Chadillac2000's 2008 135i Road Warrior Daily Driver Build Thread

[Tinsta]

ooooohh, congrats! that's mega work! Very interested to see an after dyno plot with the single setup.

[Fender13Bender]

Looks awesome! My only suggestion is moving your mac solenoid and associated lines. I think it really takes away from the appearance on that side of the bay and looks kinda tacky.

[ianc]

Hey Chad,

Fantastic work, and it does look like a bundle! You must have been so excited to fire it up, and so relieved when everything fired up without blowing up or leaking! Great job! Really eager to read your impressions when you're able to get on it a bit compared to the twins...

At any rate, please let me know if you do have a chance to take a look under there again at some point to verify what exactly is still there in the way of springs. Below are a couple pics to jog your memory (and so you don't go scroll happy). The first is the diagram from RealOEM.com where the springs of interest are #18 (#'s 19, 20 & 21) and #15.

The second is your own pic of the process showing #18 (#'s 19, 20 & 21) removed and laying on the footwell floor.

Hopefully that may set the hippocampal neurons buzzing afresh. Thanks again and good luck with the performance testing!

ianc

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by ianc

Hey Chad,

At any rate, please let me know if you do have a chance to take a look under there again at some point to verify what exactly is still there in the way of springs. Below are a couple pics to jog your memory (and so you don't go scroll happy). The first is the diagram from RealOEM.com where the springs of interest are #18 (#'s 19, 20 & 21) and #15.

The second is your own pic of the process showing #18 (#'s 19, 20 & 21) removed and laying on the footwell floor.
Hopefully that may set the hippocampal neurons buzzing afresh. Thanks again and good luck with the performance testing!
ianc

Looks like his plastic stock pedal. Everything's lying on the footwell floor!

I think I recognize the lower hook end of the #15 spring hanging just below the dash directly in front of the brake pedal lever arm (due to the angle of the shot.) I had forgotten how much fun that was to stretch, align, and pop into place, too.

The nice thing about the UCP is you've got 3 choices of mounting positions for that Item #19 spring. I chose the middle "sport" arrangement. If I ever get to where spending 1/2 hr upside down under the dash seems like a good idea again, perhaps I'll move it to the "race" position and see how it changes. As-is, (UCP, CDV-Delete, oversize clutch stop) the clutch is worlds better than stock and a complete and utter joy to use.
If only I could realign the brake pedal more in line with the accelerator for more successful heel-and-toe at around-town actuation levels...

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by Fender13Bender

Looks awesome! My only suggestion is moving your mac solenoid and associated lines. I think it really takes away from the appearance on that side of the bay and looks kinda tacky.

I do wish there was a dedicated housing for the solenoid, but keeping the lines short and using SS were more of a priority than hiding it completely. I'd have to disagree about anything inside that engine bay looking tacky however!

Originally Posted by ianc

Hey Chad,

Fantastic work, and it does look like a bundle! You must have been so excited to fire it up, and so relieved when everything fired up without blowing up or leaking! Great job! Really eager to read your impressions when you're able to get on it a bit compared to the twins...

At any rate, please let me know if you do have a chance to take a look under there again at some point to verify what exactly is still there in the way of springs. Below are a couple pics to jog your memory (and so you don't go scroll happy). The first is the diagram from RealOEM.com where the springs of interest are #18 (#'s 19, 20 & 21) and #15.

The second is your own pic of the process showing #18 (#'s 19, 20 & 21) removed and laying on the footwell floor.

Hopefully that may set the hippocampal neurons buzzing afresh. Thanks again and good luck with the performance testing!

ianc

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

Looks like his plastic stock pedal. Everything's lying on the footwell floor!

I think I recognize the lower hook end of the #15 spring hanging just below the dash directly in front of the brake pedal lever arm (due to the angle of the shot.) I had forgotten how much fun that was to stretch, align, and pop into place, too.

The nice thing about the UCP is you've got 3 choices of mounting positions for that Item #19 spring. I chose the middle "sport" arrangement. If I ever get to where spending 1/2 hr upside down under the dash seems like a good idea again, perhaps I'll move it to the "race" position and see how it changes. As-is, (UCP, CDV-Delete, oversize clutch stop) the clutch is worlds better than stock and a complete and utter joy to use.
If only I could realign the brake pedal more in line with the accelerator for more successful heel-and-toe at around-town actuation levels...

None of the parts seen in that picture were re-installed and yes, that is the stock plastic pedal with the Performance Pedal still attached. So IIRC, 18 (19, 20 and 21 too) was removed, and I never replaced it with anything. The new included metal top shoulder bolt was installed on the UCP, slave was reattached, 15 was reattached to the UCP, and that was all.

Stop overthinking it! Just get the UCP!

[tjswarbrick]

Originally Posted by chadillac2000

None of the parts seen in that picture were re-installed and yes, that is the stock plastic pedal with the Performance Pedal still attached. So IIRC, 18 (19, 20 and 21 too) was removed, and I never replaced it with anything. The new included metal top shoulder bolt was installed on the UCP, slave was reattached, 15 was reattached to the UCP, and that was all.

Stop overthinking it! Just get the UCP!

Bonus - that would make installation a cinch!

[ianc]

None of the parts seen in that picture were re-installed and yes, that is the stock plastic pedal with the Performance Pedal still attached. So IIRC, 18 (19, 20 and 21 too) was removed, and I never replaced it with anything. The new included metal top shoulder bolt was installed on the UCP, slave was reattached, 15 was reattached to the UCP, and that was all.

Thanks so much! Will get in there and remove the #18 spring assembly as soon as the sky stops taking a leak on us every day here.

Looking forward to boost impressions!

ianc

[Matticus91]

Amazing work man can't wait to see some running videos with the big single

[chadillac2000]

It's been two weeks since I fired up the engine for the first time after installing the ST kit. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but almost immediately I began getting a service engine soon light. When I ran the codes, they were pointing to the o2 sensors. This made little sense, as I'd invested quite a bit of money in a set of ADV o2 sensors. These supposedly lasted longer, and measured more precisely in a pre-turbo environment.



After further investigation, while monitoring trims and AFRs in banks 1 and 2, I found that prior to these codes being thrown, the fuel trims would get stuck at a reading of 25. This indicated that the car was going into open loop fueling. This would send AFRs out of whack, and eventually throw the codes seen above. Clear the codes with the JB4 Mobile app, and voila, trims were unstuck again for a few minutes.

The majority of time this happened, it was when I was off throttle, in gear. Like clockwork, if I let off the throttle and coasted for more than 5 seconds or so, I could get the code to appear every time. It would also randomly appear, for no reason at all at various throttle positions.

I triple checked that all the sensors were in the right places, not damaged in any way, and the connectors were seated properly. I flashed different revisions of the ST hex hoping it was a tuning issue, but ultimately I ran out of options. After pulling out my hair for 14 days, I eventually bit the bullet and decided to order a set of NTK o2 sensors. Supposedly these last a bit longer than the OEM Bosch o2 sensors, but we shall see.



Fortunately on the ACF top mount kit, changing o2 sensors isn't too involved, but still something I never thought I'd be doing only a few weeks in to switching to a single turbo. This all after going out of my way to order the ADV o2 sensors so I wouldn't have to worry about these exact issues. Before getting the car in the air, I removed the cowl, engine cover, strut bar, and BMS shorty filter.



Then I had to get the car up on stands, remove some of the splash guards underneath to gain access where needed, and I proceeded to remove the 4 bolts holding the ACF downpipe to OEM midpipe together. I eventually had to disconnect the two bolts connecting the OEM midpipe to the MadDad Whisper as well to gain enough clearance.



In order to access the rear pre-cat o2 sensor from above, the v-band clamp securing the ACF downpipe to the exhaust housing of the turbo had to be loosened and pulled back.





And in order to access the front pre-cat o2 sensor from above, the compressor cover needs to be pulled forward. This consisted of loosening the top t-bolt clamp holding the cover to the charge pipe, and the 6 bolts holding the compressor cover to the center cartridge.





Using some patience, my full sized 22mm wrench, and 22mm wrench that I cut in half, I was able to get the ADV sensors out and the NTK o2 sensors in.

I carefully put everything back together, flashed back to the standard BMS ST TS E85 BEF with MHD, re-selected the JB4 o2 pressure compensation and reset on startup options, reset adaptations, and started the car. After verifying everything was back together properly, I took the car for a nice long drive, trying my hardest to recreate the conditions where fuel trims would get stuck, but they continued to read properly. No codes, and no fuel trim problems.

For the first time, I was able to stay in the throttle for a large part of 3rd gear, and my goodness. The sounds this car now creates are indescribable. Once I get the car dialed in on map 1 wastegate boost, which now seems to stick steady at 15psi after breaking in, I'll turn the boost up to map 2 levels and get some videos.

[mKilgore]

Good stuff! Looking forward to the videos

[tjswarbrick]

Glad to hear you got it sorted.
All along, I was thinking, "What a waste. Why would it be the O2 sensors? They're brand new."
You have a very generous definition of "not too involved"! But I love following along, and look forward to your videos - and stories of actually driving it.

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by tjswarbrick

Glad to hear you got it sorted.
All along, I was thinking, "What a waste. Why would it be the O2 sensors? They're brand new."
You have a very generous definition of "not too involved"! But I love following along, and look forward to your videos - and stories of actually driving it.

Brand new, installed correctly, purchased specifically so I wouldn't have any o2 sensor issues, etc. But error codes were pointing directly to the ADV sensors. I worked with the guy who brought these to the platform using multiple tunes, tweaks, and nothing worked until I actually replaced the sensors themselves with NTKs.

As far as the "not too involved" demeanor, you'd be surprised at what doing one of these single turbo conversions does for your confidence when tearing into one of these cars. I feel like I know most of the ins, outs, dos and do-nots when working on this particular platform.

Hopefully now I can just enjoy the car for a while with no issues. The past few days I've spent with the car since changing out the sensors has been blissful, but I want more seat time and to capture some more video before I make a full review on the new setup -- which should be soon!

[ianc]

Interesting diagnosis and solution. Could an iffy seal on the downpipe band clamp cause these symptoms? Any issues returning the ADV sensors?

ianc

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by ianc

Interesting diagnosis and solution. Could an iffy seal on the downpipe band clamp cause these symptoms? Any issues returning the ADV sensors?

ianc

Interesting for sure, but others have had the same issues with these, they just aren't widely talked about. Payam @ BMS had the exact same problems and eventually had to go back to stock/NTK sensors to get rid of the trims sticking issue. An iffy connection or leak in the exhaust could possibly cause some complications, but I verified more than once that they everything was sealed properly. The connection you're referring to is an easy to apply sturdy 3" V-band clamp that was fully tightened and secure. The two lower connections were perfectly sealed as well. On top of that, you'd more than likely hear an exhaust leak letting that much air escape. I tried to find something else to blame the issues on for weeks, but it was definitely the sensors themselves.

I'm still in the process of returning them at the moment, but let's just say it hasn't been the easiest process possible. Communication is a skill rarely found in a lot of the vendors we deal with on this platform.

[kyubiii]

Just spent the better part of the last 3 hours reading this thread. Thank you for taking the time to document all of your work. We share a very similar approach/philosophy of getting ahead of potential issues and placing emphasis on reliability with respect to modifications. Kudos to you for undertaking such an intimating process and knocking it out of the park!

[Venge]

Thank you for sharing all your work, very interesting to follow

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by kyubiii

Just spent the better part of the last 3 hours reading this thread. Thank you for taking the time to document all of your work. We share a very similar approach/philosophy of getting ahead of potential issues and placing emphasis on reliability with respect to modifications. Kudos to you for undertaking such an intimating process and knocking it out of the park!

Originally Posted by Venge

Thank you for sharing all your work, very interesting to follow

Thanks for reading--it's quite an undertaking to get caught up.

Fine tuning things for a bit longer, then I'll post more updates on the single turbo setup, so stay tuned!

[chadillac2000]

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.

[ianc]

Great update, thanks for the thoughts! Sounds like you've pretty much got the kinks worked out and things sittin' pretty right now. Congrats on a job well done!

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

NOoooooo...........

ianc

[chadillac2000]

There's not much to report on overall, but no news is good news in this case. 4,000 miles has turned into 5,000 miles now on everything with no issues. They've been easy miles, but I've still put the car through its paces and in a variety of different situations in that time. She continues to be a damn near perfect daily driver in its current state.

Blackstone Labs just emailed me the latest report of the sample that I sent them. This is the second time I've used their services, and I think I'll start using it from here forward just to keep an eye on things. It brings the cost of an oil change up to around $100 each, but worth it in my opinion to keep a close eye on things.

I'd be interested to see someone with an N54 that had an unhealthy engine and what those numbers looks like. This sample was used for 3,500 miles and was the first I'd sent in while being single turbo. Everything seems to be in proper order, which is always a welcomed sight.

[chadillac2000]

Quick update: The car is still running perfectly as the odometer is about to turn 110,000 and will be due for another oil change here within the week. The ACF kit and all the components I recently installed are still working flawlessly.

As I touched on in prior posts, even at low boost on low amounts of ethanol, my fuel system was struggling to keep up. After looking around, it seemed to be tapping out much lower than similar builds. Others were able to run more boost on bigger turbos with more ethanol with only the addition of a stage 2 LPFP like I was running. The original HPFP on this car was changed back in 2011 with only 6,000 miles on the odometer -- which means my current HPFP is about 7 years old and has put in over 100,000 total miles with 50,000 of those on moderate ethanol blends.

My current goal for this build is to be able to run 20-23psi on E50-E60 fuel daily, which means I'll have to beef up and refresh my fuel system. I'm currently running a stage 2 LPFP from Fuel-It! with their upgraded tank to HPFP lines utilizing an ethanol sensor and their analyzer.

My new setup will start with a fresh HPFP.



To help out with the extra strain put on the HPFP by the added air of the single turbo and usage of ethanol blends, I picked up one of the recently released Phoenix Racing intake manifold with a full fuel kit from Fuel It! that includes 750cc injectors.



















While the kit came with the fuel line with the t-fitting seen above, because I already had the ethanol sensor and upgraded lines, I went with the newer style Bronze line upgrade with Fuel-It's camlock fitting.





For controlling the new injectors, I decided to go with the JB4 PI controller.



While my LPFP is doing fine now, I'm sending my bucket off to Fuel-It! for the stage 3 treatment so they can stuff two Walbro 450s inside. I should be receiving that back sometime next week, and will be installing everything once I return from my honeymoon near the end of June.

[Neiman Levenson]

wow, super clean and impressive stuff as always!

at 20-23PSI on a 6062 and E50/E60, My best educated guess would say that should give you around 560-600 WHP. Im surprised you don't want to turn it up a bit more!

Don't get me wrong, that is a great amount of power and would fit your car brilliantly with it being a daily driver. Also the other upgrades all around would keep things nice and balanced at that point, but on the other hand I couldn't imagine investing all the money are the manifold, Port Injection controller/fueling, Stage 3 LPFP, and many other things for just around that power level.

Turn it up to 25-26PSI and milk out about 650WHP or so from that set up!! Im sure everything would be perfectly happy to do so

I know we all have different goals, but for 20-23 PSI on an E85 blend with a 6062, I would probably have done a single shotgun or a slightly bigger turbo to possibly make that power on just LPFP upgrade and stock DI

When I get PI and my VIE kit dialed in, I plan to push 26-27PSI on the 66mm Garrett on full E85, looking for 680-700WHP, so I decided the PI investment will be worth my while. Although I was considering a more simple set up with a single shotgun + E85 blend before that, the deciding factor against the shotgun was that my WHP goals are just slightly more than I think it is capable of, otherwise I think in a lower HP application its a great route to take