Any Ideas for a new guy?

[keyten44]

Just bought a significant upgrade of a car last week. Went from a 1999 Toyota Avalon, to a bike and now I have a 2000 323i E46 that I'm looking to make a long term project and daily driver. Any ideas on where I should start. It's all stock right now. Any ideas would be great! Thanks!

[r0p0doe]

Welcome, how about you post some pics so we can see what your working with and go from there. Do you work and what kind of budget are you on?

[keyten44]

I'll get some pics up soon. Right now I work a 10$/hr job at JiffyLube and am also married. So money is a bit tight. But I'm trying to figure out what I should start out with first and then just work on it from there.

[r0p0doe]

I'll get some pics up soon. Right now I work a 10$/hr job at JiffyLube and am also married. So money is a bit tight. But I'm trying to figure out what I should start out with first and then just work on it from there.

Woah married huh, well since your married and your wife most likely isn't into cars and isn't going to be crazy about you dumping money into your "stupid car" I suggest this. Look up upgrades like, suspension(4 duh lowes), rims(fore duh bling),tires, and w/e else you desire and make a list with a price total so you have an idea of how deep your going to get. Since money is tight don't worry about buying stuff right away save what you can towards upgrades, enjoy the car get to know the car and it's mannerisms and how you can improve it. If you follow this you should be alright and fights and arguments with your old lady over the car shouldn't be too often.

How do I know all this you ask, I go through it with my wife about my car

[Oh Damn, it's Sam]

The order of operations:
1. Maintenance
2. Suspension
3. Everything else

One thing to consider: at $10/hr, building a BMW might be prohibitive. Maintenance costs are relatively high, modifications are relatively expensive. Not to shoot down the idea, but you might consider whether this is a realistic platform to build on a buck off minimum wage.

[keyten44]

Thanks for the insight! Ya, 10$/hr isn't really too much to work with. But I'm just starting out too. I bought the BMW because I'm working on becoming an auto tech for BMW, that's my goal and I thought why not learn how they tick and how they operate. So it's kind of a textbook/project car. I know it can get expensive but it's going to be an investment in my future career. Right now my goal is to get it running properly with no faults or anything. And then get into the customizing. And when I have a higher paying job as well.