Hey Guys:

In 2002 I bought my GS300 SportDesign. Made the decision thanks to this forum! 112,000 miles later I still smile when I get in the car. While I loved the OEM feel and never did any mods, now it's time for some upgrades for the next 100K. I've read this forum a lot, but am not sure what to do. I value driving experience, safety, probably smoothness over speed, and quietness. I do not care about looks. The car will not be driven in snow.

I would love a bit better handling, a bit more quietness, and a bit more speed. Right now I'm thinking of adding HID headlights for safety. Lower ball joints after reading about them here, adding a bit of soundproofing as well. After that I'm stumped. Should I change out the shocks and springs? Have front end bushings changed? Lower the car just a bit? New exhaust and a CAI? Or would that make it too loud?

I'd like to keep the outlay around $4000. Any suggestions about what you would do in my shoes is much appreciated. Also if anyone knows a good eastern MA mechanic..........

GB

 

Make sure the timing belt & water pump have been completed. Replace the front lower ball joints & bushings.

 

Maybe coilover too if you want better handling. Make sure it had adjustable dampening so you can adjust the feel

 

Timing belt w/water pump service.
Suspension updates: lbjs, castor arms, upper control arms
Coilovers (which may necessitate adjustable upper control arms)
HID lights (I'd spring for LS430 projector upgrades)
CD changer AUX in hack w/bluetooth for handsfree calling & streaming music to factory system.

That all could be done for under $4K, easily. Based on your stated preferences, that's what I'd recommend.

EDIT: Also, might not be a bad idea to replace your climate control servos as well, especially if you plan on keeping it another 100K miles. Got noises in the dash yet? If so, do it.

 

Thanks for the quick replies guys, LOVE this forum. I should have mentioned that timing belt was already done, and a mid priced Pioneer stereo already installed.

GB

 

Great, then that means you have more money for suspension improvements. Besides the coilovers, you could get a strut tower brace, beefier sway bars, and some chassis braces. Those should help keep the car flatter while turning, and should add very little if any firmness to the ride.

 

I sure hope you are referring to a real retrofit with a comment like that. Because if you mean drop ins, the potential safety of others just decreased significantly. You're SD doesn't already have factory HID's??

Otherwise if you have not done all the seriously needed maintenance these cars need around 100k I would do everything first before buying anything to upgrade it if you really want to go another 100k with no downtime like the car did for you the first go round.. Otherwise it's gonna be one thing after another the next 50k or so, might as well get it out of the way now.

Like mentioned already:

Lower ball joints, inner and outer tierods, steering rack rebuild kit (most people never do this, but the kit is like $40 and it made a drastic improvement in my car and resolved my 60-70mph typical shake completely), caster arms, timing belt and the pulley and tensioner, water pump, accessory belt and the pulley and tensioner, sparkplugs, fuel filter, vvti filter, thermostat, pcv valve, brake and powersteering fluid change.)

Secondary stuff to check that is important and does wear but not as bad is upper control arms/balljoints, rear knuckles, subframe/diff mounts, wheel bearings, and transmission. (I personally wouldn't flush it, I would just do fluid change.

This is of course assuming you've kept up on your oil changes, air filters, and brakes. Don't forget to change the cabin a/c filter if you never have, $10 and 10 seconds to change.

Clean the throttle body and maf if you never have and if your handy it's easy to do yourself, can improve idling and has potential to regain lost gas mileage and throttle response.

Get a good look and make sure your valve cover gaskets and vvti gear aren't leaking oil because if you do the timing belt it would be the time to get those changed as well if they are leaking.

If you can do all the work yourself it should all be under $1,000, if you gotta pay somebody you prob spend the whole $4000.. Your on your own there unless someone can recommend a good guy in your local area.

Car will roll another 100k no problem if you make sure everything above is in check.

 

put the money in the bank

 

make sure you do all the regular maintenances. then figure out what you want to with whatever money you have left.

 

if you have already done ALL maintenance, id get

coilovers - 900.00 (bc racing)
wheels / tires - 2500.00 (ish)

you should be able to afford a nice retrofit with whats left.

i dont know that i would get an intake or headers for these things, imho they dont make enough of a difference to be worth the money.

 

Do you have a part number for the kit? 04445‑30252 or 04455‑30080?
I actually never heard of this! Sounds like it's worth a try

 

I would do little things here and there maintenance wise only, no mods and bank the rest for a rainy day..

 

I used 04455‑30080 for the input shaft and then later I also used 44277-22020 & 44523-22040 on the tensioner.

I didn't use 04445-30250/30252 (I believe 30252 is for 2001+) yet, the rack feels great now so I didn't replace the horizontal pinion parts, but I may still do it someday.

 

i agree with many posters
in today's economy and uncertain futures, id bank most of it too

if you really want, you could pick up a slightly used set of Tein CS v2 and some rims
total should run you $3k
then bank the rest

 

QUOTE=99 GS3;7575504]I sure hope you are referring to a real retrofit with a comment like that. Because if you mean drop ins, the potential safety of others just decreased significantly. You're SD doesn't already have factory HID's??



No, it has halogen in a pitted hazy housing. Not great light. By real retrofit, I assume you mean something like these projector headlights from zenondepot: http://www.kbcarstuff.com/Angel-Eye-...neBy_1434=6267

Any other suggestions for headlights?

Otherwise if you have not done all the seriously needed maintenance these cars need around 100k I would do everything first before buying anything to upgrade it if you really w

Thanks for all your other tips.
GB