I always worry about the threat to resale value. I would never buy a car with anything other than minor modification. If you want a faster, better handling car, buy one. I had an M5, and it was a joy to drive.
Teams of engineers with a relatively unlimited budget built these cars to be great performers, with some minor compromises, and I think they got it right.

 

That's a fair consideration, and only three approaches to making it a non-issue.

1. When it's time to sell, remove the mods and revert back to stock.
2. Accept the financial loss as the cost of playing the game.
3. Own the car long enough so the effect on resale doesn't matter.

I've selected Option #3... and maybe a little bit of #2. But Option #1 isn't going to happen.

And OMG, 71 votes in two days! Yikes! This was certainly fun.

 

The one issue though is that this team of engineers designed the car for the mass consumer, attempting to appeal to the widest audience possible. This means that some people will notice these compromises. Aftermarket modifications let you add your own flavor to the car. The M5 is certainly a great machine, but people still modify those for the reasons I stated.

 

If I can get atleast 5 years out of the car, I think I got my money's worth. If you're buying a car for resale value, your priorities are already messed up. It's the same when someone purchases a Rolex(or any other high end timepiece), and say that it was a good investment. Sure, a Rolex will hold its value but it also needs to be serviced every couple of years and you pay roughly $500 for that. Cars are the same way, unless you bought a BMW 1M Coupe or an old Ferrari. Seeing that the G was relatively affordable, we shouldn't worry about what we can get back for it. Just enjoy the car.

 

I'd like to think a 6MT Sedan has more niche-market appeal and better resale than the other G's... but I really don't know.

 

You all make valid points, but I pay strong attention to resale, maybe to excess. I try not to buy anything that I can't sell the next day for 30% more. I haven't found anything to do to this car that makes it better, only different. A mod is not necessarily an upgrade, but a change to customize to the owners preference. I have seen too many ruined cars through mods, and very few that I think make it better. Our car culture does give us the freedom to fiddle, though.
I do like those shiny HVAC ***** for the interior.

 

Install sway bars and then tell me there isn't anything you can install to make this car better.

 

I regret modding my G because of the lack of parts for a sedan vs coupe also awd vs rwd. in the end the G was not how I imagined it would turn out.

 

No regrets here on modding the car. Perhaps remorse on a particular mod... should have done coils from the get-go.

 

Lear - You do realize that those ***** are a gateway drug, right?

It's how it all starts you know. A **** here and there, and next thing you know you're lurking in the forced induction forum.

Sean

 

I have modded,lowered or raised every vehicle i have owned since i was 16 (1988)
Some people may grow out of modding like it's a faze they go through. then there's guys like me who love to work on cars and like having a ride that stands out from the rest of the crowd.
So yeah #4

The only regrets i may have is not buying the right parts the first time.

 

HA ... I haven't heard from him in awhile. Good one john.

 

Say what! Man you have one of the nicest G's out there.
Maybe you need to get a coupe ?

 

This is close to how I feel. But the more I think about this, the only actual modifications to my car are the coilovers and camber kits, everything else is just oem parts. So I guess in the end I made the x sedan what I thought it should have been from the factory. It's going to make for a great daily driver and some kids at the last cars and coffee took pictures of my car and were saying how it's like their dream sedan. Comments like that make me not have regrets about my mods.