Jake's Epic BMW 135i Build Thread! (5+ Years of Ownership)

[suspenceful]

My new intercooler came in last week and I was able to tackle the job yesterday. Let's first compare intercoolers. Stock vs. VRSF 7" vs. VRSF 7.5" Race intercooler.

Definitely larger and definitely heavier. Let's take a closer look at the fin density and cooling bar size.

Old intercooler:

New intercooler:

Much better  now let's get this thing in the car!

It required A LOT of cutting and trimming.

I thought this would be enough, but I was wrong. I had to cut even more before I could stuff this intercooler up in there.

Now that it's in, does it blend work?

My previous intercooler saw a 54° rise in intake temperature during a 28psi 60-130mph pull. The new intercooler only rose 5° during a similar pull with similar ambient temp. See light blue line on my logs.

Before:

After:

Overall, very happy with the results! One step closer to hauling ass.

[m42b32]

Wow that's a huge improvement!

[patsbimmer1]

That's the first time i've seen a pick of one installed or compared to the 7" and OEM.  That's fucking massive!  Did you happen to check your coolant temps before and after to see if they were affected negatively from this?

[B C]

Holy toast! Thanks for posting the before and after info, very fascinating!

[suspenceful]

patsbimmer1 said:

That's the first time i've seen a pick of one installed or compared to the 7" and OEM.  That's fucking massive!  Did you happen to check your coolant temps before and after to see if they were affected negatively from this?

I just checked water temperature on both of the logs and it's exactly the same. 10° rise with both intercoolers during the same pull.

[patsbimmer1]

suspenceful said:

I just checked water temperature on both of the logs and it's exactly the same. 10° rise with both intercoolers during the same pull.

That's awesome!  That thing is definitely not stealthy by any means.  Although I think you threw the sleeper image out of the window a long time ago that giant front mount isn't fooling anyone.

[REKIII]

patsbimmer1 said:

That's awesome!  That thing is definitely not stealthy by any means.  Although I think you threw the sleeper image out of the window a long time ago that giant front mount isn't fooling anyone.

It is still a 1 series.  Still cute by anyones measure.  Like the LS Miata.....still a miata, lol.

[suspenceful]

170, 170, 80, 170, 170, 170. I blame this forum and won't ever be returning.

[Jeff]

suspenceful said:

170, 170, 80, 170, 170, 170. I blame this forum and won't ever be returning.

I think you should be blaming snap for this epidemic.

All votes for snaps banning say aye.....

[B C]

Really sorry to hear this news!

[Daggerty]

When you do a compression test there is two possible results good or wibimmers.

[B C]

Daggerty said:

When you do a compression test there is two possible results good or wibimmers.

[HipMF]

That sucks.

If possible, check that the valves are seating before tearing the head off/pulling the motor. Could be something dumb like a broken lock/retainer ring/piece of something stuck in there/etc.

[B C]

Carbon

[Jdesign]

Super bummer man. Like HipMF said, check everything before claiming sudden death.

[suspenceful]

HipMF said:

That sucks.

If possible, check that the valves are seating before tearing the head off/pulling the motor. Could be something dumb like a broken lock/retainer ring/piece of something stuck in there/etc.

Did a wet test. Tablespoon of oil boosted compression from 80 to 120psi. I'm 99.9% sure it's a ring or ringland. Leakdown and borescope this week.

[patsbimmer1]

suspenceful said:

Did a wet test. Tablespoon of oil boosted compression from 80 to 120psi. I'm 99.9% sure it's a ring or ringland. Leakdown and borescope this week.

That would definitely indicate a ring problem.  Easy fix if the cylinder walls are fine!  Fingers crossed!

[suspenceful]

patsbimmer1 said:

That would definitely indicate a ring problem.  Easy fix if the cylinder walls are fine!  Fingers crossed!

I don't know if "easy" is the right word, lol. Getting in there to replace a piston isn't a walk in the park.

[patsbimmer1]

It books as a 30+ hr job.  It's time consuming but easy.  Especially when you consider the cost of a used engine... much easier on the wallet.  Just get Paul to "help" lol.

[patsbimmer1]

In contrast, r&r engine is about 28 book hours.