Matt's 2012 Alpine 135i Build

[Fender13Bender]

Hey guys, new member here. Looking for advice and documentation of my DD build.

Just purchased last week. 2012 Alpine white with coral red interior. 6 speed manual and every option minus nav. 70,800 miles.

So far I've ordered Angel eye bulbs from E92 lighting, VRSF catless downpipe, O2 simulator along with an O2 restrictor fitting. Really hoping for no CEL but we'll see. I also ordered CF wrap for the interior wood trim.

Spent a full day detailing. Clay bar, correction compound, and wax. Detailed the interior as well and conditioned the leather.

Next up is an intercooler, charge pipe, air filter upgrade, and tune. These are the things I need assistance with. What do you guys recomend? Thinking MHD for tuning. I do have E85 available nearby and I have an aquamist meth injection kit laying around from another build.

I will post photos asap!


Edit-Cell phone pics!

Day of purchase

20180119_132150 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

Detailing, full wash, quick engine bay cleaning. Clay bar followed by correction compound, and finishing wax. Will add more layers of wax in the future and maybe even try a ceramic coating.

20180120_171459 by Matt Bender, on Flickr


20180121_200131 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

20180121_200745 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

20180124_172108 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

20180120_202949 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

20180121_200810 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

[elitesales305]

second white with red 135 purchased this week on this site..
u got the mt though..
about the upgrades .. havnt gone with mhd yet.. but it seems its the way to go.. don't forget you need a special cable to flash ur ecu..
I read somewhere on here our cars can handle with ease up to 25% eth without a kit.. so fyi maybe u wanna try it and see how that goes..

[135j]

Welcome! I have a N55 135i in the same color combo. I went with the ETS 5" FMIC and have no complaints, no cutting and quality construction. If you plan to get an aftermarket turbski, you may want a larger core but the 5" is plenty for the stocker.

Can't recommend MHD enough, the OTS maps (currently running the stage 2+ 93 oct) made my idle noticeably smoother and there's always the option for custom maps once you have your parts sorted. + linear throttle mapping and data logging.

Before anything you should make sure your plugs and coils are in good condition. I'm at almost 80k and plan to get my valves walnut blasted soon, haven't decided if I want to take this on myself or fork out the cash at a stealership.

[Fender13Bender]

Got the carbon fiber wrap for the wood trim. That was a PITA. It's not perfect but it looks quite nice, I'm happy with it.

The downpipe also came in. Should be installing it tomorrow.



20180124_173442 by Matt Bender, on Flickr



20180124_175305 by Matt Bender, on Flickr


20180124_180627 by Matt Bender, on Flickr



20180124_181640 by Matt Bender, on Flickr


This was fun to remove. The sad part was the PO supplied the OEM armrest in the trunk. He had deleted it. I installed it the other day not knowing I'd have to remove it again.




20180124_190614 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

All finished



20180124_214547 by Matt Bender, on Flickr


20180124_214559 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

20180124_221437 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

[Esteban]

Nice work. Looks good. Welcome!

[Fender13Bender]

Almost forgot, also removed the rear 135i badge.



20180124_215434 by Matt Bender, on Flickr


20180124_215753 by Matt Bender, on Flickr


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20180124_221200 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

[Matticus91]

Welcome to the crew! Car looks great and I like the headfirst dive into modding it haha.

As for your mod questions you MUST do the charge pipe first. If you try to do any power mods with the stock plastic charge pipe you're gonna have a bad time. Literally any aftermarket metal CP will do, and they're on the For Sale section all the time, I got mine for $75.

Once you've gotten that done I second all the recommendations for MHD but 2012+ cars usually need a bench flash of the DME before you can do and aftermarket tunes, so keep that in mind. I'd check with MHD first and see what they recommend, they can look up your VIN and see if you need the bench flash or not.

Sweet ride and happy modding!

[Fender13Bender]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Welcome to the crew! Car looks great and I like the headfirst dive into modding it haha.

As for your mod questions you MUST do the charge pipe first. If you try to do any power mods with the stock plastic charge pipe you're gonna have a bad time. Literally any aftermarket metal CP will do, and they're on the For Sale section all the time, I got mine for $75.

Once you've gotten that done I second all the recommendations for MHD but 2012+ cars usually need a bench flash of the DME before you can do and aftermarket tunes, so keep that in mind. I'd check with MHD first and see what they recommend, they can look up your VIN and see if you need the bench flash or not.

Sweet ride and happy modding!

Thanks for the info, had no idea about the bench flash. I will contact MHD for sure.

I wanted to do the charge pipe at the same time as the intercooler. So I really just need an answer on what intercooler to get. I don't mind cutting stuff.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Fender13Bender

Thanks for the info, had no idea about the bench flash. I will contact MHD for sure.

I wanted to do the charge pipe at the same time as the intercooler. So I really just need an answer on what intercooler to get. I don't mind cutting stuff.

7" for most performance, VRSF is good and cheap

[Fender13Bender]

VRSF is probably the intercooler I'll get unless I find something for sale in the forums here.


More progress, downpipe installed! It took a few hours but wasn't too hard. The worst part was getting access to the O2 sensor wires which required a ridiculous amount of cowls and covers to be removed.

The rest of the exhaust is stock and will be staying that way. I'm really happy with the sound now and it's still quiet inside. Looking at the factory exhaust I don't see any flow restrictions.

I also installed an O2 sensor restrictor. I doubt it will work but I figured I'd try it. I put in the smallest fitting. I will also be installing an O2 sim once it comes in.

Screenshot_20180125-203644 by Matt Bender, on Flickr



20180125_180511 by Matt Bender, on Flickr


20180125_180515 by Matt Bender, on Flickr



Cat removed


20180125_180507 by Matt Bender, on Flickr


New VRSF installed


20180125_181752 by Matt Bender, on Flickr


Started up, no leaks


20180125_193351 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

Short cold start (was warm in a few seconds).



20180125_193320 by Matt Bender, on Flickr


Warmed up revs


20180125_195706 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

[Fender13Bender]

Forgot I also replaced the broken headlight adjuster rod. Not sure if it did much, low beams are still kinda low.


20180125_192840 by Matt Bender, on Flickr



20180125_192802 by Matt Bender, on Flickr


Need to clean under there. I noticed the oil filter housing is leaking under the cap. Wondering if the o-ring was replaced at the last oil change.

[Fender13Bender]

VRSF stepped intercooler ordered!

[Fender13Bender]

Went to do the golf tee mod and it was already done!

So then I deleted the CDV. Haven't driven it yet though .


2018-01-28_08-52-22 by Matt Bender, on Flickr


What's the go to air filter of choice? I feel like an intake is a waste of money so I just want a new filter.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Fender13Bender

Forgot I also replaced the broken headlight adjuster rod. Not sure if it did much, low beams are still kinda low.

Need to clean under there. I noticed the oil filter housing is leaking under the cap. Wondering if the o-ring was replaced at the last oil change.

That adjustment arm looks like it's pointing in the wrong direction, I'm 90% sure it should be pointing down so the two arms form more of a V instead of a ^. Could be wrong though I'll go take a look at mine after work.

Have you checked your oil filter housing gasket, not just the o-ring? That's a super common and potentially costly fix on these cars.

Originally Posted by Fender13Bender

What's the go to air filter of choice? I feel like an intake is a waste of money so I just want a new filter.

OE paper filter if you're on the stock airbox

[Fender13Bender]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

That adjustment arm looks like it's pointing in the wrong direction, I'm 90% sure it should be pointing down so the two arms form more of a V instead of a ^. Could be wrong though I'll go take a look at mine after work.

Have you checked your oil filter housing gasket, not just the o-ring? That's a super common and potentially costly fix on these cars.



OE paper filter if you're on the stock airbox

I'm not sure which way it goes. Seems like this is the correct way but didn't see other pictures online.

Here you can see the leak by the oil filter lid. I already cleaned it up once. Either way I ordered a Mann filter and oring.


20180128_211050 by Matt Bender, on Flickr




20180128_211011 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

[bbrugger]

My oil filter cap failed due to previous owner over torqueing it. Make sure you get a known good cap and torque it to spec.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Fender13Bender

I'm not sure which way it goes. Seems like this is the correct way but didn't see other pictures online.

Here you can see the leak by the oil filter lid. I already cleaned it up once. Either way I ordered a Mann filter and oring.

Do you see any oil along the front of the engine block? Try cleaning all that up with brake cleaner after you change the filter and o-ring and see if it comes back.

[Fender13Bender]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Do you see any oil along the front of the engine block? Try cleaning all that up with brake cleaner after you change the filter and o-ring and see if it comes back.

No but the under tray has oil on it. The OPG may be leaking too.

Got the O2 simulator. I think I'll wait to see if or when the CEL comes on before installing. Also installed the Mann oil filter and new o rings. The old o ring seemed fine and the lid didn't seem to tight. I cleaned it up and will see if it still leaks.

20180129_192334 by Matt Bender, on Flickr



20180129_190823 by Matt Bender, on Flickr


20180129_192341 by Matt Bender, on Flickr

[Fender13Bender]

I ordered LED AE bulbs from E92 lighting about a week or so ago and haven't received any notification that they shipped. Is this normal? I also emailed them and didn't get a reply back.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Fender13Bender

I ordered LED AE bulbs from E92 lighting about a week or so ago and haven't received any notification that they shipped. Is this normal? I also emailed them and didn't get a reply back.

Nope. give them a call.

[Fender13Bender]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

Nope. give them a call.

Emailed with no reply and called twice with no answer. I left a voicemail.

[Gizmo135i]

Originally Posted by Fender13Bender

No but the under tray has oil on it. The OPG may be leaking too.

Got the O2 simulator. I think I'll wait to see if or when the CEL comes on before installing. Also installed the Mann oil filter and new o rings. The old o ring seemed fine and the lid didn't seem to tight. I cleaned it up and will see if it still leaks.

You shouldn’t need the 02 spacer, that simulator device works perfectly.... the spacer may actually cause a check engine light. The rear o2 sensors on these cars are very sensitive.

Also looks like the oil filter O-ring is leaking, and maybe the oil filter housing gaskets. make sure you use an oem filter and change the seals!

Good luck!!