Laufer

Last bump, I'm placing the order this week so if anyone else is interested, drop me a PM The order will be for Wiechers only

viper05, you're a lucky man, my family and I get checked by customs once every 4 times approximately I think the main problem is not how to get things into the country, it's how to modify your car and have more chances of passing inspections legally Your option leaves you with nothing that can hold up in court because you smuggled something, potentially illegal, into the country - whereas with the first option you have customs approval paperwork, DMV approval, as well as the taxes you paid for the items It all depends on the parts you're interested in - a full exhaust system might benefit from such paperwork and it's better than having nothing, a turbo on a non-turbo car will probably still get you defected regardless of the paperwork you have from customs

Ask the DMV where you test your car They can give you the correct wheel and tire sizes you'll be able to legally register which is usually up to 2 sizes bigger in wheel diameter - example: from 15" to 16" or 17" and 10mm wider tire tread - example: from 185 to 195 Whichever wheel you choose make sure they don't extend further out than your fenders because that will get you defected regardless Also, from painful personal experience, the size you are looking at is less common than 15s or 17s so take into consideration that you'll have a harder time finding good quality 16 inch wheels (not Chinese made) if you happen to damage your set If you don't particularly care where your wheels are made and how, then you should be fine since there are plenty of Chinese wheels that pass all safety regulations and you'll have no difficulties finding a set you like Good luck

y.bar you are right, I forgot to mention that if the color of your lights is anything other than white or yellow you can still get defected

Check out the Philips Diamond Vision / Blue Vision / Crystal Vision headlight bulbs which are legal to some extent http://www.usa.philips.com/c/car-lamps/34600/cat/en/ All of the above have a blue film or tint on the bulb to filter the yellow colored light and make the them appear more white / blue giving them the appearance of xenon If you are looking for more illumination then the Philips X-treme Vision is the better choice since it has no film or blue tint and therefore lets all the light through giving you better vision than any of the above - the light itself is whiter than stock but still has a bit of yellow in it and it's perfectly legal

Anyone else interested?

You could source bigger brakes from the Ibiza FR or Cupra like Philip suggested or buy an aftermarket big brake kit but with 85bhp a good set of brakepads will probably be sufficient If you want to improve the feel of your car you can look into front and rear strut braces, sway bars, and upgrade to wider wheels and tires The former could make you fail inspection, the latter requires you check with the DMV to see what wheel and tire size you can upgrade to. It won't be cheap since you are probably looking at 17"-18" wheels and 225/xx/ tires, the upside is that it'll make your steering a little heavier

I volunteer to be the delivery guy Mazal tov on the birth of your kid

Removing the catalytic converter is an easy way to make more power but it's also illegal and won't make much more power than a sports-cat which is perfectly legal http://www.importtuner.com/features/0610impp_catalytic_converter_removal/viewall.html The regular bolt-ons you are talking about - cold air intake, exhaust, etc, may or may not increase horsepower depending on your car. If it already has a high-compression engine then chances are the manufacturer already sorted your intake and exhaust system and replacing them will only help increase horsepower by a fraction For example a Suzuki Swift Sport has a compression ratio of 11.1 (133hp) and adding a full Greddy Exhaust (manifold, downpipe, cat, straight pipe, muffler) only saw an increase of 4hp (without an ECU tune) for a total cost of around 3000$ - in other words, the engine was already close to maxed out from the factory and you have to look at engine internals that will help you make more power Check out their Power Pages to get a better understanding of which mods will help you increase horsepower http://www.importtuner.com/powerpages/ This is a good read as well and a good baseline for what you should be looking at http://www.tuneruniversity.com/blog/2012/06/modifications-that-work-every-time-engine/ http://www.tuneruniversity.com/blog/2012/07/modifications-that-work-part-ii-engine/

Any modification to your car can get you defected. That's the way it is in Israel A loud muffler is a surefire way to attract unwanted attention not to mention piss off everyone in your neighborhood There are plenty of sound clips on youtube so maybe you should search for the name and model of the exhaust you are looking at, crank up the speakers and make your decision afterwards

I checked this recently, go here http://he.mot.gov.il/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=884:-q&catid=101&Itemid=158 There are different criteria depending on the items you order like elik0 said From what I understand it's much easier to import these things for personal use because you don't have to produce any of the above mentioned papers. However, you have to make sure to buy from a manufacturer that has EU approval / US approval / etc. and that the item is a direct replacement for your factory system I already ordered some strut braces from Wiechers Sport and am waiting for them to arrive but I don't forsee any issues with customs because they're simply two nondescript metal bars They should arrive this week or next I also plan on ordering a catback exhaust system from a reputable brand. If that works out I might organize a group buy here too like I'm trying to do for strut braces and sway bars

Wind Deflectors http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=wind+deflectors&_sacat=0&_from=R40 But you have to be more specific about the car to which you want to fit them

שלום לכולם , באישור של falou אני פותח פה שרשור ראשון של רכישה קבוצתית למוטות מייצבים מהחברות Ultra Racing ו/או Wiechers Sport תלוי בביקוש ובבחירתכם האישית. יש לי אנשי קשר בחברות האלו לאחר חיפוש ממושך ומחקר ארוך שלוקח בחשבון את עלויות המוצרים ביחס לביצועים שלהם. לאחר שהשקעתי מזמני והתחבטתי, ברצוני לעזור למי שמעוניין, ולחסך לכם את הזמן הזה. אני מארגן את הרכישה הקבוצתית לטובת הכלל ואין לי רווח אישי בדבר. כל הנחה שתינתן מהיצרן תלך ישירות אליכם. ההזמנה שלכם תתבצע מול היצרן ואם לא יהיו מספיק אנשים על מנת לקבל הנחה, עדיין יתאפשר לכם להזמין מהיצרן באופן אישי במחיר לצרכן retail. מהם מוטות מייצבים, למי הם מומלצים ולמה לקנות אותם: http://www.tuneruniversity.com/blog/2011/09/getting-stiff-strut-bars-and-braces/ מה היתרונות של מוטות מייצבים ו-sway bars: http://www.ultraracing.my/home/knowledge-base/how-it-works/ קצת על החברות: Wiechers Sport מייצרים מוטות מייצבים ו-roll cages למגוון רכבים במגוון חומרים. התקנת המוצרים תצריך לרוב קידוח ברכב ומיומנות בסיסית בכלי עבודה. אישית, הייתי ממליץ לרכוש מוטות מפלדה בלבד וללא צירים, משיקולים הנדסיים. בעלון המוצרים שלהם מופיעים כל המחירים לצרכן ומשלוח של שני מוטות עולה 45 אירו. את התשלום צריך לעשות בהעברה בנקאית אבל המחיר הכולל לצרכן יחיד יצא זול יותר מ-Ultra Racing – לדוגמה, 870 ש"ח לשני מוטות מייצבים מפלדה (קדמי ואחורי) כולל משלוח. המשלוח לוקח בין 5-7 ימים במצב רגיל, אצלנו כנראה יותר בגלל בדיקות מכס וכו'. לגבי הנחה, גרמנים הם עם קשה ולרוב המחיר הוא המחיר. אני אשתדל בכל זאת להוציא הנחה בהתאם לכמות המזמינים. יתרונות: מחיר זול יותר בהזמנות בודדות איכות זהה ל-Ultra Racing במוטות פלדה ללא צירים התאמה מושלמת לרכב אם חשוב לכם יותר המראה הכללי מהפונקציה, אז ניתן להזמין את המוטות מאלומיניום וציפוי קרבון אפשרות להזמנת Roll Cages חסרונות: תהליך ההזמנה והתשלום מצריכים זמן – ללכת לבנק, לחכות להעברה, וכו'. התקנת המוצרים דורשת לרוב קידוחים נוספים ברכב אין Sway Bars לרוב אין הוראות התקנה (תלוי כמות הזמנה אני אשתדל שיכינו משהו) רשימת המוצרים: http://www.wiechers-sport.de/HauptkatalogWiechersSport2013.pdf Ultra Racing מוצרים איכותיים מפלדה בלבד בעלי תכנון הנדסי נכון לשימוש המבוקש. לפי דעתי זו החברה הטובה בעולם לחיזוקי שילדה. ההתקנה פשוטה יותר ולרוב המוטות מתברגים ישירות לחורים של יצרן הרכב ללא צורך בקידוח. חברה זו גם מייצרת Sway Bars ומוטות חיזוק נוספים לרוב סוגי הרכב. המוצרים עצמם זולים אך המשלוח יקר וניתן להוזיל רק במחיר המוצר. לדוגמה, שני מוטות מייצבים (קדמי ואחורי) עולים כ-450 ש"ח והמשלוח עולה כ-1000 שקלים. כל המוצרים מתוכננים לרכבים עם היגוי מצד ימין (בריטי) וכדאי לבדוק אם הדבר יפריע להתקנה. המחירים למוטות מייצבים הם בין 225 ל-350 ש"ח לפני הנחה ו-sway bars בסביבות 650 ש"ח לפני הנחה. יתרונות: תכנון הנדסי נכון ומתאים לרכב לרוב התקנה פשוטה ללא צורך בקידוח (יש תמונות באתר היצרן שעוזרות למקם את המוטות) מבחר רחב של מוטות חיזוק נוספים Sway Bars (מוטות פיתול) לרוב סוגי הרכב חסרונות: מתוכנן לרכבים עם הגה בצד ימין (בריטי) משלוח יקר רשימת המוצרים: http://www.ultraracing.my/catalog/index.php לסיכום, יש לנו צרכים מיוחדים במשלוח עקב מכס ובדיקות נוספות ולכן מומלץ שתחשבו מהן דרישות האריזה שיבטיחו (כמה שאפשר) שהמוצרים יגיעו אליכם ללא עיקובים מיותרים. למעוניינים, תשלחו לי הודעה פרטית עם email שלכם ותציינו איזה מוצרים אתם רוצים להזמין ושל איזו חברה. נראה מה תהיה רמת הביקוש ולפי זה נראה איך מתקדמים. לשאלות תרגישו חופשי להגיב לשרשור. חשוב לדעת – כל שינוי ברכב (ושינוי זה בפרט) יכול לגרור הורדה מהכביש, קנס וזימון לבצע טסט מחודש לרכב, ביטול אחריות יצרן, הכשלה בטסט, וביטול פוליסת הביטוח – זוהי מדינתנו. אתם לוקחים את מלוא האחריות על רכבכם והשיקול הוא שלכם.

Thread hijacking! just quicker for me, didn't grow up in Israel

I don't think it's anybody's business to tell you what to do with your car and it sounds like you're convinced the product you are looking at will be an improvement to your stock setup If it's what you want, buy it, enjoy it and care less about whether it's better or worse than what you had before It's not that expensive of an upgrade to begin with but I recommend ordering through ebay because the sellers here are horribly overpriced and you don't need their help to open your airbox and slot in the filter

Wider rims and wider tire tread are your best bet since your car isn't really a popular platform for modifications (no readily available strut braces, sway bars, springs or coilovers Another option is using wider tires at the front and skinnier ones at the back to induce more oversteer - not recommended unless you have good car control Adjusting the camber might also be possible Give it a 1.5-3 degrees of negative camber I'd only recommend doing that if you understand how this change affects your car and can do it with precision

Actually it's the other way around - you have to prove that the changes you made to the car weren't the reason for its malfunction The Israeli saying goes, and excuse my crude translation, "prove your sister isn't a whore" - good luck Personally I wouldn't change a thing on a car with warranty just for that reason Drive it 'as is' while it's under warranty and figure out which things you want to modify after understanding how it works in stock form, but again, that's me and this is your car so make your own decision

no big deal I changed from 15" to 16" - just went to the place where I test my car, asked the supervisor which size of rims and tires I can use, he checked in his booklet and told me the dimensions including how wide my new rims have to be Most places won't be able to measure the width of the rim so you can, for example, use 15x7 or 15x8 even if they tell you that you have to use 15x6.5- given that the rim doesn't extend further out than the fenders Pick the new wheels you want, choose the correct sized tire they told you to use, install your new set of wheels, drive to the place where you test your car, tell them you'd like to change the dimensions of the wheels and tires in your registration, they'll check to see if the sizes match and eventually give you a printed approval to add to your current registration The registration itself costs about 30 shekels if I remember correctly The width of the wheel you have to use won't appear anywhere in the registration so no Police officer stopping you can tell - it only says TireWidth/TireProfile/RimSize for example 185/60/15 That's all there is to it - enjoy

The pod filter will make more noise but chances are it won't be better than your factory airbox, it could even make it worse

I think it's best to check with your dealership If you had a chance not to pay someone money, would you still pay?

For some reason Toyo don't make tires in 205/45? I couldn't find any on their website

Watch the link tgt posted If you don't know Mighty Car Mods by now you'll have hours of entertaining youtube videos to watch

Impressive car to begin with and it's factory tuned by engineers who spent a lot of effort squeezing every bit of performance out of that engine so I'm not sure how much you can improve on their work (expertise and budget) with a simple inbox or pod filter The intake you are looking for would have to be a complete modification so preferably one with a well engineered airbox to replace the factory one

The pod filter makes more noise than the inbox one As for efficiency I can't tell you because it varies Usually when you see cars make more power from a filter it's coupled with modifications to the airbox In certain cases it's better to modify the stock airbox without changing to a "free flow filter" if you understand how the intake works and can pinpoint where it's most restrictive If all this is foreign to you then finding a pod filter with an airbox (preferably a sealed one) would be your best bet for better performance coupled with a tune to your ECU if possible

I don't know about BMW Warranty but a pod filter might void it It's best to check before installing Tom - Nice link, the sound difference is huge above 5K revs shows how well insulated BMW cabins are