Marcinj's 1er build thread...

[Marcinj]

Hi y'all. I've been a big fan of lurking on the forums and reading people's build threads so I have decided to take today to catch myself and you guys up on my car. My goal is to keep this updated so I can have a way to look back at where my journey started.

A little introduction about myself: I am kid in my 20s that has repeatedly dumped all my money into my 1er. Currently going to school for automotive and want to end up successful in it. My whole family is into cars so they enable my addiction in car stuff.

I hope you enjoy!!

IG: https://www.instagram.com/bloo.135i/

[Marcinj]

This would be my first big purchase that I knew would impact my life. I needed a good car that I could daily but I also wanted to be able to learn on it car things and enjoy it. So my main criteria for a first car where RWD, Manual, and Reliable-ish. This narrowed my search down to a Miata and an e30 at a close second. I was sold on a NA, NB as many people say it is perfect for a started car. 2 negatives about that option was winters would suck because rust and not being able to finance to car to start building my credit for my future. My dad at the time had a M235i and brought up the idea of the 1er. I was in love with his car with had sold me on an n55 rather than the arguable less reliable n54. My brother also just purchased an M2comp and sold me on getting stick. So the search began for a 2011+ 6mt 135i.

[Marcinj]

The search for the perfect spec was hard and being a collage student, the budget was not there either. I was ready to settle on a later gen mini Johnson Works edition that was a decent deal but ended up passing it up.

I was on vacation with my parents in Florida when a my car came on sale. It was up in Minnesota at a private dealership and they posted it at Kelly Blue Book price, 15k. We sent a deposit to hold the car within 48 hours of posting and my brother flew up from home, Wisconsin, and picked up the car. I had earlier learned stick on my buddy's e46 325i and practiced on my brothers m2comp so I was ready for the challenge of stick

Spec:
2011 BMW 135i 6Mt
Deep Sea Blue/ Savannah Beige 2 Tone
Single Hump!!!
M sport (I think all 135is are M sport, correct me if I'm wrong)

[Marcinj]

Getting used to stick was a struggle. At first I regretted getting manual but my brother kept telling me I made the right choice. A few months in I started learning rev matching using double clutching as my dad is a truck driver. The second I hit a perfect rev match I was sold on a third pedal. I felt like the coolest guy on the block. My brother on the other had self rev matching so it became a competition to become a better driver then him.

I also got my first mods!!! My dad had a cold air intake on his car and I wanted the cool whoosh noises so I settled on a BMS Intake and a VRSF charge pipe. Also my brother got me a VRSF catless DP that I would wait to install until I was comfortable with stock power. And I got rid of the M colors on the grill lol.

This picture is with my first car, Honda Odyssey that had 300k miles, a real tank.

[Marcinj]

This was a monumental month, as I did an oopsie. Mixing a teen with a modded BMW who thinks he knows how drive stick results, in my case, with a money shift. Engine was toast, crank hub spun, and valves got slapped by the pistons. My baby was broken bad That night I wanted to give up on my dreams but my dad and brother convinced me other wise.

[Marcinj]

The fact that I financed my car left me with enough backup money to make a fix work. My dad found a mom and pops BMW shop in Illinois, about an hour away, that could swap a newish engine in for 10k. Other quotes ranged from 15-20k. This would leave me broke but it was worth the investment as I have come to realize. If I could do it all again I would have have attempted to do the swap myself, or even looked into a s65. I am very happy with the outcome though, as I did not have the knowledge I have now.

My 80k miles, at the time, now had a engine with 70k miles, all new gaskets and fluids, and ran as good as it did before, which was a surprise.

[Marcinj]

Car went in for an early oil change to make sure the new motor was health and all was good. Once home I put a MHD tune on it, stage 1, I had one in a raffle while on a Badge Bimmer Club Cruse with my brother while my car was down. This picture is from when my brother and I took our cars out on some back roads, where my love the 1er grew greater.

[Marcinj]

Winter came in full swing and I needed winter tires to survive the snow. Following in my brothers footsteps, I settled on winters on the stock wheels and getting a better set of wheel/ tires for summer. I followed a tire rack post and settled on square Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 tires on the stock staggered wheels. And man, this thing is a HOOT in the snow. There where many late nights swinging the car in the snow.

[Marcinj]

She's a tank

[Marcinj]

My dad's M235i had a lip kit on it as it was a mostly a m performance car. I couldn't afford OEM parts so I settled on RW Carbon's front lip, trunk spoiler, and diffuser. This made the car look more aggressive and gave it a good look. If I could do it again, I would have spent this money on a LSD and looked into ebay-esc options. I am still very happy with the quality, but performance > looks IMO now.

[Marcinj]

With spring on the horizon, and the winters on the stocks, I threw Michelin PS4S's on APEX Arc 8's I picked up on Black Friday. I went with 8.5, 9.5 staggered as I wanted to squeeze the most tire on stock suspension under my fenders. Since I was broke, my brother loaned me money to fuel my addiction. Here we are after a wash, him still on his winters.

[Marcinj]

Overall a great summer. Drove her a lot and took her on track!! Somewhere during this time I had the Catless DP put in and tuned her up to stage 2.

[Marcinj]

Brother got a flat and I was the utility vehicle

[Marcinj]

Invested in a tent as the sun and sap was beating on the paint. Also bought it in preparation for winter. I highly recommend this if you have the space for it.

[Marcinj]

This marks the end of V1 as I like to call it with the car. I took the car up for a real rip on some back roads and my rear shocks hissed on big bumps... It was time for an upgrade.

[Marcinj]

COILOVERS!!! This has been my favorite modification and also the most expensive. My dad has taught me that its better to buy quality once rather then junk over and over again. I settled on Ohlin's R&T after spending months on the forums reviewing all the options. I purchased them through 3DM Motorsports as the Track day kit so I got all the goodies as well. Berry was great with helping me out, this was the biggest job I had done on a car so I had plenty of questions. Spent a weekend installing them with some buddies and the next month dialing them in. I got a conservative alignment and the car woke up enormously. And now with the lowered look and some stickers, the car looked better then ever.

[Marcinj]

My buddy got me into photography so here is a few of my favorite photos we got in fall.

[tracer bullet]

Good stuff! Fun to read the journey. Hope I didn't accidentally get in the middle of more posts.

[Marcinj]

With winter around the corner the stocks are back on and the car is back to being the winter beater.

[Marcinj]

Originally Posted by tracer bullet

Good stuff! Fun to read the journey. Hope I didn't accidentally get in the middle of more posts.

No worries! As long as your enjoying it

[Marcinj]

Winter was a lot in my personal life relating my future. Only mod really was stud conversion and spacers for future plans.

Life: Thus far I had been studying computer science as my brother is very successful in that path but I wasn't finding any joy in it. I found myself on this forum more than I'd like to admit during class. After some sole searching I dropped out of 4 year and am currently studding automotive and I could not be happier. I'm blessed I had the support system to make such a decision and the poor 1er had to deal with my cooped up stress.

[WrathOTM]

tracer bullet with the combo breaker!
Nice build so far. Looks good on the coilovers and factory rims. And good pics in general too.