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

[REKIII]

Just catching up a bit on this thread.  Some very cool stuff.  You ran....a Spec?  Wow.  I'v had personal horrible experiences with their stuff in non-BMW applications and in my M5 (remember the embarrassing no-burnout vid from a gathering I was at?) and have yet to hear any good things about them.  Good to hear you are going in a different direction.

Lists are fun....

[suspenceful]

REKIII said:

Just catching up a bit on this thread.  Some very cool stuff.  You ran....a Spec?  Wow.  I'v had personal horrible experiences with their stuff in non-BMW applications and in my M5 (remember the embarrassing no-burnout vid from a gathering I was at?) and have yet to hear any good things about them.  Good to hear you are going in a different direction.

Lists are fun....

Yup, the Spec clutches are fairly common for these cars. I can't really blame Spec because I'm pushing a lot more power than the clutch was rated for.  And believe it or not, the Motiv twin disc setup that I'm eyeing up is actually manufactured by Spec...

[REKIII]

suspenceful said:

Yup, the Spec clutches are fairly common for these cars. I can't really blame Spec because I'm pushing a lot more power than the clutch was rated for.  And believe it or not, the Motiv twin disc setup that I'm eyeing up is actually manufactured by Spec...

I've found that to be common as well....other manufacturers having spec make their stuff.  That's how a spec ended up in the M5.  I just avoid them like the plague now.  It seems that it is a low standard of quality that bites them (and the customer) in the ass. They'll say a .378" step height, which you'll do, but their pressure plate or disk was out of spec (kinda a pun, lol) and it won't work.  Hopefully, if the motive is multi-disk they have put it together and checked everything.

[suspenceful]

I finally got around to editing/uploading my track footage from Road America!

This was my first time doing anything like this and I didn't have an instructor so be easy on me 

[GunMetalGrey]

Hey, you avoided all the walls and gravel pits, so at the end of the day you did well!

[suspenceful]

A quick 6 minute video of me installing a custom carbon fiber steering wheel. I'm not usually one for expensive aesthetic mods, especially for the interior, but I'm glad I pulled the trigger on this. I'd love to hear what you guys think!

[i_love_cars]

I think you should've put the money towards something useful like a limited slip diff. I haven't seen a video on it yet so I'm assuming that's still outstanding, as are some other suspension upgrades.

Your 1er is rough around the edges and isn't a show car. This would be like if I added a CF wheel to my E46 M3. Having an alcantara shift boot with factory aluminum interior trim doesn't look that great with a steering wheel that is predominately CF. The steering wheel you have there looks like an afterthought. It's your money of course but the direction you have taken this car is largely about going fast. You have gobs of power now, so why aren't you spending more money to help the car put it down as best as possible?

[straight6pwr]

i like carbon as much as the next guy, but that's a bit over-the-top

[suspenceful]

i_love_cars said:

I think you should've put the money towards something useful like a limited slip diff. I haven't seen a video on it yet so I'm assuming that's still outstanding, as are some other suspension upgrades.

Your 1er is rough around the edges and isn't a show car. This would be like if I added a CF wheel to my E46 M3. Having an alcantara shift boot with factory aluminum interior trim doesn't look that great with a steering wheel that is predominately CF. The steering wheel you have there looks like an afterthought. It's your money of course but the direction you have taken this car is largely about going fast. You have gobs of power now, so why aren't you spending more money to help the car put it down as best as possible? 

I didn't use cash to purchase the wheel, just exchanged apparel printing services for the wheel. My margin is pretty good for printing stuff so realistically this wheel cost me less than $200. I've had it since last year, just finally got around to installing it. Obviously aesthetic mods are personal preference, but I like the wheel. The carbon center trim is a bit much so I might refinish my factory trim to fix the peeling paint and re-install that.

As far as spending money elsewhere, I haven't spent a dime on the car in probably 6 months. I put it away for the winter and nothing needs fixing, it's been running great. I've been enjoying the surplus of cash I never realized I could have by not throwing money at cars. And believe it or not, the car hooks with the Mickey Thompsons in every gear except for 1st. Factory e-diff has been fine so it's hard for me to upgrade a perfectly good-working part. However, an LSD, upgraded axles and a suspension refresh has been on my wish list. The idea of a built motor is becoming more of a 'want' recently as well, so I need to figure out where I want my money to go once I start spending it again.

straight6pwr said:

i like carbon as much as the next guy, but that's a bit over-the-top

Lol, striking similarities! Like I said above, aesthetic mods are personal preference so I appreciate the comment. It's something different, maybe I'll get sick of it once I start seeing it every day. But for now, it's a nice change of pace. It is a lot of carbon fiber, so I might swap out the trim piece for the OEM piece once I refinish it.

[Jdesign]

I have to agree with the taste of others as far as it being "too much." Its your car so it doesn't really matter what we think.

I like your idea of painting the center to tone it down, or you could do the complete opposite and match the rest of the car to the steering wheel? 

[suspenceful]

Jdesign said:

I have to agree with the taste of others as far as it being "too much." Its your car so it doesn't really matter what we think.

I like your idea of painting the center to tone it down, or you could do the complete opposite and match the rest of the car to the steering wheel? 

Lol I hope that's not what everyone sees when they look at my interior now 

[straight6pwr]

that wheel would pretty awesome if the rim was just round. its all the bulges, flat spots, swoops and lines that make it seem racer-boy

[GunMetalGrey]

Tough crowd today huh?
It's not quite my style with the carbon center, but having held it I can assure you guys that the weird shaping is pretty damn comfortable.

[Rekpoint]

I dont mind it at all. I plan on getting a flat bottom alcantara wheel for my e92 once that happens.

I personally think it'll look better with the stock trim though.

[YoungCR]

Wheel quality is impressive, I enjoyed driving a 911 Turbo with a factory CF wheel. I’d say that was a good barter. Excited for more go-fast parts too.

[P_Roloff]

I will echo that all the carbon is not my thing, but it looks comfy and beefy. Might look better with piano black interior trim or something. I sure as hell wouldn't turn that deal down though, for the equivalent of $200 that's a good deal IMO.

Interested to hear what it feels like when actually driving, let us know what you think when you get it on the road.

[i_love_cars]

suspenceful said:

I didn't use cash to purchase the wheel, just exchanged apparel printing services for the wheel. My margin is pretty good for printing stuff so realistically this wheel cost me less than $200. I've had it since last year, just finally got around to installing it. Obviously aesthetic mods are personal preference, but I like the wheel. The carbon center trim is a bit much so I might refinish my factory trim to fix the peeling paint and re-install that.

As far as spending money elsewhere, I haven't spent a dime on the car in probably 6 months. I put it away for the winter and nothing needs fixing, it's been running great. I've been enjoying the surplus of cash I never realized I could have by not throwing money at cars. And believe it or not, the car hooks with the Mickey Thompsons in every gear except for 1st. Factory e-diff has been fine so it's hard for me to upgrade a perfectly good-working part. However, an LSD, upgraded axles and a suspension refresh has been on my wish list. The idea of a built motor is becoming more of a 'want' recently as well, so I need to figure out where I want my money to go once I start spending it again.

That's $200 too much. You asked explicitly what we think about the wheel. So here we are. If you'd get off your lazy ass and make some decent M3 designs, you wouldn't have had to barter for a shitty steering wheel because I'd have paid you cash for multiples of good shirts and then you'd have money to pay a vendor for real performance parts. 

You basically just said that your car is fine as it is, yet have things like an LSD, stronger axles, and suspension on a "want" list. Why would stronger axles even be on the list if your car is just fine? I stand by my statement that your car is not complete, and if all you needed was a set of MT slicks and a shitty factory E-diff to have perfect traction, the entire drag car aftermarket community would be rendered obsolete, yet for some reason it's been around for 50 years and still going strong. Because you actually do need to put some real money into your car beyond just tires to make it maximize the power delivery.

You could have one of the most mechanically well-sorted and high performing N54s in Wisconsin (and the world), but instead you relegate yourself to tacky CF steering wheels.

[gilber33]

Is there an inside joke I'm missing here? Because damn, he just asked what people thought about his steering wheel.

[Jdesign]

GunMetalGrey said:

Tough crowd today huh?
It's not quite my style with the carbon center, but having held it I can assure you guys that the weird shaping is pretty damn comfortable. 

I can tell its really comfy, I just thought the CF look is too much. 

i_love_cars said:

That's $200 too much. You asked explicitly what we think about the wheel. So here we are. If you'd get off your lazy ass and make some decent M3 designs, you wouldn't have had to barter for a shitty steering wheel because I'd have paid you cash for multiples of good shirts and then you'd have money to pay a vendor for real performance parts. 

You basically just said that your car is fine as it is, yet have things like an LSD, stronger axles, and suspension on a "want" list. Why would stronger axles even be on the list if your car is just fine? I stand by my statement that your car is not complete, and if all you needed was a set of MT slicks and a shitty factory E-diff to have perfect traction, the entire drag car aftermarket community would be rendered obsolete, yet for some reason it's been around for 50 years and still going strong. Because you actually do need to put some real money into your car beyond just tires to make it maximize the power delivery.

You could have one of the most mechanically well-sorted and high performing N54s in Wisconsin (and the world), but instead you relegate yourself to tacky CF steering wheels. 

I think you care too much about HIS car.

[REKIII]

I think it looks pretty cool.  Been waffling on Steering wheels for the M and the lotus.  Completely different cars, but the wheels still have similarity.

Good deal on the barter too, not that you had to justify it in any way.