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      09-30-2018, 01:56 AM   #1
Odyssey
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S65 DCT 1M replica

Having seen a few ambitious build threads start but never finish I was a bit reluctant to start one for this project until it was done. Now that the S65 is in and the car has had a couple of successful test drives it's probably safe to put this up...

This story really starts with my previous toy, an S50B32 powered, stripped out E30 coupe. No A/C or power steering, light flywheel, deep fixed buckets etc, etc... It was a project that got a bit out of hand and ended up too aggressive (and not much fun) for street use.



It got me wondering what my perfect street friendly trackday toy would be. I nearly bought a Cayman GT4 but balked at paying over $200k for something that wouldn't be insured at the track. Then I saw Marco Svizzero's V8 1M build on 1addicts and had my answer- a DCT S65 '1M'.

I knew I would at least be doing the 1M widebody if not the S65 (at that stage Marco's S65 conversion cost around $100k) so started looking for a damaged car. A few months later the perfect car turned up- a 2013, Alpine White DCT 135i with some minor front end damage.
The project nearly ended before it even began when I forgot about daylight saving in Vic and missed the auction. Luckily when I called up to see what it sold for I found out the buyer hadn't come through with the deposit and it was mine for the winning bid amount.

Soon I had a scruffy looking and very dirty 135i parked across my driveway with a dead (not just flat) battery and no way into the boot... After working out how to get the DCT out of Park and some surgery to get at the rear seat release cable it was in the garage and underway...



The first stage was to repair it to drive-able condition and make sure there were no major issues before starting the further stages. This wasted a few dollars on parts I ended up replacing with 1M parts anyway but made me more confident before ordering a few thousand dollars worth of new bodywork...

Airbag & dash cover replacement was the most daunting task!


Once that was done a few new front end parts had it back in shape.



Next installment- 1M bodywork.
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      09-30-2018, 02:52 AM   #2
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Can't wait to read the rest well done on the build .
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      09-30-2018, 03:07 AM   #3
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Can't wait to read the rest well done on the build .
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      09-30-2018, 07:00 AM   #4
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      09-30-2018, 09:11 PM   #5
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keen to see this in the flesh!
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      10-21-2018, 04:33 AM   #6
Odyssey
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Part 2: Bodywork

I won't list all the part numbers here since they are all covered in Marco Svizzero's original post.

Since the original intent for this car was to be a trackday car that wasn't too unfriendly on the road I had more modest plans for the body than some of the other 1M conversions I'd seen. This was mainly the choice of Prior Design fiberglass rear guard extensions rather than OEM repair panels and a plan to keep the 135i battery tray & mufflers.

The Prior Design 'rear widenings' make the rear guards mod a lot simpler and save a fair amount of money. I also liked the idea of avoiding a potential rust issue with cut and welded panels when the backside of the panel usually isn't painted in the other method.

The main downsides were:
-I had to organise shipping from Germany which was a total PITA
-The length of the guard opening is off by about 5mm so it creates a slight mismatch with the side skirt (I plan to have this fixed at a later stage).




They blended in well and look OEM after paint.



The rest of the panels were OEM BMW which were actually quite reasonably priced to buy locally- about $3800.




At this stage there are a few decisions to be made and this is where my OCD started diverting the project away from track rat to a more complete conversion.

The 1M headlight washers are different so the options are:
-Cut the bumper cover to fit 135i washers (the mounts are still on the 1M headlight brackets)
-Delete the washers (technically a defect)
-Use 1M washers.
I swapped to 1M washers

The 1M doesn't have front parking sensors so the options are:
-Code them out of the 135i
-Drill holes in the bumper, buy mounts and use the 135i PDC sensors.
I elected to fit them.




The engine bay undertray and inner guard liners are all different. The front guard liners definitely need to be swapped out, the rears are probably better trimmed (I went this way since my Prior guards probably won't perfectly match OEM liners) and the undertray is optional but would leave some gaps if not changed.




Side indicators were black painted & tinted units from IND




Despite the original plan to keep the OEM 135i battery tray it started looking like a bigger hassle to mod the exhaust than to just swap everything to 1M and use an off the shelf 1M exhaust.




If you follow the US conversions they go to great lengths changing the evap canister and lines. This isn't necessary on Australian cars. The layout and position of the canister here means it can be moved just with some trimming and bending of the stock lines. All that is required here is the battery tray, heat shield and battery hold down. The battery leads can be extended or replaced (they are quite costly so I extended them with high quality cable splices).




The exhaust is a Megan Racing 1M system which I wouldn't recommend for N54/N55 as it is very quiet. It should be about right for the S65 though.

The next important detail was suspension and wheels.

After having KW and Ohlins on a couple of previous cars there was no doubt what would be going into the '1M'. Ohlins Road & Track with Swift springs and Vorshlag Camber plates. Camber and toe arms have all been swapped to Rogue Engineering adjustable.




As noted in other threads the 135i uses wider rear hubs than other models including the 1M. To use aggressive 1M wheel fitments needs either swapping out these hubs or using higher offset wheels. This is another area I wouldn't have swapped if I knew I was going to the M3 rear end but seemed reasonable at the time...




The rear hub mod uses some specific 130i parts to match the 1M hub position but allow use of the 135i rear brakes.
Brake discs:
34216795755 slotted
34216787931 plain
Both are expensive and take a while to get so I used some aftermarket ones from Germany.

Hubs:
33-41-6-760-058-M36

Wheel bearings need to be replaced as part of the swap 33-41-6-775-842-M842

It's a bastard of a job or up to $1k labour so only really worth it if you want full compatibility with 1m / M3 wheels.

The current wheel/tyre setup is VMR V710 in 19x9.5 with 265/35 front and 19x11 rear with 295/30.

That brings us to the sort of finished product of this phase:


Last edited by Odyssey; 10-21-2018 at 04:51 AM..
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      10-21-2018, 05:20 AM   #7
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      10-21-2018, 04:53 PM   #8
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Keen to understand how you got your parts locally? I went to my only local BMW Dealer (SA) whereupon they asked for my VIN (135i) and refused to provide me with the 1M parts. I went via ECS with a similar cost but a decent freight bill.
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      10-21-2018, 05:43 PM   #9
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Beautiful work so far! Can't wait to see the s65 in it
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      10-22-2018, 05:57 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by asn993 View Post
Keen to understand how you got your parts locally? I went to my only local BMW Dealer (SA) whereupon they asked for my VIN (135i) and refused to provide me with the 1M parts. I went via ECS with a similar cost but a decent freight bill.
It was never an issue through BMW Brisbane- the parts guy was super helpful. I provided all the part numbers rather than having them search for them which may have helped but you probably did the same.
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      10-23-2018, 10:18 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Yeineken View Post
Beautiful work so far! Can't wait to see the s65 in it
Ok, here's a quick teaser...

Still a fair bit to do at this stage.


Last edited by Odyssey; 10-23-2018 at 10:28 AM..
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      10-24-2018, 04:33 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by asn993 View Post
Keen to understand how you got your parts locally? I went to my only local BMW Dealer (SA) whereupon they asked for my VIN (135i) and refused to provide me with the 1M parts. I went via ECS with a similar cost but a decent freight bill.
You need to find a cooperative dealer or a 1M vin number.
Most are under instruction to not provide assistance without a VIN.

Alternatively, use an online ETK and gather your list that way and just ask by part number to save the ballache. The onus is then on you to choose the right stuff because you can't blame the interpreter if you happen to get the wrong part
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      10-25-2018, 07:26 AM   #13
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So what did it make?
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      12-22-2018, 05:08 PM   #14
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Part 3: The Engine swap.

When I started this project I knew of one other S65 '1M' in the world. Marco Svizzero in the US had built one with Performance Technic in California. They imported a whole E92 M3 wreck from the UK and estimated the build and development cost at nearly $US100k...

I started out by asking Performance Technic if they could support a local workshop through a similar build but they thought it couldn't be done without someone onsite. I talked to a few workshops here about it without much luck until I came across Brintech Customs in Sydney. They had done an S85 V10 into E46 M3 swap and a few interesting E30 transplants. When I talked to Brintech they thought it was possible but then spent a fair bit of time researching how to get it to 100% OEM standard. We spent a few months brainstorming it until they had the plan sorted and a suitable donor car in hand.

The swap basically needs a whole M3 donor car. The parts for the swap include the whole front subframe assembly with steering rack, suspension etc (I had already swapped in new 1M control arms etc so these were retained), engine, gearbox, diff, rear subframe, dash cluster, DCT control switches, multiple modules for ABS, DSC etc.

This swap used a 2012 E92 M3 (supposedly Bernard Tomic's car...)



Before being installed the S65 was inspected, serviced and had a set of BE bearing rod bearings installed along with ARP rod bolts.



The sump was modded to fit a VAC Motorsports sump baffle.



The guys at Brintech say it's about a week of swapping parts and at least a month of wiring, coding and testing.

A few other details were sorted during the swap with M3 front & rear swaybars going in and poly subframe bushes installed.

The Megan racing exhaust was hooked up to the OEM M3 exhaust which had me wondering how loud it was going to be!



Once the engine was in I could see why people say this is a combination that BMW must have tried- it just fits so perfectly. Even the S65 airbox bolts to the E82 mounts...

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      12-22-2018, 05:44 PM   #15
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Awesome swap.
They sound so much better than any turbo 6.

Very cool swap
I would love to cruise in a s65 1er
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      12-22-2018, 06:58 PM   #16
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Fantastic!! Would be a fun combo for sure
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      12-26-2018, 04:31 PM   #17
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Nice. Great swap
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      12-28-2018, 04:16 AM   #18
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Brintech are the same guys that were able to do a very similar transplant into a 130i - my dream. You're in capable hands, awesome work!
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      12-29-2018, 03:21 PM   #19
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Spoken to Brintech many times about retrofits for my car. They are always happy to chat and help out. Highly recommend them.
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      04-14-2019, 04:36 AM   #20
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well ??
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      04-14-2019, 03:58 PM   #21
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looking well mate! i have just brought a 135i that i got cheap. i am intending to do the same. the only problem i am having is getting my head around the wiring loom. currently the car has the 135i wiring intact, do you have to modify both a m3 and 135i wiring loom to be compatible, or am i able to swap the wiring loom out for a complete m3 loom? thanks
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      04-20-2019, 05:31 PM   #22
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The wiring was all done by Brintech so I can't give you specific answers.

The best contacts for these (by country) are:
Australia- Brintech Customs
USA- Performance Technic
UK- Quarry Motors
Russia- Slon Workshop
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