Just wanted to ask what people keep in their trunks/garages for maintenance and some light modding

 

Not much, really. Most of the bolts are 10-12 mm, a few 14s around the car, and some larger sockets/wrenches for the various drain/fill plugs and suspension components. Add in a phillips screwdriver and you'll be able to dismantle 90% of the car

 

In 2007 I started off with a Craftsman tool set; 1/4" drive, 3/8" drive, wrenches, screw drivers ect. I later ended up filling 2 small boxes and still had tools without a home. So last month I spend $500 on a real craftsman tool box. Everything has a home and I have LOTS of room for expanding. Moral of the story, if you work on your own cars, you'll always end up buying more tools.

The very first thing you should buy is 3/8" drive; I use this 90% of the time. For a good start though, spend $200ish and buy a good tool set. I think I found my original Craftsman set on sale for $160.

 

for the craftsman starter sets. that said, you can never have too many tools, and most of the time you won't have enough... plan on spending $100-200 a month on tools for a year to build up a serious DIY arrangement.

 

I bought most of my tool at garage sales. I picked up a Craftsman Mechanics tool set from Sears and kept the others as spares. I think it was $150 around Christmas time. Highly recommend it

 

specialty tools i bought for my s only: 23mm box wrench for the diff fill plug, 10mm valve adjustment tool, angled feeler gauges, and lastly i made a set of wood block with an angle cut in them so i can drive up on them to lift my car enough for a floor jack since im lowered.

 

Get a nice low profile jack, jack stands (never work under your car without them) and some nice sized wooden blocks like skkppy said if you're lowered. If you get a craftsman set, just get metric sizes, no bolts on your S should be standard. A couple different sized phillips and flathead screw drivers and of course a hammer (just in case).

 

Consider the Kobalt branded tools from Lowe's. Plenty good enough for the average weekender. Some US and china made but have a look and feel of quality. Save.

 

Nothing special other than a low profile jack and a CDI torque wrench. There are plenty of good tools out there to choose from.

 

Stay away from the really cheap tools, you get what you pay for. The really cheap sockets are only good for rounding off nuts.

The lowest I would go would be the craftsman stuff. I do not know anything about what Home depot and Lowes carry, they may also be OK.

To start off, I would get a socket set, wrench set, couple of screw drivers, hammer, torque wrench, and I really like my magnet on a stick (don’t know the real name), it come in so handy when I drop a screw down where it’s impossible to reach. The rest you can buy as needed.