Suprgnat's '13 M-Sport 128i, a mostly visual history

[Suprgnat]

At some point after painting the trim rings of the gauge cluster, I must have dinged one because it was chipped.

Turns out it was a good thing.

The paint only chipped off of the trim ring's original metallic silver ring. The aluminum-with-a-coat-of-matte paint I put on did stick beautifully to the original black of the trim ring.

A few minutes with a fingernail yielded great, crisp lines at the junction of the paint and original metallic silver. I really love how it looks.

Custom gauge faces are on order with Venoxy, LEDs are coming from Digikey, and we'll see how the red needle overlays from BluTec look.

[Suprgnat]

The person at work responsible for stuffing and repairing PCBs was kind enough to install the eight 5500k LEDs for the gauge illumination in my new (to me) instrument cluster . I also figured out how I can have white needles with the light off and red needles with the lights on. The R270 programmer is out for delivery and now I'm waiting on my custom gauge faces from Venoxy.

[Petro135]

Those are so nice. I want to get a set. Let us know how the install goes. I don't like my present oem color

[Suprgnat]

Well, my custom Venoxy gauge faces finally arrived and they look great. I lit them up with flashlights to see how they'd look with the needles.

Unfortunately, I had an equipment snafu while writing to the eeprom and it's toast. I have the original BIN file, so all's good. I have 5 new eeproms and an additional instrument cluster on its way as backup.

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

Well, my custom Venoxy gauge faces finally arrived and they look great. I lit them up with flashlights to see how they'd look with the needles.

Unfortunately, I had an equipment snafu while writing to the eeprom and it's toast. I have the original BIN file, so all's good. I have 5 new eeproms and an additional instrument cluster on its way as backup.

Those look great! Too bad about the EEPROM, do you know what happened?

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

Those look great! Too bad about the EEPROM, do you know what happened?

I didn't notice 1 pin of the eeprom clip lead was just a little pulled out (or not fully inserted in to) the clip. I got a clean copy of the BIN first, at least.

I noticed that the VIN was written in clear text in that line you said should be all FF or something. Does it work to just change the VIN with the hex editor?

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

I didn't notice 1 pin of the eeprom clip lead was just a little pulled out (or not fully inserted in to) the clip. I got a clean copy of the BIN first, at least.

I noticed that the VIN was written in clear text in that line you said should be all FF or something. Does it work to just change the VIN with the hex editor?

I don't think it works to simply write your VIN straight to it, I think it has to be cleared.

[Suprgnat]

I've been wanting to do this for a while and finally got all the bits together. Because I'm unwilling, at this point, to relocate the washer bottle filler-neck mounting bracket (WBFNMB) this is my compromise. BMW nicely marks their parts with the part's material code and it turns out the stock M3 strut brace arms are a 6000 series aluminum. That made modifying them a lot easier. The cross bar is 2024 aluminum. All have been treated with Alodine 1201, but the 2024 sure reacted more to it! The rod ends are 8mm rated at 7000 pounds and all the fasteners are grade 5 titanium (just because). The LHS bracket extends inward more than the RHS to clear the vacuum hose.

[Petro135]

Love this thread so well documented and laid out.
Beautiful car too!!!

[WDE82]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

I've been wanting to do this for a while and finally got all the bits together. Because I'm unwilling, at this point, to relocate the washer bottle filler-neck mounting bracket (WBFNMB) this is my compromise. BMW nicely marks their parts with the part's material code and it turns out the stock M3 strut brace arms are a 6000 series aluminum. That made modifying them a lot easier. The cross bar is 2024 aluminum. All have been treated with Alodine 1201, but the 2024 sure reacted more to it! The rod ends are 8mm rated at 7000 pounds and all the fasteners are grade 5 titanium (just because). The LHS bracket extends inward more than the RHS to clear the vacuum hose.

Love the progress!

Just a word on using dissimilar metals:

That titanium may cold weld itself to aluminum and steel. I'd probably replace the hardware with zinc coated steel to prevent this or you won't be able to take those bolts out, ever. The threads in the body are uncoated steel so that'll really stick. The bolt flange may or may not stick to the aluminum if it scratched through the alodine (probably OK on the aluminum).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvan...n#Anodic_index

Also FWIW, 7075 aluminum is almost as stiff as 2024 (72 GPa vs 73 GPa) and probably much more readily available. It'll also act more like 6061 for various processes.

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by WDE82

Love the progress!

Just a word on using dissimilar metals:

That titanium may cold weld itself to aluminum and steel. I'd probably replace the hardware with zinc coated steel to prevent this or you won't be able to take those bolts out, ever. The threads in the body are uncoated steel so that'll really stick. The bolt flange may or may not stick to the aluminum if it scratched through the alodine (probably OK on the aluminum).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvan...n#Anodic_index

Also FWIW, 7075 aluminum is almost as stiff as 2024 (72 GPa vs 73 GPa) and probably much more readily available. It'll also act more like 6061 for various processes.

Thanks!

I'm not too worried about galvanic corrosion in this environment. Maybe if it was Wet Nellie.
Al was sourced from McMaster-Carr. Doesn't get much easier than that.

[lab_rat]

What a beautiful 1er. Wonderfully detailed, and the best quality setup I've seen. My favorite by far.

[gotcha43]

I Really LOVE your attention to Detail!

Did the 130i rear axle mod to my 125i 3 years ago. Very nice Mod!

[jaydieu]

super clean lemans build! curious to know where you got your front lip from?

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by jaydieu

super clean lemans build! curious to know where you got your front lip from?

I'm not running a front lip, just the stock front M-Sport bumper.

[jaydieu]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

I'm not running a front lip, just the stock front M-Sport bumper.

i was referring to this one

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by jaydieu

i was referring to this one

Gotcha! I didn't keep it long for no reason other than it's "not my style". Quality product.

Flow Designs Australia is the vendor.

https://flowdesignsaustralia.com/

[jaydieu]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

Gotcha! I didn't keep it long for no reason other than it's "not my style". Quality product.

Flow Designs Australia is the vendor.

https://flowdesignsaustralia.com/

ahh yeah i've seen their products before but i wasn't sure about shipping costs from australia. thanks though!

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

Those look great! Too bad about the EEPROM, do you know what happened?

Apparently it was the first R270+ that fried, not the EEPROM. Second R270+ was DOA. Third R270+ did the trick; the cluster is coded and ready for re-assembly and install.

I did end up using the second cluster I bought, though. The second cluster (and my stock cluster) have "squiggly lines" and "squiggly lines OFF" warning lights for the traction control, whereas the first cluster I bought (pre-LCI I presume) has "DCT" and "DCT OFF" warning light (and in different positions on the cluster

Now I need to finish up the custom instrument binnacle (V1). Just waiting on some parts from Digikey.

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by gotcha43

I Really LOVE your attention to Detail!

Did the 130i rear axle mod to my 125i 3 years ago. Very nice Mod!

Sure helps to eliminate under steer.

[chris_flies]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

Apparently it was the first R270+ that fried, not the EEPROM. Second R270+ was DOA. Third R270+ did the trick; the cluster is coded and ready for re-assembly and install.

I did end up using the second cluster I bought, though. The second cluster (and my stock cluster) have "squiggly lines" and "squiggly lines OFF" warning lights for the traction control, whereas the first cluster I bought (pre-LCI I presume) has "DCT" and "DCT OFF" warning light (and in different positions on the cluster

Now I need to finish up the custom instrument binnacle (V1). Just waiting on some parts from Digikey.

Weird.

I found that my M3 cluster has a burnt-out circuit trace, which explains my faulty ambient temperature reading. Tried repairing it myself, but it's just too small for me to do. I ended up securing the cluster semi-properly in the dash with zip-ties (my hero). I need to find a better solution for it. I'd love to put the M3 cluster's guts into a 135i housing so it fits properly and can be bolted in properly as well. Oh well...

I also had a DISA valve pop open, so I rebuilt that today. Lots of things to do before my 1,300 mile road trip this weekend. I'm a little stressed

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by chris_flies

I ended up securing the cluster semi-properly in the dash with zip-ties (my hero). I need to find a better solution for it. I'd love to put the M3 cluster's guts into a 135i housing so it fits properly and can be bolted in properly as well. Oh well...

It looks like if you pop the lens off of the 135i cluster it will pop right on to the M3 cluster. The back (black) plastic cover that the lens assembly clips to is the same part.

Edit: though it may not have enough room at the bottom to clear the lower edges of the speedo and tach bezels.