OEM+ S65 1M Clone

[Mineral_///M]

Might seem odd but after selling my last Clone I decided to build another one but in order to keep it interesting I decided to make it the opposite of my first one. A enthusiast build, manual, slick top, BMW paint code, and non iDrive stripper spec.

The base this time is a 2012 black M sport 135i. Mostly to have LCI headlight and a all black interior.

Donor car is an E92 M3 that had a rough life. Paint failure on every panel and just a tired example. Perfect car to sacrifice.

This time around I'm going to try posting more along the way instead of just trying to make a thread at the end.

Where we are currently today is the 135i and M3 are both fully stripped down, currently routing the M3 body harness in the 1 series, and at the same time servicing the drivetrain/suspension.

I'll start the timeline in the next post.

[Mineral_///M]

While I was looking for the M3 donor car I started tearing down and parting out what I didn't need out of this 135i so I didn't take any photos. Mostly ripped out the stock drivetrain and sold some of the body panels in order to reduce my cost of the car. One thing I was really excited about this time around is having a lift. Even though it's only 4 feet of ground clearance it makes all the difference in the world. the crash outs were at a minimum.





After the drivetrain was out I decided that the 135i was going to live on the lift until it was done and the donor car would be stripped on jack stands instead of trying to shuffle cars around.



Took awhile to find the donor car and I got bored so kept the tear down going and got the factory harness out.

[Cannonfodda101]

you are a madman and also a sucker for punishment haha

[Mineral_///M]

Originally Posted by Cannonfodda101

you are a madman and also a sucker for punishment haha

I sure am haha. It's fun and it keeps me preoccupied. Building guns, PCs, or cars it's always one of the 3.

[Mineral_///M]

Last time I did this swap I was following several DIYs. None of them mentioned the rear tub and evap lines that need to be swapped. Now I realize that is common knowledge when it comes to building a clone but at the time I didn't. Of course I figured it out once I had the rear subframe back in and had to wrestle the lines in place because I was being too lazy to drop it back out.

This time it was the first thing I did. Nothing exciting. At this point the donor was sourced (Thanks Ryan) and was just waiting on delivery.

[Mineral_///M]

Well it wasn't much of a looker that's for sure. It was honestly a shame that this car had a rough life. It was a carbon roof away from being a killer spec. Manual Melbourne over Extended Bamboo. Shame. Time for a second chance at life in a new body.

Used a hot shot driver that just needed a load as he was coming back home from Texas and as it was a rough car I really didn't care. Bite me in the ass a bit as his trailer was pretty high. Was able to load it at pick up with a fork lift but once it got to my house it was not going to happen.

Had to call my works tow department to send a flatbed in order to get it off.

Can't complain. New Mexico to Oregon for $1000. Can't beat it.

[Mineral_///M]

Quickly got busy disassembling the car. The nice part about doing this once already is being able to gut the car and save only what I need. Last time I had parts everywhere because of the fear of throwing something away that I would need. Not this time.

Quickly gutted the interior and had the drivetrain out in a weekend. It's leaking from every seal possible but hey if it's leaking oil that means it has oil. The BMW slogan.

Overall everything was in great shape. Disgusting, but in great shape.



Tear down is always quick. Now comes the part of cleaning and replacing everything bad. Starting with the front subframe.

[Mineral_///M]

My favorite/least favorite part... picking a color. I'm very indecisive. Last time I kept changing my mind about the color that I decided to shoot the engine bay satin black just in case one day I woke up and decided to repaint the car. Normally I just google colors and cars and come up with a list of colors for my painter to shoot spray outs on. Normally don't care which manufacture the paint color comes from as long as I like it but this time I was keeping it BMW. Don't get me wrong there are a LOT of great Bmw colors the only problem is most of them I don't think would have looked great on a "small" car like a 1 series. Usually need a bigger body car like a M3 or M5 for it to look great.

I decided on San Marino Blue after seeing an M2 Comp in this color. Simple but a beautiful color and a dark blue Bmw is never a bad choice. This time I was fully committed. After pressure washing the engine bay 3x I finally got most of the dirt and grime out. Then started sanding and prepping.

Made a Dexter style kill room for a paint booth. This was easier than turning the car into a roller and trailering it to work and then bringing it back. Color changes a lot depending on light. No regrats.

[blue135]

Good color choice. Blue on a BMW always looks good.

[Mineral_///M]

I was running out of garage space so I needed to finish gutting the M3 so I can kick it outside.

Finished yanking out the body harness, fuel/brake lines, rear end, and the fuel tank.




I was still torn about ruining a clean shell so I posted it up in a M3 group and too my surprise a lot of people were interested. After two messages with Peter it was sold to Partee Racing. Makes me happier knowing it's not going to get scrapped.

Final pictures of the M3 donor car.

[Mineral_///M]

Now that the engine bay is painted it's time to start mounting all the hardlines and adding rivnuts in place of the missing studs for the cooler and coolant hardlines on the frame rails. Some people choose to add the click bond studs. I don't like them and it's just easier to drill a hole and add a rivnut.



Now the engine bay is 99% done it's time to start routing the m3 body harness in the car. Interesting to see the differences this time around with the E92 harness vs the e93 harness I used last time. So far e92 is much easier. So far got the engine bay, dash, and sides routed. The trunk needs some work still.

[Mineral_///M]

Little nervous to let the car go this early still. Normally it's nice to have around until the end but the offer was time sensitive and I was getting rid of all the parts cars/part out cars I've accumulated over the last 18 months. Off it goes.

[Mineral_///M]

Time to start working on the engine. Waiting for my BE bearings and valve covers to arrive still so working on cleaning the exterior of the engine and replace the seals that I can. Here's the engine without touching anything on it.



The oil filter housing has been puking for awhile it appears and same with the valve covers. Looks like someone has replace the front crank seal at some point but getting a new one since I already ordered it anyways. Here's everything all apart and kind of clean. 6 or 7 cans of brake clean, couple bottles of degreaser, and several brushes.



Starting to look presentable. Still have plenty to do.

[Mineral_///M]

Got as far as I can on the engine while I wait for the remaining parts so decided to move back to the interior reassembly and harness routing. Now that all 4 corners of the harness was routed I wanted to start working on getting the front half of the harness 100% figured out so I can install the front carpet, dash support, and heater core.


Over labeling isn't a thing when it comes to the harness. Some of the tape ripped off during the transfer but was still able to figure everything out just by seeing what other connectors it was near by.



Not installing the dash just yet. Need to decide if I want to get the dash redone in Alcantara or not.

[tracer bullet]

Just amazing. I consider myself a car guy and a DIY-er, and I've gotten inside of an engine, but I kind of can't even imagine doing this. Congratulations! I kind of get wanting to do it again though, with all the stuff you learned the first time.

[Mineral_///M]

Originally Posted by tracer bullet

Just amazing. I consider myself a car guy and a DIY-er, and I've gotten inside of an engine, but I kind of can't even imagine doing this. Congratulations! I kind of get wanting to do it again though, with all the stuff you learned the first time.

Thank you! It's been fun to see the differences between the two cars. Manual vs DCT. E92 Donor vs E93.

Doing a manual car is for sure more expensive as I'm learning.

Will be interesting to see how it drives compared to DCT.

[Mineral_///M]

Got my new valve covers in so I was able to get the top end down. First time replacing these Vanos covers. All my previous S65 cars didn't have enough miles for this to be a concern. Took all the precautions to make sure non of the plastic covers fell into the motor. Got the new ones snapped in and the spark plug tubes replaced. Safe to say this thing was overdue for some spark plugs.



Even though it costs a lot of money its nice to give the engine a new refresh from top to bottom. Just like that we are good to go. Rotated the engine over a few times to make sure those Vanos covers were properly clipped in.

To top it all off new aluminum valve covers. Just have rod bearings left and a rear main seal.

[Mineral_///M]

Finally feels like I'm getting somewhere. Rod bearings done, front and rear main seal done, just need to dress the motor back up and put the new clutch/flywheel on when it shows up next week. Rod bearings were original and showing typical wear but everything else looked solid.



Rear end got a extensive refresh. Solid subframe bushings, poly diff bushings, new control arms, new sway bar bushings/end links, and got the rear end back in the car.



Ignore the ugly bent dust shield and missing brakes. Waiting for my F80 calipers to show up.

[Mineral_///M]

Finally got the motor fully dressed again. Also threw in some new throttle actuators I had laying around. I'm so happy to not be cleaning and servicing anymore.



Even thought the old clutch was perfectly fine I decided to throw a new one in. Goal is for this car to drive like it's brand new again. Pressure washed all the nasty gunk off the transmission and then went to install the new fly wheel and what a fight. My home made grounded down T60 was fighting me. Had to grind it down even more and was able to get the flywheel installed. I refused to pay BMW for their special tool.



Then came the big moment. Drivetrain back in the car. I'd say I'm 50% of the way done with this project now. Time to measure for a driveshaft and get that ordered. Also had to mock up my carbon plenum. I still think superchargers look better but this isn't bad.

[Mineral_///M]

Just like last time my brother is going to do all the body work. He won't touch the quarters until the car is on the ground and on it's on wheels. He was able to knock out the carbon roof install in a day while I was on vacation. Didn't get much in photos since I was gone but gets the point across.

Got the old roof off pretty cleanly, cleaned up all the mating surfaces, welded in the roof reinforcement, spread a tarp inside the car, and then panel boded the hell out of the roof onto the car. It was clamped for about 72 hours by the time I came back. Perfect job. Will be throwing a fresh coat of clear on the roof when the car gets painted.

If anyone is curious what panel bond we used it's 3M 07333. The BMW stuff is just relabeled 3M 08115 but 07333 is a far superior product. Same product most manufactures are gluing inner structures with nowadays.

[Mineral_///M]

Did not go as crazy in these departments like last time.

Brakes: Last time I got an insane deal on a nearly new set of 2NH brakes and while they looked amazing it really narrows down wheel options. I did want to be able to throw on some 18s if I decide to do a track day. Thanks to my wholesale accounts New F80 calipers cost as much as what people are charging for used. Also sold in silver so It will go great with my silver valve covers and my Silverstone interior.

Coilovers: Last time I went Ohlins. Unfortunately they were on a crazy sale last time and I got them brand new for $2300. Now they are $3100 so I decided to try something else out while I wait for them to go on sale again. Picked up a set of ST Suspension XTAs on a sale.

For a nice canyon car these should do great. Beats the blown out suspension that was on the donor car.

That reminds me. Need to order another $1000 for a front end suspension refresh.

The Steel Gray E46 M3 in the background is my next project. 5k running and driving. Can't wait to start on that one.

[moose09876]

You'll have to post thoughts about the ST vs. Ohlins. I just reded mine with Koni Special Active and the ride is definitely too rough. I drove a 718 cayman on the same roads and stock it handled at least as well and dealt with the awful rough roads here miles better. The "best" (most expensive) aftermarket suspension I've used is a bilstien setup on my '16 GTI, but even that was still not amazing.