My 125i Build

[Hutty008 61]

Introducing my new car, an e82 125i. I had been looking at a few of these that have been for sale in the past year but none were quite right. This one was probably the best fit and with only 13 in the country I decided to make this one work. This one is definitely a project and needs a lot of TCL so lots to come on this thread.

[elias 453]

Big n52 enthusiast I see. What’s the plans for this one? Out of curiosity did you ever consider 135is?

[Hutty008 61]

Never even gave a 135i the thought, just not for me. N52 is more than enough power for the roads I drive and it much more reliable with a decent bit less weight, for me suspension and brakes is the main thing that matters on a car. And yes definitely a n52 enthusiast, I always thought it would be good combo e82 with the n52 but options where limited unless I swapped a 120i or 135i coupe. Plans for this one is a more cost effective car to enjoy driving everyday unlike my 130i which is a bit extreme. It will get a full suspension refresh, some wheels and my old 335i brakes. Along with a lot of little bits which need sorting. Also needs a 130i chip tune and a manual swap is definitely a must for this one.

[elias 453]

Fair enough that makes sense. I do agree that to some extent 135is are too fast to properly enjoy on nz roads. My girlfriend has a 130i and it’s a whole lot of fun. If you’re ever in Auckland let me know and you can take the 135i for a spin and see what you reckon, very different to your average auto 135. 

[Hutty008 61]

Once my 130i is back on the road I'm planning a trip up Auckland way, going to hit all my favorite roads along the coast to the coromandel. So you can also have a go in my 130i and see what a car with fully ball jointed suspension handles like. And on the note of 135i's being to fast to enjoy on NZ road this is what happened to my friends one on Sunday with is girl behind the wheel. Stock brakes on 135i's just aren't enough to keep up and she learned that a little to late unfortunately, drive safe everyone.

Edited Thursday at 07:36 AM by Hutty008

[elias 453]

sh*t that’s no good, hope everyone’s ok

[Hutty008 61]

2 minutes ago, elias said:

sh*t that’s no good, hope everyone’s ok

She walked away with out a scratch luckily. 

[dln 24]

You just need to recalibrate the nut on the steering wheel!

[BreakMyWindow 1987]

Would be my ideal trackday car the 125i. Nice work! (Not on binning the 135i). 
 

So engine in this has all the goodies bar the 3 stage intake manifold and tune to give it 190kw? 

[Hutty008 61]

Unlike the American 128i that doesn't have the 3 stage manifold the 125i does. I already have files to do the 130i tune to bump it from 218hp to 268hp but will probably wait until the rest of the car is ready to handle it.

Edited Thursday at 10:43 AM by Hutty008

[Jacko 2342]

Salesyard shenanigans with the 125s is classic, couldn't make it a 130i coupe as stock performance numbers and pricing Vs 135i performance and pricing would cannibalize 135 sales... so they gave it a digital nerf and left the 130 hatch to compete to compete with R32 golf.

[Danch 51]

Cool car! 125i manual would be my dream daily - it's just too rare and often too expensive compared to a manual 130i. 

[Hutty008 61]

1 minute ago, Danch said:

Cool car! 125i manual would be my dream daily - it's just too rare and often too expensive compared to a manual 130i. 

Yeah only one manual 125i in NZ and it doesn't have m-sport body kit, suspension or interior so for me it is easier to do the manual swap on this one.

[M3AN 4184]

4 hours ago, elias said:

...If you’re ever in Auckland let me know and you can take the 135i for a spin and see what you reckon, very different to your average auto 135. 

Hit me up, we'll add the M2 to the mix.

[Hutty008 61]

Update on last nights work. New valve cover installed, this n52 wasn't as clean as my 130i even though they are both at 123,000kms so this one hasn't had as many oil changes most likely. Also found a bit of foil from the cap of an oil bottle under where the oil cap is, don't know how people can manage that. There was also quite a bit of oil in two of the spark plug wells, surprised it wasn't miss firing. Plugs look old and coils are dated 2011 so both will need replacing. The air filter is a almost brand new Hengst one so that nice but it wasn't clipped in, it was just resting there so there is a chance some  air wasn't being filtered. Also swapped the intake boot to the original one of my 130 as it has the sound generator, which reminded me to do the golf tee mod while I was at it. Over all the car runs a lot smoother however using an obd reader the car doesn't get about 70c oil temp and 60c coolant so I think the thermostat must be stuck open so not healthy for the engine.

Edited Sunday at 02:05 AM by Hutty008

[BreakMyWindow 1987]

Is Golf tee mod really needed? Have just unplugged it in the boot.

[Hutty008 61]

20 minutes ago, BreakMyWindow said:

Is Golf tee mod really needed? Have just unplugged it in the boot.

Unplugging the connector would give a code, if that's what you mean.