Jnelson1182

so i recently found out it was going to cost a lil less for some needed repairs/maintence on my care than expected, well i have some cash left and have really been consideriing changing the color of my rims for at least the summer lol, the car is black an it had the greyish inside but i changed all of that to black, its got blacked out window trims as well as side marker ligths and the only emblems left on it are the round bmw signs all lettering has been taken off,even my kidney grills are blacked out but ive tried red as well as gold on that and something about black on black on black looks nice. currently i have the silverish color wheels but im sure i have enough to get enough paint and clear coat to do rims. do you think it could come out looking good or should i use money for something else until i can save for actual diff set of rims?

donpb

+1 use money for something else.

Jnelson1182

another thing i been really considering doing, especially if im planning on keeping car for awhile longer is upgrading the idrive system or at least screen to better entertainment at very least.

donpb

I was recently looking to do the same. $1750 was the cheapest cost I could find.

Jnelson1182

dam, im not thinking about one that costs that much, maybe i was meaning something more along lines of just switching out whats in there now for something thats closer to what i want, it can lack gps tho id like it to have it but i would like to at least be able to watch things off my phone or disk. also i hav a jl audo sub i think its an 8in how hard do u think it would be to add into system and would i need an amp as well ?

donpb

That's the best price I found and I already have GPS and audio subwoofer. I think its $2400 if you need GPS and CarPlay. I only wanted to have NBT like on my F30.

Jnelson1182

dang im not too worried about the car play stuff, im thinking maybe that double din kit thing that lets me put pretty much any deck in car, i just dont want to mess up the way the interior looks

cqhall

Never under estimate how good a clean, waxed stock car can look. If you keep doing the typical mods that every young owner does (honda, acura, vw, bmw, mercedes, subaru, etc...), you'll just wind up with a blacked-out shadow rolling down the street. Resist the urge to murder-out your car. This only looks good on certain cars (but those few still had major things going on).

My suggestion:

- Invest in some nice car detailing tools. A super clean car with a shine so deep that you can see into the past is amazing.
- Find a good junk yard that has BMWs and replace every little piece of trim that's missing or broken.
- Solve every check engine light.
- If you are simply trying to get music from your phone into the car, just use a BT adapter. ALL aftermarket radios look cheap in BMWs...no matter how much you pay for them.
- 18" BMW wheels with appropriate spacers (no rubbing), will make the car look a tad sportier. These will cost $500-1000+ on craigslist plus another $800-1000 for decent tires. You might luck out and find some with decent rubber left on them. Be sure that they will fit your car properly...otherwise it's wasted money and may degrade your driving experience and safety.

Unless you do major mods (M Sport body kit, really nice wheels with suspension, OEM+ look), you won't transform your car into a head-turner, and even then it won't be. A 5 series wasn't made to be a head-turner...even the M5 looks basic. Don't get me wrong. it's an amazing car, but the looks are designed to be subtle. Park an M5 next to a WRX and ask a non-car person "Which one looks faster?" and you know what they'll say.

Save your money and plan your mods. If you don't have enough money, cool. You still have a very nice, mid-sized stock BMW. Not bad.