Badical

I had this happen on my 135i, just with the upshift only, so if it's the same thing then inside the guts of the paddle assy, there is a silicon piece that has two conductive pads that when you press the paddle it pushes on that silicon piece and makes those pads make contact with the circuit board. With mine, the pads had torn around the edges so weren't making contact properly and being intermittent. So I just bought some F series replica paddle assemblies off AliExpress and pinched that silicon piece to replace mine and switched out the paddles also as I preferred the look of the F series paddles. So maybe worthwhile pulling the paddles apart to inspect them, it's not too hard of a job.

The plastic coolant parts on these cars are my biggest compliment, a couple times I've been screwed over by parts suddenly breaking without warning ?

I had the same reaction when I fitted my M3 arms, only made it 15m down the road then turned around and gave my car an eye ball alignment so I could make it to the shop for a proper alignment.

Fitted some M3 rear subframe bushes and while I was there also chucked in an E93 335i rear sway bar, 15mm Vs 12mm 135i bar. Rear end feels a bit more solid now.

Finished up replacing the sump gasket yesterday, apart from being time consuming it was pretty straightforward. Decided to go for a drive to make sure the oil level sensor worked and drove to the supermarket, finished up and started the car to be greeted with a low coolant level warning, shut the car off and opened the bonnet to see coolant everywhere ?. Traced it down to that stupid plastic line going from the upper radiator hose to expansion tank which had burst. Luckily wasn't far from home so got a lift back to grab some stuff to make an emergency repair. Now sourcing supplies to make a proper metal replacement line. God I'm hating all the plastic coolant components.

Got a replica of a BMW performance spoiler so with nothing else to do chucked it on. Much better presence than the factory spoiler.

They are pretty good quality, the hard part is gluing it onto the plastic frame, this takes a bit of time. Doing the handbrake boot probably took me about 3-4 times of pulling it off and regluing until I had it just right, luckily the glue I used was weak enough to pull off and remove from the fabric without damaging it. I recommend getting some second hand bits to pull apart, I just got the parts from pick a part when a 1 series showed up and re-trimmed those.

I got a sheet of this, not genuine alcantara, but close enough: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Ultrasuede-Ambiance-HP-High-Performance-54-Wide-Fabric-by-the-Yard-5709/131393921273 Way more than I ever needed and has been enough to cover my door handles, dash trim piece and other bits and bobs like the gear knob, that black is a good match with the BMW performance alcantara steering wheel trim piece. I then glued it on with 3M super 77, couldn't find any 3M hi-strength 90, but the 77 is doing well. The gearshift boot and handbrake boot I got from https://cobywheel.com/ As for my 135 vs evo, my 135 is so much of a nicer road car, my evo is an RS so is an arse to drive sometimes with no aircon and sound deadening, plus its modified to the point now where it's only happy going fast on some back roads or track days, absolutely brilliant at that, it has a certain basic raw charm to it that my 135 doesn't have nor would I want it to have.

Retrimmed my DCT shift knob in alcantara, took a few goes until I was happy. Now matches a few other interior bits and bobs.

Pretty easy really. Have a good read of this thread: https://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1358509 Basically, unscrew the paddle assembly from the wheel, unscrew the paddle from the mounting base, remove the plastic hinge pin from the old and new paddles and swap them over and screw everything back together. As you keep the original circuit board base. I kept the rubber pad with the conductive buttons from the f series paddles but cut off the spring guide as the original base has a plastic spring guide and also swapped over the f series spring as it is stiffer. Result is an OEM look and a much nicer feeling paddle actuation. I just bought the replica f series paddles you see on eBay or AliExpress, quite surprised at the quality, then again I wasn't using the circuit board on those ones.

Swapped out my paddles to some F series ones, I much prefer the OEM look over the aftermarket paddles I had. Also fitted a 1M strut brace, no real change in handling, but it looks nicer. Along with that chucked in an E92 M3 front sway bar, nice subtle change there. Plus while I was down there, noticed my sump gasket is starting to leak, so yay, extra things to fix ?

Replaced the side cover and sump gaskets on the gearbox along with giving it a birthday with new filters and oil. Filters and sump gasket is easy enough, side cover.....glad I won't be doing that again.

Same as myself today, just got the letter. 92 in an 80 zone, so I thought I was a good boy playing it safe in a 100 zone coming back from Tauranga to Auckland. Looks like I missed the sign for 80 ? First ticket in 15 years.

Same reason as Navin. I've always wanted an E82, I don't have much need for extra space that a F20 would give me. So just really came down to a looks thing for me as I prefer sedans and coupes over hatches. But if I was in the market for a hatch, a F20 would definitely get a look in.

The reason I went for an N55 model was because I just couldn't be arsed dealing with rattling wastegates, carboned up intake valves and a fuel pump/injectors crapping themselves if they haven't been changed. I have an evo6 as my track day toy so that is my high power fix. This is my daily so the engine mods i've done have more than enough power for my needs, I really don't want to turn this into my evo as that is now just a pain in the arse to drive around on the street as it's stiff, loud, uncomfortable. Great when you are in the mood but not for my daily. So the argument of an N54 taking more power doesn't really mean much to me. I love this engine, nice smooth lazy power, sounds great. The previous owner took nice care of it and i'm doing the same, i've taken care of the water pump/thermostat and oil filter housing gaskets so far, so once i've done the leaking DCT sump it'll hopefully be just regular maintenance items. My days of wanting a highly modified daily are over, too old now even at 36 haha.