[Brawler]

Hello,

Intro as this is my first post... and then straight onto some pics (I hope, if the hosting works).

My name is Sen, lived in West London (England) until last year, now in Brighton with a workshop in Newhaven.

I put a lot of miles on my daily, so it made sense to fix up the high milers and drive them as you wish, rather than depreciate an asset like the M3 by putting miles on it.

I was having a tough time resisting the E92 M3. But again, I just have a hard time justifying putting that amount of money into a daily driven car, I can't be bothered with finance and I want something moddable.

In 2016 I sold my '04 silver M3 and got a black 2007 335i with 68k miles on the clock with all the toys for a really good price.

In 2017 I bought a carbon black 2004 M3 just to hold onto and drive occasionally while the 335i is being overhauled.

Anyway, onto the project... begins in 2018. I'm keen to customise every aspect of the car ever so subtly. I'm not cannot deny a HEAVY influence from the E92 M3 but the goal isn't to make an M3... it's a modified 335i.

Engine-wise, I've read the N54 is capable so I'm really trying to decide how far I want to go with it.

Need some KW coilovers, ARB's and poly bushes.

But for now I'm focusing on getting the car looking exactly how I want...
Design is a passion of mine so aesthetic balance is very important to me... quite simply, it needs to look more like the M3 than the 335i.

Forgive my ability to take proper progress pics... there may be huge jumps where I zone in and forget to document a stage.

Just imagine a stock black 335i, which I dismantled and then...

Day 1

Cutting the arches back to fit me 11J (315/35/19 tyres)











Day 2

Bonding the rear quarter panel to a custom arch flare with 3M panel bonding adhesive and then grafting the shape.









Will add pics daily as I get more work done on it




Day 3-4. Grafting new shut-lines and perfecting every panel gap.

[GRM Scott]

Nice precision on the gaps, attention to detail is apparent. Are you going to stick with black after the bodywork is done or go with a wilder hue? I'd have been so tempted to go with huge boxy '80s flares...

[Scrippy]

JB4, intercooler, bigger cooling radiator, bigger oil cooler, downpipes, exhaust and M3 suspension......you will be surprised how beastly the N54 can get. I had an 07 before my 11 M3. Loved the 335's abilities and gas mileage. Disliked heat soak.

[jdamore]

Ditto to scrippy's comment and add a LSD.

Looking forward to seeing future posts!

[GotV8?]

Thank you for sharing, goodluck with your project...I am very interested to see the final project.

[Boostin FD]

Nice Project.

[Brawler]

Cheers dudes!

Originally Posted by Scrippy

JB4, intercooler, bigger cooling radiator, bigger oil cooler, downpipes, exhaust and M3 suspension......you will be surprised how beastly the N54 can get. I had an 07 before my 11 M3. Loved the 335's abilities and gas mileage. Disliked heat soak.

Exactly what I was thinking, although I was probably going to go for the regular E92 KW's- Getting M3 suspension means subframes, arms, the lot to be swapped too right? LSD, custom prop etc. I'm not sure where to draw the line!

I will be needing new turbo's on this car soon so I might be in the market for one bigger/better than stock.

Have to ask though, since you modded the crap out of your N54, what drew you to the M3 in the end? In what way is the M floating your boat that the N54 didn't? Just interested to know, as I find my E46 M3 much more fun to drive than the 335i, but I prefer long drives and cruising in the 335i.

Some more work done:

Filler primer coats x 2, covering heavy scratch marks and blends providing a fresh surface to re-shape
Guide coated, re-shaped and into the booth to be primed again, blocked flat, cleaned up & prepared for the 24k Black base coat!

[Brawler]

Originally Posted by GRM Scott

Nice precision on the gaps, attention to detail is apparent. Are you going to stick with black after the bodywork is done or go with a wilder hue? I'd have been so tempted to go with huge boxy '80s flares...

Cheers dude, sorry missed your question... boring I know but it's going to be black
I deliberated over many other colours but none pop bronze quite as well as black, and I was set on Bronze being the secondary colour.

Am tempted with a boxy flare project too, but it would have to be on an E46 for me... The E92 suits double concave arches too well, to the point where I want to slightly pokier version of the M3 arches.

[Brawler]

The fibreglass parts had a lot of 'fat' so a lot more than I thought had to come back.

Shaped up and into the booth for a final prime before colour.





















Forgot to take pics of the final priming stage but that happened followed by a cut back, onto base & clear!












Thought this would be a good time to check the tyre actually fits under the arch under compression...





Lucky

[Scrippy]

Originally Posted by Brawler

Cheers dudes!

Exactly what I was thinking, although I was probably going to go for the regular E92 KW's- Getting M3 suspension means subframes, arms, the lot to be swapped too right? LSD, custom prop etc. I'm not sure where to draw the line!

I will be needing new turbo's on this car soon so I might be in the market for one bigger/better than stock.

Have to ask though, since you modded the crap out of your N54, what drew you to the M3 in the end? In what way is the M floating your boat that the N54 didn't? Just interested to know, as I find my E46 M3 much more fun to drive than the 335i, but I prefer long drives and cruising in the 335i.

Some more work done:

Filler primer coats x 2, covering heavy scratch marks and blends providing a fresh surface to re-shape
Guide coated, re-shaped and into the booth to be primed again, blocked flat, cleaned up & prepared for the 24k Black base coat!

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xX...b=w693-h923-no[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5V...W=w693-h923-no[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/B7...1=w693-h923-no[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/R7...e=w693-h923-no[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YW...I=w693-h923-no[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/M_..._=w693-h923-no[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/GE...6=w693-h923-no[/IMG]

Car looks like it's coming along. So what drew me to the M is the S65. I have always loved V8's and their pretty vast power band. So the 335 has good low end torque but it gets crappy after mid point to high end. Combine that with the fact I couldn't flog it for too long due to heat soak and the fact the M3 has wider hips, bigger motor, better rear end, better suspension, more bracing throughout and a glorious DCT and it's a lock. Plus like everyone else, when you know there is another tier to the brand and a car series you like........you want it. I think the progression from 335 to M3 is quit natural to all. I used to love when people pull up to my 335 wanting to race and Id blow their doors off! Their faces looked so sad and bummed

[Scrippy]

Originally Posted by Brawler

Cheers dude, sorry missed your question... boring I know but it's going to be black
I deliberated over many other colours but none pop bronze quite as well as black, and I was set on Bronze being the secondary colour.

Am tempted with a boxy flare project too, but it would have to be on an E46 for me... The E92 suits double concave arches too well, to the point where I want to slightly pokier version of the M3 arches.

Black looks so tough though! I am partial to black and space grey.

[MahiC]

This is the M forum.

[Brawler]

Originally Posted by Scrippy

Car looks like it's coming along. So what drew me to the M is the S65. I have always loved V8's and their pretty vast power band. So the 335 has good low end torque but it gets crappy after mid point to high end. Combine that with the fact I couldn't flog it for too long due to heat soak and the fact the M3 has wider hips, bigger motor, better rear end, better suspension, more bracing throughout and a glorious DCT and it's a lock. Plus like everyone else, when you know there is another tier to the brand and a car series you like........you want it. I think the progression from 335 to M3 is quit natural to all. I used to love when people pull up to my 335 wanting to race and Id blow their doors off! Their faces looked so sad and bummed

This is the problem with modding a 335i... So many things need to be changed and then it's still a rep- by the time all that money is spent it'd have been wiser to put it towards an M3. surely.

I want this car to eat miles, Europe road trips (before we're all banned thanks to brexit). So updating the interior is an important part of the project...

Haven't made my mind up mechanics wise, but I'm considering keeping the spec conservative. Fueling, turbos, IC, rad, oil coolers, DCI, exhaust, tune, kw v1's, poly bushes, better discs + pads + braided lines. Drawing a line there for now with a maybe on big brakes...

[last1left]

Nice build can't wait to see more

[obe100]

Originally Posted by MahiC

This is the M forum.

was wondering how long it would take someone to post this...

[m3jala]

Love the passion put into projects like this. Good job man and thanks for sharing.

[Scrippy]

Originally Posted by Brawler

This is the problem with modding a 335i... So many things need to be changed and then it's still a rep- by the time all that money is spent it'd have been wiser to put it towards an M3. surely.

I want this car to eat miles, Europe road trips (before we're all banned thanks to brexit). So updating the interior is an important part of the project...

Haven't made my mind up mechanics wise, but I'm considering keeping the spec conservative. Fueling, turbos, IC, rad, oil coolers, DCI, exhaust, tune, kw v1's, poly bushes, better discs + pads + braided lines. Drawing a line there for now with a maybe on big brakes...

The OEM turbos can be rebuilt with a slightly bigger compressor. I had mine rebuilt with bigger billet compressors. By bigger it's like a few millimeters but the billet compressor will have way less chatter as it's one solid piece instead of fan blades joined to a shaft and holds up better by preventing shaft deviation. Small turbos spool up faster too reducing lag. If it's a daily with lots of miles driven I think the 335 is a way better choice. Especially since you gave it the wide hips now! A car is a car and you're lucky to drive a BMW if you are. You're balls deep at this point, I'd say keep on trucking. Your car will be really cool when complete. Plus the N54 is such a precise sounding motor.

[Scrippy]

Originally Posted by obe100

was wondering how long it would take someone to post this...

And folks wonder why M3 owners have no friends.

[ItsGary]

Originally Posted by Scrippy

Car looks like it's coming along. So what drew me to the M is the S65. I have always loved V8's and their pretty vast power band. So the 335 has good low end torque but it gets crappy after mid point to high end. Combine that with the fact I couldn't flog it for too long due to heat soak and the fact the M3 has wider hips, bigger motor, better rear end, better suspension, more bracing throughout and a glorious DCT and it's a lock. Plus like everyone else, when you know there is another tier to the brand and a car series you like........you want it. I think the progression from 335 to M3 is quit natural to all. I used to love when people pull up to my 335 wanting to race and Id blow their doors off! Their faces looked so sad and bummed

Same reason I got my M3, well almost same reason.

My dream car was any M3, originally went in to get an F80, came out with an E90 cause of my home purchase later that year. One thing I loved about my 335i was the low end torque, but like you said mid range it just loses complete soul. Another thing I love my M3 for is *surprisingly* reliability, the 335i I had was very unreliable for the month and half I owned it. I got hit by the coil issues 4 times. This is when I was new to cars too so I didn't know how easy it was to replace them, in the end got ripped off.

What makes me love my M3 over the 335i is, it just keeps pulling. One thing I do dislike about my M3 is, all the skids trying to race. Its fun at first, but then gets repetitive after a while. Though my favourite reaction was when some kid in an 2003-04 Honda Civic was like "What the hell is in your car?" when I downshifted coming to a stop haha, his reaction was even better when I gunned it at the light redline shifting twice. Finally told him its a high revving V8 that revs up to 8,300 RPM.

[Brawler]

I do love the E9x M3. A close friend of mine has a 2010 E90 DCT with 14k miles on the clock- I absolutely loved it, the refinement is on another level (coming from an E46 SMG), the DCT gear changes were perfect and seamless like an arcade game, nothing like the SMG.

I'm not crazy wealthy like some of you dudes on here, I've always had to 'make do' with the step down from the M3. I had a 330ci for years before getting my first M3, which was a milestone for me. The E46 M3 is worlds apart from the 330ci IMO, a modified 330ci would NEVER have cut it, which is why I never did a thing to it- just wouldn't have been worth the time.

When it comes to the 335i though, I don't think we're talking worlds apart anymore. Everything is different and better on the M but it's not like before. Sorry it's not a legit M, but I genuinely feel like this car will do for me



Anyway, painted some more shit:

[ItsGary]

I need your motivation.
Great work so far.