What did you do to/for your 1er today?

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by 1and1

I know, right.....

I keep trying to save people from the lame "me too" style wheels, but nooooo, everybody "knows what they're doing"....

Hell, ask Matt, I selflessly volunteered to save him from that horrible look several times and he was bound and determined to rock the same look as al the other sheeple.






Sigh...
I really want a set of those wheels. That look is just so iconic to me....

You're all heart... lol

Yeah, the classic look of the CSL style replica wheels is great, but everybody makes them and practically everybody who buys aftermarket wheels for their 1er chooses them. So most 1 series cars with aftermarket wheels look the same.

Granted, some are better looking (and lighter and better made) than others, but still the same general look. I also see them on Mustangs, Corvettes, everything.















PS - I wouldn't mind a set either, just for a change of pace.

[YearOneOne]

Originally Posted by 1and1

I know, right.....

I keep trying to save people from the lame "me too" style wheels, but nooooo, everybody "knows what they're doing"....

Hell, ask Matt, I selflessly volunteered to save him from that horrible look several times and he was bound and determined to rock the same look as al the other sheeple.






Sigh...
I really want a set of those wheels. That look is just so iconic to me....

I agree they are the best looking wheel for the car period. I want to do a wider square set up but I will happily rocking a set over 313s over anything else

[db135]

Originally Posted by 1and1

Dude....
DUDE.....

Those wheels will never work for your 135, the look is all wrong....
I'll swap with you cause I'm a nice guy....

Haha! I award you an "A" for effort! :-)

[iminhell1]

Parked it and watched everyone around me race.

... someone had to direct traffic.


Oh, and CTSV's with traction on are S L O W, at any speed.

[Jace253]

Just get a set of custom wheels made and you don't have to look like everyone else.. Just gonna cost ya an arm and a leg..

[Suprgnat]

New Start/Stop button. Mini review in the Cosmetic Mods section with more pictures.

[desertman123]

Got the headers in. What a pain in the ass.

But they sound great! I barely got a chance to test them out though, had to head to work almost right after

[gary_william]

New tires on order. B.F. Goodrich g force comp 2AS. Arrive tuesday.

[chadillac2000]

Spent all day correcting paint, applying wax, changing oil, and reminiscing on the past 4,000 miles with my single turbo N54 135i.

Two months ago today, I began tearing down my 135i in order to remove my failing stock turbos and convert the car to a single turbo using ACF's N54 kit. Three weeks later, working on and off during my spare time, the install was complete. Over the subsequent five weeks between that first fire up and now, I've racked up 3,750 miles of use, broken in the clutch fully, learned how to drive the car over again with all the new hardware, and had to iron out the inevitable kinks involved with a project of this magnitude.

Since I had some free time today, and won't have much in the foreseeable future, I took the opportunity to take advantage of the nice weather and perform my annual polish and wax. Even though this car is a daily in all sense of the word and has spent every day and night outdoors for over two years now, I still like to keep the exterior looking mint. And since I'm transitioning to shorter oil change intervals now that I only have one turbo, even though it had been less than 4,000 miles and only 5 weeks since the N54 had gotten some fresh Motul and a new Mann, it was also time to do my first oil change.



I've already detailed the steps I use to paint correct and seal my car earlier in my build thread, but after buffing diligently for many hours, I had something to show for my hard work. Not too bad for now having over 106,000 miles on the odometer.













After spending so much seat time in such a short time, and in my previously used "stream of consciousness" style, here are my thoughts on owning a single turbo N54 135i, and in particular the 6062 ball bearing PTE turbo using AC Fabrication's kit:

• For the first two weeks of single turbo life, I was plagued by o2 sensor issues. I had purchased and installed ADV sensors specifically for this conversion, but for whatever reason, I could not get them to cooperate with my IJEOS ECU. After pulling my hair out over possible culprits, I finally installed a set of NTK o2 sensors and my problem was solved so I could start enjoying the car. Those NTK sensors haven't skipped a beat since.
  
• The Spec Stage 2+ clutch proved problem free while breaking everything in, and it was quite easy to learn the new engagement points. In comparison with the OEM clutch, pedal pressure has increased slightly, and everything grabs a bit harder once it reaches the engagement point. All in all, I don't have many complaints about my clutch choice. The combination of the UCP, shifter mods, and lack of a CDV, make gear engagement buttery smooth.
  
• The MFactory steel SMFW on the other hand, has been the aspect of this build I've been the least keen on. Using MHD to raise the idle of my car to 950 has kept the "marbles in a can" sound many describe at bay for the most part, but this can be still be heard slightly with the AC on or if RPMs dip while taking off from a stop in 1st gear. While this is very easy to live with, the noticeable NVH caused by the SMFW at low RPMs in first gear was somewhat disappointing and surprising. This gets worse after shifting into 2nd gear after the RPMs fall again and low throttle is applied. That NVH during low-speed driving has been my biggest gripe yet, but doesn't manage to ruin the entire driving experience. Hopefully in the future, we'll have an option to ditch the SMFW and high HP misfires.
  
• I've closely monitored engine activity through the JB4 Mobile App, and shared a bunch of the logs I've collected across numerous forums to get feedback and make sure things were looking okay. I had intentions of running an ethanol blend for added safety and more power, but as I progressed the wastegate spring boost of 15psi up to map 2's 17psi, it wasn't long before I saw I was running out of fuel from the HPFP side on E30 fuel at 17psi. Since then, I've tapered back the fuel to E25 to take some stress of the HPFP, and opted to just daily drive on 15psi. For the time being, I'm content with running this low boost map, but more than likely I'll add one of the upcoming intake manifold upgrades with integrated port injection once I get bored at this power level. For the record, things feel far faster at 15psi through the 6062 than 20psi + inlets felt through the stock twins.
  
• The Phoenix Race FMIC is pretty unbeatable it seems. I've yet to see a log where IAT hasn't went down during a pull. My VRSF 7" non-HD FMIC would result in a large increase over a multiple gear pull when I was FBO. I'm also enjoying the stealthy black finish I gave it before installing.
  
• By pairing the same catless N54 midpipe with Vibrant resonators and MadDad Whisper axleback that I'd been using for a while now with all the new single turbo hardware, the exhaust note is much improved. At idle and during normal driving, things are very tame. But any heavy application of the throttle and all hell breaks loose. Airplane style spool up sounds, a terrific throaty growl out of the rear end, and external wastegate dumps that make me smile every time. Natural run over or "burble" isn't as audible as it was with the twin turbos; not sure of the cause of the reduction--I've never used the MHD option and don't intend to. The common comparison to the 2JZ exhaust note from single turbo N54s is not exaggerated, they certainly share similarities. For a daily driver, I wouldn't change a thing sound wise. Plus no there's no sound pollution from rattling wastegates, nor do I have to worry about there being any in the future.
  
• On the topic of being a daily driver, switching to a single turbo has only seemed to improve overall functionality and fun. Since the conversion I've been averaging 21.9 miles per gallon on a variety of low percentage ethanol blends between E20-E40. Oil temperatures are consistently lower. The large amounts of smoke and terrible smells of burning oil I used to be embarrassed by regularly are a thing of the past. There are no lights on the dash, and no functions were lost during the conversion. Drivability with the BMS ST E85 TS THR BEF is even better than I thought it would be, and the cruise control feature is even smoother than it was with the OEM twin turbo configuration. Four days a week I take this car on a 3 hour round trip, and it hasn't hiccuped once. Earlier this week I drove the car for 7 hours straight in a variety of different driving conditions with nothing negative to note. I'm impressed.

I need to pick up a GoPro in order to get some better in-car footage, but here's a quick video I was able to make this afternoon including some start up action, walk around, some idle/revs, as well as a quick pull at the end . I wanted to get some audio of the exhaust at full throttle, as well as the external wastegates, so please excuse the fact I had to use my front facing iPhone camera to do so.

[Zombie_Head]

Messing around with tire pressure on the new tires.

Went from 2.5 bar all round to 2.7 bar all round, will check again this evening when the sun goes down. Noticeably stiffer but just a bit, hit 230 kms on new rubber so i started to push a bit on the autobahn. Saw 160-170 km/hr and it was stable, no bouncing/floaty feel, but i will not really push corners till i get 400 kms broken in.

Alignment is booked for Wednesday, then will replace the discs and pads all round.

[1and1]

Good tires combined with good brakes are a wonderful thing! Hope you get great results! What pads & rotors are you looking at?


The rest of my suspension project bits & pieces came in yesterday! All happy

Also, we had the 1er out on it's first road trip, The Wife and I spent the last couple of days at a beach house for our 21st wedding anniversary.(Everybody say "Happy Anniversary Eric & Lisa!") Two nights won in a silent auction benefiting a local good cause (Children's Home Society). Bid $274, and got 2 nights in a gorgeous 3 story beach house. We checked normal rates for the house- Normally goes for well over $300 a night! Got to love a good tax write-off...

Worth noting that it was what we call a "post hurricane build" house, meaning that first floor is ~15 feet over ground elevation.

So, climb stairs to main entry & first floor. Then stairs to second floor, then more stairs to third floor master suite.

It was awesome, with outstanding views.



Also, fuck stairs....
OMG
If I never see another set of stairs it'll be too soon.
But the view from up there was outstanding!

[desertman123]

Got the headers in!!

Surprisingly tame with a muffler delete - idle is silent, and just cruising is very light too. But once I get on that throttle

Still need to get a tune though, but that'll be soon

[iminhell1]

Have a HPDE coming up Friday afternoon.
So I guess i should buy some new brake pads, to be safe. And I'll do a flush too since I have a stockpile of new fluid.
So that's my plan so long as the mailman brings presents on Thursday.

Just washing floormats, vacuuming and doing general cleaning since we have a nice weekend and I've nothing really else to do.

There's actually a bunch of maintenance stuff I should do in the coming weeks, should have done it over Winter but it's cold; and I don't have all the parts yet. For example, I should do a trans filter/fluid. But I also want to remove the stock cooler and replace with a bigger one. To do that correct I need the manual trans coolant pipe, it's to costly new and ebay is bad too. So I just haven't bothered to look for one. Then I need trans hose to the cooler, decide what fittings I want.
Have to pull the bumper; well I have a 1M rep in the garage I was going to put on since I had to pull it anyways. But after seeing one on a car in person I don't think I'll use it. Will be too low to the ground and I know I'll break it. Not worth the risk. A nice diffuser/lip sounds better.


I overthink everything and then procrastinate about it.

[1and1]

Originally Posted by iminhell1

Have to pull the bumper; well I have a 1M rep in the garage I was going to put on since I had to pull it anyways. But after seeing one on a car in person I don't think I'll use it. Will be too low to the ground and I know I'll break it. Not worth the risk. A nice diffuser/lip sounds better.

Clearance to the ground is 6.5" for stock bumper, 4.75" for the rep

Pics are in the install post found here
https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1285727

no pics? Look for Photobucket Hotlink, available for FF, Chrome and Opera

[chris_flies]

Just finished an awesome weekend at Summit Point with NASA!

The car performed beautifully, and oil temps didn't even touch 240*F at 70*F outside! Car was stable and turned in nicely, but God almighty my tires squeal like hungry swine! I backed off when I heard squealing, which was the wrong thing to do, as the squealing was simply indicating that I was NEARING the limit of adhesion, not crossing it, as my initial thoughts kept telling me.

I'm not the fastest in existence, by far, but, I had a lot of fun, and found various weaknesses in my car. OEM BMW pads just don't cut it, 'nuff said. A set of EBC Yellows are in the mail already, so that'll be sorted before the next event (hopefully that'll be HyperFest, if scheduling permits). A little less important, though, my alignment seemed to slip a tiny bit towards the end, and I think it's time to do some bushing replacement because it just felt really soft.

[db135]

I installed the BMS oil catch can yesterday on my N54. Hmm ... I know I'm swimming upstream on this, but I'm just not impressed with this device. Sure, the catch can itself is well made. But those anaconda hoses are ridiculously bulky. But most irritating is the location where the OCC is mounted. So awkward/ inaccessible.

I should perhaps have waited for the Mishimoto unit, but it was out of stock for a long time, and so I gave up.

Btw, if anyone is thinking of installing the BMS setup, I recommend NOT using scissors/snips to cut back tab on the engine cover. That cover is surprisingly brittle and will snap in unwanted directions.

[Gray_Panther]

Spent two hours flushing the brake fluid for the first time in my life by myself.
The job will definitely be easier if the car was on stands or quickjack. Most of my time was spent setting up the floorjack and the catch-bottle.
Surprisingly the fluid was not that hazy even after four years since BMW flushed my brake fluid while I was still in my worry free warranty/maintenance days.

And then I gave it a thorough wash.

[Dat Aus]

Just replaced my index 08 injectors with 6 new index 12s.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

Just finished an awesome weekend at Summit Point with NASA!

The car performed beautifully, and oil temps didn't even touch 240*F at 70*F outside! Car was stable and turned in nicely, but God almighty my tires squeal like hungry swine! I backed off when I heard squealing, which was the wrong thing to do, as the squealing was simply indicating that I was NEARING the limit of adhesion, not crossing it, as my initial thoughts kept telling me.

I'm not the fastest in existence, by far, but, I had a lot of fun, and found various weaknesses in my car. OEM BMW pads just don't cut it, 'nuff said. A set of EBC Yellows are in the mail already, so that'll be sorted before the next event (hopefully that'll be HyperFest, if scheduling permits). A little less important, though, my alignment seemed to slip a tiny bit towards the end, and I think it's time to do some bushing replacement because it just felt really soft.

Nice driving Chris. Looks like a lot of fun!

[bmw1racer]

Originally Posted by Gray_Panther

Spent two hours flushing the brake fluid for the first time in my life by myself.
The job will definitely be easier if the car was on stands or quickjack. Most of my time was spent setting up the floorjack and the catch-bottle.
Surprisingly the fluid was not that hazy even after four years since BMW flushed my brake fluid while I was still in my worry free warranty/maintenance days.

And then I gave it a thorough wash.

For a minute there, I thought you were displaying your specimen before it goes off to the lab.

[icegrill]

Originally Posted by Gray_Panther

Spent two hours flushing the brake fluid for the first time in my life by myself.
The job will definitely be easier if the car was on stands or quickjack. Most of my time was spent setting up the floorjack and the catch-bottle.
Surprisingly the fluid was not that hazy even after four years since BMW flushed my brake fluid while I was still in my worry free warranty/maintenance days.

And then I gave it a thorough wash.

Did you lift each wheel at a time? That’s what I think I’m going to do.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by bmw1racer

For a minute there, I thought you were displaying your specimen before it goes off to the lab.

I was gonna say, that's quite a lot for a drug test.