Thought I'd give this whole build thread thing one last crack after the first one was cut-short by the first 4Mo being written off and the second just descending in to farce.
Anyway, the whole aim of my tinkering is going to be to make a car that essentially can go round a corner, won't embarrass itself on a track, but can be used everyday to comfortably do the big mileages I ask of it and that will looks pretty much standard.
I'd decided after modding the last car that I'd been way too scattergun with it all and not really focussed on what I wanted to do and had got swept up the whole modding for moddings sake game, just throwing money at the car and doing a bit of everything - but no more! And to make sure, I've set myself some simple rules to stick to:
- No exterior cosmetic mods - all mods are going to be ones that I notice when I drive the car either in terms of interior aesthetics, or how the car drives.
- No engine / power mods - unless you're going to charge it, it's a law of diminishing returns going for power on a N/A engine. I've driven a mapped V6 and didn't think the difference was worth the cost of doing it.
- NO Lowering - yes, you read that right. I'd rather keep the suspension geometry bob on to benfit the handling rather than go for a cosmetic drop.
So, them's the rules. Now for the car - it's a 2002 V6 4Motion that had 58k on it when I bought it in December and now has 66k on it. It's very well spec'd so it's easier to write a list of what it hasn't got on it, rather than what it does have:
- Multi-function steering wheel
Literally, that's it. So, this is what it looked like when it arrived:
First to go were those ghastly tints - anyone who says they don't affect vision out of the car is having a laugh.
So with tints gone, it was time to get my wheels on - 17" OZ Superleggeras that come in at 17kg with tyres (7.2kg without), which is a whopping 4kg lighter than the Santa Monicas that it came with.
Anyone who's spoken to me about them will know I do go on a bit about light-weight wheels - these are about a light as you can get without going for a forged wheel and they really do make a big difference.
Anyway, after that it was a few small bits and bobs while I killed time waiting for my insurance situation to be sorted out and waiting for the money for the car that was written off - bora vents and Alu interior trim, W8 light, aero-wipers, remove V6 badge off the front and GOLF lettering from the back. Oh, and my trusty slab of a subwoofer. It's also had a set of TT rear wishbone bushes put in as well.
Anyway, recently Big Stuff has started to arrive.
First there was a 300mm rear brake upgrade from DaveB:
This would be on the car already, but I've managed to lose 3 of the bolts so I need to get some more.
Then this week the bit I've been really looking forward to - the suspension arrived! After many many hours of research on what to get, in the end I've gone for some adjustable Koni Sport dampers which will be used with the VW Sport springs already on the car.
I'm genuinely excited about having a play with these and hoping I might be able to get the dampers on at the weekend, but I've got a few things on so may not manage it.
I've also got some other bits in the pipeline for the front brakes which shouldn't be too far away either.
Once all that's done, it'll be on to anti-rollbars and the the cherry on the cake will be a haldex controller.
Not a massive list of mods, but when I thought about it, that's all I actually really want - I may end up doing a bit of tinkering with different suspension setups depending on how I get on with the Konis, but for now I reckon that little lot will keep me happy.
Jon.
BMW E46 330d Sport Touring // 1/3rd VW Bora 1.8T Track & 'Ring