[The Dowager Countess]

so i have a white 128i with no options save the M-Sport package. I ordered and bought this thing for many of the same reasons most of you did. I love the feel of a N/A BWX six in a light weight rear wheel drive package. The car is more than fine stock- but that doesn't mean I don't want to give it a bit of personality and improve it if i can. ideally, i'd like to make the car a bit sharper and lighter. i'm less concerned with drastic increases in the horsepower or torque numbers- although i'm sure i'll eventually do headers and a tune once evolve sorts out the n51 thing or the guys at Turner can show me some appreciable gains through their AA tune and SuperSprint headers.

I'm heading to Turner tomorrow to drop off a deposit for an LSD. I'm going with a custom. 2 clutch and going to change the final drive from 3.23 gears to 3.64. Living in New England, the LSD really helps with traction in the snow, and it is probably the best thing you can do to improve the handling. I went with an 2 clutch instead of a helical because it's a bit cheaper and I love the race car on/off feel you get from them. The builder has assured me reliability has not been an issue.

The next step will be wheels and tires. This is where I can make the biggest weight savings. I need some advice here- but it'll probably be something 17x8.5 square all around with some Proxes R888 for track and street use in the summer. I know some wack-jobs running these three seasons on Porsches and they really like them although they do need to heat up a bit before you get crazy with them.

I'll probably do some exhaust stuff just to make it a bit louder to aid in shift points. the car is a little quiet i think.

After that, we'll look at M3 sub frame bushings and suspension work. I'll probably go with Konis and some heavy springs while not sacrificing ride height. I want the suspension to work for me- the key here is to make sure the car is fast- not that it feels fast and I certainly don't want to do anything to make it understeer more- I'd like to re-capture what the chassis and layout was designed for- neutral handling to mild oversteer.

Then we're going to get crazy and start making everything lighter. I could see my self doing what I did with my old car- carbon trunk, hood, removing the AC, doing a rear seat delete- replacing the side and rear glass with lighter weight stuff, removing the sound proofing- but i'm not convinced. there are safety issues here as well.

Anyway- thanks for reading and i'm open to suggestions!