chris_flies' 128i thread

[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.

[Gray_Panther]

Just checking in, how many miles you at now?

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by Gray_Panther

Just checking in, how many miles you at now?

Just about to cross 208,000 miles. I'm driving it 1,300 miles to school in two weeks so it'll be at 210k in no time.

[WDE82]

Did you find the oil cooler a necessity for a track day? I'm going to my first one in October. It shouldn't be too hot so I'm not worried but I may want to do some summer HDPE later.

Upgrading the front brakes to F30 335i similar you yours with EBC Yellowstuff front and rear.

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by WDE82

Did you find the oil cooler a necessity for a track day? I'm going to my first one in October. It shouldn't be too hot so I'm not worried but I may want to do some summer HDPE later.

Upgrading the front brakes to F30 335i similar you yours with EBC Yellowstuff front and rear.

Coming from no oil cooler, I think it is necessary if you plan to do summer HPDE's. Coming from the oil-water heat exchanger, as I did, it really didn't make a difference other than bringing coolant temps down a bit, which gives me a little more peace of mind.

I think you'll quickly find the EBC YellowStuff pads to be inadequate on the track, even with the big F30 brakes. There's just soooo much mass to be hauled down from speed. I set the paint on those pads on fire on my first event with them, and then they only lasted 3 weekends after that.

The Porterfield R4's I have now lasted 2 years worth of track days; I'd take a look at them and their compound-compatible street version, the R4-S, then you don't need to change rotors or re-bed the brakes when you swap between the two pads. After you go through your current set, of course. They're also really easy on rotors, but if you get rotors through FCP that's not that big of a deal.

[WDE82]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

Coming from no oil cooler, I think it is necessary if you plan to do summer HPDE's. Coming from the oil-water heat exchanger, as I did, it really didn't make a difference other than bringing coolant temps down a bit, which gives me a little more peace of mind.

I think you'll quickly find the EBC YellowStuff pads to be inadequate on the track, even with the big F30 brakes. There's just soooo much mass to be hauled down from speed. I set the paint on those pads on fire on my first event with them, and then they only lasted 3 weekends after that.

The Porterfield R4's I have now lasted 2 years worth of track days; I'd take a look at them and their compound-compatible street version, the R4-S, then you don't need to change rotors or re-bed the brakes when you swap between the two pads. After you go through your current set, of course. They're also really easy on rotors, but if you get rotors through FCP that's not that big of a deal.

I'll plan on the oil cooler for next year in that case. Sounds like a fun mod anyway and not too expensive with used housings.

I'll take a look at those pads. I haven't bought the rotors or pads yet. Just have the calipers and they still need to be sandblasted and painted.

Are they good on the street? I was trying to avoid swapping pads for track days and autocross. That was the goal with the Yellowstuffs. Also do they come for the F30 fronts and stock 128 rears?

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by WDE82

I'll plan on the oil cooler for next year in that case. Sounds like a fun mod anyway and not too expensive with used housings.

I'll take a look at those pads. I haven't bought the rotors or pads yet. Just have the calipers and they still need to be sandblasted and painted.

Are they good on the street? I was trying to avoid swapping pads for track days and autocross. That was the goal with the Yellowstuffs. Also do they come for the F30 fronts and stock 128 rears?

Yeah, they're great on the street. Quiet and smooth, and not too grabby on the street pads. Slightly less dust than stock, but it's really not a very noticeable difference.

They don't have the race pads in rear 128i fitment, unfortunately, but the rear brakes do very very little with the front weight bias on our cars. Heck, I just use Akebono Ceramic pads from FCP so I get free replacement and the dust is non-existent. I get about the same life out of them as I do the race pads up front.

Changing pads is super easy with the F30 calipers; pop the two pins, pull them out, pull the pad out, and do the reverse. I can swap pads out on both sides in well under 15 minutes now.

I actually still have the oil-water heat exchanger and the coolant pipe and hose you need to do the oil-water cooler, if that's what you were thinking of doing. All you'd need is some hose clamps and the oil filter housing with provisions for the OEM oil cooler (pretty much any N20,N54,N55).

[WDE82]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

Yeah, they're great on the street. Quiet and smooth, and not too grabby on the street pads. Slightly less dust than stock, but it's really not a very noticeable difference.

They don't have the race pads in rear 128i fitment, unfortunately, but the rear brakes do very very little with the front weight bias on our cars. Heck, I just use Akebono Ceramic pads from FCP so I get free replacement and the dust is non-existent. I get about the same life out of them as I do the race pads up front.

Changing pads is super easy with the F30 calipers; pop the two pins, pull them out, pull the pad out, and do the reverse. I can swap pads out on both sides in well under 15 minutes now.

I actually still have the oil-water heat exchanger and the coolant pipe and hose you need to do the oil-water cooler, if that's what you were thinking of doing. All you'd need is some hose clamps and the oil filter housing with provisions for the OEM oil cooler (pretty much any N20,N54,N55).

Maybe I'll do the yellows in the rear then. I've got some research to do hah.

I like the air oil cooler style more than the water cooler. As you mentioned it's more heat for the radiator to dissipate so I'd like to avoid that.

[WDE82]

Did some research last night and this morning. Had about 30 tabs open.

I think I've settled on Ferodo DS2500s front and rear. I've not seen a bad review about them yet for street and track day usage. The fitment is:

Front: FCP4611H (F30 335i grey 4 pots)
Rear: FCP1807H (E82 128i stock rear calipers)

This almost doubled my pad cost...oh well. They should be fantastic.

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by WDE82

Did some research last night and this morning. Had about 30 tabs open.

I think I've settled on Ferodo DS2500s front and rear. I've not seen a bad review about them yet for street and track day usage. The fitment is:

Front: FCP4611H (F30 335i grey 4 pots)
Rear: FCP1807H (E82 128i stock rear calipers)

This almost doubled my pad cost...oh well. They should be fantastic.

It hurts, but I would hate to skimp-out on brakes.

[WDE82]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

It hurts, but I would hate to skimp-out on brakes.

More peace of mind is worth it. Thanks for your feedback on braking so I could make a better choice. I did deliberately choose something different from you so we can have more knowledge of pad compounds for 128s in the future. The DS2500 looks promising for HDPE and street use. For hard track, I'd need DS2500 rear and DS1-11 fronts ($300 a set).

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by WDE82

More peace of mind is worth it. Thanks for your feedback on braking so I could make a better choice. I did deliberately choose something different from you so we can have more knowledge of pad compounds for 128s in the future. The DS2500 looks promising for HDPE and street use. For hard track, I'd need DS2500 rear and DS1-11 fronts ($300 a set).

I've heard fantastic things about the DS2500's, I think you'll be happy. I made the choice with the EBC's and regretted it, I just figured I'd try to keep other people from making the same mistake. The Yellows worked fine on my father's Golf GTI on the track, but were just awful on my car.

[$iriu$black]

Can I add to the track pads conversation? I also have the Porterfield R4 up front (on, still, OE 128i calipers) and they were great for the track I have used it on. But man, THE DUST!!! My 207Ms that I use for track at the moment are now BLACK bec of the dust. Oh, and it squeals like there’s no tomorrow on street as I’m lazy to swap them since the car is rarely use the car for street now. The rare times I do, always makes me wanna swap out to the Akebono’s.

I use PFC08s out rear in the 128i size. Less dust but these are also the gold standard for track pads as far as I know. Combined, these pretty much do for a novice/intermediate driver like I am. I guess it depends if you drive on tracks that are heavy on brakes. I haven’t driven on one so far so I guess we will see.

chris_flies is the man for blazing the trail for these mods for the 128i. I’ve still yet to tackle the F30 brake conversion (parts have been sitting for a year now) and the cooling upgrades. One day...

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by $iriu$black

Can I add to the track pads conversation? I also have the Porterfield R4 up front (on, still, OE 128i calipers) and they were great for the track I have used it on. But man, THE DUST!!! My 207Ms that I use for track at the moment are now BLACK bec of the dust. Oh, and it squeals like there’s no tomorrow on street as I’m lazy to swap them since the car is rarely use the car for street now. The rare times I do, always makes me wanna swap out to the Akebono’s.

I use PFC08s out rear in the 128i size. Less dust but these are also the gold standard for track pads as far as I know. Combined, these pretty much do for a novice/intermediate driver like I am. I guess it depends if you drive on tracks that are heavy on brakes. I haven’t driven on one so far so I guess we will see.

chris_flies is the man for blazing the trail for these mods for the 128i. I’ve still yet to tackle the F30 brake conversion (parts have been sitting for a year now) and the cooling upgrades. One day...

Yeah, the dust is ridiculous, but that goes with the territory of performance driving.