elias

right I see, any particular places you Ould recommend for paint? Most places ive found so far seem to offer powdercoating?

Sounds good @charles28 may be able to give some insight on this, using meth injection with tuned n54 on track.

good question, only one way to find out... the thing is most people that drive n54s use them from highway glory runs or doing one or two pulls rather than repeated, high rpm driving such as on a track. Might be worth trying to search up some track builds such as the Berk time attack 135i race car and see what sort of cooling they run, most of the time they seem to spend more effort on oil coolers etc reducing engine oil temps rather than IATs. Meth injection may be worth considering as a way to cool down the IATs, Ken from Wedge-performance recommends the AEM kit.

The VRSF 7.5 one seems to be quite good from what ive heard, charge pipe meth injection could also help to reduce intake temps

Ive got a set of CSL style wheels for my 135i that are currently painted white, and have a fair few chips in them. Im wanting to refurbish them, in gunmetal or shadow chrome sort of colour. Anyone here done this before? Wondering what the best way to remove the old paint is? Or am I better off just dropping them off at a powdercoater and getting them to do it? Cheers

Ordered some new subframe and diff bushings for the car, should be here in a week or so, hoping to get the subframe bushings installed soon and hopefully fix the sloppy/vague rear end. Should be a fun job... Diff bushings will go in later on, when I hopefully put in a Mfactory limited slip diff soon.

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated. I decided against the inserts as I believe my bushings are too worn for these to work as intended and with my stiff coilover setup I think id still have too much movement, and don't really want a second spring rate (from the rubber bushings) I haven't replaced the RTABs yet, will do the subframe bushings and see if there's still slop, if so, then those will be next, we will see. I ended up going with the Condor speed shop UHMW ones, as the company was great to deal with, and very prompt in answering any questions as well as hearing some positive reviews. Will update this thread once I get them installed, should be here in about a week, shipping price was fairly reasonable and only an extra 4$ for express fedex shipping. Diff bushings won't be getting installed just yet, will do them when I do a LSD conversion a little bit later on, saves dropping the diff twice. Cheers

Haven't been able to do much to the car recently, but took it out for a drive and took some photos. Subframe bushings, ride height and wheel alignment next up on the to do list, and hopefully a limited slip diff a little bit later on...

Appreciate the reply @jon dee some good information in there. From what I can tell, poly bushings in the subframe shouldn't need lubrication as there should be minimal twisting, compared to something like a control arm. The main reason for changing the subframe bushings is the fact that im trying to get rid of the vague feeling rear end which has become all the more noticeable since having installed aftermarket suspension which is significantly stiffer. Installing bushings which do not have a spring rate would be ideal I think, as this would eliminate the current situation of essentially having two spring rates, one from bushing and one from the springs, where it seems currently the bushings are softer which is a very odd feeling. From my research it seems, tearing of welds/chassis only becomes an issue on high hp cars with solid aluminium bushings, as UHMW and poly seem to be soft enough to absorb enough of the forces to not crack anything. In terms of NVH, car does still have full interior and will keep most of it, so that is something to keep in mind... cheers

tried hell bm? had a fair few e8x/e9x there when I was there last no too long ago, bound to be one with heated seats amongst them, seems to be a common option on the 135is

that makes sense, do these come with the ewg n55? Seem to be a fairly reliable engine when taken care of, and can be made to sound very good. Im sure you'd get good money for the 335d, have spoken to a few people who spent a long time looking for one of those and eventually gave up, seem to be quite rare, although it seems to be not the ideal time to sell a car right now

why would you want to swap the 335d for a 335i? 335D wagon sounds like an ideal daily driver to me...

Looking into replacing my rear subframe bushings soon and thought Id better do the diff ones too to match. Looking at either the Condor speed shop UHMW ones or the AKG motorsport 75Dpoly bussing. Anyone had any experience with either of these? My stock bushings feel very sloppy, all the more noticeable after installing firmer suspension. Car isn't daily driven, but will still be street driven. UHMW: https://www.condorspeedshop.com/collections/1-series/products/the-crucial-e8x-subframe-differential-mount-combo Poly: https://www.akgmotorsport.com/product/rear-subframe-bushing-set-for-bmw-e90-polyurethane-75d/ Cheers

not a bad looking car by any means its just the big headlights on the e87 and e82/88 take a bit of getting used to

disagree with this, n54 is arguably a stronger engine and easier to tune, although I agree that a m135i is a better, much more balanced car than a n54 130i would be

interesting, as far as I was aware a LSD was never a factory option, which was a big mistake on bmws part imo

looks great! and that wagon looks awesome too, I would probably get rid of the lip as if everything else is OEM/stock it looks a bit out of place

Yes the 135i can be a deathtrap especially in the wet with traction control off, but also very fun, like I said can't really comment on the 130i though, having never driven one, was more referring to how different the n52 engine was to the n54. Would definitely recommend giving a 135i a test drive though if you are considering it

I would agree with this, I have never owned a 130i, but have a 135i and a 325i wagon, n52 engine is great in the 325, and would be significantly better in 3l form in a lighter, smaller car. n54 is great engine but different to drive, much more low down power but falls off at higher revs, handling is great too on the 135i with a few changes, definitely recommend stiffer suspension, and negative camber up front, and the OEM rear subframe bushings aren't the best either. Both cars have their pros and cons, but id imagine that a 130i might be more rewarding to drive especially on nz roads, high revving NA straight six, more linear power, whereas the 135i is almost too out of control, especially when tuned, traction is always an issue.

no, would highly recommend, very fun car

Awesome car mate, looks fantastic with the black and white, although I may be slightly biased, good to hear the positive experience with the rt615k+ tires, will give them a go on my 135i, should fit fine on 18x8 et38 I think.

any info on the exhaust?

have been looking into this as well for my 135i, depends on if you have a manual or automatic car, automatic is easier as it is a bolted ring gear, so it is easier to swap over. seems there are a few different options speed science will sell you the LSD core for about $2200ish and then you can either install it yourself or pay someone to fit it can buy the LSD core directly from Mfactory, works out slightly cheaper especially if you can find way to avoid import duty then it will be fair bit cheaper than speed science. Kayne barrie can do the whole thing for you for about 3k. speedfactor in Tauranga can sell you a Ruff branded LSD core for $1800ish, and you can install it yourself or possibly send them your pumpkin and get them to fit it for you at an extra cost im tempted to just order one direct from Mfactory, they seem to have decent warranty and people have had good experiences with them, install doesn't look too complicated with the right tools, just have to check backlash with a dial gauge and it should be good.

what exhaust is that?

Made a bit more progress, been very busy with uni assignments recently, redid a part of the exhaust, my welding isn't particularly good, and this thin walled steel with flux core isn't the nicest thing to weld either, but looks a bit better than before, painted it so it doesn't rust as quickly. Also decided to take matters into my own hands and bought a guard rolling tool, will give the rear guards a go tomorrow and see how flat I can get them, and then maybe bit more negative camber when I go for a wheel alignment after adjusting ride heights and they 245s may just fit. Also acquired a pair of 235/40/18 fallen rt615k+ tires for the front, the 245s maybe be a bit too hard to make work on the front, don't want them to rub in corners. Will take a fair bit of rolling to work...