chris_flies' 128i thread

[Ric in RVA]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

Long overdue update to this thread:

-Installed Ohlins (wow this is long overdue)


Now sitting at 195,800 miles.

Review please.....what were you on before?

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by Ric in RVA

Review please.....what were you on before?

I was on Koni Yellows and Eibach Pro-Kit springs.

Ride:
The Ohlins are WAYYY stiffer than the Koni's, but they ride so much better. The way the DFV behaves over large bumps is magical, and allows me to run fairly high spring rates on the street without much issue. The adjustability is fantastic. I sit around 20 clicks from full stiff on the street, then ramp it up to 1-4 clicks on the track. There's a huge change in feel with that adjustment; on the track it becomes brutally stiff in a race car way, but it still rides nicely somehow.

Handling:
The car is so much more crisp with the Ohlins. I didn't like the Koni's because they tended to allow the car to flop around in quick transitions, without doing much to stop it. The car was far more neutral, and just felt fantastic. I have a picture of the car with a front wheel in the air at VIR, something that's never happened before for me. Once I removed the front sway bar, all hell broke loose, and the thing's so much more fun to drive now. If you turn in sharply without carrying a little power, the back end will rotate just perfectly and you can use that rotation to blast through technical bits of track (or roast tires for spectators' enjoyment). It's so much more enjoyable and satisfying to drive now, I absolutely love it! Worth every single penny, in my opinion.

[Ric in RVA]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

I was on Koni Yellows and Eibach Pro-Kit springs.

Ride:
The Ohlins are WAYYY stiffer than the Koni's, but they ride so much better. The way the DFV behaves over large bumps is magical, and allows me to run fairly high spring rates on the street without much issue. The adjustability is fantastic. I sit around 20 clicks from full stiff on the street, then ramp it up to 1-4 clicks on the track. There's a huge change in feel with that adjustment; on the track it becomes brutally stiff in a race car way, but it still rides nicely somehow.

Handling:
The car is so much more crisp with the Ohlins. I didn't like the Koni's because they tended to allow the car to flop around in quick transitions, without doing much to stop it. The car was far more neutral, and just felt fantastic. I have a picture of the car with a front wheel in the air at VIR, something that's never happened before for me. Once I removed the front sway bar, all hell broke loose, and the thing's so much more fun to drive now. If you turn in sharply without carrying a little power, the back end will rotate just perfectly and you can use that rotation to blast through technical bits of track (or roast tires for spectators' enjoyment). It's so much more enjoyable and satisfying to drive now, I absolutely love it! Worth every single penny, in my opinion.

Would you recommend for a daily street car or is that over kill?

Was thinking of just throwing a set of Bilstein B8 on it with OEM sport springs....but it isn't THAT much more especially if you don't do blsteins and then rip it all out and do Ohlins....

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by Ric in RVA

Would you recommend for a daily street car or is that over kill?

Was thinking of just throwing a set of Bilstein B8 on it with OEM sport springs....but it isn't THAT much more especially if you don't do blsteins and then rip it all out and do Ohlins....

It's a little overkill, the way mine are set-up, for a purely street car, especially because they'll need more frequent rebuilds and more maintenance attention.

However, if you ever want to take your car to the track or do an autocross, you'll have a huge boost in capability and adjustability right off the bat.

If you stick with the standard Ohlins spring rates, they'd be positively sublime for daily duty either way.

[chris_flies]

Installed a Corsa axle-back and BMW Performance y-pipe, both from a 135i, last weekend.

My goodness, this car sounds 99% perfect.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

installed a corsa axle-back and bmw performance y-pipe, both from a 135i, last weekend.

My goodness, this car sounds 99% perfect. :d

where r the vids

[chris_flies]

Photos of newfound oil cooler and the ever-gorgeous BMW Performance front bumper.

Broke 200,000 miles on my drive back to Texas for school. Did it about halfway through Alabama.

[Rmtt]

LOVE that front bumper!

[Suprgnat]

In case you're in the market...



https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-Steerin...temCondition=4

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

In case you're in the market...



https://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-Steering-Wheel-custom-flat-bottom-M3-E90-E92-328I-330I-335I-135I-128I-Orange/223917959565?hash=item34228ce98d%3Ag%3AxQgAAOSw1p1 eTAcP&LH_ItemCondition=4

Oh. My. Lord. That is beautiful

[carscatscoffee15]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

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Photos of newfound oil cooler and the ever-gorgeous BMW Performance front bumper.

Broke 200,000 miles on my drive back to Texas for school. Did it about halfway through Alabama.

Hey Chris, awesome build and I'm in the 128i boat too.

I wanted to know a couple of things.. on the Performance Aero kit, do you need pressure seals left and right part numbers 51758046127 and 51758046128 or are those just for the M Sport. Coming from a base 128i LCI bumper (non M Sport).

Also for the fender liners I notice you have the F30 ones.. are these a direct fit or is some modding needed like the F30 brake plate? May you supply the part numbers for this or are they 51717260727/51717260728

When doing this bumper swap is a new belly pan needed or is this by choice?

Lastly, how did you get the ducting to work? Is it by routing the cooling ducts towards the fender liners?

I do appreciate any insight you're able to give!
-Roy

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by carscatscoffee15

Hey Chris, awesome build and I'm in the 128i boat too.

I wanted to know a couple of things.. on the Performance Aero kit, do you need pressure seals left and right part numbers 51758046127 and 51758046128 or are those just for the M Sport. Coming from a base 128i LCI bumper (non M Sport).

Also for the fender liners I notice you have the F30 ones.. are these a direct fit or is some modding needed like the F30 brake plate? May you supply the part numbers for this or are they 51717260727/51717260728

When doing this bumper swap is a new belly pan needed or is this by choice?

Lastly, how did you get the ducting to work? Is it by routing the cooling ducts towards the fender liners?

I do appreciate any inside you're able to give!
-Roy

Sorry my inbox was full, I just got that cleaned out.

You can use the pressure seals, but I left them off on my car. They always scraped on everything and bothered me a lot, so I neglected to replace them. It makes it look higher than it is in the front, but I can live with that. The pressure seals should be same for every model and package.

The rear/upper liner is stock 128i, and the front/lower is stock 135i (for the brake duct cutout).

I didn't get a new belly pan, though I think I'll be doing a "restoration" of mine and replacing the broken ones under the car and making sure they'll actually stay attached at high speed. They kinda sag right now because a few of the clip nuts ripped off the fibrous panels under the car. It works fine. You need the "MAS Adapter" P/N 51750432379 for it to work with the under tray.

The ducting is hard plastic, and there's only one way for them to go in. There are little mounting holes in the sandwich plates between the bumper bar and the frame rail, and pins to put into them on the ducts themselves. It's very self-explanatory once you've got everything apart, and have all the parts. Then you just bolt up the 135i fender liner and it fits right up with the hole cut into it.

[chris82]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

I found this. OMG!

*Diabolical laughing ensues*

This is my favorite setup and best sounding imo. I've thought about this instead of my SuperSprint Resonator delete and Perf. exhaust but I can't bring myself to sell the performance exhaust.

[Bimmer-Bob]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

The ducting is hard plastic, and there's only one way for them to go in. There are little mounting holes in the sandwich plates between the bumper bar and the frame rail, and pins to put into them on the ducts themselves. It's very self-explanatory once you've got everything apart, and have all the parts. Then you just bolt up the 135i fender liner and it fits right up with the hole cut into it.

Are you talking about the ducts that come with the BBMW Performance Cold Air Package? And was you car non-M-Sport from the factory?

I'm considering adding the ducting to my Aero bumper, but I don't quite know how they fit - i.e., will my car have the required mounting points, and what additional hardware will I need? I'm aware of the need to change or modify fender liners.

Also, does the entire bumper need to come off to fit the ducts, or will removing the splash shield and fender liners be sufficient?

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by Bimmer-Bob

Are you talking about the ducts that come with the BBMW Performance Cold Air Package? And was you car non-M-Sport from the factory?

I'm considering adding the ducting to my Aero bumper, but I don't quite know how they fit - i.e., will my car have the required mounting points, and what additional hardware will I need? I'm aware of the need to change or modify fender liners.

Also, does the entire bumper need to come off to fit the ducts, or will removing the splash shield and fender liners be sufficient?

Yes, which is what's installed on all 135i's with the Aero bumper. My car wasn't M-Sport from the factory. It has all the necessary mounting points (the beauty of cost savings) though. If you want to do the 135i oil cooler, you will need to buy the radiator core support bracket. (P/N 51647154546)

You'll have to remove the bumper, pop out the false ducts on either side of the center grille, and then trim the tabs on the bumper. You can try and do it with the bumper on the car, but it isn't that hard to take off anyways, so I'd just take the bumper off.

Once you have the ducts, you'll see they have two plastic dowels/pins on them. Those go into matching divots on the sandwich plate that's between the front bumper bar and the frame rails. I think there's also one on the radiator core support, but I don't remember that well.

[carscatscoffee15]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

Yes, which is what's installed on all 135i's with the Aero bumper. My car wasn't M-Sport from the factory. It has all the necessary mounting points (the beauty of cost savings) though. If you want to do the 135i oil cooler, you will need to buy the radiator core support bracket. (P/N 51647154546)

You'll have to remove the bumper, pop out the false ducts on either side of the center grille, and then trim the tabs on the bumper. You can try and do it with the bumper on the car, but it isn't that hard to take off anyways, so I'd just take the bumper off.

Once you have the ducts, you'll see they have two plastic dowels/pins on them. Those go into matching divots on the sandwich plate that's between the front bumper bar and the frame rails. I think there's also one on the radiator core support, but I don't remember that well.

So in order to just have the brake ducts to the fender liners you DONT need 51647154546, that's only if you want to retrofit the 135 cooler? Correct?

the 135i oil cooler is part of the BMW Performance Oil Cooling Duct shown here?
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/51742157686/

I might go the high output N52/E60 route/euro route and get the oil cooler from those since I don't have the oil temp gauge in my cluster

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by carscatscoffee15

So in order to just have the brake ducts to the fender liners you DONT need 51647154546, that's only if you want to retrofit the 135 cooler? Correct?

the 135i oil cooler is part of the BMW Performance Oil Cooling Duct shown here?
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/51742157686/

I might go the high output N52/E60 route/euro route and get the oil cooler from those since I don't have the oil temp gauge in my cluster

The brake ducts are included as a kit with the oil cooler ducting. You can't get them separately.

[carscatscoffee15]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

The brake ducts are included as a kit with the oil cooler ducting. You can't get them separately.

gotcha, but I can just leave the oil cooler parts out correct and just use the ducts? so the bracket isn't needed/can be left out unless I do use it? I'm gonna be purchasing the ECS tuning kit that has all of these items in one package

Reference: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...51110432374kt/

[519.E82]

Originally Posted by chris82

This is my favorite setup and best sounding imo. I've thought about this instead of my SuperSprint Resonator delete and Perf. exhaust but I can't bring myself to sell the performance exhaust.

I havent seen many with the supersprint resonator delete. Does it go well with the PE or too raspy?

[carscatscoffee15]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

Bought one off of Ebay a couple of years back, $29.00 shipped, and am waiting on the OFHG or the water pump to go.

Prices may be a little out of date, but (i hope) the hyperlinks are still good. I didn't verify them. I'll send you a copy if you'd like, just PM me. I believe this list to be comprehensive, thorough, and accurate for my car. YMMV

PM Sent!

[chris82]

Originally Posted by 519.E82

I havent seen many with the supersprint resonator delete. Does it go well with the PE or too raspy?

It goes very well! There's a little highway drone but is not raspy at all. I think it could be louder actually, thought of removing the secondary cats but that's way to loud

[chris_flies]

Still super impressed with the capability of the stock 128i cooling system (other than an oil cooler). Went to the track this previous weekend, and the heat index was in the low 100’s and it was humid. Car never overheated, never pulled power, and never went into limp mode. Oil temps went right up to 280, but sat there once the thermostat opened, and coolant temps barely crossed 200. The car outlasted myself in heat, and still gave a comfortable, air-conditioned drive home. Even the brakes exhibited no sign of thermal abuse.