Budget N52 track/daily refresh build

[apexwerks]

Originally Posted by Mike Whitney

Nice writeup so far! As a fellow E46 M3 convertible + E82 128i owner who must live just down the road from you (western Cary) I'll wave hello if I ever see you out and about. My 128i (6mt) is a similar bruised and battered fixer-upper that I will be giving to my daughter when she turns 16

FWIW I completely agree that the cowl needs to be removed to do the valve cover gasket. And in retrospect I probably should have dropped the subframe for the oil pan, but I did make it work.

Hit me up if you ever need tools or anything -- I also have a tire changer in my shed that I rent out for IPAs

Thanks, Mike! I will almost certainly take you up on that...

My M3 is a Phoenix Yellow convertible. I *think* it's the only one in the area.

[apexwerks]

Up next... a few interior improvements. When I bought the car, the interior trim was mismatched (some pieces in glacier silver, some in woodgrain. The base seats were tired and worn, and so was the steering wheel trim and leather. I don't go in for flashy interior mods, but I would like the place I spend the most time to be squared away.

In a past project, I retrofit powered sport seats into a base E46, and I'd rather not do that again. It was a lot of work to get all the functions working, and from what I can tell with the E8x it's even more work if you want a stock-looking retrofit. So I started hunting for a set of manual, heated sport seats from an E82 or a E92. Found a pair of E92 M3 manual heated seats up at MParts in NJ. They were kind enough to ship them to a freight terminal nearby, and the guys there helped me pull them off the pallet and load them in the back of the station wagon.



Got them home and unloaded, and they looked even better than expected. There's a little creasing on the left driver's side bolster, but other than that they might be new.



The manual, heated LCI E9x and E8x apparently use the exact same seat modules and connectors, so I swapped my seat modules over to the new M3 seats. Everything plugged right up, and they fit perfectly. They're a huge improvement in comfort and for aggressive driving over the base seats.

Next, steering wheel. The leather was scratched and worn on the stock wheel, and the trim panel had a lot of wear. First, I tried wrapping the trim panel and reinstalling it, but I wasn't happy with the way it turned out. I used the same wrap on the mismatched trim pieces, hoping it was close enough to the glacier silver that it wouldn't stick out as much, but it didn't really work out.



I was getting ready to pull the trigger on a new alcantara insert, when I stumbled across a used M3 wheel with a dirty alcantara insert already installed.



It was $200 vs the $100 I was planning to pay for the insert alone, but the leather looked in much better shape so I went for it.

It arrived in really good shape, with the only wear I could see on the top of the wheel between 11 and 1 o'clock. I degreased the wheel and the insert, wet sanded the worn spot from 400 grit up to 2000, and sprayed it with SEM Color Coat. I kept the rest of the wheel (including the M-color stitching) taped off. If you look really closely you can see the black isn't a perfect match, but it's close enough for a daily driver.

I also degreased and brushed the alcantara, and it responded beautifully.







I'll try to get some installed pictures later today.

[2008e92328i]

GREAT job! I'd like to do everything you're doing, but I'm broke!

[apexwerks]

Does anyone know of someone who can help me virginize a new cluster? I've tried to follow the Chrisflies DIY, got the cluster pulled apart and have a R270 but I can't get it to communicate with the chip. It could be my install, could be the R270, or could be the fact that it's a newer chip.

Any ideas?

[ArtWillTravel]

Blown away here! Great work on this build and I'm truly impressed.

[taslaughtery]

Great thread! You're doing a lot of stuff I plan to do, although I bought a well taken care of example last fall so I haven't had to do anything yet, just drive! I'm waiting on new gauge faces then I'm going through the same DIY on the cluster, so I can't be of any help, but should be doing it in the next week or two. Have you tried fitting any 17" wheels over the 335i brake swap? I want to do it but I don't want to have to replace my summer and winter wheel sets...

[apexwerks]

Originally Posted by taslaughtery

Great thread! You're doing a lot of stuff I plan to do, although I bought a well taken care of example last fall so I haven't had to do anything yet, just drive! I'm waiting on new gauge faces then I'm going through the same DIY on the cluster, so I can't be of any help, but should be doing it in the next week or two. Have you tried fitting any 17" wheels over the 335i brake swap? I want to do it but I don't want to have to replace my summer and winter wheel sets...

Thanks!

Yes, I’d really appreciate the help… are you going to virginize a used cluster or put new faces on your current one?

I still have my old 17s. If I get some time this weekend I’ll test fit in the front and let you know.

[apexwerks]

Up next... bumpers. The previous owner looks to have done most of their parking by touch, so all the corners were scraped and scratched. There's a guy locally that does a lot of BMW projects, including an amazing E39 M5 clone that looks perfect. Here's a shot of the M5 when I dropped off my bumpers:



Here are the bumpers as they stand today.







I'm really pleased with his work. I'll pick them up this afternoon, and if the weather holds I have a buddy coming over tomorrow to help me get them mounted without scratching.

[taslaughtery]

I'm swapping in a used cluster. The new faces were delivered today so I'm aiming to have it done this weekend! I was surprised as they were in Germany last night, shipped from Poland originally. I'll have to post some pics I'm really impressed with the quality of them. I've got the cluster pulled apart just need to start hooking it up to the laptop.

[apexwerks]

Originally Posted by taslaughtery

I'm swapping in a used cluster. The new faces were delivered today so I'm aiming to have it done this weekend! I was surprised as they were in Germany last night, shipped from Poland originally. I'll have to post some pics I'm really impressed with the quality of them. I've got the cluster pulled apart just need to start hooking it up to the laptop.

Sweet! Can't wait to see pics. If you are able to successfully virginize your cluster, would you be willing to help with mine if mail it to you/paid you appropriately?

[taslaughtery]

Well... bad news. I think my R270 programmer is dead. With power it does nothing but beep every second, no lights blinking and the serial never shows up in the program so it isn't communicating. Looking back in threads it seems multiple people have had the issue where they are just DOA. Where are you stuck? Is your programmer working? I was hoping to have it done tonight but doesn't look like it. I'd order another but it took so long to get here in the first place!

[apexwerks]

Originally Posted by taslaughtery

Well... bad news. I think my R270 programmer is dead. With power it does nothing but beep every second, no lights blinking and the serial never shows up in the program so it isn't communicating. Looking back in threads it seems multiple people have had the issue where they are just DOA. Where are you stuck? Is your programmer working? I was hoping to have it done tonight but doesn't look like it. I'd order another but it took so long to get here in the first place!

I had exactly the same experience. All connections were good, but the unit would never establish a connection to the EEPROM. Just sat there a beeped. I’m fighting with the seller to get my money back, and I think I’m just going to pay someone to do it for me.

[apexwerks]

Originally Posted by taslaughtery

Great thread! You're doing a lot of stuff I plan to do, although I bought a well taken care of example last fall so I haven't had to do anything yet, just drive! I'm waiting on new gauge faces then I'm going through the same DIY on the cluster, so I can't be of any help, but should be doing it in the next week or two. Have you tried fitting any 17" wheels over the 335i brake swap? I want to do it but I don't want to have to replace my summer and winter wheel sets...

taslaughtery the 17" wheels are a no-go. I did a quick test fit this afternoon, and it's not happening. The 18's only have a bit of clearance over the 335i brakes:



The 17's are so tight both ends of the caliper directly hit the barrel of the wheel:

[taslaughtery]

I haven't given up yet, I swear when I bought mine there weren't any on Amazon but now they have multiple for sale with free returns so I'm expecting another in a few days. I'll keep you posted on my progress. I did find an old post from someone selling plug-n-play 135i clusters with a core charge, I'll see if I can find it again.

[taslaughtery]

Originally Posted by apexwerks

taslaughtery the 17" wheels are a no-go. I did a quick test fit this afternoon, and it's not happening. The 18's only have a bit of clearance over the 335i brakes:



The 17's are so tight both ends of the caliper directly hit the barrel of the wheel:

I appreciate you trying! I've been trying to cross reference wheels that fit the 335i and come in an offset that fits the 1er but they are few and far between! Guess I'll just have to bite the bullet eventually.

[apexwerks]

Originally Posted by taslaughtery

I appreciate you trying! I've been trying to cross reference wheels that fit the 335i and come in an offset that fits the 1er but they are few and far between! Guess I'll just have to bite the bullet eventually.

If you're going to go whole hog like I did and swap in 335 wheel carriers and hubs, I believe any E90 wheel will fit. The only difference - I think - between the E8x and the E9x is the wider rear track on the E8x. The 335i hubs and carriers give you the E9x rear track and I believe you can run any E9x wheel set that clears the calipers.

[apexwerks]

Got the bumpers back on yesterday. Need to do a little tweaking in a couple of places to get the fit exactly right, but the color match is dead on. It's probably going to be a couple of weeks till I touch anything on the car, but I did get my order in for a set of Bilstein B8s, and I'm going to give up and send my cluster off to be virginized. Looks like I just got a defective R270, and I'm too impatient to wait another month for a second one to come from China to see if it works.

Here's where she sits today:

[mike5124]

What kind of cluster are you putting in? In my 325i I was able to pull the gauges faces and needles from a used 335i cluster and drop them into my 325i cluster. Didn't have to virginize anything, just code in oil temp functionality and scale the tachometer correctly with Perfekt Toolbox. Works perfectly, the cluster was simple to take apart on the E90s.

[apexwerks]

Originally Posted by mike5124

What kind of cluster are you putting in? In my 325i I was able to pull the gauges faces and needles from a used 335i cluster and drop them into my 325i cluster. Didn't have to virginize anything, just code in oil temp functionality and scale the tachometer correctly with Perfekt Toolbox. Works perfectly, the cluster was simple to take apart on the E90s.

Thanks, Mike! That was where I started and it would have been a lot simpler if I'd just stayed there. The siren song of an M3 cluster got me - that sweet dynamic redline was too much to say "no" to. So I've got a disassembled M3 cluster sitting on my desk just taunting me.

[apexwerks]

Originally Posted by taslaughtery

I haven't given up yet, I swear when I bought mine there weren't any on Amazon but now they have multiple for sale with free returns so I'm expecting another in a few days. I'll keep you posted on my progress. I did find an old post from someone selling plug-n-play 135i clusters with a core charge, I'll see if I can find it again.

Thanks, taslaughtery ! I'll hold off on paying someone off eBay... if you figure it out, I'll either pay you to do it or copy what you did. Thanks!

[apexwerks]

Big thanks to taslaughtery. I was able to get a refund via eBay for the R270 I bought directly from China, and re-purchased a new R270 from Amazon from the seller he recommended. It's supposed to get here Tuesday, and I'll give virginizing the M3 cluster one more shot. If this doesn't work I'll give up and send it off to have someone else do it.

I've actually been driving the car this week, rather than wrenching on it, and man what a fun car this 128i has turned into! It's been very cold here and I'm on UHP tires, so I haven't been aggressive, but it's still a tremendously balanced and fun machine. I'm getting to the place where I prefer it over my E46 M3.

Also, a full set of Bilstein B8s should come this week courtesy of RockAuto. I'm targeting getting that job done in February.

Finally, the 3.73 rear end might come back out. I'm getting some driveline clunking that I wasn't before, and I've triple checked torque everywhere. Either it's the rigid bushings transmitting noise that was always there but masked, or the diff is in poorer shape than it appeared. Either way I've enjoyed the down-low benefits of the gearing, but I'm constantly reaching for another gear that's not there. Maybe something like a 3.64 would be perfect, but the 3.73 just doesn't feel like it suits the car. So I'm planning to swap the stocker back in and see if change my mind and/or the noise goes away.

[Ab28]

Originally Posted by apexwerks

Big thanks to taslaughtery. I was able to get a refund via eBay for the R270 I bought directly from China, and re-purchased a new R270 from Amazon from the seller he recommended. It's supposed to get here Tuesday, and I'll give virginizing the M3 cluster one more shot. If this doesn't work I'll give up and send it off to have someone else do it.

I've actually been driving the car this week, rather than wrenching on it, and man what a fun car this 128i has turned into! It's been very cold here and I'm on UHP tires, so I haven't been aggressive, but it's still a tremendously balanced and fun machine. I'm getting to the place where I prefer it over my E46 M3.

Also, a full set of Bilstein B8s should come this week courtesy of RockAuto. I'm targeting getting that job done in February.

Finally, the 3.73 rear end might come back out. I'm getting some driveline clunking that I wasn't before, and I've triple checked torque everywhere. Either it's the rigid bushings transmitting noise that was always there but masked, or the diff is in poorer shape than it appeared. Either way I've enjoyed the down-low benefits of the gearing, but I'm constantly reaching for another gear that's not there. Maybe something like a 3.64 would be perfect, but the 3.73 just doesn't feel like it suits the car. So I'm planning to swap the stocker back in and see if change my mind and/or the noise goes away.

I have a 3.64 diff. It's probably my favorite part of the car.

Coming from a number of M cars I find myself greatly preferring the 128i. The lightweight nature (mine's pretty stripped) cannot be underestimated. The car feels so much more fun to drive. I also hold agility in a higher regard than power. Other than the diff I have the stage 3 intake, tune, catless headers, Autosolutions shifter, F30 335i front brakes and more. It's a hoot.

Love seeing your thread progress.