What did you last install on your 125i/128i?

[listentophilll]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Thoughts and cost for OE?

They were $53 a piece from ecs tuning, and the 4 E12 torx were $1.50 each, although Im sure they can be had cheaper.

I had a noticeable difference because my passenger side was shot, a bolt worked itself loose. The drivers side was still very solid but I went ahead and replaced it incase it wasn't. Very easy swap, 15 minutes a side if you have the tools.

[mechavore884]

literally *as of like 5 minutes ago....finished installing the injen intake (can post pics if anyone cares lol)

[jksgoh]

Originally Posted by mechavore884

literally *as of like 5 minutes ago....finished installing the injen intake (can post pics if anyone cares lol)

Ye show us

[kobeballer96]

a car cover lol. she sitting for 9 months

[jksgoh]

Photo from the body shop

[pj.rodriguez]

Bike rack!

[Dafttt]

Shit got real today.



Installed the 3 stage manifold. Took about 4 hours but I spent a lot of that time simply cleaning out the engine bay. Scoops came today so I installed them too. More pics when the sun comes back out.

Afterwards, I took the car for a two hour drive. Things were a little rough at first, for starters the wooshing noise from the valves had me a bit paranoid initially. They smoothed out soon enough. As the night rolled on the temperature dropped about 20 degrees, and the car seemed to really open up accordingly.

My face after exiting my car tonight,



And people say there's little to gain in the manifold without a tune....

[Bimmer-Bob]

Ground Control adjustable sway bar end links & some fresh white lithium grease applied to sway bar bushings. Preload totally zeroed out. APEX ARC-8's in satin black, 17 x 8.5, wearing Dunlop ZII's in 245/40/17 mounted tomorrow. M3 control arms, performance alignment, & corner balance on Tuesday. So stoked!

[Dafttt]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-Bob

APEX ARC-8's in satin black, 17 x 8.5

Nice man, congrats! Day and night difference coming your way.

Are those e36 fitment? et41?? LET ME KNOW HOW THEY FIT!!

APEX steered me away from their 17's and I bought the 18x8.5 set instead. I'll be waiting for your update to see if I should send these back for the 17" set.



Either way, I'm in love.

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by Daft Auto

Nice man, congrats! Day and night difference coming your way.

Are those e36 fitment? et41?? LET ME KNOW HOW THEY FIT!!

APEX steered me away from their 17's and I bought the 18x8.5 set instead. I'll be waiting for your update to see if I should send these back for the 17" set.


Either way, I'm in love.

Also curious to know as they steered me away so I bought the BBS option. 17s are certainly better in all objective ways.

Kick ass on the manifold Daft! Did you load a tune on yet?

[631twentyeighteye]

I had the same reaction to the manifold. on the way home it made a WHOOSHWHOOSHWOOSH blow off valve tape sound once, i was horrified. Didn't happen again though.

hey stig, i'm looking into going to 17's myself with 225 or 235-40-17 squared. I was looking at either BBS, Enkei, or O.Z wheels. Any personal input? Again, i know most of them are cast, but they won't be tracked and it will mainly be for autocross/spirited/daily driving, with 80% of it being daily driving. I'm diggin the Alleggerita HLT's. 17x8.5, 40mm offset, 16.9 lbs per wheel.

[Bimmer-Bob]

The APEX ARC-8's in 17x8.5 are actually ET40, not ET41 (not that it would make much difference, just saying). They are in fact sold as an E36 fitment, but I was told they would work with my car since I'm running extra negative camber in front and have rear fenders rolled. Anyway, it's not a totally bonkers fitment for a 1er; D-Force LTW5's are the same size and offsets, as well as quite a few other brands on Tire Rack (for example, the OZ's mentioned above). Probably not ideal for an unmodified car, though. No rubbing for me so far. Car drives great. I think the lighter weight of the wheels (~17 lbs/ea) plus the square setup are both making noticeable contributions. Looking forward to the next autocross!

[Deutsche-Broke]

Thanks again to Gill at Tire Rack for a good deal..

These look great and can't wait for it to get cold so I can go, "play"..

[Dafttt]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Also curious to know as they steered me away so I bought the BBS option. 17s are certainly better in all objective ways.

Kick ass on the manifold Daft! Did you load a tune on yet?

Thanks! I used your pictures/writeup as a guideline.

End of the month! There's a couple more things on the checklist. (Headers? Maaaaybe!)

Originally Posted by Bimmer-Bob

They are in fact sold as an E36 fitment, but I was told they would work with my car since I'm running extra negative camber in front and have rear fenders rolled.

Mind throwing up some pics when you get a chance? I'd love to see how they fit with your 245/40's!

[Bimmer-Bob]

Will post pics after the alignment/corner balance on Tuesday for anyone who's interested.

[RimasRS]

Originally Posted by TheSt|G

Replaced a .22 cent clip that I broke installing my subframe bushings if we want to be pedantic about it.


Installed the BMW Performance stripes last week. Few quick dirty shots of the car:

Nice 17s what offset? Tires? Wide?

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by 631twentyeighteye

hey stig, i'm looking into going to 17's myself with 225 or 235-40-17 squared. I was looking at either BBS, Enkei, or O.Z wheels. Any personal input? Again, i know most of them are cast, but they won't be tracked and it will mainly be for autocross/spirited/daily driving, with 80% of it being daily driving. I'm diggin the Alleggerita HLT's. 17x8.5, 40mm offset, 16.9 lbs per wheel.

The BBS wheels could be forged, mine are. It really depends which style you get. Daily driving is the hardest on wheels as there generally aren't potholes on the track. I went with an 8000 ton forged set to maximize daily driver strength. Currently running 235 square, but I have a bit more power. What tires?

Just remember that with a good wheel, you can pick two of the following three. Strength, lightness, or cheapness.

Originally Posted by Daft Auto

Thanks! I used your pictures/writeup as a guideline.

End of the month! There's a couple more things on the checklist. (Headers? Maaaaybe!)

Happy it helped!

Headers are pretty close to as effective as the manifold, they just cost a bit more.

Originally Posted by RimasRS

Nice 17s what offset? Tires? Wide?

17x8 ET40 with Michelin Super Sports that are 235/45/17 square.

[mechavore884]

aaaaaand le intake inshtaallllllled

[mechavore884]

aaand now to find a conveniently priced BMW perf. exhaust......or I can stop BSing and just pull the trigger on the berk (135i) and put the ham in the sandwich

[TheSt|G]

Originally Posted by mechavore884

aaand now to find a conveniently priced BMW perf. exhaust......or I can stop BSing and just pull the trigger on the berk (135i) and put the ham in the sandwich

BMW Performance is assuredly the better choice.

[Bimmer-Bob]

Originally Posted by mechavore884

aaand now to find a conveniently priced BMW perf. exhaust......or I can stop BSing and just pull the trigger on the berk (135i) and put the ham in the sandwich

I don't understand why people go through all the trouble of mounting an exhaust onto their car that was designed for a completely different engine. Just to be different? AFAIK, there's no performance gain from a 135i exhaust and I don't think it's totally unreasonable to think that there might be a loss of power (which, by the way, is definitely the case with your new intake). If you're after better sound, why not skip the headaches and go with the BMWPE?

[mechavore884]

@Bimmer-bob.....theres different strokes for different folks. There are VERY few SR-intakes for the 128i that show any performance gain let alone a dyno proving they lose *any substantial* amount of power. I appreciate the sound and the throttle response. In regards to the exhuast we don't have many options let alone EVEN FEWER show any gains. The BMWPE is nice *thus why it is on my list* however I prefer a tone thats aggressive and deep thus the berk. And from a time/financial standpoint the berk can be had for $520 shipped new the BMWPE for $700 or so...since I can cut and weld myself I don't see much of an issue