"Tobias" 2013 Carbon Black 135i - Build Thread

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Yeah, I'll bet it's going to be hard to make that decision to paint it.

Everyone that saw it in person at Cars & Coffee now wants me to leave it unpainted

[1and1]

((tee-hee))

Dude- hate to see you stressing like this! Tell ya what, I'll trade hoods with you....

You might want to seek out a good body shop and spend a few minutes talking to them about pros & cons, costs and such. Never know, may have a big impact on your decision.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by 1and1

((tee-hee))

Dude- hate to see you stressing like this! Tell ya what, I'll trade hoods with you....

You might want to seek out a good body shop and spend a few minutes talking to them about pros & cons, costs and such. Never know, may have a big impact on your decision.

Lol it's a pretty big first world problem

Already talked to a reputable local shop:

Pros: Matches car, clean look
Cons: Can't "un-paint", once it's painted, that's it's look for life
Cost: Around $400-$450

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Everyone that saw it in person at Cars & Coffee now wants me to leave it unpainted

That's what I originally thought too. With your paint it doesn't seem to stand out THAT much, at least in most photos. To me it adds a very cool look. Like I said, a little "edgy" but in a good way.

There were, however, some shots where it did not look as good imo, but those pics looked edited. I'd really have to see it in person but it's not my car and it's not my opinion that really matters.

And, you know what they say about opinions anyway.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Esteban

That's what I originally thought too. With your paint it doesn't seem to stand out THAT much, at least in most photos. To me it adds a very cool look. Like I said, a little "edgy" but in a good way.

There were, however, some shots where it did not look as good imo, but those pics looked edited. I'd really have to see it in person but it's not my car and it's not my opinion that really matters.

And, you know what they say about opinions anyway.

GAH I wish I could just wrap the whole car and call it a day lol

[1and1]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

GAH I wish I could just wrap the whole car and call it a day lol

Nothing a bucket full o' money couldn't handle...

Man, I'd love to throw a wrap on mine! First black car I've ever owned, and I knew they were common, but damn- I was at a stop light this week and every car around me was black... BSM is a great looking color but fancy black in a sea of black is just lost.

Don't want red or anything, but I'd be all over a nice gray...

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by 1and1

Nothing a bucket full o' money couldn't handle...

Man, I'd love to throw a wrap on mine! First black car I've ever owned, and I knew they were common, but damn- I was at a stop light this week and every car around me was black... BSM is a great looking color but fancy black in a sea of black is just lost.

Don't want red or anything, but I'd be all over a nice gray...

Birds love black cars.

Mineral Grey looks nice on the 1er.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by 1and1

Nothing a bucket full o' money couldn't handle...

Man, I'd love to throw a wrap on mine! First black car I've ever owned, and I knew they were common, but damn- I was at a stop light this week and every car around me was black... BSM is a great looking color but fancy black in a sea of black is just lost.

Don't want red or anything, but I'd be all over a nice gray...

Got some of those buckets for me???

Originally Posted by Esteban

Birds love black cars.

Mineral Grey looks nice on the 1er.

My car was dive-bombed last week, it luckily was limited to the sunroof. It's impossible to keep these cars clean though.

[1and1]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Got some of those buckets for me???

[Yeineken]

I vote for leaving the carbon exposed.

Here is a wrap idea that looks pretty interesting and leaves the carbon fiber exposed.
https://www.instagram.com/by__eme/

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Yeineken

I vote for leaving the carbon exposed.

Here is a wrap idea that looks pretty interesting and leaves the carbon fiber exposed.
https://www.instagram.com/by__eme/

That's pretty unique! I would really love to do a wrap but have zero fun-money right now due to bachelor party/wedding/honeymoon lol

[Matticus91]

Did some work yesterday:

• New coils
• New NGK 1-Step Colder spark plugs from BMS to help with higher boost
• Reinstalled the JB4, added flex fuel harness and updated it to the latest firmware
• Welded in electric cutout for exhaust

I've been having some issues with the car, including it throwing an Engine Malfunction warning, with the JB4 installed, even in Map 0. After some research I found this can be attributed to several issues so I went ahead with the work above to try and knock out a few potential causes.

After getting everything wrapped up and reloading the JB4 I still had some problems but now in Map 1 the car is pulling super hard and no issues remain. I've run some logs and sent them to Jon at BMS with the hopes of working out any kinks.

Brand new cutout ready to go!

20170828_171941 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Tacked in place for fitment:

20170830_111953 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Looking good!

20170830_112055 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

All wrapped up with clean welds. Now I just need to attach the valve and run it to power.

20170830_112530 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Made short work of the spark plugs, coils, and JB4 with the help of a friend, and of course Apollo.

20170830_130735 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

20170830_145129 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

The old plugs were definitely a bit nasty, even after just 15k miles. I'm sure this is due to the increased wear from the JB4 and my driving style. When we took them out I numbered them from front to back so I'll be able to check them in detail and make sure there's no other issues I need to investigate.

All in all a very productive day and I'm super happy to be running the JB4 again without any problems. I'm very hesitant to run any other maps at the moment but will need to in order to ensure everything is working properly.

Unrelated, I took a bunch of shots of the bottom of the car while it was up on the lift for welding since people have been asking for that, picks are here: http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...=546919&page=2

[Westley614]

Looking forward to seeing the car on coil overs.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Westley614

Looking forward to seeing the car on coil overs.

Likely won't happen any time soon, at least not a noticeable drop. In the DC area it's suicide to be any lower than I already am. I scrape my bumper and bottom out daily, the roads here are unbelievably shit

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Likely won't happen any time soon, at least not a noticeable drop. In the DC area it's suicide to be any lower than I already am. I scrape my bumper and bottom out daily, the roads here are unbelievably shit

Are you still on the stock suspension?

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Are you still on the stock suspension?

Yep!

[AndyW]

So how loud is it with the muffler bypassed? I'll be honest...that mod is a new one on me!

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by AndyW

So how loud is it with the muffler bypassed? I'll be honest...that mod is a new one on me!

It's pretty loud but not as bad as you'd think. I still have yet to get the valve installed so it's been wide open this whole time. Just went on a 5.5hr road trip and it got a little old cruising on the highway but around town it's a lot of fun!

Tons of burbles on decel while in gear, loud SNAPS on accel and shifting, and it has a pretty exotic sound to it, similar to a 2JZ almost.

I plan to get a video this week but for now this is pretty similar to how it sounds with the valve open:

[Matticus91]

Finally finished the cutout, made a DIY, took pics, and a couple videos! All details in this DIY thread: http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...9#post22336099

And here are a couple quick videos of the setup, I'll make another with some better footage of the audio at some point.

Valve Operation:

Quick Sound Comparison:

[Matticus91]

In addition to doing the cutout I had a fun weekend with a good friend, did a very serious detailing and some other stuff on the 1er and his brand new WRX.

• Debadged both of our cars, very much happy with how the 1er looks without the lettering on the trunk.
• Full interior and exterior detailing.
• Applied CQuartz to both of our cars, very impressed by this stuff so far.

The Crew:
20171020_110107 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Some crappy cell-phone pics after debadging and detailing + CQuartz application:
20171023_110540 by Matt Steele, on Flickr
20171023_110354 by Matt Steele, on Flickr
20171023_110313 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

[Esteban]

Car looks great and sounds awesome! Nice work Matt.

[Mr. Pharaoh]

Looks super clean! Nice job. How did you go about the debadging process? Dental floss and goof off?