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

zmon1300

Corporal
Nov 3, 2016
181
114
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Chicagoland
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'10 335xi
Keep going! 600whp is so much fun when it works right! Ive been thru 3 sets of blown turbos before I got my Pures on. Its def an emotional rollercoaster and does take a toll, but man, when you start gapping cars, it makes it all worth it :D
 
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suspenceful

10 Second Club
Aug 1, 2017
559
591
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2015 M3, 2008 135i, 2009 335i
get motivated!! your car is awesome and 600+whp will feel great. oh and you shouldnt bother putting the AC back in when you take it out, also strip the interior and see how light you can get it now thats its a race car

Keep going! 600whp is so much fun when it works right! Ive been thru 3 sets of blown turbos before I got my Pures on. Its def an emotional rollercoaster and does take a toll, but man, when you start gapping cars, it makes it all worth it :D

That's true. Thanks for the motivation guys. It doesn't help that I have a 335i now for a daily driver.

I'm not sure if I've posted anything about it, but I had my white 2010 328i as a daily driver. I got an offer I couldn't refuse and sold it. Then I bought a silver 2007 335i and again sold it for a nice profit. Now I have a gray 2007 335i that I lowered on wheels, installed LEDs, etc. It's a fun every-day car. No performance mods.

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fmorelli

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Aug 11, 2017
3,748
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Virginia
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E89 Z4 35i, F10 535d
I honestly haven't had much motivation to work on this car, I don't know why.
Been here got this t-shirt. It feels like taking a step backwards. Not motivating at all. My experience - you have to push through, but you have to get a feel when the time is right to make the push. When I blew my motor, I had to wait 4 months before I could consider doing it. I was not in the right frame of mind. Good luck!

Filippo
 

doublespaces

Administrator
Oct 18, 2016
9,303
4,331
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AZ
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2009 E93 335i
Been here got this t-shirt. It feels like taking a step backwards. Not motivating at all. My experience - you have to push through, but you have to get a feel when the time is right to make the push. When I blew my motor, I had to wait 4 months before I could consider doing it. I was not in the right frame of mind. Good luck!

Filippo

Yes, it can take a while to convince yourself to make bad investments :sob:
 

suspenceful

10 Second Club
Aug 1, 2017
559
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2015 M3, 2008 135i, 2009 335i
My buddy came over and finished pulling the motor on Friday night. I removed the twin turbos on Saturday morning to be shipped to their new owner. Sad, because they had less than 500 miles on them.

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Then my finger slipped...

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Swedishpowah

Private
Dec 7, 2016
49
27
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Greer, SC
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LCI e92 - not an M
What swayed you to single turbo vs the twins? I'm curious since you already had the twins and they're capable of the ~700whp goal.
 

suspenceful

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Aug 1, 2017
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What swayed you to single turbo vs the twins? I'm curious since you already had the twins and they're capable of the ~700whp goal.

A few things. Mostly, I don't ever want to have to do all the work I'm doing ever again. Meaning, if one of the twins took a shit, I don't want to have to drop the subframe to R&R. Now it'll be right on top and I have 50% less of a chance that turbo(s) will shit the bed. The upgraded twins also pile in torque down low. While it feels awesome, it's tough on the motor. I don't want to replace another motor.

I wasn't "wowed" by the twins. They were definitely faster, but it wasn't "OMG CRAZY". I know I'll be sacrificing some lag, but when the boost hits it's going to feel great. If you're after linear power with modest goals, I think twins are a good choice. But I don't want to be pushing twins to their limit just to achieve high horsepower. I'd rather put a larger single on for less stress.
 
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Swedishpowah

Private
Dec 7, 2016
49
27
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Greer, SC
Ride
LCI e92 - not an M
A few things. Mostly, I don't ever want to have to do all the work I'm doing ever again. Meaning, if one of the twins took a shit, I don't want to have to drop the subframe to R&R. Now it'll be right on top and I have 50% less of a chance that turbo(s) will shit the bed. The upgraded twins also pile in torque down low. While it feels awesome, it's tough on the motor. I don't want to replace another motor.

I wasn't "wowed" by the twins. They were definitely faster, but it wasn't "OMG CRAZY". I know I'll be sacrificing some lag, but when the boost hits it's going to feel great. If you're after linear power with modest goals, I think twins are a good choice. But I don't want to be pushing twins to their limit just to achieve high horsepower. I'd rather put a larger single on for less stress.

Gotcha, thanks for the feedback. I'm running on MMP S3s and on e85 I was wowed. Of course, I've never pushed my stock twins as much as you did on your car and I've never been in an n54 running a big single - so my reference point is a bit different.

Keep up the good work - I love following along.
 

suspenceful

10 Second Club
Aug 1, 2017
559
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2015 M3, 2008 135i, 2009 335i
Gotcha, thanks for the feedback. I'm running on MMP S3s and on e85 I was wowed. Of course, I've never pushed my stock twins as much as you did on your car and I've never been in an n54 running a big single - so my reference point is a bit different.

Keep up the good work - I love following along.

Thanks! I'm glad you're happy with them. I had no complaints about the turbos themselves, I would still recommend them.

Like you said, I was at 450+whp and 500+wtq with stock twins. The jump from those to the MMPs was definitely noticeable, but I think I was expecting something crazy. To be fair, I never had a perfect tune or great ignition timing, but I'm happy with my choice to go single turbo now.
 

suspenceful

10 Second Club
Aug 1, 2017
559
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2015 M3, 2008 135i, 2009 335i
Something was left on my doorstep today! I'm honestly blown away by the quality and craftsmanship of this kit. The attention-to-detail is crazy. I've dealt with a lot of vendors on this platform and this was probably the nicest overall experience I've had. It shipped on time, came complete, and was packaged VERY nicely. I can't say the same about my previous expensive purchases. Super excited to get this installed for spring!

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cloud9blue

Sergeant
Oct 17, 2017
255
190
0
Ride
09 E92 335i
Something was left on my doorstep today! I'm honestly blown away by the quality and craftsmanship of this kit. The attention-to-detail is crazy. I've dealt with a lot of vendors on this platform and this was probably the nicest overall experience I've had. It shipped on time, came complete, and was packaged VERY nicely. I can't say the same about my previous expensive purchases. Super excited to get this installed for spring!

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looks like they changed the O2 bungs to a better design than the original, which is nice
 
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suspenceful

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looks like they changed the O2 bungs to a better design than the original, which is nice

Can you explain? I'm curious how they're different. They look the same as on their website pictures to me.
 

cloud9blue

Sergeant
Oct 17, 2017
255
190
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09 E92 335i
Can you explain? I'm curious how they're different. They look the same as on their website pictures to me.

their older manifold has a shorter O2 bungs.
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yours look like they have lengthen the O2 bung to pull the sensor out of the direct flow of the exhaust, so your sensors will last a bit longer. most of other legit kits (Motiv, VM/ACF, AD-E) use similar designs, unlike the budget ones from on-3 and jp.
 
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STE92

Corporal
Mar 3, 2017
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O2 sensor going bad you hardly hear of it anymore, I personally think it was more because of the tuning options back then. Still a nice improvement.
 

cloud9blue

Sergeant
Oct 17, 2017
255
190
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09 E92 335i
O2 sensor going bad you hardly hear of it anymore, I personally think it was more because of the tuning options back then. Still a nice improvement.
Also because ppl figured out how to run the bosch adv and ntk sensors.
 

doublespaces

Administrator
Oct 18, 2016
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their older manifold has a shorter O2 bungs.
heat_1024x1024.jpg

yours look like they have lengthen the O2 bung to pull the sensor out of the direct flow of the exhaust, so your sensors will last a bit longer. most of other legit kits (Motiv, VM/ACF, AD-E) use similar designs, unlike the budget ones from on-3 and jp.
Nice catch