[tcphoto]

Thanks for sharing, it looks like a fun drive. I’ve had my 335 for three years and have had no issues but wouldn’t hesitate to doing something similar with a 328.

[mlee4984]

Looks like you beat the snot out of it and Brandon was babying it. I love it! I want to get my exhaust to sound like that too. what else do you have planned for it?

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by mlee4984

Looks like you beat the snot out of it and Brandon was babying it. I love it! I want to get my exhaust to sound like that too. what else do you have planned for it?

I think you are right, Brandon was babying it a bit lol

CobraMarty was working on an exhaust cam for the n52 so I’m waiting to see how that pans out. The MILV’s only act on the intake valves so there’s probably 8-10 more whp on the table if the exhaust cams can get done.

And I want to do something for a rear diffuser.

That’s all I have left on my mind for this car.

[colorado.e9x]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

I think you are right, Brandon was babying it a bit lol

CobraMarty was working on an exhaust cam for the n52 so I’m waiting to see how that pans out. The MILV’s only act on the intake valves so there’s probably 8-10 more whp on the table if the exhaust cams can get done.

And I want to do something for a rear diffuser.

That’s all I have left on my mind for this car.

Are these cams you're talking about "lobier"? Cause that's the only way any cam should sound in my opinion lol

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by colorado.e9x

Are these cams you're talking about "lobier"? Cause that's the only way any cam should sound in my opinion lol

Can’t say what they would sound like because they don’t exist yet. It seems like the project kind of stalled out also... so not even sure if they will ever exist lol

[Drifter2090]

Saw the video and went to find your thread! Great stuff!

An M-Tech rear would be the perfect finishing piece

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by Drifter2090

Saw the video and went to find your thread! Great stuff!

An M-Tech rear would be the perfect finishing piece

Thank you! I appreciate the feedback and I’m glad you enjoyed the video. Brandon did a great job with it!

[AWSB328iM]

M-Sport rear bumper is the only way.

[colorado.e9x]

Looks like the vid is live!

[200,000 club]

How much trouble was the n54 intake manifold, what did you have to do to make it fit? Also, I love the stock intake, gives a very nice OEM look to the car 👍

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by 200,000 club

How much trouble was the n54 intake manifold, what did you have to do to make it fit? Also, I love the stock intake, gives a very nice OEM look to the car ��

Thank you!

N54 manifold is not a direct fit you will have to modify the manifold mounts. I posted a how to on the forum with the details of how I did it. You can find all the info in this thread I started...

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1582915

Also you will need to get a custom tune for it. Bob Bishop who tuned my set up for Bimmer Performance Center now has his own shop located here:

http://stagefp.com/

[bimmerzeit]

How long/difficult was it to replace the differential?

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by bimmerzeit

How long/difficult was it to replace the differential?

Not bad. I did it twice, the first time I swapped to a 3.73 diff from a 328i Auto rwd. That was a direct bolt up.

The second time I changed to a 3.91 diff from an Auto Xdrive model. That diff had a shaft sticking out of the pinion that needed to be trimmed and the flange had to be swapped to the rwd flange to mate to my driveshaft.

Both times I did the swap on jackstands as shown in my pic. Took about 2 hours to actually do the swap.

[S65Hunter]

I'm sure it's been stated some where before, but what's the advantages of going with the N54 intake over the 3SIM?

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by AlpineE93

I'm sure it's been stated some where before, but what's the advantages of going with the N54 intake over the 3SIM?

N54 = More peak power, makes power all the way to 7500 rpms.

3IM = More torque down low, direct bolt on.

The N54 makes the motor feel and behave like the S54 from the e46m3. I’ve run both manifolds and liked the n54 better. If you have a manual the n54 with a rear diff swap (3.73 or 3.91) is tits. You can take advantage of a raised redline and it makes the car a beast.

If you have an automatic then you can’t take advantage of the rear diff swap or the power above 7000rpms so the low end torque of the 3IM is better.

[200,000 club]

Nice, I might look into this intake setup, sounds like the better alternative for a manual

[Biginboca]

Ok so time for an update to this thread. I was considering a supercharger but decided to go a different route due to all the tuning issues a lot of guys have had with getting my mod combo to work with superchargers on the n52. Also my car is already as quick as all the supercharged 328i cars I’ve seen posted on YouTube and still completely reliable.

So I rejected the idea of the SC for now at least. I don’t want to take a chance with affecting reliability at all. So having kind of thought I would take it a little father and planned on spending some $$ I went a different direction and started focusing on weight loss.

I didn’t want to take anything from the interior or strip out the car. So I’m focusing on weight loss outside the cabin only. Keeping the tools and all trunk liners, all the seats. Nothing that would compromise the cars use as a daily driver or it’s focus as being the “328is”.

So here’s where I’m at and where I’m headed...

As of where this thread left off I might have added 15lbs with the LSD, 5lbs with the oil cooler, and maybe 10lbs with the front brakes. So probably added 30lbs total to the stock car.

Then I figure I removed probably 60lbs of wheel/tires, 30lbs exhaust, and maybe 5lbs between manifold and Airbox. So removed about 95lbs total from the stock car.

Subtotal for Round 1 Mods which is everything above this post is approximately 95-30 = 65lbs loss from the stock weight. (-65lbs)

———————————————

Now I’m starting Round 2 mods and currently being installed:

Seibon Stock Look Hood to be Painted Alpine White -17lbs



Seibon CSL Trunk to be Painted Alpine White -13.5lbs



M3 Composite Front Bumper Carrier -8lbs



M3 Composite Rear Bumper Carrier -12lbs





Odyssey PC680MJ 15.5lbs battery -43.5lbs



SUBTOTAL For Round 2 Mods vs Stock = (-94lbs)

———————————————

Round 3 Mods will likely be installing a salvaged M3 Carbon Roof which takes off 44lbs vs a steel roof with sunroof. (I’m also debating a carbon sunroof delete panel which saves 30lbs, but don’t quite care for it and don’t feel it fits the build of an OEM plus/how bmw would have built it version of a 328is.)

Round 3 Mods = (-44lbs)

———————————————

TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS

Round 1 = -65lbs
Round 2 = -94lbs
Round 3 = -44lbs

GRAND TOTAL = -203lbs

So once all these mods are completed I’m expecting to have the car down over 200lbs from the stock weight (which for my build should have been approx 3250lbs).

This would get the car lighter than and with a better power to weight ratio vs a stock e46m3, all while still being naturally aspirated. My car will also still have all its original creature comforts and OEM utility.

[The Nightman]

Awesome update, love the direction this is going. Call me a purist but I'm glad you're keeping it NA and a usable daily.

[E92William]

Very nice didn't know about these bumper carriers being a different lighter material for the M3. Definitely something to take in count if one can find a wrecked m3 to pick apart. Biggest difference seems to be the battery for the price, wonder if it holds up to the e92s power drain..

[Silnismo]

So glad you did not go the super charger route, one of the things I love most about the n52 is it's reliability.

Absolutely love the NA lightweight build, brings me back to my JDM days lol.

Well done!

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by E92William

Very nice didn't know about these bumper carriers being a different lighter material for the M3. Definitely something to take in count if one can find a wrecked m3 to pick apart. Biggest difference seems to be the battery for the price, wonder if it holds up to the e92s power drain..

The rear bumper carriers are easy to find salvaged and can be had for less than $100 delivered. I got mine for $70 delivered off eBay and it was a direct swap. Definitely recommend this mod!

The front bumper carriers are hard to find, and it took me 2 months to find one. They are definitely in high demand, must be a lot of guys crashing their M3’s lol. On the front one I had to trim the foam inserts to about half their thickness (as shown in my pic) and then remount the horns from the stock bumper carrier. Otherwise it’s straightforward as well.

The battery has been cranking, although it’s a weak crank. My car rarely sits more than 24 hours. Like maybe once a month it sits for 48 hours. It’s been working for me... so far... lol

[Biginboca]

Ok so gearing up for the hood, roof, and trunk install. Thank you Coronavirus for giving me plenty of downtime to work on this

I made a “rendering” the old fashioned way. Tape and trash bags lol

Here’s the carbon hood up close so this is what I’m working with.



I was going to paint everything all white but after seeing the finishing on the carbon, well it’s really nice and kind of a shame to cover it all. So I started thinking about how to expose some of it and began looking at images of other carbon paneled cars to see what they do. So this is what I came up with inspired by what Porsche does with their GT cars:









I even like the blue stripes. I’m thinking I’ll keep some element of a blue border around the carbon area. I found some images where Porsche uses some read around their exposed carbon and like the look...