Austinaslink's PS2 N55 135i Build

[austinaslink]

Originally Posted by Petro135

Nice and nice!!! Your gonna be busy. All new lines are important. You will read why in my next update.lol
Like christmas time for you..
I was just checking on prices and what all is needed with those control arms. I'm not far behind you on that.
Congrats again. Wait until you feel the pull to redline with new turbos. I got my first taste of it today.

Congrats on getting the turbos installed! How does it feel compared to stock? I'm mostly just looking for more power on the top end. The factory turbo just can't keep up past 4500ish RPMs. As far as the control arms go, the kit from FCP Euro comes with everything you need for install. You just need an alignment after install. New bolts wouldn't be a bad idea to purchase as well.

More parts arriving today! Will post pictures later. Should be receiving the CSF Radiator, Mosselman Oil Cooler Kit, and the Spec Clutch & Flywheel.

[Petro135]

Oh the power is there up top have no worries. I have not had any dry roads to really test them. But it pulls on the highway to redline like a freight train. I've yet to get in a WOT pull or be able to log. Which is probably a good thing to give them a few days to break in. The spool is awesome.
Still rough around the edges, I'm sure the next version of my tune will smooth things out.
Who are you going to get to do your tune?

[austinaslink]

Originally Posted by Petro135

Oh the power is there up top have no worries. I have not had any dry roads to really test them. But it pulls on the highway to redline like a freight train. I've yet to get in a WOT pull or be able to log. Which is probably a good thing to give them a few days to break in. The spool is awesome.
Still rough around the edges, I'm sure the next version of my tune will smooth things out.
Who are you going to get to do your tune?

Awesome to hear! And yes, probably a good thing you're taking it easy for the most part so they have a chance to break in and go through a few heat cycles first.

I'm going with a custom tune from Wedge! I've already got the road picked out that I plan to datalog on when the time comes. lol

[austinaslink]

This week has been quite exciting! I am truly grateful to be in a position where I am able to acquire parts I have had my eyes on for the past few years.. I am really excited to be taking this car to the next level.

That being said, it's time for more pictures!

Here is the beautiful sight I came home to today!



The first box I dug into was the CSF Radiator that I ordered from FCP Euro. (Lifetime warranty in case of damage/leaks). I was very impressed with the packaging, and the radiator was in perfect condition. Appears to have all factory mounting locations for the fan shroud. An all around beautiful piece!





Next up was the Billet Oil Thermostat and Oil Cooler kit from Mosselman! This showed up to my doorstep less than 48 hours from ordering. From the Netherlands.. Again, packed very securely, and even came with a parts catalog and stickers!




Last, but not least! The SPEC Stage 3+ Clutch, and Steel Single Mass Flywheel! Everything came vacuum sealed and in perfect condition as well! Really excited to get this installed. I went with steel vs. aluminum to hopefully combat some of the chatter I will be introducing by going Single Mass Flywheel. Still lighter than the factory Dual Mass Flywheel though!




That's all for now! Still planning on installing everything at once, so I am stuck waiting for a few more things to arrive.

[Elderado82]

austinaslink How did you replace your BMW roundel on the steering wheel? Is that a sticker or legit roundel? I would love to know as mine is all smashed up for undisclosed reasons...

[austinaslink]

Originally Posted by Elderado82

austinaslink How did you replace your BMW roundel on the steering wheel? Is that a sticker or legit roundel? I would love to know as mine is all smashed up for undisclosed reasons...

The steering wheel roundel adheres on top of the factory roundel. It came in a kit with matching hood, trunk, and wheel cap roundels as well. Sadly, the all black roundels don't do well in direct sunlight, and fade after a while. So I removed all of the ones on the exterior, and went with OEM instead. But the steering wheel one has stayed!

I ordered mine off of Ebay believe it or not. But this looks identical to the kit I received - https://natalexauto.com/products/bmw...xoC1t8QAvD_BwE

Austin

[Elderado82]

Thanks. Great looking build by the way. Can't wait to hear how that clutch feels with the added power and bits.

[austinaslink]

Originally Posted by Elderado82

Thanks. Great looking build by the way. Can't wait to hear how that clutch feels with the added power and bits.

Thank you! I'll be sure to give my honest review of everything once complete!

[MN.BIMMER]

Could you give a rundown on the parts order for your build recently? I'm probably a year out from doing PS2 upgrade on my 1er, but am collecting as much info as I can so I can start replacing things preemptively while doing maintenance over time.

[austinaslink]

Originally Posted by MN.BIMMER

Could you give a rundown on the parts order for your build recently? I'm probably a year out from doing PS2 upgrade on my 1er, but am collecting as much info as I can so I can start replacing things preemptively while doing maintenance over time.

Absolutely! Below is a list of everything I ordered at the same time as the PS2. Some of the parts are unrelated to the turbo upgrade, and just things I have been wanting.

Most importantly when going PS2, you should run an upgraded DV, inlet pipe, outlet pipe, FMIC, chargepipe and clutch/flywheel. I also decided to replace a lot of my cooling system components at the same time since I will already be draining all fluids to do the swap.

- Pure Stage 2 Hybrid Turbocharger
- Spec Stage 3+ Clutch and Steel Flywheel
- OEM Blackline Tail Lights
- OEM Driveline Center Support Bearing
- OEM Driveshaft Guibo
- Wedge Custom Tune for 92 Oct & E50
- NEW OEM Turbo Lines –
Oil pipe inlet - 11427585402
Oil pipe outlet - 11427585403
Coolant Supply - 11537583900
Coolant Return - 11537583903

- Complete M3 Control Arms Conversion
- OEM Water Pump Replacement Kit
- OEM Thermostat – Pump Hose
- OEM Expansion Tank Hose
- OEM Upper Radiator Hose
- OEM Lower Radiator Hose
- CSF Radiator
- BMW Performance Pedal Set
- APR Spoiler Stainless Hardware Kit
- APR Spoiler GTC-200 V.2 Euro Side Plates
- Mosselmanturbo Single Oil Cooler Kit
- Hotchkis End Links
- YCW/MFactory Rear Axles
- RTD Aluminum Shifter (Silver finish, black knob, V3)
- Quaife 3.46 LSD
- Rogue Engineering Trans Mounts

- Austin

[Petro135]

Damn your going all out!!! I love it. Congrats on the new parts. As far as the roundelles. I bought the same kit from natalex, the $50 kit is the good one. I've had them on my car for 6 months with no yellowing. The cheap ebay/amazon one I also bought but turned yellow in 2 weeks and one just fell off the trunk .lol. I stuck the old steering wheel one on my nav dial and put the new one on. Not sure if you can tell the quality difference in the pics but it is a good kit. I'm a sucker for anything black I can put on my car. Lol.

[MN.BIMMER]

Originally Posted by austinaslink

Absolutely! Below is a list of everything I ordered at the same time as the PS2. Some of the parts are unrelated to the turbo upgrade, and just things I have been wanting.

Most importantly when going PS2, you should run an upgraded DV, inlet pipe, outlet pipe, FMIC, chargepipe and clutch/flywheel. I also decided to replace a lot of my cooling system components at the same time since I will already be draining all fluids to do the swap.

- Pure Stage 2 Hybrid Turbocharger
- Spec Stage 3+ Clutch and Steel Flywheel
- OEM Blackline Tail Lights
- OEM Driveline Center Support Bearing
- OEM Driveshaft Guibo
- Wedge Custom Tune for 92 Oct & E50
- NEW OEM Turbo Lines –
Oil pipe inlet - 11427585402
Oil pipe outlet - 11427585403
Coolant Supply - 11537583900
Coolant Return - 11537583903

- Complete M3 Control Arms Conversion
- OEM Water Pump Replacement Kit
- OEM Thermostat – Pump Hose
- OEM Expansion Tank Hose
- OEM Upper Radiator Hose
- OEM Lower Radiator Hose
- CSF Radiator
- BMW Performance Pedal Set
- APR Spoiler Stainless Hardware Kit
- APR Spoiler GTC-200 V.2 Euro Side Plates
- Mosselmanturbo Single Oil Cooler Kit
- Hotchkis End Links
- YCW/MFactory Rear Axles
- RTD Aluminum Shifter (Silver finish, black knob, V3)
- Quaife 3.46 LSD
- Rogue Engineering Trans Mounts

- Austin

Awesome, man! I'm sure my build (mechanically) will end up being nearly identical to yours one day! Looking forward to the rest of the progress posts!

[austinaslink]

As the parts pile continues growing, I am becoming more and more anxious to get everything installed!

Few more key components came in today.

YCW/M-Factory Sport Half-Shafts





And the Water Pump that FCP forgot to include in my first shipment. They did a good job at getting this one to me right away! I'm very impressed that my factory water pump/thermostat have held up this long! I'm at 85,000 miles on both, and they have never been changed. But nonetheless, I'm replacing both for peace of mind.



Waiting on an engine support bar to get here, along with some digital torque wrenches, and a mightyvac (for properly setting the wastegate actuator) before I begin the turbo install.

With the amount of parts accumulating, I think I am going to do the install in phases. I should have everything to do the turbo, oil cooler, radiator, and hoses next weekend.

I'm still waiting on a big shipment from ECS tuning before I can do the clutch job. So that will probably wait until the end of the month/January time frame.

[austinaslink]

Snagged a quick cellphone pic of the car while she was warming up on my way home from work yesterday. Never get tired of driving this thing!

[austinaslink]

Well, due to short days at work this week (Thanks to the Holidays), I decided to begin the Pure Stage 2 install!

Got alot done yesterday.

After cleaning and clearing out the garage, I jacked up the car, and started removing things.





I pulled the fuel pump fuse, and let the car idle until it died. This way when I restart the car, I have a chance to prime the oil system before first fire up. The new oil cooler, lines, and turbo will all be dry, so I didn't want the car running before oil had a chance to get to these things.

After I was sure the car had no fuel left in the lines, I unplugged the battery and got to work.

Engine covers/Cowl/Passenger Strut Tower Brace Removed.




Next, I drained oil and coolant. With the new VRSF Intercooler, this meant the intercooler had to be removed to get access to the radiator drain plug.



Once that was done, I pulled the radiator, and began removing the hoses. This was definitely the most time consuming part of the night. Even though I am replacing all of the coolant hoses, I didn't want to break the old ones getting them off. They were really on there! Also, the radiator was not the easiest thing to maneuver out of the engine bay! But eventually, everything was out.




Next, I tackled the turbo heat shield, downpipe, as well as the water pump and thermostat.



All of those came out relatively easily, but when I got the downpipe out, I found the weld close to the VBand flange was severely cracked! I had been hearing a very slight exhaust leak lately, and I believe this was the culprit!

Overnighted a brand new ceramic coated downpipe from VRSF to remedy this issue.




At this point, I had removed everything I wanted to for the night, and wanted to get the Mosselman oil cooler and thermostat installed before calling it. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves..






This thing fit like a glove, and looks amazing. I was nervous pulling the trigger on this, because I worried the factory ducts wouldn't line up. But everything was perfect! Very impressed with this product. Attention to detail is top notch.

Tonight, I plan on setting up the engine support bar, pulling the passenger side engine mount, and hopefully removing the turbo!

So far so good. Should be wrapped up in a few more days.

Austin

[Petro135]

Nice work!! Your moving right along

[Just Apex It]

Really impressed with the attention to detail! Pulling the fuse to the fuel pump was a brilliant idea so you can let all the fluids get to the new parts. Can't wait to hear your report back about the new oil cooler. It looks really promising and well made!

[austinaslink]

Originally Posted by Petro135

Nice work!! Your moving right along

Thanks Petro! I kept telling myself "Just a few more minutes.." and eventually it was midnight. lol

You get a chance to dial in your tune yet?

[austinaslink]

Originally Posted by Just Apex It

Really impressed with the attention to detail! Pulling the fuse to the fuel pump was a brilliant idea so you can let all the fluids get to the new parts. Can't wait to hear your report back about the new oil cooler. It looks really promising and well made!

The beauty is in the details! I know from experience that issues from big installs like this are rarely major components, but usually small overlooked details. I do my best to cover all bases! I'm looking forward to reviewing the cooler! Given that it's 85°+ daily here, I should be able to get a good idea of it's efficiency!

I believe that paired with the CSF radiator, I should be good to go on cooling. Only time will tell.

[Petro135]

Originally Posted by austinaslink

Thanks Petro! I kept telling myself "Just a few more minutes.." and eventually it was midnight. lol

You get a chance to dial in your tune yet?

Not yet on the tune still raining!!! Been like 2 weeks of solid rain. And I got an o2 sensor issue. Just got the new one today. Supposedly I will have some sunny weather for the next few days, to get some logs done

[austinaslink]

Well, after about 20 hours of work spread over the course of the week, the turbo is in! It really wasn't extremely difficult, just time consuming, and awkward to do on jackstands without removing the subframe.

I'll briefly sum up the order of events and give some details.

After getting everything removed from my last post, it was time to work on removing the turbo itself.

I borrowed an engine support bar from a friend, but it didn't have enough clearance to be able to lift the motor, allowing me to remove the passenger motor mount.

So I got creative, and ended up lifting the engine with a block of wood. Not ideal, but it did the trick! After removing the engine mount, I disconnected the turbo feed and return lines from the block. Then removed all 15 retaining nuts, and out she came!









I spent a good 45 minutes cleaning up the side of the block, all coolant and oil passages, and then removed all 15 manifold studs. The studs aren't torqued too tightly (11 NM if I remember correctly), but I still ended up breaking two of them. Vice grips made quick work of the two broken studs, and they were out!

Next, I replaced all of the studs and torqued them down to spec. After I double checked that all studs were torqued correctly, I installed the new oil and coolant lines on the Pure Turbo, set the wastegate, and mounted her up!

Lets just say, I don't recommend lifting the PS2 into place by yourself. It wasn't a fun task. That thing is much heavier than you'd expect. But none the less, I got it done.



Then it was just a matter of putting everything back the way I found it! I got all the manifold nuts bolted down to spec. Starting at 8NM, then finishing at 13NM. After the turbo was in, everything went smoothly! The new CSF Radiator fit perfectly, and all the new coolant hoses and lines snapped right into place without issue.

My wife assisted in holding my VRSF 7.5 Intercooler in place while I bolted it up, and I was basically done! The new VRSF Downpipe I ordered arrived, and fit like a charm.

I filled all the fluids, reconnected the battery, and began the coolant bleed process.

After I topped off the coolant, I let the car turn over for at least 45 seconds to prime the oil system. I'm very glad I did this step before actually firing it up! I monitored oil pressure throughout this process, and it took almost 45 seconds for pressure to start climbing above 20psi! I'm assuming this was due to the new oil cooler, lines, turbo, and empty filter housing. After oil pressure steadied, I reconnected the fuel pump fuse and got ready for the first fire up!

I flashed my custom Wedge Tuning Base Map, reset adaptations, and to no surprise, she fired right up! No fault codes, no leaks, no smoke, nothing. Immediately, I noticed the car had a deeper exhaust note. I attest this to the larger exhaust turbine and new downpipe.

I let the car get to operating temp, and shut it off. After cooling, I topped off the coolant once again, and replaced the bumper and underpanels.

I took the car out to the freeway and allowed everything to get to temp. With the new radiator and oil cooler, things stayed rock solid at about 200 for coolant temp, and 215 for oil. PERFECT!

I put the car in third gear, slowed to 2.5k RPMS and went WOT for the first log.

This thing is an absolute animal. The car pulled hard all the way to redline, holding a solid 18-19psi of boost without hesitation. A bit higher than target boost, but that's okay. Things will get worked out with the tune revisions. The car didn't misfire, fuel pressure was rock solid, AFRs were on track, and temps actually dropped throughout the pull!

I am now in the process of logging and getting my tune revised with Wedge until things are perfect. Also, I am still on the stock clutch and flywheel, which by some miracle is not slipping at all! Regardless, the Spec Clutch and Flywheel should be going in within the next few weeks.

My Quaife LSD arrived, as well as the Turner Rear Upper Strut Mounts. Can't wait to get everything else in and get the tune dialed!

Now for pictures;

[The Wind Breezes]

If you actually drive fast I like the wing. These cars get very squirrelly being manhandled when you're in triple digits.

Post more stuff on the R1 too that thing is like a Ferrari for pennies on the dollar.