So, you’ve decided to mod your G8X M3/M4. You might be asking yourself, what mods do I do first? What’s going to look the best? What’s going to increase performance? Here at Technica Auto Parts, you are covered on the beginner mods for your G8x platform car.
The styling of this generation of M3 and M4 has been controversial, to say the least. I remember when the pictures of the car were first shown, and I thought, “What is BMW’s design team doing?” But after seeing the vehicle in person, I got hooked immediately. The car’s design soon grew on others, like it did with me. However, I believe the stock front grill has to go. The multiple slats found in the front just don’t cut it for me. That is why I prefer the Technica AP CSL front grill or the Vorsteiner Carbon Fiber front grill. These two options allow for better styling, aggression, and airflow for your front-mount intakes, which I will get to later. The styling of those two grills creates a different vehicle when looking at it. You can tell BMW wants to change the design when they switch the grill styling up for special editions like the M4 CSL and M3 CS.
From the factory, the M3 and M4 come with monster truck fitment. It ruins the car’s proportions and takes away from the aggressiveness the rest of the design brings. I recommend 30mm lowering springs from H&R. These springs allow for a slight reduction in ride height, which makes a drastic difference in your car’s appearance. These springs also allow the adaptive suspension to continue working without any faults. This way, you can still set the car into comfort, sport, and sport plus suspension settings.
Once you have done the lowering springs, spacers are the next logical move regarding the fitment of your wheels. On my M4, I’m running 12mm spacers on the front wheels with 15mm spacers on the rear. These give just enough poke to the wheels to make them flush with the fenders. However, spacers can get complicated as they might create rubbing between the tire and the wheel line when turning the steering wheel.
The G8X platform comes with one of the greatest engines BMW has made in the past 10 years, the S58. It is a shame that the car leaves the factory with such a restrictive exhaust. For most, a midpipe/x-pipe upgrade is all one needs for an increased sound while also keeping the stock muffler to tone it down when needed. But for those who want to go all out, a complete cat-back exhaust system is what you need to let the S58 sing. My M4 is running a cat-back gold titanium exhaust from Valvetronic, adding a lot more presence to the stock burbles this car produces. What is nice about a Valvetronic exhaust is that it can be turned off with a click of a button. The Valvetronic system becomes even more helpful with the G8X platform because you can program the exhaust to open or close the M1 and M2 buttons found on your steering wheel. My M4 has the M2 button set to full sport plus exhaust open, and when I want to turn it off, I just press the M2 button again to put the car back into efficient mode, completely silencing the car. It’s great for sneaking out of your neighborhood early in the morning on the way to a car’ n’ coffee and then letting it sing when driving on some back roads with your friends.
For any turbocharged car, an intake is one of the most fun mods you can add when you want to increase the blow-off sounds of the turbos. What I find unique about the G8X platform (or most BMW M platforms in general) is that you can run the intake to the front grills of the car, creating an even more aggressive look in the front. This aggressive look pairs with the insane blow-off and whooshing noises you get from the turbos, creating an experience next to none for the G8X platform. My M4 is running the Burger Motorsports front mount intake, bringing me nothing but smiles every time I drive it.
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