what should my first mods be to stay covered under warranty?

[nugent_crai]

I'm thinking ECU and Intercooler, but do you think my money could be spent better? Exhaust, downpipes, ECU instead of the intercooler? Im trying to stay under warranty as well.

[M3Newbie88]

Any performance part.. ie: performance exhaust.... ECU.. Dinan only because they cover you for the same length as your BMW warranty.. downpipes and other ECU's are not a good idea as they will void your warranty "if" it is related to any future issues that might occur to your car.

[jeremyc74]

Just about anything you do to the car that makes any power whatsoever is a risk to your warranty if the claim can be even remotely tied to the modification and they know about it.

The current financial situation has all the automakers tightening their belts, and reduction of warranty claims is high on the list. If it's really a priority for you, be very careful.

[CoolToolGuy]

Any BMW Performance part that replaces a part already on the car becomes warranted for the duration of the warranty. The front rotors, the exhaust, the suspension, etc. For me, that is a big hurdle for the other vendors, even Dinan.

As for things beyond that, I'm a big Dinan fan. They spend a lot of time and effort making sure their parts will perform without causing undue wear.

The Dinan oil cooler is a great place to start. There have been discussions of stock 135i overheating, and the oil cooler will help keep the temps under control whether you are stock or tuned, regardless of which tune you choose. I'll be getting the Stage 2 ECU soon, and the oil cooler is going in at the same time.

My 2 cents.

Have Fun,
Rick

[Riss Racing]

Your mods should depend on what your looking for out of your car? Power, sound, looks, etc....then decide which of the list is most important too you and build from there! To be honest the stock IC is fine. There really is no reason to start your upgrades with that. If you start making close to 400whp then you should look into the FMIC option.

[zamm3k]

best bang for the buck is always ECU. I have JB3 1.22 and love it. Scratch that, I adore it. I also have KW variant 2. I love those as well, and considering suspension on cars rarely have issues, it's very unlikely you'll ever get problems out of those, unless something goes wrong with ur brakes.

[guardianangel3290]

i would go jb2 and CAI, nice conservative setup and not to hard to uninstall

[chriscecc914]

without voiding the warranty mods?

-93 octane fuel
-upgraded cup holder
- tinted windows

[audi2bmw1]

dont need a bigger FMIC as stated above until your near 400hp and water/meth is a better and cheaper route....oil catch can is good mod...custom intake(not a fan of $400 intakes that net you 5hp) and i doubt our oil cooler is not holding up...that was an issue with the 335i as it didnt have one...the placement and the way it gets air is fine...as well as the design....im waiting to chose my tune...the new rev procede is most promising and im leaning that way but want to wait to see how it performs long-term(2yrs or so) to make sure there arent any issues with warranty claims(detection codes tripped etc)...

[Monaco35Dream]

Originally Posted by CoolToolGuy

Any BMW Performance part that replaces a part already on the car becomes warranted for the duration of the warranty.

Dan @ United says that BMW Performance mods installed after your delivery only carry a 2 year unlimited mile warranty.

[M3_Dust]

suspension
wheels and tires

[boostin]

not sure about your warranty situation so i'm just going to recommend some parts. to start off, i would probably do an intake (cai) and then take the car to an exhaust shop and have them fab a catback exhaust (much cheaper than the $1-2K Meisterschaft/Eisenmann/ACS ones). then for suspension, i would do some lowering springs (H&R/Eibach) and shocks (Koni, KYB). then to finish it off, some tasteful 19" wheels with the appropriate rubber and some window tint if you're into that. that's a pretty solid car and not TOO much money spent (depending on what wheels you choose). that's just what i would do....

[guardianangel3290]

you guys are all so conservative, if your worried about warranty just uninstall the parts before you get it serviced and brush up on your knowledge about warranty laws. if you don't want to go that route then just get better tires and some coilovers, it'll make a huge difference

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by guardianangel3290

you guys are all so conservative, if your worried about warranty just uninstall the parts before you get it serviced and brush up on your knowledge about warranty laws.

Good luck with that. Uninstalling the parts doesn't guarantee they won't be able to detect them, and you'll have more money tied up fighting them than it would cost to fix the car in most cases.

If you take a car in and it's got a tampering code set, you've got a fight on your hands, and BMW is more prepared for it than you are. Warranty laws aren't there to protect someone who's modifying a vehicle to go faster. Anyone modding these cars should just be prepared for warranty claim denials IMO.

[993 911]

I'm still up in the air about getting the JB3 or not, would really suck to lose the warranty when I went with the 135 over a 46M3 because it had a warranty.

[natedog_1959]

How about the best mod of all, the Driver Mod.

Sign yourself up for as many track days and auto-x's as you can find and learn how to handle that beast. After a few track days, you will need new tires and will probably be getting sick of fighting the understeer. That will lead you to an upgraded suspension and better rubber. As you progress at the track days, you will start running with faster cars. When that happens, then you can start to think about upgrading the power. Nate

[boostin]

Originally Posted by guardianangel3290

you guys are all so conservative, if your worried about warranty just uninstall the parts before you get it serviced and brush up on your knowledge about warranty laws. if you don't want to go that route then just get better tires and some coilovers, it'll make a huge difference

for people who aren't mechanically inclined, this would be a VERY expensive task to perform every time you service the car. also, someone else mentioned they might be able to detect it anyway, so its not worth it. also, with the videos popping up of "turbo whine on cars with boost levels above stock", I'm hoping a company offers a turbo kit (preferably single turbo) that can handle higher boost. the little bmw turbos are there for maximum torque range, not for making high dyno runs.

[nugent_crai]

Originally Posted by natedog_1959

How about the best mod of all, the Driver Mod.

Sign yourself up for as many track days and auto-x's as you can find and learn how to handle that beast. After a few track days, you will need new tires and will probably be getting sick of fighting the understeer. That will lead you to an upgraded suspension and better rubber. As you progress at the track days, you will start running with faster cars. When that happens, then you can start to think about upgrading the power. Nate

I LOVE track days! its the best money spent by far!! I race supermoto's when the weather is nice, and i thought i was a decent rider before i got on the track, then there were 5 yr olds (literally) flying by me! It took me a full day before I started to catch on, and then the 300lb man took EVERYONE on the track! aahh hahaha!! fat guy FTW!

[gnpower]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

Just about anything you do to the car that makes any power whatsoever is a risk to your warranty if the claim can be even remotely tied to the modification and they know about it.

The current financial situation has all the automakers tightening their belts, and reduction of warranty claims is high on the list. If it's really a priority for you, be very careful.

Ditto. Maybe a new shift boot.