Aging 135 - Mod Options

[throttle]

Hi everyone,

My 135 is 4 years old. With the lease coming to an end, I thought about replacing it. But after some research I couldn't find any suitable replacement/upgrade unless I spend a whole lot of money, which I don't want to do.

With 100k on the dial, I'm mindful that I won't get much from selling/trading my 1er. So, I turned my thoughts to mod the 135.

I'm a totally newby when it comes to this. My 135 is stock standard from head to toe

Can anyone recommend what sort of mod I should start looking at? I'm thinking suspension and ECU turning to start with.
Also, I do feel the car is getting slower, especially in lower gears. The ride also feels more wobbly, I suspect may be due to suspension getting old.

Thanks

[Wrniknbl]

Lots of threads here for you to cut your teeth on......have a browse around first so you understand what's out there. The journey is one of the best parts to modding.

[ItsHectic]

Seeing as though you are keeping the car: OCC, Magnetic sump plug, these are longetvity mods not performance mods.
Get a carbon clean/walnut blast which will give the engine its old power back.

intake(I recommend aFe), ecu, downpipe, charge pipe, fmic are all the typical starter mods, you can also do headers and high flow cat.

Someone correct me if I am wrong but I heard the way to check if your suspension is too old is, record or have someone look at your car go over a speed bump, if the suspension bounces at all it should be replaced. Another way you could do this is to push down on your car, either from the boot jam with the boot open or from the chassis under the bonnet, dont press down on the panels. The car should rise back up without bouncing.

[135]

Originally Posted by throttle

...
Can anyone recommend what sort of mod I should start looking at? I'm thinking suspension and ECU turning to start with.
Also, I do feel the car is getting slower, especially in lower gears. The ride also feels more wobbly, I suspect may be due to suspension getting old.

Thanks

Here's my post from a couple weeks ago - it should get you on the right track. There are alternate paths (i.e. jump straight to power increase) you can take but this is what I would do if starting from scratch.

[Da_Meister_22]

Is very easy to get power out of our cars. With that being said I would go for a software tune and charge pipe, also consider walnut blasting if you haven't done so, and an oil catch can if you want your car to last. .

[135i2]

Like many 135 owners I too considered selling the car on. The big issue was the cost of a suitable replacement with enough power and an established recipe of modifications to achieve the hearts desire. Not much out there that isn't scary money.

And having driven my car with all of the initial modifications and 300rwkw for quite some time I too decided to keep the car. I also decided to further modify the 135 to extract even more performance and dynamics to keep me happy for years to come.

The next round of changes should nett 350rwkw with upgraded drive train, suspension, brakes and visual touches.

The 135 presents such a wonderful platform to continue a path of modification. All you need to do is determine your budget and how much power versus handling / stopping equation and speak to one of the great performance shops around. Advan Performance and Southern BM being two well respected tuners in NSW & VIC respectively.

[throttle]

Thanks guys. Great suggestions, a lot to think about
First things first, I guess I should do the carbon clean first. Anyone know where to go for carbon clean/walnut blast? I've asked a couple of locals, they don't seem to have any clue...

Thanks