Leaderboard

Nick and I were pleased to be able to help you Chris with the situation you were placed in. Don't go overly hard on the inexperienced person who did the work. He'll end up broke or fixing wheel barrows... and loosing friends

After my nightmare experience with a cowboy mechanic, who wasnt even cheap, and repeatably screwed up my car in multiple ways (dodgy brakes, installed dodgey, BS talk, and flat out lying to my face) and then forgot to do some pretty crucial bolts up, resulting in a change of underwear at 100kmh.... I wont mention names here, as he still has the ability to make a mends, failing that I shall offer a public reaming! A massive shout out to Botany Motor Worx and Nick at BM Workshop parts department for hooking me up with some new brakes for the E87. Thanks heaps, appreciate it. Its so nice to be able to slow down without shaking my fillings out. Keep up the good work, I will not stray in the future! I dont know about these style 269s, but at least its better than cracked ACS Type IV!

i have used macweld in drury. they dont paint, but the welding,machining and polishing is very good. plus, they are heaps cheaper then arrow. they stand by their work

I havent really put much up about this car to date, probably start something here. Build List 2008 135i N54 6spd manual Jap import Standard N54 3.0 6 cyl twin TD03 turbo engine and 6spd manual, replaced upgraded BMW 550i pressure & clutch plate, stock dualmass flywheel, hard gbox mounts and braces. E92 m3 rear end swapped, subframe, LSD, all suspension arms & links, hubs, m3 front arms/uprights/hubs etc. Hard bushes installed for subframe and a few rear arms. 1m genuine panels all round, replaced via factory BMW repair methodologies AP Radi-cal brake kit all round, 6 piston front 380mm, 4 piston rear 390mm, SS braided lines. Full floating rotors on aluminium hats. KW v3 coilovers, bump & rebound set up, front vorshlag top camber/castor plates set up 2deg neg camber. H&R sways front/rear, adjustable end links set up for lowering 245/35/19, 275/30/19 Hankooks to shred for now. 295/30/19's Continental's ordered for rear, 245/35/19 Michelin PSS Cup 2's for front arriving mid June '17. Rob Beck Next Gen turbos, Billet 15T Compressor wheel/RB Bullet nut, TD04 Thrust upgrade, High flow TD04L 11-blade high aero turbine wheel/RB high heat shield, and RB high flow oil drains. Custom turbo outlet pipe, modified SS section. See photo 1. RB silicon turbo intakes, stock filter placements, big filters from Burger Motorsport VRSF 7" thick Intercooler, RB turbo inlet with HKS SSQV blow off valve. Ordered "Colossus" Intercooler to replace 7" VRSF. Now running full methanol integration via JB4 ISO with CM10 nozzle, 60% meth/40% H20. Running 65 additive on JB4, adding meth at 6lb/in2, or 0.4bar onwards once oil is at 70deg C or higher. Cant stress how good the meth kit works, Any flow restrictions, knock detected or avg ign retard the boost gets brought back by the JB4. Previous to the meth kit going in, the IAT, intake air temps, got really high, in traffic would see close to 50deg C. Took a long time on the M'way to get it back down to mid 30's, which would see the ECU pull timing and boost aggression in the mid range. Now with the meth, each time you floor it, you can watch the IATs drop pretty quick, much better repeatability of power. Means you can spin the wheels over 120. Ive tested the car up to 27lb/in2, 1.9Bar boost, but have settled to 25lb/in2 circa 1.7bar. With this it'll slowly pull in front of new GSXR750's from standstill and easily from 180+ on closed roads. I put into the main fuel tank a blend of about 60% mobil 98RON and 40% E85 from the Gull Forest Hill. I get 300kms from the tank as a daily driver. The JB4 ISO is set up as a piggy back to the factory ECU to control methanol and boost and the full data logging which provides a live bluetooth connection, so the phone is a mini dash too. The ECU is reflashed via MHD tuning (free to DL, then pay for each map). I run the hybrid turbo E85 map or the race flash depending on the percentage of E85 is in the tank. Im limited currently on two fronts in regards to the power output of the car. The turbos are at the limit of airflow efficiency, and secondly the High pressure fuel pump and injector flow capacity. The meth spray is adding fuel which Im using to maintain AF ratios. This used to be considered 'unsafe' as there were little/no warning or safety devices that would protect the engine if there was a failure in the meth delivery. With the JB4 safety systems Im happy to move into meth as a fuel delivery device as well as cooling. I limit boost through 1st and second, 10lb then 17lb then 3rd gear gets the full 25lb onwards. Also, for shits and giggles, it has a 2 step installed, so conveniently I can build boost from a standstill, I can get to about 8lb. With flames out the back of course. Installed is a no lift shift, so just bang the clutch and change gear while holding the throttle down maintaining close to the boost you've just shifted from. I have installed anti-lag but havent set this part up yet. If I've 2 stepped anyone I'm sorry, kinda like a machine gun going off in your face. More so now the custom mild steel rear exhaust has been replaced with a stainless steel one. Had the car in for its cert finally at Fraser Cars Birkenhead via Scott. Mostly required lock washers on parts of the car that BMW didn't think needed lock washers. Annoying, but them the rules. Otherwise the information is with NZTA to approve and get the plate on. Early June, says NZTA are happy bar a bump steer test booked in for mid June. Will be fine as virtually stock 1M front end and offset wheels are used with spacers. The next plan is to install the Precision Raceworks Stage 4 low pressure fuel system (running three intank Walbro E85 pumps), independent & larger low pressure fuel supply/return lines, 6 x 750cc bosch injectors and port injection manifold spacer. This will allow a full E85 even E100 fuel in the main tank and likely the deactivation and sale of the meth system. Simply not needed with higher E85 content, if available. An ethanol sensor (Continental) will be installed in the fuel supply line which also gets integrated into the JB4 for complete fuel integration from E0 to E100. This should net about another 20-30kws without another turbo upgrade.......this fuel kit is due early July.....turbo's hmmmmmm.... Lastly, there are some MMP Stage 3 full TD04HL turbo's that Im eyeing up, which have seen 550 rear wheel kw's on full E85. Pushed, these are the limit of the stock N54 engine apparently, circa 900 crank hp. Incredible that its an open aluminium block with this level of strength. Who says 2JZ's are the strongest? Factory forged crank and miele pistons. N55 are definitely weaker engines. Not saying they are weak ok, just 'not as strong as N54's'. However, I cannot stress the amount of misery there is in changing the turbos out, the main reason Im potentially unlikely to do so again. Took close to a week to change out over weekends and nights in the rain, fuggin misery. E82 LCI Blackline taillights added late May '17 and LED bulb change out inside and at all exterior corners. Error free my arse! So its taken me about 2 years to build it in my driveway, bar the panel and paint. Its cost a fair bit less than a real 1M, minus all the mods. Im guessing currently 410-430kws at the rears going from similar/same tune N54's in Aus. It sort of drives like a combination of a lazy boy and a fast motorbike.

Hi, A few people have asked my how I did my swap so I thought I should clear some myths and put it in a permanent place. The reason I chose this swap its cheap, easy and the drive train is already capable. The e30 is my Girlfriends daily so I wanted it off the road as little as possible. The e30 had a very ticky m40 and was on its last legs, the donor car was a 1995 318ti but any m42 car will be fine but a non ews model would be ideal. Below is the list of parts from each car used. e36 318ti m42 e30 m40 e30 m42 Engine Engine arms Exhaust Manifold DME Engine mounts Engine loom (x20) Upper and lower Oil pans 1994 DME (no ews) Gearbox/clutch/driveshaft etc. Power steering pump Fan and fan clutch Alternator Throttle cable with part No. 13541288013 dip stick (needs bending) Brown Temp sensor (swap with black temp sensor on m42) Starter motor As you can see all the parts except the exhaust manifold are from the E30 or the donor 318ti. I sourced the exhaust manifold from e30zone in the UK and was $250 delivered. The only custom parts were the coil bracket (soon to be COP), the exhaust manifold to existing exhaust and the c101-x20 adapter. I treated the c101 to x20 adapter just like an m50 swap, below is my adapter table Pin No. C101 Colour Pin No. X20 Colour 1 Charge light Blue 25 Blue 2 Static oil level Green/Yellow 1 Blue/White 3 4 Temp Guage Brown/Purple 12 Brown/Yellow 5 Oil Pressure Light Brown/Green 23 Brown/Grey 6 Oxygen Sensor relay Green/White 22 Green/White 7 Switched power Green 21 Green/White 8 Fuel rate input White/Black 24 White/Black 9 Engine Speed imput Black 20 Black 10 Dynamic Oil Level Blue 2 Blue/Yellow 11 Reset Service Lights White/Green 19 White/Green 12 Check engine light Grey(brown) 8 Grey 13 Fuel pump relay Green/Purple 13 Green/Purple 14 Speed signal for ecu Black/White 14 Black/White 15 Unloader relay Black/Green 15 Black/Green 16 Diagnostic White/Black 17 White/Purple 17 18 Start Black/Yellow 18 Black Yellow 19 20 Overall it was a very easy swap, this was my first time pulling an engine and was completed by me and a friend in a long weekend. Hope this helps others in the future. Cheers

Did a trial fitment of a set of Ergen Headers which are fabricated for M60/62 or S62 E30. The intention is to fit them to 8M3 in place of the restrictive factory headers. Our spare S62 had the privilege of posing next to 8M3 with the Ergen headers on.

As long as his ineptitude doesn't kill anyone in the meantime Glenn! For my 2c those wheels are 10 times better than any ACS, never been a fan of them, even in the 80s when they were fashionable.

+1 for Macweld, I've used them a few times in the past.

Very nice Ray, hopefully a fair few kw's released with after some dyno tuning. Are you still running the stock e39 m5 cats on 8M3 ? Some information here about before an after using Evolve's take on tuned length headers and some DME tweaks : http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e52-z8-discussion/306729-evolve-medusa-headers-vs-stock-headers-pictures.html

Probably a poorly skilled driver, on wet wintery roads, driving beyond the condition on bingobong tyres.

Do you have an N54 aka the oil fountain? On those yes oil leaks are common.

I am sure there are lots of examples we could make,but we talking about a biggish well specced sedan

this one's well worth a watch:

Lots done in the last 48 hours. Removed all running gear/suspension from N42/auto powered touring. Stripped donor E46 M3 completely. Cut 1/4 panels and rear boot floor from M3. Installed S54 into the touring. AuxPump delete. Front suspension loaded in (bilsteins PSS10}. Keeping it badged as a 318i until the final stage (panel grafts & paint) is completed. I`ll let the pics speak for themselves.