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

[chadillac2000]

After months of preparation, the time had come to embark on the installation of the next round of mods I’d accumulated. The first order of business was to get the car in the air. With the lowered stance, even with a low-profile jack, getting the car up in the air is a time consuming affair. I can only imagine that when the new aero parts are bolted into place that this will only become more challenging.





Wheels off to expose the before picture of the stock brake system.





Now, time to unpack all these parts I’ve accumulated.





As recommended by a fellow forum member, I decided to give the non-friction part of the rear rotors a blast of high-temp black paint to match the 2-piece look of the fronts. Prepared them with a little tape, three coats of paint and voila! I also gave the dust shields and caliper brackets a fresh coat of high temp black.







The old hardware came off without too much fuss, thanks to a few YouTube videos for clarification. Old sensors, pads, and rotors were tossed – calipers were packed up and shipped out for powder coasting and rebuilding. Then I went ahead and connected the new sensors, mounted the rotors and positioned the ECS stainless lines. Visually, I’m very impressed. The new calipers should really make everything pop.







Next on the agenda was to begin the process of the water pump replacement. This was taken after removing the air ducting. The red circle encompasses a hard plastic hose that gave out on my 535i at 150,000 miles. This line became brittle and eventually cracked, spewing coolant all over the engine bay. To avoid future problems and a mess to clean up, I’ll be locating a more robust solution while the coolant has been drained.



Radiator fan out. Surprisingly easy, although I’d already done it when installing the front MMP inlet.



And some glory shots of said MMP inlets (I’ve also added this to my original post). As you can see, my tangerine tinted BMS filters haven’t held up to the test of time. Oh well—they sure looked good when they were new! Perhaps a black filter would look better.





The water pump replacement job got messy quickly, so pictures were minimal during removal. The Bavarian Autosport video on YouTube was very helpful for reference. Some of the clearances were very tight, but with some patience and the right tools, I was able to remove the old hardware and drain the majority of the coolant.





I’ll be saving installation of the new water pump components, as well as the rest of the mods, over the next few weeks so stay tuned.

[tjswarbrick]

Maybe I should start as new thread.
After a successful and awesome 250 mile drive, stopped at my sister's for dinner.
Afterward, no boost.
Still no errors reported.
No BMW dealership within 70 miles of here, and it's nearly 150 in the direction I need to go.

Anybody know if a reader would be able to pull a code if no error shows in the idrive?

[Gangplank]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

Maybe I should start as new thread.
After a successful and awesome 250 mile drive, stopped at my sister's for dinner.
Afterward, no boost.
Still no errors reported.
No BMW dealership within 70 miles of here, and it's nearly 150 in the direction I need to go.

Anybody know if a reader would be able to pull a code if no error shows in the idrive?

In my experience, yes an OBDii dongle and reader will pull codes for things that the idrive doesn't. Some are minor, others important.

[Matticus91]

Looking great chadillac2000!

[sprp85]

Installed afe closed intake.

Now, the engine note is like a proper I6!

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by Gangplank

In my experience, yes an OBDii dongle and reader will pull codes for things that the idrive doesn't. Some are minor, others important.

Thank you.
I also see people with JB have had similar issues on N55. If it doesn't clear up today maybe I'll pull the chip.
Was really damp again last night.
Sunny and dry today.
Maybe I need to clean contacts or reseat the harness.

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by sprp85

Installed afe closed intake.

Now, the engine note is like a proper I6!

Nice!
Magnum Force?

[tjswarbrick]

Boost is back today.
Took her in for oil change at 70,500.
Castrol Edge 0-40 Euro, and a Bosch Premium filter.
Brought in 2 1.25 gal containers.
They put in "all but 1.5 quarts."
Luckily I saw 'em dumping it in. I don't think 8.5 would have been too healthy. They drained 1.5 more out before I would fire it up.
No wonder I usually service it myself!

While there they ran OBDII scanner. No codes.
Am I safe to assume it's the JB Plus?
No BMW tuners in this part of the state. Gonna need to wait until I get home.

[1and1]

wow, they were really going to put all the oil in there?? Didn't look up the correct amount or anything? Man, that's kinda scary- probably close to leaky rear main seal territory there! Glad you caught that!

As for the JB+, I'd pull it out and drive for a bit without. Not only will it reset/calibrate your butt dyno, but it's a super easy way to learn if it is the cause of your symptoms or not. Empirical data and all that jazz...

[HyeWarrior]

For what it's worth, the JB4 always fucked with my car. Glad I took it off

[GoodMoodley]

Been busy the last few weeks. Installed a Pure Stage 2 turbo for my N55. Was not too bad of an install. I was doing a few other things at the same time so had good access to everything.

I installed a new Water Pump and T-Stat. Had a walnut blast performed. Installed a new OFHG and Oil Cooler gasket. Installed a new Serpentine Belt along with all the tensioners and pulleys.

Pics show the old turbo beside the new and then the new one installed in the car. Only put a 100 or so kms on it so far. Have been taking it easy for the most part to let the turbo break in.

Got a set of Dinan Camber plates to install and |'ll be ready for my first track weekend of the year at the end of April

[1and1]

I know the Juice Box family of tuners is very popular, but I'm really glad MHD came out at the time I showed up to this world and I was ready to start tuning.

[sprp85]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

Nice!
Magnum Force?

Yessir-

Highly recomended for any 128i owners wanting more engine noise!

[WDE82]

Originally Posted by sprp85

Yessir-

Highly recomended for any 128i owners wanting more engine noise!

I have one also. Sound is pretty awesome.

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by 1and1

wow, they were really going to put all the oil in there?? Didn't look up the correct amount or anything? Man, that's kinda scary- probably close to leaky rear main seal territory there! Glad you caught that!

As for the JB+, I'd pull it out and drive for a bit without. Not only will it reset/calibrate your butt dyno, but it's a super easy way to learn if it is the cause of your symptoms or not. Empirical data and all that jazz...

He read 7 quarts capacity.
Read 1.25 gallons on the jug, but his mind told him it was 1 gallon plus .25 quart, so was going to leave 1.5 quarts in jug number two.
Or something.

What was really scary is to verify capacity you've gotta fire it up (still can't figure out which bean counter thought a dipstick is too expensive for one of these) - so he says"just start it so we can check the level." Um - No Thank You!

Like I said- glad I was watching.
Needless to say I won't be going back there- but it's 250 miles from home, so I probably wouldn't have anyway.

I should have time on my hands, and a nice day, Tuesday- so will yank the JB for the drive home.

Thank you.

[AFE712]

9 days since my charge pipe broke. Many problems at the dealer cause the delay, so they offered me an aluminium one for half the price. Yay!

Still have to wait 1-2 days, I haven't even did 500 miles with it yet.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by GoodMoodley

Been busy the last few weeks. Installed a Pure Stage 2 turbo for my N55. Was not too bad of an install. I was doing a few other things at the same time so had good access to everything.

I installed a new Water Pump and T-Stat. Had a walnut blast performed. Installed a new OFHG and Oil Cooler gasket. Installed a new Serpentine Belt along with all the tensioners and pulleys.

Pics show the old turbo beside the new and then the new one installed in the car. Only put a 100 or so kms on it so far. Have been taking it easy for the most part to let the turbo break in.

Got a set of Dinan Camber plates to install and |'ll be ready for my first track weekend of the year at the end of April

You really were busy. The difference in the stock turbo inlet to the Pure one is ridiculous. How much power are you planning on running? Is the engine stock otherwise?

[GoodMoodley]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

You really were busy. The difference in the stock turbo inlet to the Pure one is ridiculous. How much power are you planning on running? Is the engine stock otherwise?

My current Eurocharged tune with FBO prior to this setup dynoed at 326 whp and 440 wtq. I would be happy with getting the hp in to the 425ish range. Engine itself is stock outside of all the bolt ons.

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by GoodMoodley

My current Eurocharged tune with FBO prior to this setup dynoed at 326 whp and 440 wtq. I would be happy with getting the hp in to the 425ish range. Engine itself is stock outside of all the bolt ons.

That should be great fun!

Did you get a looksie inside to see if the Walnut Blast was truly necessary?

[GoodMoodley]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

That should be great fun!

Did you get a looksie inside to see if the Walnut Blast was truly necessary?

I did. I actually didn't really need it. The guy I bought a bunch of parts from (Water pump etc...) does this service. As my car was ripped apart to do the turbo he agreed to come by my place to deliver the parts and do the blast. I had to do the OFHG gasket which means the intake manifold has to come out anyway so I figured i might as well get it done.

The car had 44k miles at this point. He was surprised at how little build up I had. Apparently the N55 has much less build up. Here are a couple before and afters.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by GoodMoodley

I did. I actually didn't really need it. The guy I bought a bunch of parts from (Water pump etc...) does this service. As my car was ripped apart to do the turbo he agreed to come by my place to deliver the parts and do the blast. I had to do the OFHG gasket which means the intake manifold has to come out anyway so I figured i might as well get it done.

The car had 44k miles at this point. He was surprised at how little build up I had. Apparently the N55 has much less build up. Here are a couple before and afters.

That's very good to know, a lot of us have been speculating on the need of the walnut blast for N55's and no one had any pictures or examples to show. Thanks for sharing!

[HyeWarrior]

My old mechanic said he was going to do a walnut blast on my car when he was swapping out the valve cover, but said it was still so clean at 60k miles that it's not worth it. Perks of the n55 I guess