Performance Mods bang for buck 125i?

[janus77]

Hi All, so I'm going to buy the front and rear sway bars from Andrew. As far as handling mods go, that's probably all i'll do till the tyres wear out and i need some stickier rubber.

For performance I guess the obvious first options are a cold air intake and sports exhaust. Are there any other smaller mods that would boost power a bit, like upgraded spark plugs, leads etc?

Anyone know how much would it cost to get a full custom stainless system including headers through to the muffler?

If i put an exhaust and air filter on, is it worth while getting the ECU tuned considering it's NA, the performance gains will probably be negligable i guess?

Anyway, just throwing ideas around cause I love it! hehehe.

[MikeVictor]

I would have thought an ECU tune at the same time as the filter/zorst modification would be ideal.

If you can find a place like Sparoz did for me where they'll give you a trade price for your runcraps change your tyres over sooner rather than later too, I'm thankful for the referral as the PZero's I'm using now are great.

[TimMc]

A couple of turbos would make a big difference

[BMWRX]

Originally Posted by TimMc

A couple of turbos would make a big difference

As it would on most cars. I'm keen to also know what's the best way to squeeze a bit more life out of the N52.

Is upgrading the induction the main way to get the full 190kW that the 130i has? Or is there more to it than that?

What size exhaust do most people go with? 2.5"? 3"? Drain pipe???

[takahashi]

I think there is more to it. I am sure large part is due to the ECU map.

Anyone compare the dyno figure of 130i and 125i and see the diff first?

[bfi2906]

For the exhaust, have a chat with the guys at Hi-tech at Taylor Square. The guy to speak with is Lambros - he's been doing exhausts for years, and seems to have endless knowledge about them.

Originally Posted by BMWRX

What size exhaust do most people go with? 2.5"? 3"? Drain pipe???

Whatever you do, please don't put one of those "Milo Tin" exhausts on it. They look sill on a Silvia, we can only imagine how it'd look on a 1er.

[BMWRX]

Originally Posted by bfi2906

Whatever you do, please don't put one of those "Milo Tin" exhausts on it. They look sill on a Silvia, we can only imagine how it'd look on a 1er.

You mean a cannon exhaust? I had one on the WRX for about a week before it was punted as far as I could throw it. Now she's a heck of a lot much quieter. However, I'm looking forward to the sound from the backend of the 125i when it arrives.........one day..........I hope this year.