Hey all, been around for a short while. Loving my car and the community so here's some history on my car life and my slow move toward a 335i.
Back in 2010 - 2011 I went through an interesting car purchasing experience. I was looking for a pristine JZX100 Toyota Chaser/Mark II. I've always been a fan of classy cars with turbo straight 6's that can fly under the radar.
I used Iron Chef to find a tidy JZX100 for me in Japan. For those of you that have been through this process, this basically means at least a grade 3 vehicle at an auction house. My advice - don't ever go through Kristian or ICI if you know what you want. Long story short, he tried to sue me for mistakes he made, ended up losing at trial and I had my brokers fee refunded in full. It was a helpful experience for me, as I was still a teenager and had just started my law studies around that time.
In the meantime I ended up settling on a local CL9 Accord Euro as it became clear that the odds of finding a clean JZX100 were stacked up against me, even for local and interstate options.
I owned the Accord for roughly 8 years and did silly things to it. Bone stock other than suspension, sound system, kit and wheels. Looked sick but I went too silly with it - the Honda was a nice, reliable daily and I turned it into a weekender. I was very lucky to not be defected as it was literally 2.5" from the deck.
Always had a keen interest in the E9x 335i since they first came out. Seriously considered one in 2014 - 2015, but prices were a tad silly for a tuner car and tuning options still seemed quite limited at the time (especially compared to the Japanese aftermarket scene).
Decided in late-2017 that I'd buy one as prices were starting to drop hard and the cars were at the age and level of depreciation where tidy examples were relatively easy to come across.
Bought a 2008 Alpine White E92 on 13 April 2018 with the intention of making it a fun weekender.
It had 129,000km on the clock, M-Sport and Individual sound system options, a fairly good service history, MHD stage 1+ tune, angel eyes, catch can, front lip, rear diffuser and quad tips. Best of all, it has 0 wastegate rattle!!!
It didn't take long for me to start playing with the car.
12 May 2018 - removed rear M badge and tinted parts of the tail lights
24 May 2018 - wrapped interior trims
29 June 2018 - fitted BMS DCI
28 July 2018 - fitted 6000k low beams to match the aftermarket angel eyes
29 August 2018 - fitted a new upper radiator hose, Aliexpress DP's and inlets, Precision Raceworks stage 2+ LPFP. One of my Aliexpress DP's was defective and needed some fabwork to fit properly. Inlets were fine but still a PITA to install like any other inlets lol. Didn't want to spend much on twin turbo bits as my long term goal is to have an N54 that sounds half decent - single turbo and external gate is the only way to achieve this.
13 September 2018 - replaced post-cat O2 sensors.
22 September 2018 - fitted VRSF 7" HD FMIC and flashed the MHD Stage 2+ E50 tune.
1 October 2018 - flashed xHP Stage 3 TCU tune
20 November 2018 - fitted M style custom floormats (thanks @R32GOJIRA !)
30 December 2018 (136,000km) - changed the oil filter housing gasket, coolant vent hose, oil cooler housing gasket, serpentine belt, pulleys, tensioner, plugs and fitted Precision Raceworks coils. Also changed the oil.
How the car currently sits:
CURRENT STATE OF VEHICLE (AS OF JUNE 2022):
Chassis
• Brake calipers painted in BMW Le Mans Blue
• AKG adjustable front endlinks
• Turner Motorsports rear shifter carrier bushings
• UUC delrin front shifter carrier bushings
• Rogue Engineering transmission mounts
• ST XTA coilovers
• BMW E9x M3 / E82 1M front control arms and rear guide rods
• Manzo adjustable rear toe arms
• Manzo rear camber arms
• Monroe rear shock mounts
• ECS Tuning slotted and drilled brake rotors
• ECS Tuning wheel stud kit
• Akebono ceramic brake pads allround
• Genuine Yokohama Advan RSII wheels (18x9.5 +22 and 18x10.5 +25)
• Yokohama Advan V105 Tyres (245/40/18 and 265/35/18)
• BMW E9x M3 / E82 1M front strut brace assembly
• Revshift 80A poly engine mounts
Interior/Exterior
• E92 M3 widebody front end conversion (OEM carbon crash bars, ducts, panels etc)
• BMW CIC Navigation retrofit
• BMW combox retrofit
• BMW Apps retrofit
• Carplay and Android auto unit
• Genuine BMW E46 ZHP shift knob
• Genuine BMW Performance alcantara shift boot
• Retrimmed flat bottom M Sport steering wheel by Royal Steering Wheel UK
• Customised cluster with white LED’s and E9x M3 variable redline
• Alcantara handbrake boot
• Aluminium pedal covers
• Custom floormats
• Genuine E92 M3 side mirrors (power folding, electric adjustable and auto dimming)
• Genuine BMW Performance E9x M3 / E82 1M carbon fiber mirror caps
• Genuine 335is front bumper air ducts
• Bavgruppe V3 angel eye rings
• Bavgruppe LED front indicator bulbs
• Morimoto 6500k low beam bulbs
• ZKW-R low beam projector lense upgrades
• New genuine headlight lenses
• Depo LCI style tail lights and LED reverse bulbs
• Genuine Seibon E92 M3 carbon fiber front lip
• BMW Performance style quad tip carbon fiber rear diffuser
• Quad exhaust tips
• BMS cabin air filters
• Hydra Performance cabin air filter covers
• Trimmed cowl
• HT black Painted throttle body
• Mashimarho CF headlight caps
• Flow Design rear bumper spats
• KAP Industries fire extinguisher mount
• Dechromed front and rear roundels
• F82 M4 front seats
• E92 M3 rear seats, rear centre console, centre console lid and door cards
• LCI headlight switch and IHKA panel
• AGT Styling carbon fiber alternator cover
• BMW Performance E92 M3 Competition CF spoiler
Engine/Drivetrain
• Precision Raceworks stage 2 LPFP (Walbro 450 fuel pump)
• NXM B58 ignition coil kit
• BMS port injection manifold with Bosch 750cc injectors and Precision Raceworks
port injection fuel line
• Burger Motorsports N54 Dual Cone Intake kit
• High side catchcan and RB PCV valve
• China catless N54 downpipes
• China stock location N54 inlets
• Mosselman oil cooler thermostat
• VAC Motorsports sump baffle
• Turner Motorsports aluminium relocated coolant expansion tank kit
• CSF upgraded aluminium radiator
• VRSF 7” High Density option intercooler
• VRSF chargepipe and BOV delete
• N20 TMAP sensor
• Motiv Motorsports flex fuel module
• Motiv Motorsports E85 compatible fuel lines from fuel filter to HPFP
• Genuine Continental/GM ethanol sensor
• MHD with Stage 2, Ethanol, Flex Fuel, Monitor and Flasher licenses
• Genuine BMW 335is auxiliary radiator
• Genuine BMW 335is front bumper air ducts
• 6 speed manual conversion
• Xtreme twin plate organic clutch kit with single mass flywheel (rated to 1200nm)
• VAC Motorsports / ATI high performance harmonic damper
• Customised 10AN braided brake booster vacuum line
• Clutch delay valve delete
To be done:
• Hybrid E92 M3 / Msport rear widebody conversion
• JMC tuning GTX3582r single turbo kit
• F87 M2C OEM brake retrofit
• Precision Raceworks stage 3 LPFP (dual Walbro 450 fuel pumps)
• Turner Motorsports cowl delete kit
• VTT external PCV kit with dual catch cans and custom AN fittings and AN lines
• GAS M3/1M monoball kit
• Lemforder ball joints for rear trailing arms and rear M3 arms
• Private Label Manufacturing billet rear subframe bushings
• BMW e9X M3 and F30 differential bushings
• Stoptech stainless steel braided brake lines
• E9x M3 DCT differential, axles and driveshaft
• Respray in BMW Individual Suzuka Grey
• Climate comfort windscreen retrofit
• E92 MF CF side skirt extensions
• New front lip to suit E9x M3
• PPF/coating