first post with some questions

[b00st]

I'm new to this forum, and I'm thinking about replacing my Evo IX with an '08 135i. I've done some searching and see that the HPFP is still an issue with these cars? Other than that, and the broken 3rd brake lights, are there any other common issues to look for?

My other questions are related to performance and mods. I've seen lots of dyno numbers from 135 owners, but those obviously change depending on the dyno. So I'm wondering more about people who have tracked these cars, and their trap speeds/et's. My Evo is decently modded, so I need to find out what it will take for the 135 to match at least the straight line performance of the Evo. My car currently traps 117ish, and makes about 380whp, and I'm wondering what it would take to get a 135 to that sort of trap speed/performance. I'm interested in staying on 93 gas, not race gas, and probably no meth. The car will be my daily driver, so it must stay reliable. Is this realistic at this point, with what mods are available for these cars? Are any modded owners running into failures that regular owners are likely not seeing? I ask this, because I have basically voided my warranty on the past 3 cars I've owned(WRX, 350Z, Evo) pretty much immediately, but I am a little scared of trouble with a BMW and no warranty to help. I just mean that my last 3 cars have been easy to work on and fix in a garage with friends, but I don't know how realistic that is on a 135. I know I have a lot of questions, and I'm trying to search, but this is realistically the only car that I am even considering getting rid of the Evo for, so I'm trying to do my homework before I make a decision. Thanks for any help you guys can offer.

I'm only interested in the manual version of the 135 by the way.

[b00st]

Nobody? I have another question as well. Does anyone know if the 135 can handle E85, if I used something like ProCEED? I know the Evo guys swear by E85, since it allows fo more boost and more aggressive timing? Has anyone tried tuning for that?

[sargetony]

Originally Posted by *****

Does anyone know if the 135 can handle E85, if I used something like ProCEED? I know the Evo guys swear by E85, since it allows fo more boost and more aggressive timing? Has anyone tried tuning for that?

I seem to remember seeing somewhere that you shouldn't use E85 fuel in late model BMWs. I did a quick Google search and this came up which kind of explains it:
http://www.luxurycarreport.com/answe...l-this-hurt-my

BLUF: BMW says not to use fuels with more than 10% alcohol in them because it damages the fuel system. I saw a ton of advertisements for conversion kits if that interests you.

As far as your first post, you can make 380hp fairly easy with any of the tunes out there (although they will void your warranty, so get something easy to remove). There are quite a few people on here that have made your targeted trap speed with nothing more than a tune.

I agree with you about the warranty. I won't do anything to my car that voids the warranty (with the exception of the JB3 which takes 20 mins to remove/install). Before I do any of the mods, I talk with my service manager (who autocrosses his 135i btw) about what I can and can not do (he has pretty much done everything you aren't supposed to do, but hey, he is the service manager!)

[b00st]

Interesting about the E85 hurting the fuel system. Its just a totally different tuning world for BMW's than it is for Evos. Is the ProCEED tuning system kind of the preferred tuning method, if you are looking to make good power on these cars? I'm just used to reflashing the ECU on the Evo, so I'm trying to learn about this stuff. Are cars making 380hp, or 380whp with just the tune? I appreciate all the help anyone can give. I know on the Evo forum, there is a sticky thread called "Evo molding for dummies", but I didn't see any newbie section on here or anything?

Originally Posted by sargetony

I seem to remember seeing somewhere that you shouldn't use E85 fuel in late model BMWs. I did a quick Google search and this came up which kind of explains it:
http://www.luxurycarreport.com/answe...l-this-hurt-my

BLUF: BMW says not to use fuels with more than 10% alcohol in them because it damages the fuel system. I saw a ton of advertisements for conversion kits if that interests you.

As far as your first post, you can make 380hp fairly easy with any of the tunes out there (although they will void your warranty, so get something easy to remove). There are quite a few people on here that have made your targeted trap speed with nothing more than a tune.

I agree with you about the warranty. I won't do anything to my car that voids the warranty (with the exception of the JB3 which takes 20 mins to remove/install). Before I do any of the mods, I talk with my service manager (who autocrosses his 135i btw) about what I can and can not do (he has pretty much done everything you aren't supposed to do, but hey, he is the service manager!)

[sargetony]

You will start our version of WWIII by asking which tune is best. I use the JB3 (going to upgrade to JB4 shortly). Others use ProCeed, and others use COBB and others use Dinan and Advanced Autowerks. I am sure I am missing a couple. Everyone has their own opinion on which is best. Personally, I like the JB3, but that is MY opinion as I haven't used anything else and am not made of money so I can't go buy each tune and try it out.

I would recommend reading up on some of the topics through out here where various tunes are debated (to put it mildly). There is plenty you can do to make power. Stock these cars make 276hp at the wheels, so you can take it from there.

This is the tune I use:
http://www.burgertuning.com/jb4_pnp_...nce_tuner.html

[NYC 135i]

i came from an evo 9 and went to the 135 and i love it the interior is so much better...its a great mix between luxury and sport. What you should do is search jb4, procede, and cobb accessport to see what you would want. They are all great products its basically what you like.

[bigEC]

Hey man I haven't had my car very long and haven't bought a tune yet, but I will say that coming from my 2010 ralliart (which was fully modded and ate evos lol) I love my 135 more. Every time I walk towards it its like falling in love all over again. I think the best bet for you is to go to a dealer and test drive. That's what I did. I actually ended up buying a car that had many of the bmw performance parts on it already brand new. I'm about to be at 5k and I haven't had any problems. The only downside to the 1 compared to the evo would probably be going from AWD to RWD imo because besides that I love my 1 a lot more then I ever did my ralliart lol and plus the RWD is fun haha sorry I couldn't help more with the tunes and stuff, just figured you would be interested in my experience when I changed over