Suprgnat's '13 M-Sport 128i, a mostly visual history

[Suprgnat]

These came out better than I was expecting. Millway monoballs on stock front tension arms.

[WrathOTM]

[QUOTE=Suprgnat;30211095]These came out better than I was expecting. Millway monoballs on stock front tension arms.


How did you get the arms so shiny?

[Suprgnat]

[QUOTE=WrathOTM;30211243]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

These came out better than I was expecting. Millway monoballs on stock front tension arms.


How did you get the arms so shiny?

Bunch of time with the die grinders, carbide burrs, sanding discs, and sanding wheels followed by hand sanding down to 1500 grit, topped off with Simichrome polish.

[houtan]

Daym. Wish I did that when I installed the monoballs. Arms look awesome. Nice work!

[Ric in RVA]

[QUOTE=Suprgnat;30211506]

Originally Posted by WrathOTM

Bunch of time with the die grinders, carbide burrs, sanding discs, and sanding wheels followed by hand sanding down to 1500 grit, topped off with Simichrome polish.

I do love that and respect the time it took....but you have an illness.....

I know...I once stripped a perfectly good honda hawk 650 down to a bare frame....stripped the ANODIZING and polished the ever loving shit out of that thing.

Welcome to the illness....enjoy your stay....

[Suprgnat]

[QUOTE=Ric in RVA;30211865]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

I do love that and respect the time it took....but you have an illness.....

I know...I once stripped a perfectly good honda hawk 650 down to a bare frame....stripped the ANODIZING and polished the ever loving shit out of that thing.

Welcome to the illness....enjoy your stay....

They look like such a beautiful, organic shape born out of FEA and forged in aluminum. Terminator bones. I had to do it.

[Donkeyshins]

So, other than the slightly stiffer bearing, is there no real difference between the stock and M3/TRW front tension arms (therefore monoball-upgrading the stock is probably the cheaper option)?

[bnace10]

Originally Posted by Donkeyshins

So, other than the slightly stiffer bearing, is there no real difference between the stock and M3/TRW front tension arms (therefore monoball-upgrading the stock is probably the cheaper option)?

Correct. The only difference between stock and M3/TRW is a solid rubber bushing vs the fluid filled bushing in the stock arms. However I have no idea how much the monoball upgrade costs. Just looking at Turner MS, front tension arms with monoballs are ~$600, versus the M3 arms kit from FCP for $350.

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-2...ding-m-models/

Maybe Suprgnat found a set and pressed them in himself.

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by bnace10

Correct. The only difference between stock and M3/TRW is a solid rubber bushing vs the fluid filled bushing in the stock arms. However I have no idea how much the monoball upgrade costs. Just looking at Turner MS, front tension arms with monoballs are ~$600, versus the M3 arms kit from FCP for $350.

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-2...ding-m-models/

Maybe Suprgnat found a set and pressed them in himself.

Monoballs: Millway P/N 90496

Bought an HFT 20 ton hydraulic press.

[Donkeyshins]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

Bought an HFT 20 ton hydraulic press.

Do you and your 20-ton press make house calls?

Also, link to the Millway bushings for those who have poor link-fu: https://www.millway.se/front-control...w-e8x-e9x.html (corrected as I accidentally linked to the F82 version)

[EDIT: the press is only $250 + tax...never mind]

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by Donkeyshins

Do you and your 20-ton press make house calls?

Also, link to the Millway bushings for those who have poor link-fu: https://www.millway.se/front-control...4-f82-f83.html

[EDIT: the press is only $250 + tax...never mind]

Your link is to P/N 90496-M2. 90496 is https://www.millway.se/front-control...w-e8x-e9x.html

I don't know if there is a difference.

[Donkeyshins]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

Your link is to P/N 90496-M2. 90496 is https://www.millway.se/front-control...w-e8x-e9x.html

I don't know if there is a difference.

Thank you for the catch - looks like I accidentally linked to the F82, not E82. Alphabets are hard.

I've updated my link accordingly to prevent someone from accidentally repeating my mistake.

[Suprgnat]

Wimbledon White front carriers.

[WrathOTM]

///M or just the regular ones?

Also interesting paint booth

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by WrathOTM

///M or just the regular ones?

Also interesting paint booth

Stock.

I like the booth. Sets up and tears down minutes. Way easier than plastic sheeting and duct tape in the garage.

[WrathOTM]

Is that the 13x8 Vevor/Amazon one?
So this means you are working on the all rose-joint/bearing setup for your 1er?

[Ric in RVA]

I need a link for that booth....very cool.

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by WrathOTM

Is that the 13x8 Vevor/Amazon one?
So this means you are working on the all rose-joint/bearing setup for your 1er?

Yep, that's the one.

Yeah, I'm slowly getting back on the new suspension. Owing to my ///M rear camber arms Barry at 3DM had to put together a hybrid Ohlins kit for me out of spare parts and he just notified me that shipping was imminent. I still have to finish up the rear suspension carrier, too, but life keeps interfering with my plans. Hopefully I'll get it done in the coming weeks. I'd like to do the full install in the fall when it's cooler in the garage.

Originally Posted by Ric in RVA

I need a link for that booth....very cool.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09F2RQ7NV...roduct_details

[Wegz]

Awesome build. Just read all 13 pages!

[cerealwars]

Beautiful car, excellent work!

I had a question about adding lumbar support. Could you shed some light on what you had to do to get that working?

I recently swapped from heated power comfort seats to heated power sport seats. The sport seats have the additional features of lumbar and adjustable bolsters. I know from comparing the main seat connectors that I'm missing a few wires, but I'm not sure where to start. I know I probably need the vehicle side harness for a car with those features, but was also thinking maybe I could splice something in.

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by cerealwars

Beautiful car, excellent work!

I had a question about adding lumbar support. Could you shed some light on what you had to do to get that working?

I recently swapped from heated power comfort seats to heated power sport seats. The sport seats have the additional features of lumbar and adjustable bolsters. I know from comparing the main seat connectors that I'm missing a few wires, but I'm not sure where to start. I know I probably need the vehicle side harness for a car with those features, but was also thinking maybe I could splice something in.

I have manual seats, so it was getting the guts for the lumbar support and a new wiring harness, which was relatively cheap. I wouldn't have done it without the factory harness, but I'm sure it could be done with enough will. At least there's no coding.

[chris82]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

It IS OEM. BMW Motorsports P/N 25008322191. It fits wonderfully in my hand and (to me) makes the gear shifter feel more like a "gear selector".

I tried a ZHP knob for about two weeks, didn't like it at all, and switched right back to the M-Sport knob. I also had the Performance knob that came with the BMW SSK, but that lasted less than 48 hours in my car. If I don't end up liking this one I can switch back to stock in under 60 seconds. No permanent harm was done to the original equipment. What the heck, I may even give the Jaffster knob a try .

In other news, I ordered the stuff to install the OEM oil-to-water heat exchanger. Now I'll have the 130i rear hub conversion, the M3 steering rack, and the oil cooler sitting around and waiting for me to have some down time. I'm also planning to replace my E93 M3 FSB with a slightly softer E9x M3/1M FSB at the same time I do all the rest of the work.

I'm curious what shift knob are you running now? I tried a couple; stock, BMW Performance (not good), Jaffster (way too heavy), motorsports golf ball (black stuff gets on your hands and it kept sliding off), but by far my favorite and last one I had until I sold my car was the Bimmerworld delrin little nicky knob. I couldn't improve upon it if I tried. On track or street, it was just perfect in every way, and I loved how it looked in the car. I'd say it's definitely worth a try if you haven't used it already. With the BMW Perf SSK, UUC DSSR, and E46M3 trans mounts, the shifter was just sublime!