ShocknAwe 135i Photo History & Build

[ShocknAwe]

Major updates coming. In the process of updating the thread.

This is the photo-diary history of my 135i from stock to current. Unfortunately some parts that are on the car, or have been part of the cars history have either been lost or were neglected and haven't been photographed.

The first picture will be semi-regularly updated as the build changes to reflect the current state of the car! I'm not much for words here, and I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Last Known State of Affairs:






Current Modifications:

Current Modifications:

Engine/Fueling/Exhaust/Cooling
MadDad Whisper Exhaust
MHD S2+ 95/102 Pump - flash only
Precision Raceworks Stage 2+ Modular LPFP
Precision Raceworks N54 Coils and upgraded pencils
NGK Plugs - 1 step colder, 0.022"
BMS 3" Downpipes
BMS DCI
BMS 7.5" RACE FMIC + 2.5" J-pipe
Evolution Racewerks 50mm Charge Pipe - Anodized Black Finish
TiAL Q 50mm BOV - Black
Vader Solutions 1/4" BOV adapter
Modified OEM BMW Clutch Delay Valve
Spring Bolt Delete


Suspension & Chassis
Coils
YCW custom coilovers
YCW M rear dampers
YCW Camber Plates
YCW Isolators
Fe1rx front spindle spacer
Swift Springs - 6k Front
Swift Springs - 18k Rear
Swift Thrust Sheets - 65mm rear
Dinan Rear Upper Shock Mounts

Arms & Bars
Meyle HD Front Sway Bar Links
OE BMW 135i Front Sway Bar
OE BMW 135i Rear Sway
TRW M3 Front Wishbones
TRW M3 Front Tension Struts
TRW M3 Rear Wishbones
TRW M3 Rear Guide Rods
OE BMW M3 Rear Lower Camber Link
HP Autowerks M3 rear headlight leveling bracket
Fe1rx custom "M3" Rear Toe Arms

Mounts
OE 1M Strut Brace
Rogue Engineering Transmission Mounts
Bimmerworld Aluminum Rear Subframe Bushings
135droptop Differential Lock Down Brace

Driveline
BMS Short Shift Kit
Drexler Clutch LSD: 40/10 ramps
YCW reinforced lightweight rear axles

Brakes
Racingbrake 2-piece Floating Hybrid Slotted-Drilled Iron Rotors - Front & Rear
Racingbrake Street Compound Pads


Wheels & Tires
APEX EC-7 Anthracite Wheels - 18x9.5 et 22 Front, 18x9.5 et 58 Rear
Michelin Pilot Sport 4S Tires - 275/35/18 Square


Body & Cosmetic
OE BMW 1M Front Conversion
Lightweight Titanauspuffanlagen MotoGP 1M Front Lip - Gloss Black
iND 1M Sidemarkers - Custom finished in Black Chrome
OE BMW Performance Carbon Fiber spoiler - Painted Jet Black
OE BMW LCI Black Line Tail Lights
OE BMW E46 ZHP Shift Knob
OE BMW 1M Floor Mats
OE BMW Matte Black mud guards Front and Rear
OE BMW Matte Shadowline plate frame
Redline Goods Italian Leather Shift & Brake Boots
Matte Black custom mesh vented OEM diffuser
Matte Black Kidney Grilles
CSR Eyebrows - Painted Jet Black
PIAA Plasma Ion Yellow 2500k H8 Corona Ring bulbs
Coded AE Max Voltage, Corners Off, Windows Up on Key, Folding Mirrors on Key


Fluids
Redline MTL transmission fluid
German Castrol 0W40 BMW LL-01 engine oil


Parts Bin! (awaiting install)
iND Black Chrome Kidney Grilles
Rieger quad diffuser
F82 M4 Front Uprights
E46 M3 CSL BBK Front Rotors (ECS 2pc)
Hydra Performance CSL Rotor adapter
Hydra Performance N53 ported/drilled head
Hydra Performance SS cast HP800 turbos with N53 turbofolds
Hydra Performance relocated turbo outlets
Hydra Performance high flow 3" inlets and hybrid aFe GT Momentum sealed intake
Hydra Performance PCV system
Schrick Low-lift cams
X-Clutch Organic Twin-Disk Clutch
RevShift 80A Engine Mounts
Ohlins/3DM E82 1M Coilovers


Stock:








Added Ebay Performance Replica Spoiler:





Black Slat Kidneys:





CP-e DCI:





Disaster! Turns out it buffed right out!:





Front Duct Mod & Alufelgen SF-71 19" Wheels w/ Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta tires (225F/255R), Full 360* Ceramic Tint:





Mudguards (rear), Debadged 135i emblem, and Berk exhaust:






Matte Black Diffuser Project:






A little suspension work - Bilstein dampers paired with Swift Spec-R springs M3 Wishbones, and plugged up those pesky (squishy) RSFBs:






Matte Black Kidneys & upped the voltage on the angel eyes:





Deleted the sun visor airbag warning labels:





Custom Italian Leather boots (courtesy of Redline Goods) and ZHP shift knob:







Matte Black CSR Eyebrows (Thanks HondaGoneRogue!), external suspension, Vredestein Ultrac Vorti tires (increased to 235F/265R):





MadDad Whisper Exhaust, OEM BMW Performance CF Spoiler painted Jet Black, went back to N54 mids and stock DPs:





BMS Downpipes






Spring bolt delete:
Yellow zinc hex bolts with appropriate stop length to match the springs. Separate nuts. Not ever having to worry about those soft threads or nuts on the midpipe ever again is a huge plus.





H&R 27mm Front Sway Bar and Rogue Engineering Transmission Mounts







DEPO Smoked Amber LED Sidemarkers






Dinan Rear Upper Shock Mount Kit






OE BMW LCI Black Line Tail Lights
An Absolute must on modified BMWs, the Black Line/Darkline styling sets off every paint color I have seen.




CX Racing "Big Tom" FMIC
3" CX Racing core, custom silicone cold and hotside piping, T-bolt clamps. No leaks is essential.






Evolution Racewerks CP and TiAL Q 50mm BOV
Two options for BOV on our platform, TialQ or Turbosmart. I prefer the Q as it is quieter and a little more OEM+




135droptop Differential Lock Down Brace
Welded steel. Several years on the road with DD use, no issues! Thanks 135droptop!




TC Kline S/A Coilovers: - 350f/600r
First iteration of coilovers. These are really good bang for the buck, especially up front.





BMS Short Shift Kit:
~30% reduction in shifter throw, ~1cm height reduction. Best part is my ZHP knob fit perfectly.




Swift Springs and Thrust Sheets:
392/7k front spring rate




Swift Springs and Thrust Sheets:
672/12k rear spring rate




Fe1rx Rear Lower Spring Isolator:
Pad for the lower race spring in the rear. Most coilover kits do not include this, and Fe1rx had a spare set, machined to fit the contour of the arm.





Precision Raceworks Stage 2+ Modular LPFP: Single Walbro 450, ethanol rated fuel pump. No issues 30k miles DD.



Racingbrake 2pc Floating Rotors
Weight savings ~4lbs per corner (front and rear) with increase in rotor vanes and width to 28mm.



BMW Performance 6MT Pedals
Another must have for 6MT BMWs. No more slippery pedals when wet.



YCW Front and Rear coilovers - 6k front 18k rear
Next step in trying to perfect the suspension after deleting nRFT. Better valving and compression than the TCKs, but rougher on the street.




Fe1rx ///M Rear Toe Arms
Perfect addition to the YCWs. I disliked having to regularly clean the rust off my spherical toe arms.



APEX EC-7 Rear Wheels - 18x9.5 et 58 (275/35 MP4S)
The hunt for better grip. MPSS were vastly inferior. Plus, these are bigger in every dimension.



Bimmerworld Carbon Fiber Sunroof Delete Plug
Deleting 40+ lbs from the roof. No brainer.



OE BMW 1M Anthracite Slicktop Headliner
Lets get that added headroom, easier to clean and recover if it wears out. Downside, ridiculously expensive and had to be imported.



OE BMW 1M Front Conversion - With Lightweight MotoGP Lip
First shot. Did this in my garage on jack stands. Also includes image of the BMS 7.5 RACE FMIC.



APEX EC7 Front Wheels 18x9.5 et 22 (275/35 MP4S)
The 1M front clip allowed me to square up the wheels and tires. 275/35 MP4S with no rubbing while driving. This is how the front end was meant to be!



BMS 7.5" RACE FMIC & 2.5" J-pipe
Getting serious about IAT control. 90-100 degrees with 99% humidity is tough to combat, but lets see how this does.




Drexler Clutch Type Limited Slip Differential - 40/10 Ramps
Built and imported from Germany by limitedslip.de. Thanks to Omar@HydraPerformance for helping me order this!

[ShocknAwe]

Reserved

[swagon]

Very nice. I like the drop with the Swift springs and BHD dampers. How does it drive?

[128GP]

great pics

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by swagon

Very nice. I like the drop with the Swift springs and BHD dampers. How does it drive?

Thanks. If I were to do it again with a spring/damper setup I'd probably use the same parts. I find it amazing how little space I was left with under the front fenders by upsizing the front tires again, but it really illustrates how little room we have up there. The ride and handling are exactly what I wanted. Turn in is sharp and I can actually feel the road now. There is hardly any body roll whatsoever even without a bigger front sway bar and the rear end grips about as evenly as it can without a proper limited slip diff. I get no axle tramp and very little squat. Oh and NO RUBBING (a requirement of mine, along with no drone from my exhaust).

The ride is compliant over bumps at mid/high speed. At low speed (40 and under) you'll feel them, but it's not spine shattering or kidney powdering by any means. Also, it's firm enough that where the road goes, you go. What I mean by this is that if the road bumps up and then dips, so do you. If it repeatedly undulates, so do you. A lot of the harshness that would go along with that does get soaked up but the car still moves with the road, there is ZERO floatiness. I will add that this typically isn't a problem and actually works in your favor for flat cornering and transfers. My wife loves the change, and she's super picky about being comfortable.

Originally Posted by 128GP

great pics

Thanks bud! Need some more pics of your car, been a while!

[Marc08EX]

Finally some pictures of your car Alex!!! Your car looks beautiful and sharp! Good taste in mods too!

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by Marc08EX

Finally some pictures of your car Alex!!! Your car looks beautiful and sharp! Good taste in mods too!

Thanks for the kind words Marc. Would have taken more pictures for ya of the car now but some jack-hole intentionally blasted my car with his hose as I was driving out to go photograph it. I almost stopped.. couldn't believe someone would do that. The other side of the car had dirt and dust all over it when I got to the picture site.

[brocklanders]

Your car looks great, I have similar plans for mine. Bilstien hd's and swift, as well as a mesh insert in the rear diffuser. The only difference is I bought a front lower grill to cut out and use for the rear, I have a few ideas for securing it but wanted to ask how you secured yours. Do you have a photo you could post of the back side of the diffuser?

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by brocklanders

Your car looks great, I have similar plans for mine. Bilstien hd's and swift, as well as a mesh insert in the rear diffuser. The only difference is I bought a front lower grill to cut out and use for the rear, I have a few ideas for securing it but wanted to ask how you secured yours. Do you have a photo you could post of the back side of the diffuser?

Very cool! It's an easy job, but I used black plastic gutter mesh which is flexible and can be stretched over the opening in the diffuser once cut. I tacked down the corners with 3M tape then used a black plastic epoxy resin to secure it. I'll see if I can find an in progress picture for you. If not I'll shoot a picture from the exhaust side of the diffuser with my phone for ya.

[swagon]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Thanks. If I were to do it again with a spring/damper setup I'd probably use the same parts. I find it amazing how little space I was left with under the front fenders by upsizing the front tires again, but it really illustrates how little room we have up there. The ride and handling are exactly what I wanted. Turn in is sharp and I can actually feel the road now. There is hardly any body roll whatsoever even without a bigger front sway bar and the rear end grips about as evenly as it can without a proper limited slip diff. I get no axle tramp and very little squat. Oh and NO RUBBING (a requirement of mine, along with no drone from my exhaust).

The ride is compliant over bumps at mid/high speed. At low speed (40 and under) you'll feel them, but it's not spine shattering or kidney powdering by any means. Also, it's firm enough that where the road goes, you go. What I mean by this is that if the road bumps up and then dips, so do you. If it repeatedly undulates, so do you. A lot of the harshness that would go along with that does get soaked up but the car still moves with the road, there is ZERO floatiness. I will add that this typically isn't a problem and actually works in your favor for flat cornering and transfers. My wife loves the change, and she's super picky about being comfortable.

Oh, thanks for the write up. Sounds like exactly what we are after. I am just annoying people and asking about their suspension mods as I have been searching for the optimal setup for about half a year.

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by swagon

Oh, thanks for the write up. Sounds like exactly what we are after. I am just annoying people and asking about their suspension mods as I have been searching for the optimal setup for about half a year.

No worries. There are a LOT of different, correct ways to go about doing this, and I'm far from finished. If you have any other questions or need help feel free to fire away.

[Sektion9]

looks great!

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by Sektion9

looks great!

Thanks for the love!

[mike@x-ph.com]

Nice

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

Nice

Thanks mike.

On another note, gonna throw some front mud flaps on there soon. Got a wild hair and pulled my 3mm spacers off the front end. Also starting an intercooler project. Going to try to source a KL Racing unit.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Thanks mike.

On another note, gonna throw some front mud flaps on there soon. Got a wild hair and pulled my 3mm spacers off the front end. Also starting an intercooler project. Going to try to source a KL Racing unit.

[ShocknAwe]

So small update, made the upgrade from the G4 to the G5 ISO board and figured it was time for a new harness too. Very nice box improvement from BMS and the isolated boost control is SO MUCH SMOOTHER. All my complaints about the JB4 have been resolved. Going to pick up a bavarian technic cable soon and play around with backend flashing. I figure it's time.

Also finally got front mud flaps, going on after I detail the car this weekend.

Decided to re-evaluate my catless DP situation as I got an unbelievable deal from a friend in Mass who just sold his 335. Hoping they get here this weekend so I can install before my roadtrip.

Also grabbed a new underhood shield. Those things are stupid expensive. I was hoping to hold off until I did my 1M OEM wide body conversion but it looks like that is taking a back-seat for at least another 6 months (seems to be a recurring problem).

[chewren]

Are you using the Ebay spoiler or the OEM spoiler? I have the ebay spoiler and i think it looks very off from the oem spoiler. Do you have pics for comparison if you had both?

[cky751]

Looks great! I love how you can see part of the exhaust through the rear diffuser

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by chewren

Are you using the Ebay spoiler or the OEM spoiler? I have the ebay spoiler and i think it looks very off from the oem spoiler. Do you have pics for comparison if you had both?

I have pics of both in my thread. I am currently using the OEM Performance CF spoiler, albeit painted Jet Black. I agree, the OEM spoiler is much better than the ebay one.

Originally Posted by cky751

Looks great! I love how you can see part of the exhaust through the rear diffuser

Thanks!

[chewren]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

I have pics of both in my thread. I am currently using the OEM Performance CF spoiler, albeit painted Jet Black. I agree, the OEM spoiler is much better than the ebay one.



Thanks!

Thanks!

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by chewren

Thanks!

Happy to help. If you have any other questions let me know.