[ng20_]

Background/Context:

I recently acquired a 19' 330i xDrive m sport package. To preface, I am a college student who bought this car from my father. Been driving it since he got it, and absolutely loved the car since day 1 (also got my license in this car). At 32,000 miles with regular maintenance and little to no problems, now it's my turn to ruin the record. (Or possibly ruin it). I'm in school for Mechanical engineering to go into the automotive industry and want to use this car as a little personal project. I've been around cars, and know my way around a fair bit (and have the knowledge and will to learn), but I am by no means an expert. I have some questions and ideas and was wondering if anyone had any feedback.



Thoughts/Plan/Ideas/Hopes:

Some of the main additions I want to add to the car are below. From some sources, and reliable suppliers, the stock b48 makes around 11-13 ish psi stock and can withstand around 18-19 with care... I'm not bored with the car by any means. I want to “use” the car as a passion/career project. (and make hp stands for happy points to some degree)

- JB+ (maybe...maybe JB4…eventually without further compromises)
- Dinan CAI (also Considering MST but heard that the induction noise can be at times annoying and that Dinan was a little quieter but still noticeable, and carbon fiber…)
- Turbo Inlet (little hp but more to prevent possible problems)
- Dinan axel-back (or res delete/ downpipe, but leaning axel, need cat since I live in mass, and res might be a little much for a college campus, downpipe also would be good for preventative damage, but the warranty, CEL, emission etc make it harder.)
- Strut bars (flair)
- Springs (Dinan or H&R sport)
- Heritage badges (front back and maybe wheels) [Father has it on his i4m50 and looks great, hopefully, matches well with the alpine white g20]
- Blacked-out kidney grill and sportier m mirrors (Why crome from the factory?)
- Tint (ceramic or not idk, MA says 35%... might push it a little and call it factory tint)
- Wheels (recommendations? not sure really where to start, have not done much research)



More context:

The car is under the New Vehicle Limited Warranty but no longer under standard maintenance. My father is learning to put the power train plus the warranty on... I'm concerned about the implications due to my hopeful additions to the car.

I am familiar that the dealership would have to prove that these modes caused a problem, and I would never go to the dealer with the JB+ on, but the other components would be tough to get off every time... not that I want to commit fraud...

I am not planning on doing all of these overnight, but possibly planning on taking advantage of any sales that come during the holidays. Doing a blunk within the next year.

As a college kid, I don't want to have to be fixing my car every weekend and the cost of fixing stuff too would be a no-go. Am I prepared for a couple thousand… tough to swallow, but not afraid. Not trying to blow anything though or have some sort of major failure.

Reliability is a big issue for me. If and of these mods have a HIGH chance of voiding the warranty, good chance that ill stay clear.



Questions:
1. With the sport package, was it standard to get the calipers, sport+, higher performance exhaust, etc seen on the 340? I only recognize maybe upgraded rotors, suspension, and front and back bumpers. As I was not the one to spec and my father can't remember, any input would be appreciated

2. Reliability: I'm not trying to push 350-400, just trying to see if I can get a little closer to 300 maybe. What preventive mods would I need with a JB+? (Do I need a downpipe or the turbo inlet.) (inlet is part of the “intake tune inlet” combo)

3. Warranty: What would, and wouldn’t void the warranty?

4. Worth-to-cost ratio of the axel back exhaust. (Don't have an audible exhaust in the cabin or with windows down) I would assume the downpipe would be better than the axel back at preventing damage

5. Tint rec, I live in mass so 35% is law but I wanna know what people usually run without cause for a ticket.

6. Consider Dinan reputable?

7. Can I put a different set of tips on the Dinan intake, can’t find diameter specs to mathematically check

8. The JB+ adds upwards of 4.5 psi by my math if stock is 11-13, and the b48 can take 18-20 “safely”, the new psi, ~15.5-17.5 MAX, would still be in the reliable range. Can anyone who has the JB+ speak on this?

9. What will throw a CEL, and what will for sure void the warranty, (will the axel back throw a CEL or the warranty, I can't see that breaking the engine…)


I recognize how fortunate I am and in the end, am super grateful to have the ability to drive this car even if none of the mods happen. I will probably have more questions to come but this is the bulk of it.

[turnsignalslol]

Honestly, I think you should keep it stock just for one more year in case of any parts that may be on their way out so that warranty can cover them. Don't believe anyone about piggybacks being "undetectable," trust me, you're not fooling BMW, especially when it's a warranty claim for an expensive part like a piston or transmission. Just know that tuning/messing with the car outside of factory parameters means you have a much lower chance of getting something affected by that modification fixed (you pay to play).

After the warranty, you can go crazy with whatever. Let me give you some advice though. You'll soon realize that it's not worth it to spend all of that on the 330i and you're better off just upgrading to a faster car with a more tuner friendly base (ahem S55, B58).

One thing you can't forget is fuel. You need good fuel to run more aggressive tunes. If you want your car to last a long time, no tune is "plug and play." You'll need to learn to monitor different variables through logs and visual inspections of your engine bay to make sure everything is working the way it is supposed to be.

Also, your figures of 11-13psi are for the B48A, you have the B48B (aka B46tu) since you have a 330i and it's in the US. Our stock boost goes up to around 18 psi. Also, boost isn't static, it's dynamic and changes based on environmental factors as well as a billion different variables. One day, your car may be pushing 16-18psi but the next it might push 14-16psi. JB+ and JB4's additive maps add boost on top of whatever the factory DME demands, and it can't change that. JB4's additive maps target a certain psi so it might be more consistent with those maps.

I'd recommend you go with a flash tune though if you decide to go with a tune, MHD or BM3, JB4 and JB+ can only really control boost so it can be inconsistent at times.

My transmission also started acting up for some reason with the JB4 plugged in yesterday but that issue luckily went away, not sure what that was about though. No codes or anything so praying that trans was just feeling iffy that day? (you can see the thread on my profile)

For sound, just do a muffler delete. Catback exhaust and whatever are not worth it, especially on these turbo 4s. Cutting your muffler off does pretty much the same job and you only get drone at around 3k rpms.

TLDR If reliability and warranty are the biggest issues for you, just don't touch the car.

More general answers to your questions:

1. No, it's a seperate package (sport and cooling package or something like that). M calipers don't come standard with the M sport package

2. You don't really need anything other than good fuel and maybe a downpipe. Intake gains are negligible, just makes cool turbo sounds that makes driving these cars more fun.

3. Anything that messes with vehicle electronics to make more power (aka a tune) will most likely void your drivetrain warranty. If you blow a piston or your transmission starts to slip after a tune, chances are you'll be the one paying out of pocket unless you get really lucky. IMO the SA in charge of the repair kind of helps but the one who really matters is the technician reporting to BMW corporate that you need a new part because of xyz. Basically, if any of your mods causes a component to fail, you're liable for it.

4. Cut off your muffler. 100% worth it.

5. I run 20% on fronts, rears, and back windshield (nothing on front windshield) and haven't gotten pulled over (and I live in a pretty draconian state when it comes to car modification)

6. Sort of, but I've heard they're starting to fall off with BMW because the guy who founded it left and started another company (Carbahn).

7. Tips on the intake? Do you mean exhaust?

8. Read what I wrote above

9. Read what I wrote above + catless downpipes and cat deletes will cause CELs. Just don't mess with anything that controls emissions if you want to avoid it.

[ng20_]

Originally Posted by turnsignalslol

Honestly, I think you should keep it stock just for one more year in case of any parts that may be on their way out so that warranty can cover them. Don't believe anyone about piggybacks being "undetectable," trust me, you're not fooling BMW, especially when it's a warranty claim for an expensive part like a piston or transmission. Just know that tuning/messing with the car outside of factory parameters means you have a much lower chance of getting something affected by that modification fixed (you pay to play).

After the warranty, you can go crazy with whatever. Let me give you some advice though. You'll soon realize that it's not worth it to spend all of that on the 330i and you're better off just upgrading to a faster car with a more tuner friendly base (ahem S55, B58).

One thing you can't forget is fuel. You need good fuel to run more aggressive tunes. If you want your car to last a long time, no tune is "plug and play." You'll need to learn to monitor different variables through logs and visual inspections of your engine bay to make sure everything is working the way it is supposed to be.

Also, your figures of 11-13psi are for the B48A, you have the B48B (aka B46tu) since you have a 330i and it's in the US. Our stock boost goes up to around 18 psi. Also, boost isn't static, it's dynamic and changes based on environmental factors as well as a billion different variables. One day, your car may be pushing 16-18psi but the next it might push 14-16psi. JB+ and JB4's additive maps add boost on top of whatever the factory DME demands, and it can't change that. JB4's additive maps target a certain psi so it might be more consistent with those maps.

I'd recommend you go with a flash tune though if you decide to go with a tune, MHD or BM3, JB4 and JB+ can only really control boost so it can be inconsistent at times.

My transmission also started acting up for some reason with the JB4 plugged in yesterday but that issue luckily went away, not sure what that was about though. No codes or anything so praying that trans was just feeling iffy that day? (you can see the thread on my profile)

For sound, just do a muffler delete. Catback exhaust and whatever are not worth it, especially on these turbo 4s. Cutting your muffler off does pretty much the same job and you only get drone at around 3k rpms.

TLDR If reliability and warranty are the biggest issues for you, just don't touch the car.

More general answers to your questions:

1. No, it's a seperate package (sport and cooling package or something like that). M calipers don't come standard with the M sport package

2. You don't really need anything other than good fuel and maybe a downpipe. Intake gains are negligible, just makes cool turbo sounds that makes driving these cars more fun.

3. Anything that messes with vehicle electronics to make more power (aka a tune) will most likely void your drivetrain warranty. If you blow a piston or your transmission starts to slip after a tune, chances are you'll be the one paying out of pocket unless you get really lucky. IMO the SA in charge of the repair kind of helps but the one who really matters is the technician reporting to BMW corporate that you need a new part because of xyz. Basically, if any of your mods causes a component to fail, you're liable for it.

4. Cut off your muffler. 100% worth it.

5. I run 20% on fronts, rears, and back windshield (nothing on front windshield) and haven't gotten pulled over (and I live in a pretty draconian state when it comes to car modification)

6. Sort of, but I've heard they're starting to fall off with BMW because the guy who founded it left and started another company (Carbahn).

7. Tips on the intake? Do you mean exhaust?

8. Read what I wrote above

9. Read what I wrote above + catless downpipes and cat deletes will cause CELs. Just don't mess with anything that controls emissions if you want to avoid it.

Thanks for the input super appreciated!

Couple more questions, I was looking at a downpipe, but pretty sure that would void the warranty, cattless or not. I have considered a high-flow cat though


My ideas for sound improvement are either, Muffler delete, Axel back (keeping a little muffler trying to avoid a ticket), high flow cat (i need to pass emissions though), CAI, Turbo inlet.

I assume all of these will void the warranty though. But I am probably wrong so guidance would be appreciated.

On the Axel back from Dinan, can you put tips of your own on there?

Likelihood of getting a ticket with the muffler deleted. With the right axel back you still get a baby muffler so I might be able to get my way out of a ticket or at least points.

Explanation for why there is no sport+?

Dinan or MST CAI, differences, upsides, downsides etc.

Turbo inlet upsides, downsides, warranty-voiding etc.

[turnsignalslol]

1. Downpipe would void the warranty for a part if anything fails because of it, but generally a good idea to take off all modifications (especially drivetrain related) before going into service

2. Well anything voids warranty if it causes damage to other components.

3. No idea about the Dinan axleback, I would just go with a muffler or resonator delete. The muffler delete really isn't that much louder unless you are revving obnoxiously.

4. I can't really tell you the likelyhood of getting a ticket with a muffler delete because I don't live in Massachusetts.

5. US market cars don't come with sport+, easy fix is to just code it in with Bimmercode (35 bucks on the app store). You'll need a MHD enet connector first though, you can find one here: https://burgertuning.com/products/mh...30318088913011

6. I have the MST intake, just makes turbo sound louder, negligible power gains I'd say

7. A custom turbo inlet allows air to be transferred in a more direct way than the standard airbox so technically you can get more airflow but who knows how much of a difference that would make in the real world, modern airboxes have pretty good airflow so CAI's are pretty much only for the sound and "I changed something in my engine bay, look" factor.

Out of all of the modifications you could go with, muffler delete, coding in sport+, and cosmetic modifications are probably the most you can do without "voiding warranty."