My 125i Build

[Hutty008 72]

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 460]

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

[Hutty008 72]

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 460]

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 72]

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 August 7 by Hutty008

[elias 460]

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

[Hutty008 72]

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 2003]

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 72]

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 August 7 by Hutty008

[Jacko 2396]

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 56]

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

[Hutty008 72]

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 4198]

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 72]

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 August 10 by Hutty008

[BreakMyWindow 2003]

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

[Hutty008 72]

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.

[Hutty008 72]

Fixed a few things on the 125i. The car a knocking sound from the rear suspension which the previous owner said was the lower ball joints however after driving it I knew straight away it was the rear shock top mounts and sure enough it was so I replaced them. The transmission was also shuddering a little bit and changing like sh*t, even though this car will be getting a manual swap I wanted to do something about it as it takes away from the driving experience in the meantime, luckily I still had about 12 litres left of the Valvoline dextron 6 from my 130i. I drained, filled and drove the car 3 times as you only get out just under 4 litres. The difference is night and day fell like a dct compared to before and no more shuddering, best part it didn't cost anything. 

[Hutty008 72]

Lots of little bits done. New spark plugs, oils cap, fuel cap, coolant reservoir cap, power steering reservoir seal, rear BMW emblem. And also installed m-sport door sills and my 10,000kms old 130i ignition coils. Also flushed the coolant system out and put the correct coolant in as it just had water before 🤦‍♂️. Was going to do the thermostat but the under side is caked in oil so will drop the subframe to so the oil pan gasket and engine mounts and clean everything which will make it a lot easier to do the thermostat and I will probably just do a new water pump while I'm in there.

[Hutty008 72]

Changed the regular paddle shift steering wheel for a M-Sport one, DCT paddles had to have some wiring changed to get it to work. Also changed the hand brake handle to a M-Sport one and swap the hand brake boot as well as it seems lci 135i got a nicer leather that more soft and doesn't dry up and crack, I also have the same one on my 130i. Also did and oil change, the filter was very collapsed which I was expecting from the sound of was making and the cage had separated from the cap, luckily I had a spare cap with cage which was the old one off my 130i. Change the diff fluid as well however it was pretty fresh by the looks of things, unfortunately I think I know why as the diff is leaking out of the right side axle seal. I will probably swap my old 130i one in as the 3.64 will be more practical with a manual swap compared to the current 3.73. only thing is I will have to change the drive shaft but that's no big deal.

Edited 20 hours ago by Hutty008

[M3AN 4198]

Good move on the shifters, the stock ones suck balls.