air kits/fancy filters are rarely worthwhile and not really worth thinking of in terms of hp, (afaik) they're more for where you've added all the other stage 2/3 stuff and you've reached the point where your air intake/exhaust genuinely becomes a limiting factor (obv more for turbo builds) - so it's more the finishing touch when you finish your build and tune, rather than the start.

(although for lots of people, me included, a cold air intake/fancy filter IS probably what you'll go and buy first :lol:

it's relatively cheap and approachable first mod, just a bit pointless unless your car has a stock air intake in a truly stupid place and heat is an issue)

I'm in a similar boat with my naturally aspirated Audi S5, because I've got no factory boost I've got v little options even in terms of tuning for any significant increase and it's maybe £10-12k to add a supercharger kit (fair enough I get a near 530hp monster for that). But for the money I'd really just be better selling and buying an RS5 or a newer S5 V6 twin turbo and put money towards tuning or bigger turbos.