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10-24-2016, 05:57 AM | #1 |
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vMPM's Sparkling Graphite 130i
Hi all, I am 21 from Melbourne, Australia.
I grew up in a BMW family and have always loved BMWs. My first car was an E36 328i manual coupe. I went to a trackday and got hooked and started modifying the car quite extensively for track use. Eventually it got to the point where it was too low, too loud and received too much attention from the police to drive it every day. Here are some photos of the E36: If anyone would like to some more info on the E36, check out my Wheelwell or PH build thread: https://wheelwell.com/profile/555162...300b3f/garage/ http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/t...f=47&t=1570389 I then bought a fully optioned, last model year manual VW V5 Bora off my best mate as a daily driver. I owned both cars concurrently for a few months. I then got to the point where I made a shopping list of parts to finish building my E36. This list added up to $8,000. At that point I thought it would be incredibly stupid of me to tip that money into the car (especially considering I had already spent quite a lot on it). So I decided I would put the car up for sale because I knew I would want to keep modifying it haha. I ended up getting a great price for the car and sold it even though I was attached to it - it was my first car and made so many great memories in it. The plan then was to buy an s2000 to replace the E36 as my track/weekend car. I then spent 6 months looking for an s2000. Then after test driving an s2000 I decided I didn’t want one anymore. Whilst it would have been great fun on track, it wasn’t fun to drive on the road unless you were in VTEC (which means you are at immediate loss of licence speeds), it was a bad road car (noise, drivability, space etc) and you couldn’t slide it. So that day I decided on a whim to look at manual 130i’s for sale. I was pleasantly surprised to see they had a dropped a bit in price since I last looked a year or so ago. All of a sudden I got rather excited about the prospect of a 130i, it would be; a great driver’s car with an awesome engine, somewhat ugly but unique and cool and a great daily driver. That day, a 130i was posted to carsales. I loved the spec (I wanted a light interior and something other than black after my E36) and decided I had to have it. Some info on the car: 2006 M-Sport Manual 106,000km All options except for front parking sensors, nav (neither of which care for) and heated seats (which I miss from my Bora haha) Full service history The owner was a great guy (a young BMW enthusiast who owned an E30 M3, E36 M3, Alpina E30, E21 and a 944 S2) and the car had a full service history. Before I knew it I had booked flights up to Sydney to buy the car and drive it home. On 15 October 2016 I flew up to Sydney with my girlfriend and bought the car. I then drove it all the way home to Melbourne. We checked out a couple of Sydney beaches and then drove Royal Nasho before heading to the Hume. It was a long day (woke up at 0430 and got home at 2215) but it was a heap of fun, the car performed brilliantly. Here are some photos from the road trip: A few days after I bought the car, Nick and I went for a spirited drive and photoshoot in the countryside. Here is an unedited iPhone photo of me playing with Nick’s camera, and a few of Nick’s proper shots (check out NM Photography on Facebook and @nmphtg on Instagram): My plans for the car I plan to daily drive the car and track it semi-regularly. I’ll modify it slowly as I’m really enjoying driving a stock car for a change haha. I’ll decide what mods to do after tracking the car stock and seeing what areas I think need to be improved and in what order. At a guess, this is my future mod list (in order of priority): Tyres Exhaust LSD Brakes Coils Camber parts Wide, square wheels and tyres |
10-24-2016, 06:17 AM | #2 |
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Nice mate, looks like a good buy! Enjoyed the story and photos too. Will keep an eye on the progress
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10-24-2016, 07:47 AM | #4 |
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Welcome aboard.
Plenty of 1er's guys here that can offer a lot of advice for you. Since you are Melbourne based, here's a thread you might like to follow for future events. All are welcome to attend. http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1275655 Saw your post on BCA and they also run events throughout the year aswell, they are a great group to be part of too. |
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10-24-2016, 07:41 PM | #7 |
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Welcome! Looks like a good base to get some handling mods in.
I've done most of the bolt on handling mods and can say it will really transform the car. I'd suggest good tyres and rear subframe bushings as the first mods imo
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10-25-2016, 05:05 AM | #8 | |||
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Thanks for the warm welcome guys!
Quote:
Thanks! I just wanted something other than black for a change. Quote:
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I'm really surprised by the amount of people who have recommended rear subframe bushings. I'll have to look into getting it done. Just a bit hard because its not something I can do at home and it would be expensive to get done at a shop. And the tyres have been replaced already (post to come). |
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10-25-2016, 05:33 AM | #9 |
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On Thursday I decided to take the car around to my mate’s shop to get it dyno’d (shoutout Weltmeister Eastside). I was curious to see what power it would make completely stock and then later on be able to see if an exhaust etc makes any difference.
This particular dyno reads low. Here are some power figures of other cars on the same dyno for reference: E36 M3 3.2 175kw atw Multiple s2000s (usual mods) 125-127kw atw E46 328i 115kw atw N/A R34 Skyline (with Nistune ECU and tune) 105kw atw Stage 1 (or 2?) MK6R Golf 155kw atw Based on this, I was expecting to make between 140-145kw on this dyno (but secretly hoping for 150 haha). Here is a video of the car on the dyno and a printout: Hopefully down the road with some mods I might get to 150kw (although I think worrying about power gains in an NA car is a waste of time lol). |
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10-25-2016, 03:41 PM | #10 |
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Welcome, and great shots of the car
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10-25-2016, 04:41 PM | #11 | |
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Heres my review on it: http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1158856 For power you can do headers and a tune, but you'll be spending a lot of money for not much gains.
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10-26-2016, 12:10 AM | #12 |
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That is one sexy torque curve!
Subframe, LSD, camber plate and square tyres are a must.
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2008 BMW M3 | 6MT | OEM Exhaust Mod | Black Grilles | |
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10-26-2016, 03:17 AM | #13 | |
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Thanks mate. Your Youtube channel was a significant influence in me choosing a 130i. The plan is to modify mine very similarly to the way you have done yours. I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions for you haha.
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All of these mods are on the shopping list, keep an eye on the thread and you'll see them soon |
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10-26-2016, 03:32 AM | #14 |
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On Saturday, I got a new set of tyres. I went with Federal 595RSRR in 225/40/18 all round.
I wanted a square setup as I much prefer the way a car with square stance handles. I decided that although the Style 208 were not square, a 0.5inch difference in width would be negligible and that both 7.5j and 8j were a good fit for 225 width rubber. The reason I went with Federal 595RSRR is that I plan to only run this set of tyres for a few months until APEX do another manufacturing run of EC7 in 1er offsets. Once I can finally get my hands on a set of APEX EC7, the plan is to run 245 square. By the way, if anybody has a set of APEX EC7 and would be interested in selling, let me know! Since I will only be running the tyres for a few months I thought I would save a bit of money and go with these instead of the usual AD08R/RS3. I'm also keen to try the 595RSRR on track and see how they compare to the more expensive AD08R/RS3, I've heard lots of good things about them. First impressions based on street driving: - much more front end grip - tyres were fine in the wet, performed much better than expected - the tyres are noisy I bought the tyres and had them fitted at Toledo Tyre Care in Dandenong. I would highly recommend them, they were very cool guys who I enjoyed talking cars with and they gave me the best price of the 10 or stores I called for a quote. They were also surprised to see my car turn up, they couldn't believe that I was putting 595RSRRs on it haha - apparently they were expecting a track car. Here are some pics: |
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11-07-2016, 01:07 AM | #15 |
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Since my last update I have registered the car in Victoria and put my personalised plates on, I have also removed the workshop sticker and the white P plate suction cups so the rear of the car now looks a lot cleaner in my eyes.
On Saturday I did my first track day in the 130i. I brought a friend along (the owner of the RX8 - his first ever track day) to Circuit Club at Winton. I drove the car to Winton, did 45 laps and then drove it home, clocking up a total of 600km on the day and the car was faultless. It was cool to drive up in absolute comfort and serenity and then surprise people with how well it did on track. The car was super impressive and performed much better than I was expecting. My best time of the day was a 1:46.1 which I was rapt with considering the car was absolutely stock other than the tyres (which are skinny budget UHP tyres). The tyres were also impressive. Although they are very noisy (and it is a very ugly noise), the grip level was high and at no point throughout the day were they the limiting factor. The plan from here is to service the car and replace a few little things (one of my angel eyes has died) before I start modding. I want to mod this car slowly as I think its great as it is. With that said, the first mod will be an exhaust as I want to enjoy the glorious sound of a BMW i6 and it was really hard to drive on track without being able to hear the car lol. I also wore through a decent amount of my brake pads on the day. I figure that instead of replacing the pads on the OEM brake setup I may as well buy the BMWP 135/335i brakes now, so if anybody knows someone selling, or where to buy them from, let me know. Within a year or so, with some mods and some more seat time for me, I should be doing properly quick times in this car - I'm aiming for low 1:40s. Here is some footage of my quickest lap on the day and a few photos:
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11-07-2016, 01:31 AM | #16 |
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The 135i brakes are what you want. Fronts are PnP, rears need an internal spacer to offset the 135i rotors. Search for wreckers in your area. Should set you back about $1k for a used kit.
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11-07-2016, 02:32 AM | #17 |
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You'll also want an LSD
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11-07-2016, 02:37 AM | #18 |
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Yes! Any advice on what to buy and where from?
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11-07-2016, 04:08 AM | #19 |
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Quaife is good for street & track use. Silent and maintenance-free, but will spin up if the inside wheel completely loses contact with the ground.
Clutch-pack like OS Giken or Drexler don't have this problem, but you need to service them and they're probably slightly noisier
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11-07-2016, 04:44 PM | #20 |
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Nice mate - Winton is an awesome track! Have done it in my Clio but would love to get down there in the Bimmer. Enjoying the progress so far
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My automotive adventures: AutoFocus.net.au
Current: '06 Le Mans Blue 130i 6MT | '01 RS Clio I 172 Ex: '05 RS Clio II 182 Cup | '08 RS Clio III 197 | '14 RS Clio IV 200 Sport Trophy | 2x '01 RS Clio II 172 |
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11-07-2016, 04:48 PM | #21 |
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Front calipers (I'd be adding braided lines too)
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BMW-M-Per...AAAOSwV0RXpyfH
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My automotive adventures: AutoFocus.net.au
Current: '06 Le Mans Blue 130i 6MT | '01 RS Clio I 172 Ex: '05 RS Clio II 182 Cup | '08 RS Clio III 197 | '14 RS Clio IV 200 Sport Trophy | 2x '01 RS Clio II 172 |
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11-07-2016, 05:12 PM | #22 |
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If you don't care about looks, the 335i brakes have thicker discs and larger diameter and bolt straight on
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