Jake's Budget-Built BMW 335i Thread (Drag Inspired)

suspenceful

I went to my local 1/4 mile drag strip to get some baseline results before I start diving into maintenance and modifications!

It was my first time launching or racing one of these cars with an automatic transmission. Definitely a learning moment, especially after getting used to my 750whp manual 135i. Two completely difference experiences! It was hard to tell the 335i was even doing anything because the stock exhaust is so quiet :lol

First-ever pass down the strip netted me a 14.71 at 95mph. Not great. I foot-braked the car and wasn't sure how high the stall would let me go before starting to spin the rear tires.

For the second pass, I left off idle thinking that might help. It didn't. Lost a tenth to the 60ft, but seemed to go down the back half of the track faster. The car was a lot cooler on this run as it didn't heat-soak in the staging lanes like it did on for the first run.

I've been wanting to test the accuracy of my Dragy device, so I had it on during my first two runs. I was impressed to find that it was within 0.03s and hit the MPH on the head! Take a look at the Dragy results below compared to the actual slips and you'll see each measurement is almost spot on. It's an awesome little device for measuring all sorts of stuff. 1/8 mile, 1/4 mile, 1/2 mile, 0-60mph, 60-130mph, etc.

You can order one on Amazon!

Since the Dragy was so accurate and the track was packed, I decided to hit a couple backroads on the way home instead of waiting in line for 1hr per pass. For my third attempt, I held the e-brake along with the foot brake to stall up the RPMs. Once I was ready to go, I released both brakes and it resulted in a much better launch.

Unfortunately, the tires spun on my first street attempt because the tires were cold. So I did a u-turn and went right back to the same spot and did a 4th run after warming the tires up. Same exact launching strategy and the tires hooked, resulting in a better 60ft and much better ET than my original 14.7.

All passes were done in sport mode, without manual shifting. I let the car automatically shift for me to keep things consistent. I probably could've squeezed some faster times out of it if I shifted earlier to keep the car in it's powerband. I can feel the boost tapering off up top being stock.

Best of 14.31 @ 97mph leaves a lot of room for improvement. Next step is some much needed maintenance. The car has 140k on it and has never had a walnut blast (to my knowledge), and it could use some spark plugs/coil packs.

Check out the video of my runs, you'll get an awesome POV-style view of me going down the track

KaiserRolls

That draggy thing is pretty cool

YoungCR

Agreed, that's a neat product.

SteelBlue

suspenceful said:

Check out the video of my runs, you'll get an awesome POV-style view of me going down

o shit whaddup

suspenceful

KaiserRolls said:

That draggy thing is pretty cool

YoungCR said:

Agreed, that's a neat product.

Yeah, I've been really impressed with it. It's basically a Vbox, but more accurate and easier to use. Also has a pretty cool area for everyone to share their results and categorizes them by manufacturer (BMW, Audi, VW, etc.) I'd highly recommend it, if that's your sort of thing!

suspenceful

I finally set aside some time to give this car the walnut blast it deserved.

Here are the supplies I used:

Let's get started...

Well, I think I figured out why the car couldn't eclipse 13's in the 1/4 mile! I couldn't believe what I found after removing the intake manifold!

After loosening up some of the carbon with a pick...

Then after one pass of walnut blasting...

Lots of walnuts and manual scrubbing later...

I even cleaned up the intake manifold ports because those were caked with carbon as well. You can see the cleaned port on the left and the dirty port on the right.

It was a lot of work, but totally necessary. If you want to watch my whole process with more of a DIY/How-To style, check out my YouTube video. It also has some more information and a drive at the end showing the power increase/restoration.

B C

yow!

I didn't watch the video yet but what sort of driveability improvements do you end up with after that? mostly just sharper response?

suspenceful

B C said:

yow!

I didn't watch the video yet but what sort of driveability improvements do you end up with after that? mostly just sharper response?

Smoother idle, better cold start, restored performance (more power, smoother powerband).

jc43089

Groce!

Drgt5683

Wow great video !

i could’ve sworn I almost bumped into you the other day at menards . I wanted to say something tho you looked like you were on a mission so I just continued on , keep up the great work I’ll be doing this soon to mine at 148k . I do think it was done roughly 80k so not quite as bad as that puppy was tho wowza yuck

Jdesign

Image result for that's nasty meme

Nice video!

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Drgt5683 said:

Wow great video !

i could’ve sworn I almost bumped into you the other day at menards . I wanted to say something tho you looked like you were on a mission so I just continued on , keep up the great work I’ll be doing this soon to mine at 148k . I do think it was done roughly 80k so not quite as bad as that puppy was tho wowza yuck

Maybe! Say hi next time, always cool to bump into other local BMW guys. I probably always look like I'm on a mission

Hopefully yours isn't as bad as mine!

suspenceful

This week I changed the spark plugs and ignition coils and wanted to shed some light on the process. I filmed an in-depth video and wrote a guide to help others properly replace, gap and install their new plugs & coils.

Ultimate N54 Spark Plug Guide: https://bmw335i.com/2019/05/22/bmw-n54-spark-plug-replacement-gap-guide/

https://youtu.be/-g3dpQopvew

My old plugs were gross and some of them were coated black. Smelled like fuel, so I'm guessing my index 7 injectors are leaking

But anyways, I got Burger Motorsports' new spark plug kit which includes 2-step colder NGK spark plugs, a spark plug removal socket, a spark plug gapping tool and a feeler gauge. I also got some Bav Auto high performance ignition coils to try out. They seem great so far!

I'm in love with the BMS spark plug gapper tool, wish I had it a long time ago. Can't wait to use it every time in the future for both my 335i and 135i. If you're curious how it works, I walk through the process in my video above.

I even used my Dragy to get some real-life performance results before and after swapping the plugs & coils! I did a 0-60mph run before and the best result I could achieve was 5.71 seconds. After installing the upgraded parts, I went out for another run and was able to knock it down to 5.53 seconds!

spark-plug-before-after-dragy-app-1024x9

I guarantee if you watch the video or read my complete blog post, you'll learn something that you didn't know before. Either way, let me know what you think!

B C

That gapper is awesome! I need one!

I would have been interested to see knock/timing retard for both 0-60 runs. I'd have to imagine a little bit of timing may have been pulled on the old parts.

KaiserRolls

B C said:

That gapper is awesome! I need one!

I would have been interested to see knock/timing retard for both 0-60 runs. I'd have to imagine a little bit of timing may have been pulled on the old parts.

We all have those gappers. Just find a table and give it some taps lol

suspenceful

B C said:

That gapper is awesome! I need one!

I would have been interested to see knock/timing retard for both 0-60 runs. I'd have to imagine a little bit of timing may have been pulled on the old parts.

Once I get a tune setup on this thing, I'll be able to monitor that info. But yeah, I'm sure the old stuff wasn't functioning up to par.

B C

I figured id mention I have a Procede piggyback in case you are making this a REEEEEALLY low budget build

Im sure you have that covered but lmk if you want it for very cheap

suspenceful

B C said:

I figured id mention I have a Procede piggyback in case you are making this a REEEEEALLY low budget build

Im sure you have that covered but lmk if you want it for very cheap

I appreciate the offer, but the car actually came with a JB4 that I'll be updating.

suspenceful

Not a huge update, but I installed some LUX H8 LED angel eyes. Upgrading the angel eye bulbs are one of my favorite appearance modifications you can do for these cars. They’re relatively cheap, easy to install and greatly improve the look of any BMW.

I have the same set in my 135i and they've been holding up great for years. Very white, very bright, I wouldn't go with anything else. For anyone interested in the process, I wrote a step-by-step installation guide with more photos, etc.

Check out my blog post: https://bmw335i.com/2019/05/31/how-to-install-bmw-angel-eyes-stock-vs-led-comparison-335i-330i-328i/

suspenceful

This car came with a JB4 installed so I quickly added a bluetooth connect kit. This allowed me to update the very out of date firmware and gives me the ability to log and monitor everything from my phone. I have the same kit in my 135i and I love it.

I also stumbled upon a pretty cool app called Log Dyno. It allows you to upload a log and spits out a dyno graph. I was skeptical about how accurate it would be but it seems very close. As long as you enter the proper data and settings, it works very well. I filmed a complete video showing exactly how to use the app if anyone else is interested:

I did one log in map 0 (stock), and one log in map 1 with a small tapered boost curve.

The dyno graph exactly matches the boost curve and the numbers seem on par with other results. In my first-hand experience, the stock numbers are dead nuts on with wheel horsepower results from actual dynos as the N54 is rated at 300/300 crank horsepower.

For anyone interested in trying it out, I'd be curious to see others' results:

That being said, I bought some used index 12 injectors for the car because the current original injectors are leaking. Bad idle on cold start, wet plugs, black smoke, etc. Going to do a DIY on these soon... then the modding begins.

WIBIMMERS

Jake's Budget-Built BMW 335i Thread (Drag Inspired)