elias 253 Report post Posted August 1, 2022 20 hours ago, Tech2P said: It was in the CBD at the rooftop I was gonna come talk to you but we had to leave haha. I enjoy reading through your thread bro I always liked these Oh true yeah security wasn't stoked on the meet haha, glad you're enjoying the tread , definitely have a chat at the next one man. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sammo 2544 Report post Posted August 2, 2022 This thing is coming together real nice!! Modern classic for sure 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted August 2, 2022 7 hours ago, Sammo said: This thing is coming together real nice!! Modern classic for sure Thank you! Yeah finally getting closer to a point where im happy with it, but still got a lot planned, most importantly The LSD which has now been stuck in customs for almost 10 days... 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted August 3, 2022 Diff has arrived, looks great, very excited to get it installed and test it, ordered new seals which will be here this afternoon, then on to try remove the diff out of the car, need to find a thin 50mm wrench to remove the driveshaft... came with new ring gear bolts and some haribos, can't complain 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted August 15, 2022 .Some progress, decided id waited long enough for the rain to stop, so pulled the diff out of the car, on the side of the road, in the rain. Not the most fun I've had working on my car, but managed to get it done. Some of the bolts took a while to take out, probably should have just removed the heat shield. Dropping the diff down in a controlled manner was tricky with only 2 hands, 1 of which was needed to operate the jack, slipped off the jack a bit and crushed my hand slightly but luckily it wasn't quite as heavy as I had anticipated. Diff goes to Kayne Barrie early next week to get the Mfactory LSD and new seals put in, in the meantime I will try replace the diff bushings. And then ill put it back in the car, fill it up with some fresh fluid and see how it goes. Made a tool for the two smaller diff bushings, just a pipe, some plate and a threaded rod, should do the trick, then put the new ones in the freezer and they should go in easy enough. Thinking I will probably be able to use the subframe busing tool for the large diff bushing. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted August 20, 2022 (edited) Decided to keep busy while I wait until KBM has time to sort the diff installation, by sorting out my charge pipe situation. Bought a n55 aluminium charge pipe from Hell BM, happens to be ESP one, drilled a big hole in it, got a turbosmart flange welded on and it fits a lot better than the old one did. So for anyone that can't find a charge pipe to fit a specific type of blow off valve, just buy n55 e chassis charge pipe and weld on the flange that comes with your BOV, n55e chassis and n54 is the exact same shape, n55 just doesn't have the dv ports. Looks a lot better, am still waiting for 6mm vacuum line adapter to get reference signal to bov then will test to see if I get any leaking or fluttering to see if it has the correct spring in it at the moment. Edited August 24, 2022 by elias 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted August 24, 2022 Installed the last of the diff bushings, subframe bushing tool worked pretty well, a lot of hollow space in the stock bushing so should help reduce twisting under load now that ive installed solid UHMW ones in place of all the original diff and subframe bushings. Got the diff back from Kaye Barrie today, huge thanks to him for getting it done so quickly, and sorting out the diff oil too. Installed it back into the car today, was a bit tricky getting it lined up with the driveshaft, axles and bushings all at the same time but managed to get there eventually with the help of a trolley jack. Removed the rear section of exhaust to make some more room. Got everything bolted back up and torqued everything I could up to spec. Car is back on the ground now, just waiting for the BOV vacuum line adapter still then I will take it for a test drive and see how it goes. Next thing on the list, is long overdue XHP transmission tune and another wheel alignment, then the car should be pretty well sorted for a fun weekend/backroad car for now. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted August 30, 2022 (edited) Took the car to Hamptons downs for the monthly meet up, and took it out on the track cruise, was great to be able to test it out and see the difference all the work/parts have made, car felt so much more solid and planted under load, much more grip with The LSD especially on corner exit. Bc golds were surprisingly good on the track with only a bit of roll on some very hard cornering. Car felt very balanced, tended to understeer every so slightly when pushed to the limit of grip, but could have easily been corrected with a bit more throttle, or some better front tires, current ones are pretty average. Also got the BOV setup properly sorted, turbosmart raceport GenV blow off valve with a custom n55 charge pipe with the turbosmart flange welded on, running orange and purple spring in parallel, softest spring setup that keeps the BOV shut on idle. Vacuum reference is from a 6mm vacuum line connected to an intake manifold MAP sensor spacer, and blocked off the original diverter valve vacuum line. Car has been running great, didn't overheat on track, and drove more than 300km all over auckland/down to Hamptons, some Piha backroads without a single issue. Just needs a wheel alignment and possibly a slightly stiffer front sway bar in the future. Edited August 30, 2022 by elias 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted September 14, 2022 Haven't done much to the car recently, been very busy with university assignments. Car still needs a wheel alignment, but when I saw that kiwi plates now offered black number plates I was intrigued, then I checked and THE 135 was still available so I had to get it. Plates showed up today, went with the standard black slim as I didn't like the black slim euro design. Mounted them with some scotch foam tape, hardest part was getting them straight and centred. Very happy with how it came out though with the black on black. Contemplating removing the silver 135i badge on the boot now, since it is rather obvious that it is a 135i now with these plates. 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cement 871 Report post Posted September 14, 2022 Looks awesome !! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M3AN 4016 Report post Posted September 14, 2022 I would have gone for standard or Euro on the rear, the small one is a bit lost in the space but otherwise the black plates are a great look, and well done on "THE135". I agree with removing the silver 135i, or perhaps replacing it with matt black. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qube 3570 Report post Posted September 14, 2022 or add "THE" before the 135i 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted September 14, 2022 Some good ideas, definitely something to consider, might leave it as is for now, easier to remove it than put it back on... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Neil McCauley 394 Report post Posted September 17, 2022 Is that the silver or white font on the plates? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted September 17, 2022 1 hour ago, Neil McCauley said: Is that the silver or white font on the plates? They are the silver font ones, a bit hard to tell from the photos 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted October 9, 2022 (edited) Haven't had much time to do much more to the car recently, but have been enjoying driving it over the last few weeks. Finally got round to flashing the gearbox with the XHP stage 3 flash, shifts noticeably faster now, and feels smoother overall as well, only thing so far is the throttle blips on downshift in sport mode are very aggressive so may have to fine tune them a bit. Overall very happy with it. Edited October 9, 2022 by elias 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted December 17, 2022 Been slacking on here recently, finished Uni for the year and have been busy with work since. Trying to save enough money to keep working on this project of slowly building a club sport/weekend track car spec 135i. Brakes needed doing on all four corners (pads and rotors), any decent ones that would work for some track use were quite expensive and would still leave me with stock calipers that are prone to failing in high heat, a well known issue with the stock 135i brembos. So I came across a set of f82 m4 brakes for sale, only 2000km on them, out of a crashed car. Found some brackets that are sold in the USA to fit these onto 135i hubs and ordered those too. These m4 brakes seem to work a lot better from what ive read, and seeing Robert Kubica's Nurburgring lap. Unfortunately due to the massive 380mm rotors, had to sell the CSL wheels since they do not have sufficient clearance. So new wheels will be on the way soon, more money... Also been working on trying to figure out how to remove the entire iDrive system and wire an aux straight into the speakers for simplicity's sake. Lots more things to come soon. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted December 31, 2022 Seems Legit garage brackets arrived, so I decided to test fit one of the front brakes to ensure everything lined up properly. Everything bolted up nice and easily, and looks great. Tried to put the stock front wheel back on, no chance, far too small, nowhere near enough barrel clearance. In other news, Ive ordered a new set of wheels, 18x8.5 et45 Apex EC-7 in the anthracite finish, should be here in 2-3 weeks. 7 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted January 7, 2023 Finished the rebuild of the front left brake calliper. Fresh boots, a good clean, and fresh paint, decal and clear coat. Very happy with how the paint came out, for anyone wondering the m4 brake colour is Estoril blue. 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vass 831 Report post Posted January 7, 2023 That looks absolutely mint man. Did you paint it yourself? What sort of paint did you use? Going to be doing mine soon but no idea what products to use yet. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted January 7, 2023 17 minutes ago, Vass said: That looks absolutely mint man. Did you paint it yourself? What sort of paint did you use? Going to be doing mine soon but no idea what products to use yet. thank you! I went to a local auto paint supplier, this one was called car colours, brought in the brake caliper and used what they recommended. I used a generic high temp paint as a primer, then got the auto paint supplier to custom tint a spray can in estoril blue, and then I used a 2K clear over the top after putting on the decal, which I ordered off a website in England. The true test will be to see how it lasts, but at least for now it looks good! brake calliper decals from here: https://www.brakecaliperdecals.co.uk/BMW-Decals/BMW-M-Brake-Caliper-Decals 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1662 Report post Posted January 7, 2023 16 hours ago, elias said: for anyone wondering the m4 brake colour is Estoril blue. It did look very familiar. Yeah would be interested to see how it holds up. The ceramic pads certainly help keep the calipers much cleaner in my car. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted January 7, 2023 2 hours ago, Eagle said: It did look very familiar. Yeah would be interested to see how it holds up. The ceramic pads certainly help keep the calipers much cleaner in my car. Yeah will update the thread once ive put them to use for a bit, I did do 2 decent layers of a 2K clearcoat so should have decent protection. Still waiting on wheels to arrive and to get tires sorted so I can finally get these brakes fitted. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elias 253 Report post Posted January 17, 2023 My wheels arrived, delivered straight away by auto form to my work, great customer service. Went with a square set of 235/40/18 tires, decided to go with the Hankook Ventus R-S4 as I have heard many good things about it being a reasonably long lasting grippy semi slick, and managed to get them for $280 a corner through a sale on hyperdrive. Got them fitted and balanced and no scratches on the new wheels which I was very relieved about. Got the m4 brakes mounted on the car with the seems legit garage adapters. Was a pretty straight forward install, just took some trimming of the heat/dust shields, especially on the rear. I ended up cutting a quarter of the front heatshields out to allow the brake ducting to be more effective on the front. The front brakes I used the factory brake ones, the rear brakes I used the m4 ones as they are slightly longer, to account for the much larger discs. As far as sensors go, I have left the original 135i wear sensors and zipped them out of the way, in fitter I may splice the m4 sensors into the 135i plugs. Gave the brakes a bleed with some fresh mogul rbf600. So far it all works great, and looks fantastic with the new wheels, just needs a wheel alignment now. Took the car out for some photos. 7 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smiddy 76 Report post Posted January 18, 2023 Nice combo, great looking car. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
