[MAN15H]

Nice colour choice, The car looks great.

[MattOz]

Looks great Idnan. A credit to the hard work, time and effort you've put into the car.

[N111CUK]

Nice build mate like everything you've done apart from the front number plate.

Power looks good on pump only fuel. Meth or e85 mix or both is where the big numbers are hiding. Car is capable of 600hp now. I'm tempted to buy big barrels of E85 just for special occasions
?

Congrats on getting your baby back.

[idnan]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

Impressive work!! Do you think your honestly ever 'finish' the car

I know what you mean, it's been a long case of chasing the weakest link but I'm fairly happy now with the stage the car is at the moment.

Originally Posted by cupraraj

looks really good, like the colour...hows the wrap job?

In general I'd give it an 7.5/10 but given the price I paid compared to some of the other quotes I'm really happy. Thankfully the owner has a 335i too so I've worked some magic and remapped his car in return

Originally Posted by pmmcbl

What a transformation. That car looks fantastic. Well done on you. I will have to add one thing which I don't like, that front number plate doesn't look right for me. A small thing to be fair but that car looks too good.

Cheers guys. I went about a month without a front plate but felt I was pushing it and thought I was going to get tugged sooner rather than later. Hopefully getting a much shorter private plate and will definitely have to change the plate style again.

Originally Posted by N111CUK

Nice build mate like everything you've done apart from the front number plate.

Power looks good on pump only fuel. Meth or e85 mix or both is where the big numbers are hiding. Car is capable of 600hp now. I'm tempted to buy big barrels of E85 just for special occasions
?

Congrats on getting your baby back.

I feel you on the e85, think of just running an e30 blend with meth to get to further towards my goal. Not really keen on buying the racing e85 as thats like £3 a litre and the rate at which this is going through fuel, I don't think its going to be economical lol

Originally Posted by windymissile

Great work.
How are the RB's up the top end of the Rev range?

WM

With my RB's with inlets the peak power was at 6200rpm. Looking at the stock turbo 500whp record with inlets posted a few months ago, peak power was at 5200rpm so a big difference. I definitely feel the car is quick all the way to the redline and it doesn't drop off at all like in a standard car.

I'm thinking of RBs upgrade program for the ones with 19t wheels but keep looking at where my bank balance is at the moment lol.

Originally Posted by Sparky68

Looks great mate love the colour, remember my car being on jacks like that on that very driveway!

Haha the good old days, mine was been a permanent fixture like that for the last 6 months. In fact my car has been famous now around my area especially since the dyno results have been on facebook.

[mob17]

Excellent work Idnan and congrats with the repairs. Looks top notch!

[Sparky68]

Looks like mine is going idnan , thanks for all your help with it though, was pulling my hair out with this car and close to torching it if it hadnt been for yours and Phil's help.

[mistryn]

I really enjoy reading these types of threads as you can see the transformation and gives me ideas as to what I want to do.

I have enjoyed reading your previous threads where your car was under a gazebo while you had the engine out, I did wonder where you had gone as you have provided very helpful info but glad to see you back .

For me i do like like the yellow, its not a bright yellow but makes the car stand out. Did you do the wrap yourself ?

[old grey steve]

Just read all this fair play for the DIY approach power wise must be something else to drive the N54 as I know can be a bit of a bitch at times seems you've got your head around most things under the bonnet as for the diff and other stuff again what can I say

[Sparky68]

Steve you would not believe the amount of BMW stuff he has laying about that huge house!

[idnan]

Originally Posted by mistryn

I really enjoy reading these types of threads as you can see the transformation and gives me ideas as to what I want to do.

I have enjoyed reading your previous threads where your car was under a gazebo while you had the engine out, I did wonder where you had gone as you have provided very helpful info but glad to see you back .

For me i do like like the yellow, its not a bright yellow but makes the car stand out. Did you do the wrap yourself ?

I only did the repair work myself and even struggled on that if I'm honest. The wrap was done by Wrapstarz Pro, who are local to Birmingham (Lichfield). I'm happy with the colour but there is a slight shade difference between the primered parts and the white panels. But I prefer it much more to how it looked before!

Originally Posted by old grey steve

Just read all this fair play for the DIY approach power wise must be something else to drive the N54 as I know can be a bit of a bitch at times seems you've got your head around most things under the bonnet as for the diff and other stuff again what can I say

Thank you, that's big praise especially from someone who's a mechanic like yourself. The diff made the biggest difference in my opinion and really helps with putting the power down and more importantly the car is very predictable. Despite the power and torque, the rear end doesn't snap out like it used to do with the standard diff and bushes etc.

Originally Posted by Sparky68

Looks like mine is going idnan , thanks for all your help with it though, was pulling my hair out with this car and close to torching it if it hadnt been for yours and Phil's help.

I know it's a real shame but you've had some terrible luck with that car. I'm still shocked you never got that issue sorted despite doing so much work. If I'm honest I still like a good hatchback and terribly miss my 306 which I came from.

Originally Posted by Sparky68

Steve you would not believe the amount of BMW stuff he has laying about that huge house!

It's even worse now than when you saw it

[old grey steve]

Originally Posted by idnan

Thank you, that's big praise especially from someone who's a mechanic like yourself. The diff made the biggest difference in my opinion and really helps with putting the power down and more importantly the car is very predictable. Despite the power and torque, the rear end doesn't snap out like it used to do with the standard diff and bushes etc.

Trust me idnan I'm no mechanic, mechanically minded yep good with a spanner errrr nobut I appreciate certain things especially when its done in such a way that its got a goal at the end of the it all. i.e 500 bhp, strangly enough or so it would seem controlled power and what would seem to be reliable power too. I know these cars quite well I know they are troublesome so to do this little lot and have some relaibility behind it

[whateva411]

Looking even better now!

[achu]

awesome work!

[Endaitr]

Absolutely epic , what was the fit like on the side skirts did the shop comment on ?

[idnan]

Originally Posted by Endaitr

Absolutely epic , what was the fit like on the side skirts did the shop comment on ?

Hi mate. I fitted them myself but couldn't get them to fit very well at the front at all. It's a shame but I can't really do anything about it now.

[zltm089]

Glad to see you're back mate!!!

Car looking healthy too!

[Theador]

love it

[AnthonyR]

Looking good man

[tasn1]

Awesome car!

[S4DNX]

Looking stunning - love the colour!

[FHE92]

Gorgeous looking, love the colour and the tinted headlights. All perfect!!!

Well done

[mnmz2012]

Lovely car mate, totally banana's tho, 335i 's do have serious potential, seen some do 650 - 700 bhp.. Just a quick question, what brand intercooler did you use?

Originally Posted by idnan

So I've been away from the forums and just cars in general due to my personal life. Unfortunately at the same time I managed to destroy the rear subframe, propshaft and diff casing. One of them snapped first causing huge damage to the other components. Most worringly these were all m3 parts and none were parts that I had actually modified.

So on to the pics of the damage:









So that set me up for a huge rebuild. Points to address were as follows:

Fix damaged parts
Reinforce rear axle parts
Get coilovers and brakes refurbed
Get new intercooler brackets and pipework
New LPFP, primary o2 sensors
Fit turbo inlets
Service
Address bodywork

As well as a whole lot of other bits. So first job was to get a new subframe, swap over my whiteline bushes, repair the diff backplate and fit a lockdown brace. I ended up buying a brand new diff backplate from BMW at is was only about £70+vat, not bad at all:



Rear subframe built up:



Fitted with diff lockdown brace (crap pic but all I have):


Then onto getting all the engine components sorted:



Next up was getting the calipers rebuilt with new seals and powdercoated in yellow:



At this point I had given my coilovers in for rebuild with brand new front units including Dual Flow Valves so they are similar to Ohlins with regards to ride quality and performance. Unfortunately this took a while as AST were busy in Holland and everything was custom. So I cracked on with the bodywork. A couple of years ago the car was damaged whilst in a gazebo in high winds. This meant huge scratches on the rear quarters, bumpers and a pillars. Also the front wings were starting to crack and the front bumper had been grazed and scratched heavily. I decided to get the car wrapped and new bodywork for the pieces that I could get. So that meant new bumpers, wings and I even opted for a new bootlid and side skirts. The bodywork began:











The bootlid was a bargain find off eBay and was 5 minutes from my house. It its the FG version and not the best fit in the world but I still love it. The paint was ruined so it needed hours of sanding to get a decent finish to wrap onto. I also had to fill and sand the other deep scratches caused by the gazebo incident. Finally my coilovers came through and I managed to get a working car! It was ready to go to the wrappers:





The car wasn't mapped, had a half finished exhaust but I wanted to get this bit out of the way. I chose a bold colour







As you can see, it still needed loads of work. I used ProTuningFreaks to map the car via the MHD flasher so my car has no JB4 at all. Also I managed to fit the front grill and numberplate.



I was then invited to take my car to a rolling road day to find out how it was running. Unfortunately they only had a Mustang Dyno which tend to run a good 12% lower than a dynojet and I have no idea how they compare to a Dyno Dynamics at all. Anyway some pics from the day:




















The car made 431hp at the wheels and 481lbft of torque at the wheels. The dyno operator gave me a crank figure of 502bhp. Not bad considering Mustang Dynos are very conservative.

Spec as the car stands:

2008 n54 335i with 6mt transmission
Spec single mass FW with stage 3+ clutch
UUC DSSR and transmission mounts
RB Turbos
VTT inlets
AR downpipes
VRSF 3.5" Exhaust
600x300x100mm core intercooler
Evolution Racewerks CP with Forge DVs
BMS Filters
RB PCV and BMS OCC
M3 cowl and filters

M3 rear subframe with custom prop and 3.15 ratio LSD
Whiteline subframe bushes
PB 380mm Brakes
AST 5100 coilovers with DFV pistons
Defiv m3 diff lockdown kit
M3 wishbones, steering rack and e93 m3 front ARB
M3 strutbrace

Sunflower yellow wrapped bodywork
Gloss black roof
M3 replica wings and side skirts
CSL bootlid
M3 genuine folding mirrors
Avant Garde M359s
Gloss black diffusers
4" tailpipes
LCI tails
Tinted custom headlights with LED markers
Foglight delete

BMW performance steering wheel
Boost gauge, voltmeter and aquamist gauge ashtray cluster
Gloss black interior wrap
Storm Motorwerks v2 gearknob

Still unfinished, still need to fit the archliners, lower the rear of the car, get the aquamist setup working and fit my 2step and launch control. Going for 500whp on the same dyno next year hopefully

Doubt you're still reading by now!