Ilikebmxbikes 135i build (1M Conversion+)

[ilikebmxbikes]

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PROJECT STATUS - 05-20-13



Sorry for taking so long to start this thread. A lot of people have asked me for photos and details of doing a 1M build. I will post the full parts lists and costs once my car is finished. Do note, the only way to get a real 1M is to buy one. My car will not be a 1M and will not bear an M Badge on the trunk.



Why go with a 1M conversion? Isn't buying a new 1M cheaper? -
My car is has been incredibly reliable and has low miles. The car as is, has a lot of mods already and by crunching numbers for a part out and sale of my car and using those funds toward purchasing a 1M, I would have to add about 30k on top for a very similar car. My car has all the M3 bits already, a LSD, and many of the power mods that I would be getting with the 1M, it just isn't worth it at the moment for me to take the jump. My car has had an ER front end widebody on the car for over a year now and i love how it just transforms the way the car drives. The widebody/wide front tires plus a few other mods virtually eliminated my understeer. Focusing more on aesthetics and my hatred for our stock rear offsets I began to crunch numbers on widening the rear of my car to allow me to fit wider wheels in there. Cooler on here referred me to a shop that had very reasonable prices that were within my budget. My plan was to widen my 135i sideskirts, rear arches and bumper on both sides and have it all painted and blended.

Fast forward a few months- I won a raffle at a Targa Trophy event for some HRE Wheels at an insanely cheap price. It was then I had to choose, get the HRE's for my ER widebody + stock rear end or get them in E9X M3 fitments in preparation for widening the rear of the car. I committed to widening the rear of my car and ordered the wheels in E9X fitments. The added bonus is the wheels will have a much better re-sale value if I decide to part with them and they will also fit an M3 if I decide to get one later down the road.




Fast forward a few more months - forum member Sk8fe does a 1M front end on his 135i and Tony does a full 1M conversion. After reading their threads and checking the costs of the part numbers, I discover that the 1M front end is actually a lot cheaper than I could have imagined. I crunched numbers and found that going full 1M required less custom work (just rear arches) than widening my car as is (rear arches, widened sideskirts, widened bumper). The 1M conversion involves more parts and a bit more paint, but it requires custom work only on 2 panels of the car vs 6 panels. The cost difference was only $1000-1500ish in body work.



I contacted Phil@Reeves BMW and he helped me price out and build my parts list for this and was incredibly helpful in getting my started. I ordered all of the hardware, ducting and sideskirts from Reeves. Jon@BMWpartspros helped me order the bumpers, battery tray mod, and undershield panel. Jon has also been great and I wouldn't have been able to source all of this so quickly and easily without both of them.


This is a long term log. The car will later get some stoptechs, Catless DP's again, new coilovers and upgraded turbos.

Mods on the car prior to this thread:

Cobb AP Stage 1+
ETS 5" FMIC
ER Charge Pipe
Berk Mids
Dinan Axelback

KW V1
M3 Control Arms and Bushings
M3 Front and Rear Sway Bars
Upgraded End Links
M3 Rear Subframe Bushings
Wavetrack LSD 3.08

ER Widebody
iCarbon Double Sided Trunk
Vorsteiner Hood
Forgestar F14 9.5X18 ET29/60
Hankook R-S3 255/35/18 Squared

BMW Performance Steering Wheel
BMW Performance CF Interior
BMW Performance Shifter/Brake
[b]

[EINSER M]

fasho
see you soon crazy!

[ilikebmxbikes]

I had already decided the rear would be done in LA, but due to logistics of transporting parts, I chose to do the front end up here in San Francisco myself. I have taken the front of my car apart a few times and decided to make a day of it.

This is not a DIY by any means but if anyone has any questions hit me up and I can try and help you out. I did 85% of this work solo, so it was hard to take photos and do the work at the same time. Everything went very smoothly and fit together very well. I dont have photos but should mention, the 1M headlight brackets went in very easily, they are just the trim piece, not the actual part that holds the headlight in place. The 1M specific windshield washer reservoir comes with a plug in it, so when deleting my 135i headlight washers, I did not have to modify the 1M fluid reservoir, it just installs as is.






I started with the sideskirts. I removed the door sills and all of the hardware holding them in place.


I then removed my front bumper. Here is a pic of it with the 1M one. The ER kit is about as wide as the 1M one.



I test fitted the 1M bumper for fun.


Here is a comparison shot of how the 1M bumper lines up with the ER widebody fender. They are nearly equal in width and in angle. Note the thickness of the fender edge and size difference of the 1M fender well.

[ilikebmxbikes]

The 1M has a specific windshield washer reservoir built for the 1M fender. Removing the stock one was easy. If you do it, be very careful when unhooking the connectors for the pumps. Also note, that to remove the passenger side fender, you need to remove this first.

Draining the fluid

The first fender is off.

Reservoir and ER fender


I had been working on the car for about 3 hours at this point and decided to take a break and go to the shooting range with my girlfriend.

I was shooting 1MOA sized groups at 300 yards with my MK12

After a good trip at the range, I returned to this....

I test fitted the first 1M fender - It lined up perfectly.

Here you can see the angle of the 1M skirt vs the 135i rear end. Note how much wider the 1M is and how thin the edge is.


I discovered BMW did a part revision on the 1M front fender liners.
New liner

Old 1M liner

[ilikebmxbikes]

Second fender on. It makes my 9.5X18 et29 look like pizza cutters. Hopefully my new wheels and rubber will fill them.

Front end completed


Next Steps:

Venom, who is also doing the same conversion, and I will both drive our partially completed cars down to LA to get the rest of the work done.

[ilikebmxbikes]

Originally Posted by EINSER M

fasho
see you soon crazy!

I cant wait to see your car in person.

[Grayson]

Awesome! You down for a meet this spring?


Oh... and give me that hood!!

[Venom]

Great thread! Can't wait to get this project on the road!

[cooler2442]

Niceeee.

If only your car was black then I'd tell you to sell me the ER front conversion lol.

[ilikebmxbikes]

Originally Posted by cooler2442

Niceeee.

If only your car was black then I'd tell you to sell me the ER front conversion lol.

because its you, i can sell it to you for $500. but you will need to get it painted and fitted.

[cooler2442]

Originally Posted by ilikebmxbikes

because its you, i can sell it to you for $500. but you will need to get it painted and fitted.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I'm super tempted now. Let me go grab some paint quotes and consider it. Maybe I'll just have it vinyl wrapped in CF.

[EINSER M]

Originally Posted by ilikebmxbikes

I cant wait to see your car in person.

Venom vs Venom

[Venom]

Originally Posted by EINSER M

Venom vs Venom

Best villain ever!

[cooler2442]

Lol we should do a big 1 series meet up on the last day you guys will be in SoCal after the conversions finish.

[ninja2]

much painstakingly much work but will result in vindication !!!!
I look forward to seeing the result.

[EINSER M]

Originally Posted by cooler2442

Lol we should do a big 1 series meet up on the last day you guys will be in SoCal after the conversions finish.

+1 i like i like!

[Dmacc]

Awesome thread! I'm stoked to see the results of your build, are you heading down to bimmerfest this year? We could get a caravan going if Grayson and some other guys around the bay would be interested.

Good luck with the rest of the project!

[cooler2442]

Originally Posted by EINSER M

+1 i like i like!

I vote you set it up Kirk!

[RiefferD]

really good thread...can't believe you opted to diy...the pick showing the new fender with your old tire, does a great job of showing just how much wider the 1m fender is.

[wuNasty]

Wow. Thanks for sharing! Can't wait for the final results

[Grayson]

Originally Posted by Dmacc

Awesome thread! I'm stoked to see the results of your build, are you heading down to bimmerfest this year? We could get a caravan going if Grayson and some other guys around the bay would be interested.

Good luck with the rest of the project!

Yeah! I'm definitely down. I can help organize if need be as well. Only thing is I hear Bimmerfest is the same weekend as Mfest... which stinks.

[EINSER M]

Originally Posted by cooler2442

I vote you set it up Kirk!

LOL no you!