What mods did you find overrated and underrated?

[Dav3]

F80 and F82 Platform have been around for almost 8 years now and now that production has finished, would be interesting to hear from the many owners what modifications they ended up finding overrated or underrated!

To start the thread, to me:

Overrated:

- Alcantara steering wheels. I was drooling after them for many years but never got around buying and installing one for various reasons. To scratch the itch, it was the first mod I bought for my F80 M3 and it was pretty dissapointing. In pictures it looks very comfortable to touch but in real life, unless you're wearing gloves, isn't very smooth or practical for daily driving. If you have sweaty hands its also a cleaning nightmare, and inevitably, the more you will clean it, the sooner it will degrade. At the end of the day, Alcantara is just synthetic plastic, its nowhere near as special as one would think it is.

Underrated

- This is not a specific item, but I feel like a good amount of cheap Chinese carbon fiber replica stuff is actually top notch. Sure, fitment almost never is and never will be OEM perfect but for a fraction of the cost you're really getting 95% of the product. Worst of all, 8/10 aftermarket vendors of CF stuff, pretty much just dropship these Chinese products and when its an EU or US company selling them, people generally don't complain which is pretty ironic.

What's yours?

[Silverlining_m2]

Having installed the Alcantara CF shift knob/base and handbrake, I would say I love the CF but could do without the fuzzy dust collectors. Alcantara is definitely overrated.

I tried pretty hard to think of other mods that I think are overrated, but taste is taste, and everyone has a different version of that.

An underrated mod to me is clear or light windshield tint. A uv protected windshield with just a enough tint to kill the sun's glare is amazing.

[Ex_Stig]

Most under rated mod for me was tinting my front windshield. It allowed me to see the HUD while wearing polarized sunglasses.

[Redacre]

I think Vorsteiner is overrated. I waited 3+ months for a legit Vorsteiner rear diffuser and I still had fitment issues with it. Pretty much impossible not to scrape it if you are even slightly lowered. Friend of mine has the 3-piece reproduction and honestly other than the little Vorsteiner stamp they look pretty much the same. Plus his actual has better fitment somehow. Really wish I had just gotten a reproduction. I bought the PSM style spoiler from XPH and that thing has perfect fitment and a great finish too.

[E92Roni]

Originally Posted by GNALUZU

Most under rated mod for me was tinting my front windshield. It allowed me to see the HUD while wearing polarized sunglasses.

As much as I'd love to do that, that'll get me arrested in LA

[Fat Goose]

Originally Posted by RoniE92

As much as I'd love to do that, that'll get me arrested in LA

False. 80-85% blue tint, you as the driver won’t even know its there. Plus like said above, makes the HUD useable with polarized glasses, reduces glare and provide UV protection for the interior.

[Ex_Stig]

Originally Posted by RoniE92

As much as I'd love to do that, that'll get me arrested in LA

I went with 70% tint and honestly, you can barely tell it was tinted. I didn't want to risk the legal issues either. I just wanted the heat rejection since AZ summers are insane.

[fiveohwblow]

Originally Posted by GNALUZU

I went with 70% tint and honestly, you can barely tell it was tinted. I didn't want to risk the legal issues either. I just wanted the heat rejection since AZ summers are insane.

Exactly what I did. I used to have 50% on my m3 I run with nasa az but I wasn’t comfortable with it being that dark.

When did you quit instructing?

[Darth One]

Underrated: properly dialing in your suspension

Overrated: (in the F8x) tuning/power mods without the means to put it down. The car has its hands full putting down the stock power

Bonus overrated (not so much overrated as completely useless): burble tunes

[henhen]

I completely agree with the windshield tint. I did 80% and you can't even tell it's there and like others have mentioned, the HUD works with polarized sunglasses now.

Another thing that won't apply to everyone is flashing the headunit to the latest firmware. I did not have apple carplay before and I don't think I can ever go back to having a car without it or something similar. I'd pay for it again in a heartbeat

[Ex_Stig]

Originally Posted by fiveohwblow

Exactly what I did. I used to have 50% on my m3 I run with nasa az but I wasn't comfortable with it being that dark.

When did you quit instructing?

Oofff, I stopped instructing regularly about 12 years ago. Damn, that's a long time now. Lol

I've done a few events where I take prospective students on some hot laps, but no more "right seat" for me these days.

[bsmf8x]

Some really good advice in this thread.

I completely agree about the carbon stuff from China.

The most underrated mod I've had done is I got an h pipe put in, in place of my resonator. Total cost about $250.

The OEM MPE has an h pipe, and I know h pipes minimize rasp & maximize bass (not as good as x pipes for airflow though). X pipes lead to more raspy & high pitched note which is not what this car needs.

The car has little to no rasp when warmed up and sounds much better than just a resonator delete, resonator deletes sound pretty raspy (when there's straight pipes put in).

[TimmyM56]

Overrated:
- Intakes, personally I haven't heard a good modern BMW intake other than a single turbo N54. They don't have the same amazing sound as an S54 or the RB or JZ engines.

Underrated:
- Oversizing tires by a bit, like 255->265 or 275->285 for example. Really helps fill out the wheelwell, more tire for more grip, and reduces the need for spacers.

[Silverlining_m2]

Originally Posted by GNALUZU

I went with 70% tint and honestly, you can barely tell it was tinted. I didn't want to risk the legal issues either. I just wanted the heat rejection since AZ summers are insane.

Same as me. And I love it. Notice no difference at night

[ABenLauda]

Overrated: Adding more hp/tq coz it's just for bragging rights. Pointless on the streets and dangerous especially without the below underrated mod.
Underrated: Driver mod (especially with the above overrated mod)

[rmanm4]

Overrated: G80/G82

Underrated: F80/F82

[Silverlining_m2]

Originally Posted by ABenChod

Overrated: Adding more hp/tq coz it's just for bragging rights. Pointless on the streets and dangerous especially without the below underrated mod.
Underrated: Driver mod (especially with the above overrated mod)

[icegrill]

Overrated: Catless down pipes on a street driven car. M or CS carbon rear wing (too many other cars have knockoffs of them)

Underrated: Dinan axle back with an AA midpipe 🤤, BMS clutch stop. Oh yeah one more: RW carbon mirror caps. They're a pretty legit operation.

[swagon]

Originally Posted by ABenChod

Overrated: Adding more hp/tq coz it's just for bragging rights. Pointless on the streets and dangerous especially without the below underrated mod.
Underrated: Driver mod (especially with the above overrated mod)

Originally Posted by Darth One

Underrated: properly dialing in your suspension

Overrated: (in the F8x) tuning/power mods without the means to put it down. The car has its hands full putting down the stock power

Bonus overrated (not so much overrated as completely useless): burble tunes

[IMG]https://media1.tenor.com/images/8b9f...f5b1/tenor.gif[/IMG]

[kwikshift]

I've only owned my F80 for a couple months and have done a few mods.
Overrated: painted rear reflectors although the front are great mod.
Underrated: M performance shift knob/suede boot and windshield tint. If you wear glasses and aren't a fan of contacts or prescription sunglasses, this is a game changer.

[Dav3]

I'm noticing that many of you suggest a windshield tint

Quick question, is there any dot matrix air pockets on the side like with all the other windows? Also, don't you also get a bit of light distortion effect (I noticed this on my rear tint)?

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by Dav3

I'm noticing that many of you suggest a windshield tint

Quick question, is there any dot matrix air pockets on the side like with all the other windows? Also, don't you also get a bit of light distortion effect (I noticed this on my rear tint)?

No light distortion. The rear tint is caused by the defroster lines. It's more like looking out the side windows.

Not sure what you mean by dot matrix air pockets? I don't have any dot matrix air pockets, my tinter tinted over the dot matrix.