My Slow ST N54 "build thread"

Mikejones1208

Corporal
Dec 6, 2016
145
115
0
Savannah, GA
Ride
2009 BMW 335i
Hello!! Recently decided to do a build thread of my 2009 335i, owned for a little over 2 years and shes gone thru many iterations, 2 turbo kits, 3 different suspension setups, and like 4 passenger side axles . Enjoy the current parts list and photo dump!

Engine
-AC Fabrication Single turbo kit W/ Pt6466
-Stock factory longblock
-Custom pcv setup (VTA on high side, vacuum on low side)
-Vader solutions triple pump bracket w/ dual walbro 450's
-Motiv Motorsports Flex Fuel
-Motiv Motorsports BoostBox
-Motiv Motorsports oil cooler thermostat delete plate
-Motiv Motorsports Twin Disc SST clutch
-PSP oil cooler core & mounting bracket
-Improved Racing 185 degree oil thermostat
-CP-E port injection rail
-VRSF 7.5" race intercooler
-Synapse blow-off valve
-Synapse charge pipe
-n20 spark plugs
-Delphi coil packs
-ADV o2 sensors
-Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator
-upgraded custom 6an fuel feed line and return line

Exhaust
-AC Fabrication single turbo downpipe
-AFE Power catback

Tuning Solution
-Flash only w/ MHD
-Custom flex fuel tune by Chris Kontos of Motiv Motorsport

Suspension/Driveline
-Fortune Auto 500 series coilover 8k/10k spring rates
-Condor Speed Shop solid UHMW subframe bushings
-Condor Speed Shop poly trans mounts
-Condor Speed Shop solid UHMW differential bushings
-OEM rear M3 control arms
-OEM rear M3 sway bar
-OEM DCT M3 lsd
-OEM M3 rear axles

Brakes
-Stoptech drilled and slotted rotors front & rear
-Stoptech street pads front
-Stoptech stainless braided brake lines all around
-Hawk street pads rear
-Motul RBF 600 dot 4 racing brake fluid

Future Mods
-PR or BL ignition system upgrade, havent decided yet but leaning towards BL currently
-front control arms
-adjustable rear toe and camber bolts w/ eccentric bolt lockouts
-alot of body work
-upgraded engine mounts
-im sure theres more, ill update as i come across more



How she sits currently
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Latest dyno on 26.5 psi and e58 fuel, car is currently on 29 psi on e65+
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some rear suspension bits, M3 LSD and solid subframe & diff bushings
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One of my favorite pieces on the car is my exhaust, looks and sounds beautiful
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Cusom pcv setup (more info on post #18)
IMG_20190122_175449.jpg



and some glamour shots from when she used to be bagged
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FB_IMG_1526949202652.jpg
 
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Mikejones1208

Corporal
Dec 6, 2016
145
115
0
Savannah, GA
Ride
2009 BMW 335i
Ive personally done every bit of work to this car, including an engine swap when the first one let go, if anyone has any questions about any of the products ive used feel free to ask!!
 
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Torgus

Brigadier General
Nov 6, 2016
2,671
2,193
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Boston
Ride
ACF 6466 E92 + METH
Holy shit you smoked him. Did he start in the wrong gear? With all that displacement and FI and meth I would be bullshit. Nice kill.
 

Mikejones1208

Corporal
Dec 6, 2016
145
115
0
Savannah, GA
Ride
2009 BMW 335i
Holy shit you smoked him. Did he start in the wrong gear? With all that displacement and FI and meth I would be bullshit. Nice kill.
That was actually our 2nd run, first run i got him by more then that but he said he wasnt ready apparently, so we redid it again and he said he was spinning in this run, but it was a 60 roll so not sure how much weight that excuse can hold haha
 
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Mikejones1208

Corporal
Dec 6, 2016
145
115
0
Savannah, GA
Ride
2009 BMW 335i
M3 LSD and condor solid diff bushings installed today, still need a driveshaft so that will be ordered in the coming days, condor bushings fit great and installed easily, was able to pull them with ease using some pvc caps, threaded rod, washers, and some heat from my torch. excited to be able to put the power down soon and hopefully not bust anymore axles with the upgraded m3 axles as well



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Mikejones1208

Corporal
Dec 6, 2016
145
115
0
Savannah, GA
Ride
2009 BMW 335i
This weekend i plan on finishing up the rear end install, driveshaft should arrive in the mail friday, gonna be doing a fluid change on the rear diff with liqui moly as well and buttoning it back together. Also have a oil change and relocating my oil cooler to behind the kidney grill with a psp oil cooler! Core that i purchased from them was pretty good, one of the brackets was bent im guessing from shipping maybe but nothing bending it back didnt fix, time to see how a good lsd feels!
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Mikejones1208

Corporal
Dec 6, 2016
145
115
0
Savannah, GA
Ride
2009 BMW 335i
PSP oil cooler installed today, overall its okay. really need to supply some instructions as far as where they intended on this to mount, learned that if you have it to far forward the hood latch will scrape across the front of it, luckily it didnt damage anything functional just boogered up the coating. also please ignore the horribly cut core support up top, that was from awhile ago for something i was testing out and never got around to replacing. but eventually got it all adjusted right and sitting tight. looking forward to how this one reacts over my old mishimoto universal core, this one is twice the size
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Mikejones1208

Corporal
Dec 6, 2016
145
115
0
Savannah, GA
Ride
2009 BMW 335i
M3 lsd swap completed and I gotta say! I Love It! Gets great traction from a 40 roll on 25-26 psi now, tracks straight as an arrow and very confidence inspiring to run it. Gearing change is so miniscule from a 3.08 to a 3.15 I don't really notice the shorter gears, also now with the solid condor diff bushings i installed as well i get less shifter clunk, now onto some races tonight!!
IMG_20181215_154659.jpg
 

Mikejones1208

Corporal
Dec 6, 2016
145
115
0
Savannah, GA
Ride
2009 BMW 335i
So as temps outside started to drop with winter coming (luckily i live in GA so its not too bad) i noticed i was starting to strain my fuel system. Since ive gone single turbo i have gotten by with the stock feed line and stock fuel pressure regulator, until now! I opted to make my own setup, so i've made a 6an feed line, and am now running a aeromotive fuel pressure regulator.

I used 6an separators and cushion p clamps to secure it to the chassis and to prevent any kind of chafing that could occur
IMG_20190121_171359.jpg

IMG_20190121_171356.jpg


was able to mount the fuel pressure regulator neatly underneath the fuel rail to be able to keep the distance between the regulator and rail to a minimum and am still able to get to it with the intake manifold in place to allow for on the fly adjustments on the dyno when i get ready to retune
IMG_20190118_032128.jpg

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and lastly i ran the return line from the bottom of the regulator to the passenger side fuel hat, i was able to set it up so that i can still retain a quick disconnect like the other fuel connections that go to the hat, and ease of install and dissasembly down the line.
IMG_20190121_163039.jpg


im currently waiting on my new oem FPR and fuel strainer assembly that goes in the driver side of the tank, i figured thats the last piece of the stock fuel system i havent touched so might as well go ahead and replace it with a fresh one. 80k miles on my car currently and stock in tank filter has seen alot of e85 thru it from our local station which is famous for selling questionable ethanol and bad gas. as soon as that gets here ill wrap everything up, prime the system and check for leaks
 
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veer90

Lieutenant
Nov 16, 2016
1,000
774
0
West Nyack, NY
Ride
e90 335i 6MT
So as temps outside started to drop with winter coming (luckily i love in GA so its not too bad) i noticed i was starting to strain my fuel system. Since ive gone single turbo i have gotten by with the stock feed line and stock fuel pressure regulator, until now! I opted to make my own setup, so i've made a 6an feed line, and am now running a aeromotive fuel pressure regulator.

I used 6an separators and cushion p clamps to secure it to the chassis and to prevent any kind of chafing that could occur
View attachment 21937
View attachment 21938

was able to mount the fuel pressure regulator neatly underneath the fuel rail to be able to keep the distance between the regulator and rail to a minimum and am still able to get to it with the intake manifold in place to allow for on the fly adjustments on the dyno when i get ready to retune
View attachment 21939
View attachment 21940

and lastly i ran the return line from the bottom of the regulator to the passenger side fuel hat, i was able to set it up so that i can still retain a quick disconnect like the other fuel connections that go to the hat, and ease of install and dissasembly down the line.
View attachment 21941

im currently waiting on my new oem FPR and fuel strainer assembly that goes in the driver side of the tank, i figured thats the last piece of the stock fuel system i havent touched so might as well go ahead and replace it with a fresh one. 80k miles on my car currently and stock in tank filter has seen alot of e85 thru it from our local station which is famous for selling questionable ethanol and bad gas. as soon as that gets here ill wrap everything up, prime the system and check for leaks

I also just did upgraded feed line. Didn't know you could use self tapping screws into the chassis like that lol would have made my install a lot cleaner like this one
 
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Mikejones1208

Corporal
Dec 6, 2016
145
115
0
Savannah, GA
Ride
2009 BMW 335i
Also while the car was down i decided to tackle my PCV system as well, i know this topic has beaten to a pulp so ill just list my setup. there wasnt anything on the market already that had everything i wanted in it so opted to diy this kit as well, for the low side i referenced RB's external pcv setup and made my own using a oem 2jz pcv valve and AD engineering pcv valve delete fitting routed thru a universal catch can i picked up online for fairly cheap, i drew ran a vac test on the can itself and it was able to hold up to 25 hg's without leaking and filled it with metal brillo material to help further catch any oil blowby that may find its way out. another thing i like about my setup is that i was able to mount the pcv valve on the clean side of the can, therefore the air going thru it should be filtered air and wont get gunked up overtime with blow by (or atleast not as quickly). for the vacuum source i drilled and tapped a npt to 4an fitting onto the manifold itself.

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for the high side i wanted to VTA because i dont want a line attached to my turb intake because not even condisering how unslightly it looks in the bay imo, i find it hard that its even pulling any considerable amount of vacuum on the crank case itself, so i used the stock flapper valve attached to a 12an hose that connects to a morose vta can thats baffled and filled with steel wool to prevent any oil seaping out the top and dripping out the can, also to add to that i purchased a vargas oil cap breather check valve, so while in boost pcv valve should close up and both the valve cover vent and oil cap breather should hopefully bleed off any pressure that starts to build up!
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Mikejones1208

Corporal
Dec 6, 2016
145
115
0
Savannah, GA
Ride
2009 BMW 335i
I also just did upgraded feed line. Didn't know you could use self tapping screws into the chassis like that lol would have made my install a lot cleaner like this one
yeah i was hesitant at first but i checked to make sure those areas weren't going thru the floorboard in the cabin lol, also the screws i used were extremely short, probably only 3 or 4 threads going thru the bottom
 
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sch4400

Lurker
Mar 20, 2018
18
0
0
Ride
535
I have a problem too high low fuel pressure . so wondering what is your FPR setup?
connect vaccine line? setup base low fuel pressure?