For starters this thread is about 128i love
with no love for the turbo guys
My story for the 1 series started out with buying a N55 2011 135i manual as a donor for my E91 wagon. The swap was time consuming for the wiring but it all came together and was featured on Jalopnik.
http://jalopnik.com/this-bmw-3-serie...-fo-1796625979
Problem was that I wanted to follow Ilikebmxbikes Marco and do a s65 swap. this chassis was a 135 so it had a sunroof and the harness was chopped for the donor. The 135 didn't make the cut.
I kept reading about the 128's and went searching for one.I found a black on black Sport package slicktop manual. The car was originally from Hawaii and brought to Arizona then to Vegas. It was a simple no frill car with sport no heat seats no nav no extra bs. A simple drivers car.
So after driving it back in early October to Michigan I was happy with the car for short term. There was a list that needed to be filled for the mods. I knew that the car would see the track quite a bit but still wanted a fun car.
I had a full brake system, rear bumper, headlight and wheels from the donor 135 to get started on. the wheels were easy to get on and it was a great start. The front calipers went on with a full ECS tuning brake line kit, all 6 lines. I did swap the master cylinder out for the 135 because the of the bore size difference of a 128i and 135i. The rear brakes were going to have to wait. They do bolt on but I wanted my ebrake. I also realized that the axles were smaller. Parts is parts. I sourced 328i auto axles that had the larger axle spline to fit into the 135 hubs. I waited for a bit to put it all in because $ dictates time. I sourced a set of upper M arms and a set of M RSFB's to put in my spare subframe. Wow that helped control the rear end.
Suspension was a priority because it needed to be trackable but civil on the street. I was not pleased by the H&R setup on the wagon so I went with Bilstein B8's and swift springs. Very nice firm ride without the harshness and rake of a cup kit. While i had the front struts down a set of M control arms went in.
Suspension is nice but it still has to contact the road. I waited 4 months for a square set of EC-7's from apex. Non Rf Kumho ps91's wrapped the wheels to make it stick to the tarmac.
The go was addressed earlier in the build. This car loves to rev so its breathing was enhanced with the standards. The BMW 3 stage IM, AA headers, AA axle back exhaust, tune and charcoal filter delete really woke this car up. It revs so much better than a turbo car becase it doesn't run out of steam just revs.
Why go through all this trouble? Well the track was where it came together. I ran half hour sessions at Grattan Raceway in Belding Michigan. Drivers are drivers but I Was able to run down cars that I had no business getting by. I was surprised that I didn't have any cooling issues at all through out the day. There were no issues other than late in the session i could feel a little spongieness from the brake pedal. I am not currently going to add any ducting mods. Sitting on the shelf is a oil filter housing with provisions for an oil cooler to make the capacity larger and more cooling. Overall the car turns in great and does not exhibit the massive push that so many seem to feel. suspension was compliant with a little bit of body roll, a stiffer set of sways would be a solution after the diff. The left front did take a beating at the track but i have 3 others to rotate around for longer wear. I had to keep it mind that I was not going to throw more parts at it to make it faster. A LSD would be great with sways but because of $ going to the new build they will have to wait.
total mods list
135i f/r brakes
large rear axles with 135i hubs
M RSFB
M upper rear control arms
M front control arms/tension struts
full SS brake line kit
Apex EC-8 wheels 18x8.5 et40
Kumho ps91 245/35-18
front 5mm wheel spacers
Bilstein B8 struts/ shocks
msport rear bumper
Swift springs
Ebay CF trunk wing/spoiler
oem Xenon headlights
3 stage IM
AA headers
AA exhaust
AA tune
Intake elbow
airbox charcoal delete
Alcantera shift boot with ZHP shift nob
Here are a couple pics. and video at Deals Gap before suspension(I have yet to load laps from Grattan yet)
https://youtu.be/Bpg_i3trx14