Ne1man35 - Neiman's 135 build thread!

[Neiman Levenson]

Took a spirited ride through some local country roads. My 135i still has stock suspension, stock wheels, stock brakes, and the tires are pirelli run flats that are pretty bald!! Nevertheless it's still an extremely fun ride and with all the extra horsepower I could rip through these roads faster than I usually do. The go-pro lens makes everything look slower than it really is but I was moving at a pretty decent pace, can't wait to start focusing on mods for the handling of this car!

[Neiman Levenson]

as mentioned above, Ive been having some problems with the fitment of my BMR exhaust. After talking to the company, I ultimately decided to remove the full system and sent it to them to have it replaced. It sucks about the downtime of not a sweet sounding exhaust, but at least I was able to fit my OEM exhaust back on so I can continue to enjoy the car while I wait.

Initially I was pretty pissed at the fitment issues, but BMR has been a good company to deal with and has had good customer service. I'm not stoked about this at all, but soon enough I will hopefully have a new BMR exhaust without any fitment issues. In the meantime, I'm going to complete my BOV setup by tapping a new barb into the manifold, and fine tuning my MHD settings to be just how I like it, so once the exhaust issue is settled I can finally hit the Dyno!

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Ne1man35

as mentioned above, Ive been having some problems with the fitment of my BMR exhaust. After talking to the company, I ultimately decided to remove the full system and sent it to them to have it replaced. It sucks about the downtime of not a sweet sounding exhaust, but at least I was able to fit my OEM exhaust back on so I can continue to enjoy the car while I wait.

Initially I was pretty pissed at the fitment issues, but BMR has been a good company to deal with and has had good customer service. I'm not stoked about this at all, but soon enough I will hopefully have a new BMR exhaust without any fitment issues. In the meantime, I'm going to complete my BOV setup by tapping a new barb into the manifold, and fine tuning my MHD settings to be just how I like it, so once the exhaust issue is settled I can finally hit the Dyno!

I like exhausts as well. That's probably the one thing I've done to practically every car I've owned, so I understand your passion for them. I chose a different exhaust (BMW Performance exhaust) for my car, because I wanted an exhaust that had a little less volume and a great tone, but I can appreciate your BMR exhaust and thought it sounded awesome!

I think the way you're handling this is the proper way to go about it, especially since you like the exhaust and don't want to give up on it. It also makes a big difference that BMR is treating you well and are willing to make it right. It sounds like good customer service and I think they'll make you happy in the long run. I hope your new or repaired exhaust makes it back to you in a timely manner.

Good luck!

[Neiman Levenson]

Originally Posted by Esteban

I like exhausts as well. That's probably the one thing I've done to practically every car I've owned, so I understand your passion for them. I chose a different exhaust (BMW Performance exhaust) for my car, because I wanted an exhaust that had a little less volume and a great tone, but I can appreciate your BMR exhaust and thought it sounded awesome!

I think the way you're handling this is the proper way to go about it, especially since you like the exhaust and don't want to give up on it. It also makes a big difference that BMR is treating you well and are willing to make it right. It sounds like good customer service and I think they'll make you happy in the long run. I hope your new or repaired exhaust makes it back to you in a timely manner.

Good luck!

Thanks a lot esteban! Im hoping for a good outcome. and yes the BMR exhaust is sweet, but it definitely isn't for everyone. Im used to sport bikes with really loud exhausts, so the big volume is what i'm after. Its definitely extremely loud with catless downpipes though and I almost contemplated it being too loud, but after a few days you get used to it and with the windows up and music on its not too bad.

On a side note, if the BMR exhaust doesnt have a good outcome Im considering either a Berk full race exhaust or maybe just the race axleback for starters. I think that would give me the volume I desire, but on the other hand it is a little raspy where the BMR exhaust has nearly no rasp which is nice

[Kturbos]

Originally Posted by Ne1man35

Thanks a lot esteban! Im hoping for a good outcome. and yes the BMR exhaust is sweet, but it definitely isn't for everyone. Im used to sport bikes with really loud exhausts, so the big volume is what i'm after. Its definitely extremely loud with catless downpipes though and I almost contemplated it being too loud, but after a few days you get used to it and with the windows up and music on its not too bad.

On a side note, if the BMR exhaust doesnt have a good outcome Im considering either a Berk full race exhaust or maybe just the race axleback for starters. I think that would give me the volume I desire, but on the other hand it is a little raspy where the BMR exhaust has nearly no rasp which is nice

Hopefully the exhaust works out buddy. Great thread by the way. Love the videos and the in depth reviews of the products and the install. Doing a build on a new project car as well at the moment. Keep it up man, can't wait to see how things progress.

[Neiman Levenson]

UPDATE: Its been a slow past week for my car, and this upcoming week will be slow as well as im waiting on a bunch of things that should come next week. this includes:

-BMR exhaust
-Apex EC-7 wheels in Race silver!
-New high temp silicone vacuum lines
-New engine splash shield on bottom of car (my current one is broken)

Things i'll be ordering in the next day or two:
-MPSS tires (still undecided on size, debating a 235/265 setup or a 245/275 setup)
-Dinan camber plates
-Eibach lowering springs
-will be getting fenders rolled

In the meantime I want to tell you guys about 2 projects I just completed on my car. First one was removing the carbon deposits on the valves and intake ports (like walnut blasting). Instead of walnut blasting, I was inspired by chadillac2000 to use the soak and scrub method and Im pleased with the results. This method is basically closing the valves, filling them with brakleen, and using a wire brush to scrub all the carbon deposits off by hand. Its tiresome, tedious, and takes a long time, but its very easy to do and cheap. Also it feels safer to me. I spent only 18$ in materials at my local walmart to do this job, but thats cause my car was blasted 15k miles ago and didnt have a ton of carbon deposits to be removed. Generally, I think it can be done with 30-40$ worth of materials. Here is a link to the video:

The other project I did recently was a new vacuum source for my HKS BOV. When I had the Intake Manifold removed during the carbon deposit cleansing, I drilled and tapped a new whole for a 5/16" barb which I threaded in and used nylon tape + JB weld to make as leak free as possible. Then I plugged up the OEM intake manifold nipple with some JB weld and a cap. I now run a 1/4 ID vacuum hose directly from the 5/16 barb to the HKS bov. You can expect a video to come within the next day or two on this new setup and how it sounds/responds!

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by Ne1man35

Its tiresome, tedious, and takes a long time, but its very easy to do and cheap. Also it feels safer to me. I spent only 18$ in materials at my local walmart to do this job, but thats cause my car was blasted 15k miles ago and didnt have a ton of carbon deposits to be removed. Generally, I think it can be done with 30-40$ worth of materials.

Nice work! I agree completely. It seems to be a tad more work, but if you don't have the walnut blasting supplies on hand and want to save a few bucks, this is just as effective when done properly.

Great to see the larger vacuum port used with the HKS BOV. I think this could probably be just as useful across the board as it is on the Tial versions.

[08 1ER]

Looks like i'll have some videos to watch soon I will be using your catch can video for a reference when i get around to installing mine.

[Neiman Levenson]

Originally Posted by 08 1ER

Looks like i'll have some videos to watch soon I will be using your catch can video for a reference when i get around to installing mine.

I appreciate the support! I broke a clip on the OCC install (you will see in the video) make sure not to break it lol I had to buy a new one for 28$ from ECS tuning!

[Neiman Levenson]

The next step in the road to 400whp was making the boost system strong enough to handle to boost via upgrading the charge pipe and diverter valves to an HKS bov. Even though these parts were installed earlier in my build, I had them removed for the carbon deposit job and wanted to make a video on them when re-installing them.

Next I will be doing new silicone vacuum lines, getting my BMR exhaust back in a week hopefully, posting a few logs to make sure everything looks good, and then hitting the dyno! that will include the road to 400whp series, hopefully it makes 400+

[Neiman Levenson]

upcoming plans for this week:
-Apex wheels coming in on monday (unboxing vid coming)
-Ordering some parts on monday:

• MPSS tires in 235/265 (gave up on the thought of 245/275)
• Mishimoto locking lug nuts and stud conversion kit
• C quartz ceramic coating for apex wheels

-receiving and installing Eibach pro kit springs hopefully on wednesday/thursday
-hopefully receiving exhaust from BMR by friday
-hopefully installing BMR exhaust back on the car this weekend

I plan to wait for the ceramic coating to come in by mid-week, give the wheels a nice coating, then take them off to be installed with the MPSS tires!

ITs gonna be a big week for my car and im super excited. Im doing lots of things quickly because my summer courses at my university will start in July and I want to get as much done with the my car in June while I still have the time to work on it. Stay tuned to my youtube channel and as always great content coming!

In the meantime, here is a recent video on how I like to clean my OEM wheels with Griot's Heavy-Duty wheel cleaner:

[suspenceful]

Assuming you got ARC-8s? IF so, it should look pretty similar to my car with the wheels and drop

FYI - with the Eibach Pro-Kit, I had to roll my front fenders flat. I still get a slight rub with the 235/40 tires. I also have a 10mm spacer in back because I wanted the rear wheels to be more flush. This causes my 265/35 rears to rub every once in a while. Just something to be aware of! I believe the MPSS tires run a little wide, but they're awesome tires. Very happy with them.

[Neiman Levenson]

I went with the EC-7's from Apex. Same offset as the Arc8's, but my rears are et58! I also bought 235/40/18 and 265/35/18 Michelin pilot super sports. Not sure how the fitment will be with the eibach pro kit, but i'm prepared to roll / spacer / camber if necessary, although Im hoping I can get by without doing much. Now im starting to think twice about the 235/40/18's up front

Anyways here is an unboxing video of the EC-7 in race silver as promised

[suspenceful]

Originally Posted by Ne1man35

I went with the EC-7's from Apex. Same offset as the Arc8's, but my rears are et58! I also bought 235/40/18 and 265/35/18 Michelin pilot super sports. Not sure how the fitment will be with the eibach pro kit, but i'm prepared to roll / spacer / camber if necessary, although Im hoping I can get by without doing much. Now im starting to think twice about the 235/40/18's up front

Anyways here is an unboxing video of the EC-7 in race silver as promised

Nice! Those will look good, I'm excited to see them on the car.

I'm betting that you'll have to roll the front fenders and possibly trim the bumper tab. The wider tire up front is much better though, especially with a 265 in the back.

[Neiman Levenson]

So in the past few days ive made good progress with my car. I ordered C quartz ceramic coating and applied it to the wheels before the tires were mounted so I could get full coverage in the barrels and back of the face as well as the rims from and back. My go pro died mid-way through the application, so the video is now more of an update to my build thread type of video rather than the DIY that I had hoped for. Oh well.

Also, I got my apex wheels and tires mounted on my car today on the stock m-sport suspension. The 235/265 fits perfect with zero rubbing at stock ride height! this was surprising, we will see how things work out with the Eibach springs. Next week I plan on

-installing my eibach pro kit springs
-doing a stud conversion with mishimoto locking lug nuts
-spacers (haven't decided exactly, but i'm thinking 3-5 mm in front and 5-8 mm in rear)
-dinan camber plates IF needed to alleviate rubbing and also fender rolling if needed

Doing some pictures this time!

This was while running a random errand this week, I ran into this acura NSX right where I live. This is the first ever NSX I have seen in person and it is truly a beautiful car. Im never really been interested in them but after just seeing it in person I understand the appeal that they have to car enthusiasts.




Now for the ceramic coating. First I inspected the paint and it was absolutely perfect. It didn't need any correction and it had zero scratches or swirls. It also didn't even need a clay bar treatment!Therefore I began a simple de-contamination process with just a quick detailer and rubbing alcohol.



these are the barrels and the faces of the wheels after decontamination


heres a Link to the video, the coating really repels water as shown as the end!

Lastly here is a quick picture I snapped of the car with my phone. The 20% tint and black paint are just perfect with the bright silver in my opinion. Eventually Ill tint the windshield to 70% tint too just to set off the black look

[Esteban]

Good choice of wheels. They look really nice on your car.

[Neiman Levenson]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Good choice of wheels. They look really nice on your car.

thanks so much! I think its the perfect combo because the silver pops just enough yet the black paint and 20% tint give it good contrast. Before I even bought my car I knew I wanted a black 135i to go with silver apex wheels from the start, so now seeing it all go together is great and in person is looks so much better than in pictures.

Here is a link to the youtube video with a few walk-around shots of the new set up and pictures!

Next on the agenda is getting the car lowered on eibach springs, 3mm front spacers, 5mm rear spacers, stud conversion with mishimoto black locking lug nuts, and possibly dinan camber plates. Also, I'm getting pretty anxious for my BMR exhaust to come back, should be any day now! (fingers crossed for tomorrow)

[suspenceful]

Lookin' good man! Curious to see what it will look like dropped. I'll be surprised if you end up spacing out the fronts.

[thewubwub]

Originally Posted by Ne1man35

Attachment 1642428

Lookin real nice! EC-7's are a good choice!

[Neiman Levenson]

Originally Posted by thewubwub

Lookin real nice! EC-7's are a good choice!

Thanks a ton. Im really enjoying the car lately.

I got my BMR exhaust back, I was told it would be about 4-6 weeks to have a new one built, but to repair my existing one it could be done in less than a week. Me being impatient and also wanting to enjoy it for as much of summer as possible (windows down season) I decided to just have them repair my original exhaust. When I got it back it took some adjusting but it fits much better and doesnt interfere with X-brace anymore. Oh how I missed the sound!! I cant describe the note that it gives, you have to hear it in person but it is unlike any N54 exhaust I have ever heard. its very very deep and has no rasp, although it does drone at 3k.3.5K for sure. I dont mind the drone though

My next project I just finished was wrapping my interior wood trim in alcantara. I wrapped it in brown alcantara and couldn't be more happier with the result, it pairs very well with the black on black color combo of the car. and the silver wheels I think go well with it too!

I was definitely hesitant on this because I don't like custom things that much and they usually arent my style, but I just couldn't stand the walnut wood trim that was stock! I was afraid it would turn out ricey but personally i love the way it turned out. Let me know if you guys enjoy it as much as I do, or if you think it might be ricey?

[Kturbos]

Didn't your mother tell you!! Brown + Black = No Go!! Change that Alcantara to a grey/anthracite or black!

[Neiman Levenson]

Originally Posted by Kturbos

Didn't your mother tell you!! Brown + Black = No Go!! Change that Alcantara to a grey/anthracite or black!

Haha, Im loving the brown and black for now, but since the process was pretty easy I def think I will change up the color in the future. Dont know how long Ill keep the brown for but Charcoal grey might be my next move!

As mentioned previously, I have my BMR 3.5" exhaust back and on the car. With it now on the car and the turbos breathing just that little bit better, I wanted to re-address my MHD tune and make sure it was Optimized for the exhaust. Most of this is personal preference in the settings for stage 2+ 93 Octane tune, but I wanted to delete adaptations of the car with the stock exhaust and heat-cycle the car with the new BMR exhaust so it could re-learn and make new adaptations. Some things I did:

-Enabled Cold Start noise reduction
-Applied Linear Throttle map
-removed exhaust burble (have strong opinions on this)
-removed "waste-gate rattle fix"
-Raised Idle to 800 RPM (many reasons for this)

also, I reset the adaptions for every variable so the car can re-learn with the new BMR exhaust. The result is that the car seems to run a tad smoother, have better response, and drives like a dream. The idle is now louder with 800 RPM, but sounds much smoother than stock and has an awesome pur.

Here is a link to the video on my MHD settings: