Alejo's 135i HPDE/DD Journey

[ByeByeVTEC]

Hello All,

Just had my first track day in the 135i last night and OH MY am I ever in love with this car. After years of driving a built Civic on track, I realized I am going to have to re-learn the track and learning the vehicle will take some time as well.

Last night's event was a half day of open lapping (3x 20-minute sessions) at my local track that I treated as a vehicle shake-down to help guide future mods / see where it stands as-is. Overall, I am extremely impressed with the car, back in love with driving, and cannot wait to get more seat time!

Initial thoughts:

• Wow, this thing freaking RIPS!!!!

• Only issue I had was on the first session, the DCT started responding VERY slowly. It was taking around 2-2500 RPM to initiate gear change. Watching the video the shifts were still quick, however, there was a big delay between pulling the paddle and the gear shifting (manual mode, sport button on) and that scared the crap out of me. No-CEL or indication of what could have caused that. I don't think it was limp mode as the engine still felt strong. Issue went away after 2 cool-down laps and did not come back the rest of the day; I did try shifting less in later sessions though since it has the torque to pull the gears. Has anyone experienced this before?

• Oil and coolant temps were pretty much perfect through the day. Oil temp obviously climbed up but I never saw it above 140°C (290F)

• Wow, front-end grip; I couldn't get the car to understeer! May be a different story at autocross but as I got more comfortable I tried carrying more and more speed into corners and the thing just grips and rips. There's just so much potential already there and I'm just getting started on this journey.

• At first I thought the brakes (unknown pads or fluid) were not up to snuff but as I pushed harder and deeper on the pedal I found ALOT more brake than I expected. I did end up boiling the fluid / cooking the pads (calipers starting to yellow) but that was to be expected considering I did zero prep for the event.

• Traction control (one button press) is a life saver but also quite intrusive. Hopefully with some smoother driving it'll interfer less but between that and the DCT I was missing a manual more than ever (I guess that's to be expected).

About the car (mostly installed by PO):

• 2012 135i DCT that I picked up in June, 2023 with ~122k kms on it.

• Power Mods: VRSF Catted DP, M-Sport Exhaust (no resonator), ETS 5" intercooler, ETS Charge pipe(s?), stock tune.

• Suspension mods: PSS9, Tuner Front lower arms, M3 subfram bushings, other M3 arms, dinan fixed camber plates, etc. Seems like mostly standard street performance suspension

• Wheels/tires: 135is wheels, ~20mm spacers front, F:235/40r18 R:245/35r18 Michelin PS4s (was pretty impressed by these, definitely not a 200tw tire but still did very well).

Next Steps:

• BRAKE PADS! Although the brakes surprised me, I did not trust them / could feel them getting softer after a lap or two. Time for some pads, preferably something I can street / track a couple days a year without too much brake dust. I have heard good things about the Ferrodo pads and may go for those?

• Wheels / Tires: I will be picking up a second set of 18" M-sport wheels to make 2 square wheel setups. Will run the Fronts (7.5") with winter tires and Rears (8.5") as a square track setup on some 200tw tires.

• Potentially cooling? I heard a CSF radiator will help with the DCT temperature? Not sure if that is what could have caused my slow shifting? I accessed the hidden menu and tracked my coolant temp on track, it never went above 115°c though so maybe I don't need that yet?

• MHD Tune! I already have the OBD dongle, just need to pony up the cash so I can get the logger. I will keep stock tune / power on track but want to be able to log everything (sad I have no data from yesterday).

[ByeByeVTEC]

Been a while since I've updated this but lots has happened!

Not much wrenching updates but I did finally upload a selection of videos from the first track day as well as an autocross I did later last summer.

YouTube playlist w/ driving videos (first one with my kooky roommate is fun, he'd never been to a driving event before):

Now that I've owneed the car longer and driven it more (2 more autocrosses since 1st track day) I can say that the car definitely understeers. Correcting the understeer is my next project after I finish getting the car 'reliable'.

I've also added an MHD tune (finally) and that really woke the car up. I'm running Stage 2+ 91 and it's realistically too much power.... But I always want more!

[ByeByeVTEC]

Yesterday I spent the day in the shop correcting some lingering issues (some that I have dragged on since the PPI) to get the car ready for the upcoming season.

Issues addressed:

• Upper radiator hose (was very swollen / starting to leak)
• Leaking DCT Pan - This was sweating / leaking since the PPI
• Mickey Mouse Flange - Preventative Maintenance
• Leaking Oil Cooler Line - Slowly sweating since PPI
• Oil Change
• Coolant Flush (forced by other changes)
• Oil Pressure Switch - Leaking into the harness (noticed it yesterday)
• Engine shampoo - Needed after leaking some coolant / oil onto accessory belt while performing the above.

I had known for a while that my upper rad hose was quite swollen, however, I hadn't noticed that it was already leaking! The leak is shown by the white dots all over the hose / surrounding areas as some coolant would have been squirting out at high speeds.... I was also low on coolant so I guess I caught this right on time! Went with a Vaico unit as it's made in Turkey (same country as OEM per FCP Euro so hopefully the same factory!) and it fit perfectly. I also installed the mickey mouse flange from Rein while I was at it. I had to use slip-joint pliers to crush the old flange; pretty scary how easily it crumbled into pieces under some force.... this thing was ready to let go. If you've been procrastinating your MM flange, just go and do it now. It's quick and easy to do.

DCT pan / filters I was nervous about changing but it ended up being an extremely simple job. The fluid that was in my transmission came out looking new and everything under the pan was very clean so I feel good about DCT condition. I used the Rein kit from Rockauto and it was absolutely perfect. I loved that the filters were both marked GETRAG so they are OEM for the transmission. The shop I use had a new autologic computer with the oil banacing program so that was easy enough to do. The car only took about 6 liters of fluid though (I was expecting 7-8) so I may run the program again and try to fill some more next time I'm under the car.

The oil cooler return line had signs of sweating / leaking so I ordered a new one (OEM) to replace it. While taking it out I discovered that the return line had 2 O-Rings installed on the thermostat side! I'm telling myself that was not the cause of the leak though so I feel less bad about spending nearly $300 CAD on a new hose. Used 4x new O-rings and made sure there weren't any more old ones in there!

Anyway - that's most of my recent maintenance. Nearly $1000CAD (and luckily no labour) in parts just to get the thing feeling reliable. This will not be a cheap project!

P.s. Reading this back it seems boring as heck - Props to all those with build threads that are fun to read! Hopefully I can get some more interesting content this year! At the very least this will serve as a good reminder of what I've done / where I came from!

[jjFender]

Square wheel/tire setup will go a long way in reducing understeer.

Did you end up finding a second set of OEM wheels? When I researched square wheel setups, I also had the idea of using a second set of OEM rear wheels on the front. But that isn't a straight bolt-on. The offset doesn't work. You'll need a 7mm spacer on the front to clear the suspension on the inside and camber to clear the fender on the outside. That's for 235mm section tires. If you want 245 tires, especially the 200TW tires (which are typically a bit wider than 245), you'll need a 12mm spacer and -1.5° camber.

I ended up just getting a brand new set of wheels with a correct specs. I decided the hassle of looking for OEM wheels was not worth the potential cost savings.

[ByeByeVTEC]

Hi!

I did actually pick up a 2nd set of Style 261's. I'm running the 7.5" fronts as winter wheels with square 225/40r18 Michellin X-ice. Currently I rub on hard compressions with the winter tires but that is because the previous owner put 20mm spacers in there and slammed the car. With my ride height the 20mm spacer is just a bit too much (even after raising the car ~1 inch from where it was before).

My hope is to run a square setup using the rears with 245/35r18 tires and 12mm spacers. To test the fitment I'll put the rear style 313's with 245/35r18 on the front to see how it fits with 12mm spacers. This would be a track-only fitment with 200TW tires, from my reasearch it should fit well but I'm OK with a bit of rubbing if it is only on track.

On my modifications list is a rear swaybar but that thing looks like a mega PITA to install on these cars!

This sure is an expensive hobby, next on my to-do list:
* Steering Rack Boots (one is torn) + Alignment + Corner balance (?)
* Front Brake Pads - Thinking EBC Blue Stuff NDX.... Seems like a good balance for street / occasional track. I have read some bad reviews with EBC pads but they were mostly old reviews and I've hard they really upped their game (anyone have recent experience with them). Ferodo is out of budget .
* Wheels Spacers + HPDE Tires
* CSF radiator (?)

Originally Posted by jjFender

Square wheel/tire setup will go a long way in reducing understeer.

Did you end up finding a second set of OEM wheels? When I researched square wheel setups, I also had the idea of using a second set of OEM rear wheels on the front. But that isn't a straight bolt-on. The offset doesn't work. You'll need a 7mm spacer on the front to clear the suspension on the inside and camber to clear the fender on the outside. That's for 235mm section tires. If you want 245 tires, especially the 200TW tires (which are typically a bit wider than 245), you'll need a 12mm spacer and -1.5° camber.

I ended up just getting a brand new set of wheels with a correct specs. I decided the hassle of looking for OEM wheels was not worth the potential cost savings.

[jjFender]

Okay, if you already have extra wheels then a 12mm spacer should be all you need to fit the rear 8.5" wheel up front. Your M3 controls arms and dinan camber plate should give you about -2° camber so you should be able to stay within the fenders. ...maybe even test with your 20mm spacers. Might be able to get away with it without having to buy new spacers.

[ByeByeVTEC]

I've tried 235/40 and 225/40 on the 7.5" wheels with the 20mm spacers and I get some rub so I really doubt the 245's will fit without rubbing.

That being said, the 245/35 is a smaller diameter than both so there's some hope I guess. The PO had the car roughly an inch lower in the front than I do (at least the coilover perch was an inch lower) with factory 215's up front and it didn't rub from what I recall (only drove it like that for a few hundred KMs last year).

Originally Posted by jjFender

Okay, if you already have extra wheels then a 12mm spacer should be all you need to fit the rear 8.5" wheel up front. Your M3 controls arms and dinan camber plate should give you about -2° camber so you should be able to stay within the fenders. ...maybe even test with your 20mm spacers. Might be able to get away with it without having to buy new spacers.