What should I throw on my E46 325Ci?

Looking to reduce understeer a bit, stiffen up the suspension a tad more than the stock feeling.

Don't have any engine mods except Dinan software, that's about it.

i love my bmw stock sport suspension.... i was tearing it up on the track this summer. you'd be surprized how good they are......

unless you have the luxo suspension

I'm about to take my new (to me) 330i to the track this weekend--totally stock, sport pkg, "M+S" tires, only thing I've done is throw in some HP Plus pads and use hi-temp brake fluid. I'm curious how it will handle. I'm most concerned about the "no season" tires, (I think BIR is the fastest track in the US by some measurement) and secondarily my ass sliding around on the leather seat. Scratch that, I'm primarily concerned that it will snow.

I've heard people switch to same size tires front + rear to reduce understeer (I don't know if your 325 has the stagger). I used to have an E30 M3, and putting on camber plates in the front was a huge improvement for reducing understeer. Obviously just getting a second set of same-sized wheels with track tires has the advantage of not affecting the street setup plus letting you rotate your tires front-rear. I'm thinking if I get track tires next time, I might put in a strut tower brace just to be on the safe side, and then see where that puts me.

I guess this was just some rambling, not an actual answer to your question. Maybe someone else will provide you with actual information... ;)

I find that an E46 (Sport or non-Sport) has way more understeer than I'm comfortable with when driven hard. Increasing front camber, running a non-staggered setup, and increasing rear spring or roll stiffness are all ways to reduce understeer. What to do is partly a matter of money and partly a matter of how much degradation in ride quality you are willing to put up with.

For a street car, or one that might occasionally see the track, The OE sport springs and stiffer sways is a reasonable compromise between ride quality and handling. You can couple that with adjustable camber plates and get pretty close to neutral. Quality adjustable camber plates (Ground Control & similar) allow one to dial in 2-3deg of camber for the track and then revert to street setting for good tire life.

Aftermarket sport springs, with their asymetrical lowering, transfer more weight to front and are pretty powerful medicine for reducing understeer. But that comes at the expense of ride quality and places the front spoiler very close to the ground where it is at risk of being damaged.

Hope you do not mind some additional questions RLich8, but I am in a similar situation with my 325Ci.
So, along with stiffer sway bars, would a strut tower brace help the handling for moderate wheeling in twisty roads, and the very occational track run? I have the sport suspension already and do not want to give up much in the way of ride quality, but would like to lower it some. Would going to 18" rims with a wider footprint help also? Or will I lose too much ride smoothness. Thanks:help

I want to do stiffened sway bars, but am not sure about lowering the car. How about strut tower braces?

do all coupes come stock with the sport suspention?

Yes, coupes come stock with "sport suspension".

when i had an e46 323i i noticed a big improvement when i lowered it (h&r cupkit), sways will make another big improvement and depending on your setup with lowering some camber plates may be in order

Hope you do not mind some additional questions RLich8, but I am in a similar situation with my 325Ci.
So, along with stiffer sway bars, would a strut tower brace help the handling for moderate wheeling in twisty roads, and the very occational track run? I have the sport suspension already and do not want to give up much in the way of ride quality, but would like to lower it some. Would going to 18" rims with a wider footprint help also? Or will I lose too much ride smoothness.

A strut brace can sharpen up your steering making it feel more direct, enough for you to notice on the road?.... i don't know.....possibly on the track. But i've not seen too many ppl put a strut brace on so maybe its of questionable value, and just looks cool in your engine bay. ;)

I would have thought sticking on 18" alloys would result a little more in the way of understeer, but i don't know if stiffer sway bars would compensate.

I put a strut bar on my 325i, and it felt alot better. It felt stiffer and they arent that expensive so i reccomend it. They do indeed look cool.

get stiffer sways and coils, then you're set

Do the convertibles (since they are coupes) also come stock with the sport suspension?
Thanks,
RA

yes