Good shop to get tyres mounted near the city?

[janus77]

Hi Folks, got some tyres coming in from Tirerack next week, looking for a shop who aren't going to give me the 3rd degree for not buying the rubber from them, so can install, balance and align for me.

Anyone got a good tyre man?

[minijet]

I got mine done at Spinning wheels
http://sydney.citysearch.com.au/E/V/SYDNE/0021/84/22/

Originally Posted by janus77

Hi Folks, got some tyres coming in from Tirerack next week, looking for a shop who aren't going to give me the 3rd degree for not buying the rubber from them, so can install, balance and align for me.

Anyone got a good tyre man?

[woosh]

Got mine done at Taleb Tyres. They charged me $15 each to fit and balance (I only had to do two at the time. I'm sure had I done all 4 it would be even cheaper).

[WOPALX]

+1 for Spinning Wheels, I take my OS purchased tires there for fitting all the time. Also the alignment tech Stuart really knows his s*it.

[janus77]

thanks Guys, Spinning wheels gets 2 votes, will give them a shot.
looking forward to taking the car up the old pacific highway once i get the Z1's mounted!

Now all i need is a high flow cat + one of those nice Magna flow exhausts Tay was talking about, a set of 135 brakes, and i'm rockin and a rollin.. oh that ESS flash Andrew's selling.. ah, if only i wasn't getting married and in "saving" mode.

[Taymaishu]

Want to order the Magnaflow with me at tax time?

[janus77]

i do, i really really do.
Though i'm not sure how much tax i will get back, i don't have many write offs..
Be cool to get a high flow cat, and the magnaflow installed.

[Stuart@BMRAutowerkes]

I don't think 125s have secondary cats - only primaries?

Therefore janus you'll need catless headers and a hi flow cat afterwards.

[janus77]

ah ok, thanks. Getting a bit pricey at that point.

[janus77]

http://www.ultrarev.com/16525-mf.html

Taymaishu, i have emailed them (out of interest) to find out how much delivery would be to Sydney Australia for 2 exhausts.
with the current exchange rate, they are only AUD580 each plus delivery.. TEMPTING!

[Stuart@BMRAutowerkes]

hi flow cats don't really affect the sound of the exhaust anyway, changing to the magnaflow muffler will be much more effective at doing that!

if you're after more power, go for an ECU tune or a powerbox, whatever the budget allows

[janus77]

i had the pbx before, ended up selling it though, couldn't feel it in the seat of my pants. I only saw increased fuel consumption (maybe very slight improvement in power, but hardly noticeable). probably would have kept it, but couldnt' be arsed installing it again after removing it for a warranty job at the dealership.

If i were forking out big bucks, the next thing to be upgraded would be the brakes.
Then i guess an ECU tune, that ESS one Andrew's selling looks interesting.
As far as the high flow cats go, it was more for performance than sound i'd be interested in..

[Stuart@BMRAutowerkes]

ESS flash gives like 10hp or something?

any decent german tune will give 30hp+

[janus77]

Yeah, and lets see a review of one on here for a 125i.. (with dyno before and after proof)

The ESS has the valvetronic etc component to it too, so with it you should be able to do as much as the German tuners. Assuming ESS can work on a good tune file for you. Better than sending your ecu away for $2000 clams.

Don't get me wrong, i'd love to believe the hype, but having looked online for almost 2 years now, nothing has come up that definitively gives the gains promised, either the tuning shop's dyno is broken, or something happens that means the person buying the tune doesn't get a comparison dyno (same day same dyno same settings and variables). Talking to Andrew at ALS, he said they'd looked at the 125i, and found they were pretty much pumping out as much power as possible without going aftermarket parts modifications. He said the intake and headers/zhaust looked different on the 125i compared to the 130i, more restrictive, so to get 130i power, you'd need to spend a bit of cash.

Anyway, i'm pretty happy with the acceleration i get in my 125i, like most i'd like to get a bit more juice if possible without paying too much for the pleasure.

[Stuart@BMRAutowerkes]

The overseas tunes are only about 1k aussie with our favourable exchange rates.

Surprised you'd upgrade the brakes next though! I reckon the 125i brakes are quite capable...

logically for me performance wise I'd go more power (through a tune or whatever), better suspension (sways and coilovers) then brakes.. and even then I don't know if the 1er will need it.

[janus77]

My options were first sway bars, you're going to be running the OEM tyres for 20000k's or so, so better to flatten out the ride a bit, they dial in a bit of understeer for safety i guess on them, the sway bar upgrades can eradicate that and make the car corner much better.

Next i got an intake, wanted to improve the sound am very happy with my injen intake.

I had the pbx, but didn't feel it did enough to warrant keeping it on the car, plus i had to uninstall it and couldn't be arsed putting it back in.. the throttle map change was good though.

Next the tyres will give a really big improvement in performance.

After that it's a case of if you want to blow cash for minimal gains i reckon.. exhausts, tunes, all that. If you want real power improvement it's going to require new cams or something pricey.. otherwise it's very little bang for your buck on an NA car.

Still it's a hell of a lot of fun isn't it

[janus77]

Originally Posted by Taymaishu

Want to order the Magnaflow with me at tax time?

Got a quote, cheapest place i could find was www.ultrarev.com

USD1217.26 for 2 exhausts
USD224.94 for delivery
So USD USD721.11 each = approx AUD700 to the door.

not bad.

[Stuart@BMRAutowerkes]

Short shift kit?

I got mine for 220 from the states and then 300 to install at a BMW dealer

[janus77]

yeah, that would be nice too.
good price!

[janus77]

tyres arrived today, so fat and sticky! can't wait to get them on the car!

[janus77]

AWESOME! took a drive up the old pacific highway yesterday, the grip is definitely better than the re050's, harder to find the limit now, hope the limit is progressive, and not a spontanous combustion.

[Scoobs]

^^^ what tyres did you end up with ?

I just received the Michelin super sports from tire rack. Had them fitted up at Tempe tyres.

Haven't had the chance to have a play with them yet, but just realized how much wheel spin I was getting in the old rft's

Extra grip is already very apparent.

Just in time for my tune