Jake's Epic BMW 135i Build Thread! (5+ Years of Ownership)
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Nice work on the channel. Looks like you found the 1st failure mode(internal) on the N54. Now slap in some H-beam rods in the next one and find out where is the next failure mode.
I'd say the N54 is living up to the hype of "the German 2JZ". 800+whp on a stock motor that was 250ish stock.
Thanks! It's crazy what this thing handled. I'm going to keep this engine to build over time, and get a stock, unopened N54 from a junkyard or something to get it back on the road for spring.
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It's been a little while, but I've got some updates...
The oil analysis results on the 135i engine came back, they said everything looked great. Clearly, it did not. Waste of $$$.
I bought a 335i from Florida for $3,500, sight unseen. Plan was to pull the motor from it, and use it in the 135i, then LS swap this cheap 335i. It came with tons of aftermarket parts, but needed some work.
I wanted to get it driving and put it through it's paces so I knew the motor was good. And in doing that, I realized it rips! Transmission doesn't hold the power in 5th or 6th gear, but I was pleasantly impressed up to 130mph+. After giving it a little TLC, it's almost too nice of a car to rip apart lol.
That's if this engine is still good after this beat run...
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I think it's safe to say I have a problem at this point. Is there a # of BMWs one must own at the same time for it to be classified as an addiction?
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I think it's safe to say I have a problem at this point. Is there a # of BMWs one must own at the same time for it to be classified as an addiction?
Only an issue when you run out of room for them
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I think it's safe to say I have a problem at this point. Is there a # of BMWs one must own at the same time for it to be classified as an addiction?
Financial suicide, yes . Addiction, suggests an involuntary action. We know what we are doing. We just call them spare parts, summer cars, winter beaters etc... I have 7 so, your good.
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Only an issue when you run out of room for them
This is what stopped me
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I think it's safe to say I have a problem at this point. Is there a # of BMWs one must own at the same time for it to be classified as an addiction?
Depends on if they're running or not. It's only a problem when it's a project more than it's driven.
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Well according to some of you guys, I definitely have an addiction then lol. I ran out of room at my house so I brought my F80 to my parents house. And I have two 135i's that don't run, and one 335i that barely limps along. The F80 and my other E90 are my only working BMWs
I'm glad I have a good support system here though, fellow BMW owners who can relate and encourage me to keep being irresponsible.
Anyways, I got a DME, CAS, JBE and key from a part out to get this 135i back together. I also pulled the cluster and powered it up externally to see if it really had 11k miles, then tried firing the old girl up after sitting for years.
Couldn't get her to kick over on her own, but she did after I dumped a little fuel down the intake. If anyone has ideas on what I could do to get this thing to fire up under it's own power, please let me know.
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I hope the restoration goes well, I have been looking at these and even the low mileage ones are not very expensive
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I hope the restoration goes well, I have been looking at these and even the low mileage ones are not very expensive
Thanks! I guess it depends on what you consider expensive. The prices for these things seems to be all of the place, but they're such great cars.
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We finally got her to start on her own! Embarrassingly, it only needed some more fuel. Apparently, the gallon and a half we initially added wasn't enough to make its way into the pump, the tank must've been completely dry.
It had a grumpy start after hibernating for so long, but we couldn't believe how well we ended up getting it running! Unfortunately, the transmission left us stuck in the garage, but we're going to add some fluid and see if it'll make it down the road.
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We finally got her on the road! Didn't go quite as expected though lol.
Can't wait for the next stage in this build...
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I can't believe how well it fits!
I also got some new tools courtesy of Sonic Tools...
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I thought you were missing the 10mm 🥲
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