[Will_D]

Short term lurker, first time poster.

This is my 'new to me' 335i. MY10, DCT, N54.

110,000 of the bone-dry stockiest kilometres you can imagine.

It's had a water pump, HPFP, Index 12 injectors, coils and plugs replaced.

So what comes next?? I'm looking into the MHD stuff to improve the tuning, but I've just come from a cammed/exhausted/intaked 6.2L LS3 and the sudden 'silence' in the cockpit is eerie... So we might have to do something about that. Anyway, I just wanted to drop a post and say hello, and hopefully I can continue to build on this thread with all the work I hope to continue on this wonderful 335.

Happy modding

[ADEe92]

Welcome! Great looking 335i. It's always good to start a project with a neat car. Saves a lot of headaches. I guess the N54 would sound like a turbine vs. the burble of the LS3!

[Will_D]

Absolutely! The whole car used to rock at the lights and all the first time passengers used to ask if my car was a bit.. 'sick'... By comparison this feels like a poor-man's Tesla!

I wholeheartedly agree with you though, through all my shopping/research I umm'ed and ahh'ed over compromises like cheaper low k's convertibles, or even the four door body. But I knew deep down exactly what I wanted and decided to just stick to my guns. I couldn't be happier with this and am just so surprised by the condition of everything, interior and exterior, given it's age.

Now that I've finally picked one up my spreadsheet 'dream-sheet' is expanding awfully quickly..

[jard]

Welcome Will_D!

One of the first things you should look at getting is some sort of OBD/DKAN Cable to be able to read any codes the car can throw. I say this because the car's system is very sensitive and will protect itself by throwing a code before letting it do any damage if something was to break or go on the car. If something does get thrown the first thing you will want to do is read the codes to give you an idea of why it occurred. The great thing about these cars is they have some pretty great internals but unfortunately a lot of the stuff around it goes with wear and tear. Judging by the mods it has already done some of the common maintenance issues have already been covered which is great so you are off to a good start.

Some of the older members have done massive write ups on the other common issues you can expect down the line with ownership, I can't find the thread on it but I'm sure someone can link it shortly.

In terms of exhaust loudness you can go a few different options; cheapest is to start by disconnecting the exhaust flip connection behind the rear left tail light. Next step then is looking at a 'PE Mod' on the exhaust to basically straight pipe the rear muffler section or go down the path of whole bolt up cat backs ects. One thing to look out for is drone in the cabin when going up in loudness as the noise from the rear section goes into the boot and then acts like a megaphone of sorts into the cabin, also you may come into vibrating issues to tackle.

If you are looking at going down the MHD for tuning, it's pretty common these days however you will need to look at getting catless downpipes and also a front mount intercooler before you can head to Stage 2 safely.

Looking forward to seeing your progress on the car.
Happy Modding!

[shannon1]

Welcome. Nice looking car.

[ky0u]

Originally Posted by Will_D

but I've just come from a cammed/exhausted/intaked 6.2L LS3 and the sudden 'silence' in the cockpit is eerie...

If you get Cone intakes and remove the filter cowl in the engine bay (you'll need to buy something like this if you do), it'll make things slightly louder. Also, downpipes!

[Socket]

Welcome to the forum. Beautiful looking car.. Space Grey if not mistaken

Have posted below the shared advice we have put together for new owners

The most important thing to say is take care of all the maintenance issues before doing any mods.

Engine mods and tunes add stress to the car which will cause underlying issues to become major problems.

That said almost everyone ignores this advice and starts modding anyway.

Anyway welcome again, nice bunch of people in here, who really know these cars and are always willing to help out

Looking forward to following your build

[Socket]

Vtl guide for new owners

As soon as you buy the car:

Plugs and coils - The plugs and coils are weak items on this platform, buy them immediately after you purchase your car. I would suggest buying NGK 95570 gapped at 0.022", the 3 pronged bosch ones I have seen the gaps be very inconsistent. ON a tuned car the NGKs are highly reccomended.

Water pump 11517632426 - The water pump is prone to crapping out very suddenly and can leave you stranded. If you are on the original pump then you should change it straight away. The old style pump is bolted onto the block and isolated with rubber grommets (rubber will usually be swelling from the oil leaks over the years), the new one is directly bolted to the block. The car will overheat on a dead pump quite quickly and can take out weak components like the radiator with plastic end tanks. You need to buy the pump and 3 STEEL (11517602123) screws, do not buy the aluminium screws or reuse the old ones.

Fix any oil leaks immediately
The oil filter housing is a common thing to leak, along with the valve cover and lately I have seen a lot of slow oil pan leaks as these cars cross the 10 year mark. If you've leaked oil on any of the hoses and let it sat for a while, this degrades the rubber so make sure you replace any hoses that look swelled. Oil leaking on the drive belt should be rectified immediately, this can cause the belt to slip and cause a shredded belt. It is also possible for the belt to get sucked into the crank seal, resulting in belt fragments being caught in the oil pickup, causing oil starvation and dead engine.

Charge pipe - For model years 2009+ including N55 you should replace it immediately, as it is prone to cracking and exploding. The 2006-2008 2 piece rubber charge pipes are very strong and do not require replacements. Theres many aftermarket chargepipes out there, most of them fit like crap. Personally if it was me i'd source a pre09 charge pipe, but if you had to get a metal one (if youre n55) I'd go for the Evolution Racewerks one.

Short term:
Walnut blast - These cars are direct injected and have no fuel passing over the intake valves to clean them. This results in the intake valves getting clogged up over time. After 60-100k they'll be pretty gummed up, reducing performance and idle quality.

Thermostat to cylinder head hose 11537541992 - This hose has a plastic flange that bolts onto the cylinder head and you need to remove it to access the oil filter housing. After several years it gets brittle and cracks, I would highly recommending getting a metal replacement off eBay.

Radiator hoses - The top thin overflow hose for the expansion tank (17127565094) is prone to bursting, replace it and buy a new clamp (34321156893). Upper radiator hose (17127540127) that clips into the oil filter housing is plastic and also prone to deteriorating.

Vacuum hoses - These should be replaced with silicone rubber, the rubber ones perish after a number of years and can split and be the cause of vacuum leaks. Locally you can buy the SAAS branded 3mm hose (its actually 1/8" 3.2mm) from Autobarn, or buy the CRP hose from FCP euro. Do not use 4mm hose as commonly recommended off the forums, it does not fit well.

Boost solenoids - These are sometimes the cause of boost related issues, these also get less effective over time and you can feel a difference in boost response when replacing old ones.

High pressure fuel pump - This part will probably have already been replaced on your car, the latest revisions appear to be reliable. If its never been done then keep an eye out for long cranks in the morning

Coolant flush - These cars are quite old now and may have changed through the hands of many mechanics. The coolant should be blue, if it is not, flush it out and put the genuine stuff in (83192211191), its not expensive.

Engine mount - The engine mounts are hydraulic and are prone to blowing out on the hot side (right hand side). They fail as early as 100k kms.

Automatic transmission service - You'll want to service the Auto to keep it shifting nice. If you leave it until 150k no amount of servicing will make the ZF auto shift better short of a rebuild. Youll need to get the pan and the ZF lifegaurd fluid. Do not use anything other than the ZF fluid!

Manual Transmission Fluid - I would only reccomend using BMW fluids, in general they last for ages and give you very slick shifts. MTF LT3 for the N54 gearbox, and MTF LT5 for the n55 gearbox (includes BMW 1M)

Oil filter housing gasket - This is an extremely common leak point and is worsened by the fact that these cars have changed hands many times over the years, resulting in poor repairs. This is a critical gasket and even if the procedures are followed exactly, it can still result in leaks in rare cases. A lot of times the bolts have been overtightened by the previous mechanic, or copious amounts of RTV silicone has been used to seal it. To do it properly you will require both the oil filter housing seal (11428637821), thermostat seal (11428637820) and 2 oring seals for the oil cooler (17222245358). You will also want to buy an aluminium cylinder head fitting, as the original one is plastic and prone to cracking.

Long term
Turbochargers - Eventually the turbos will fail, a lot of the 2006-2007 cars and some of the later cars are prone to wastegate rattle. The only proper way to fix these are to remove the turbos and replace the wastegates or the turbos themselves. The installation costs are quite high so not worth throwing the old turbos back in imo. Brand new turbos would be the best option, instead of stuffing around with reconditioning. Aftermarket turbos have a very poor reliability record, so don't buy them unless you can afford to replace a set of smoking turbos.

Injectors - These injectors are expensive and not very reliable, if you plan on keeping your car for a long time then budget in a set of Index 12 injectors at some point. Faulty injectors can be the cause of rough cold starts and misfires. Unfortunately these are very expensive, so just bearin mind this is something that will have to be done eventually.

Oil pan (11137548031)- These are now starting to go after these cars are close to 10 years old. Make sure you buy a new set of aluminium bolts (11132210959). The gasket and bolts are cheap but its quite labour intensive. A lot of cars will be leaking from the oil pan, near the transmission, it starts off as a very slow leak then gets progressively worse over time.

Valve cover - These will leak eventually. You can get the gasket on its own but it is not recommended unless you have a relatively new cover. They are prone to cracking and the removal sometimes requires a bit of force to unstick the gasket, resulting in the valve cover being stressed. Might not crack immediately but would probably end up replacing the valve cover later. Just do it once and do it right. Normally you'll get plenty of warning that the gasket is leaking

Suspension - Shocks will have lost a lot of performance by 90k kms, front upper control arm bushings will tend to leak as well, best to start looking at aftermarket suspension options

VANOS Solenoids (11367585425) - These will be the cause of various VANOS check engine lights, some that may be very hard to reproduce. You can clean the solenoids but most of the time only a replacement will fix it.

Drive belt (11287628652) - Worth doing to avoid a shredded belt.

Fluids - You will want to keep on top of the fluids as they hardly ever get changed by owners. Power steering (CHF11S), brake fluid (DOT4), trans fluid, diff fluid and coolant should all be done eventually

Turbo oil drain seals - These are common to weep oil, the flat oval shaped seal (11422246091) is a common leak source.

Gear selector shaft seal (23128677736) - This seal is a common failure point on the manual gearbox. It weeps oil and leaks onto the shifter (has a foam bushing in it), which is the cause of a sloppy shifter. Worth replacing this and the shifter bushes at the same time. This requires a special tool to remove, removing it with tiny screwdrivers is possible with enough fortitude and swearing but not worth it.

A while ago I did a post on maintenance. So hopefully all your cars are well maintained now, with no oil leaks and ready to tackle the next 100km without throwing a fault code. Here is some information about engine tuning which may be helpful to beginners.

For most people, this is what you want to do to make power on stock turbos:

Tune
Intercooler
Downpipes

Tune - This is something that generates a lot of discussion and arguments. A flash tune is what you want, this reprograms the factory ECU (called the DME) with the updated parameters. There is actually a lot of stuff in a tune, and it goes beyond just increasing the boost. More on that in a minute.
In the early days of the platform, the first things that came out were piggybacks. There was Vishnu Procede, and BMS's JB4 (was "Juicebox" back then). These piggybacks were required because the factory ECU was locked and you could not make changes to it. If you wanted more power, you needed a piggyback. What is a piggyback? It is basically a box that has a harness that sits between the car's electronics and the DME. It sends fake signals to the DME to keep it happy and not throw any codes, and then controls the boost solenoids directly, giving you more boost without codes. The piggybacks have features like clearing codes and hijacking the gauge cluster to show boost, which many people like.

Disadvantages to piggyback tuning are quite numerous. Lets use JB4 as an example as you can't get Procede anymore. JB4 does not adjust engine timing, and the increased torque output of the engine is not correctly reported to the rest of the car (transmission uses torque values to decide how much clamp force to use). Shifts on DCT and auto will also be poor when the torque is not reported correctly the transmission. The logging parameters are not that comphrehensive (the JB4 has no access to the internal values of the DME), poor resolution of values, weird scalings just make it a pain to use.
There is also an "autotuning" map on these piggybacks which works in a particularly dodgy fashion, it basically increases boost until the engine knocks, then the DME decreases the engine timing to prevent damage. This 'feedback' mechanism is how the autotuning works, very crude and results in poor power delivery and driveability.

This is particularly dangerous when this product is advertised to work on ethanol mixes without any other mods, the piggybacks have no means to adjust the fuel scalars in the tune, which means the fuel trims max out. The DME controls the fuel system and only adjusts up to +-34% of fuel adjustment until it maxes out and doesn't give you any more fuel, until you adjust the fuel scalar. Once the fuel trims max out, the DME cannot add any more fuel to correct the A/F ratio and the engine runs lean and hot. The Piggybacks don't adjust AFR (air fuel ratio) either, which is a huge fundamental of tuning.

Basically the only reason why the piggybacks work at all, is due to the excellent DME with discsfully closed loop fuel adjustment and the sensitive knock sensors. Most other cars only have a narrowband O2 sensor which only gives you readings on cruise, wideband gives you a reading even on cruise and full throttle driving. If you used a JB4 on a JDM car with narrowband O2 sensors you'd have a ruined engine pretty quickly.

To compensate for these shortcomings, theres things called "backend" flashes, which allow you to flash a tune onto the DME while keeping the piggyback. This means the piggyback is only used for boost control while the flash tune does the rest. This seems a bit redundant to me, it’s basically admitting the piggyback is deficient if you need to disable most of the features on it for it to be good! The only reason imo you'd need a piggyback is to activate external devices like port injection or methanol injection which cannot be triggered by the DME. Even then, you can still trigger these devices with the ECUs that the PI and methanol kits come with.
So flash tune is what you want, basically you will want a DCAN cable, OTG cable and Android phone or tablet. No it does not work on Apple stuff.
Bimmergeeks DCAN cable: https://www.bimmergeeks.net/product-...eeks-pro-cable

OTG cable will need to be sourced based on your android device, they cost around $1-$5 off ebay.
This is a quality OTG cable if you're tired of crap ones: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/232990064223

Most Android devices can be used for MHD, for people who use an iPhone, your best option is to buy a cheap android tablet like this:
https://www.officeworks.com.au/…/len...-tablet… (Update 2 July 2020 - MHD now available for apple devices)
Stage 1 - For cars with stock downpipes Stage1+ would be for cars with upgraded intercoolers

Stage 2 - For cars with catless downpipes, Stage 2+ is for cars with upgraded intercoolers.

With the off the shelf MHD maps you will get a few timing corrections on these maps but the 95 maps would feel a lot slower. This is due to the octane of our 98 fuels in Australia is lower due to not having 10% ethanol of the USA pumps. If this bothers you, you should go for a custom tune which I would highly recommend. If you run OTS maps then make sure the plugs are kept fresh and the coils have been replaced, to minimise timing corrections.

[Socket]

Once the maintenance is out of the way, it really is a question of which direction you want to take your car. Sleeper, Stanced, M3 clone...

IMO mods come in three flavours, visual, performance and interior

If you want to improve the look, tinted windows, new rims, spacers, lips, RGBW AE rings etc fall into this group

If you want to improve the performance, tunes, coilovers, turbo upgrades, fueling, LSD etc fall into this group

If you want to improve the comfort of the cabin, seats, audio systems, interior lighting etc fall into this group

Tbh it really depends on where you want to go, how much money you want to sink into it and what you enjoy in a car.

Most people do a bit of each, but Ill talk a little about my experience with performance mods

A disclaimer here, this is just my experience after spending a bucket load on my E92 and making a bunch of wasteful mistakes along the way

First of all, everyone wants as much power as they can get. Me included

I was always thinking, if I just do this next mod, the car will be transformed and rip my arms off !!! Truth is, there are very few mods that make a huge step change with one mod. Rather the power builds in small steps as you add on upgrades.

Probably the best bang for buck power upgrades (from stock) is a MHD tune, followed by a Front Mounted Intercooler (FMIC) and Catless downpipes (DP)

While we are talking about power upgrades, there is little point in generating heaps of power, if you cant get that power down, stop fast enough, or the car rolls wildly because of soft suspension.

You really need to upgrade each system in turn as you add more power. This approach will give you a fast car, that is controllable and feels great to drive.

If you go down the performance path, at the very least, a suspension upgrade is a must


So what would I do if I was to start over with a new stock 335i??

First of all I'd do the plugs, oil change, walnut blast and other maintenance

Then throw on a new charge pipe with a BOV, FMIC and DPs
Buy a bimmergeek cable, install the MHD app and flash the car with stage 2 MHD tune

Next I would spend money on wheels and suspension

First thing I would buy is wheel studs and race nuts (82mm length) and some wheel spacers.
Wheel studs are cheap and make swapping tires so much easier.
The spacers just instantly close wheel gap and make even stock wheels look good ( I use 12mm up front and 5 mm spacers up back)

Talking about wheels, grab some new rims (in 18" or 19" your choice) and wrap then in yokohama AD08R tires.
I have run lots of different rubber and the are about the only thing that wont spin and grip well in both the wet and dry. Great tires!!

Next I would put in a set of good quality coilovers.
The stock suspension is so floaty, it feels like driving a boat in comparison to a good set of coilovers.

There are cheap coilovers out there but while better then stock, most are not great. Save up and get a decent set.

A good set will not only allow you to lower your car and improve the stance, but it will also corner like on rails....

That's what I would do if I had my time over

Beyond that there are so many options....
Just be careful not to go over the top, there is a point where you have done so much to your car, there is no point in selling it, so you just do more.

It is an illness and there is no cure

Cheers
Socket

[ADEe92]

Originally Posted by Socket

Welcome to the forum. Beautiful looking car.. Space Grey if not mistaken

Lol... I read somewhere that 80% of the e92s sold in Australia were Space Grey. Next most common colour was black, then white, and then all other colours you can count the number of examples sold on one hand

[Brule]

All the legends are space grey owners.

[Hoper]

Originally Posted by Brule

All the legends are space grey owners.

Nah silver is the go Brule

[Aus335iguy]

You have good taste in cars sir
She looks exactly like mine when I bought it.
Is yours a DCT also ?

[Will_D]

Originally Posted by Aus335iguy

Is yours a DCT also ?

Sure is. I was pretty excited when I found a well presented N54 that was also DCT. (I actually would have loved a manual, but a 'moderate' kilometre one seems rarer than unicorn poo)

Originally Posted by Socket

almost everyone ignores this advice and starts modding anyway

I had a very good read of your build thread before buying, and I think it was a large part of getting me across the line in making the decision. I think I will be using some of your work as inspiration for future endeavours.

Originally Posted by Jard

look at getting is some sort of OBD/DKAN Cable

After getting the car home and giving it a good clean up, I actually remembered I had an OBDII cable from engine tuning I'd done with some Aprilias. I got so excited in fact, that I bought the MHD licences to apply Stage 1 for some light burbles until I carried out some modding. However, the cable I have doesn't seem to want to talk in all respects, so I have ordered another specific one (fingers crossed arriving tomorrow - as my express shipping said arriving today, and I'm standing out the front in the dark at 2205 and it's getting awfully chilly and lonesome..)

The previous owner had bought a number of parts for preventative maintenance, including gaskets/seals for OFHG, rocker cover, a number of O-rings and a fresh serpentine belt. I'm thinking if I have them already, I should just get them replaced now to give piece of mind.

The first question I have is on Walnut blasting. Is there a trigger I should look for to know it's time, or is it just the kind of thing that after 10 years of life on this Earth, would be worthwhile carrying out to just clean everything up and give it a fresh slate?

[Socket]

No worries mate, glad you did some research before diving in
Welcome again, looking forward to following your build and catching up at one of the meets, when the lock down is over

[fgpalmer71]

Welcome. Congratulations on the purchase, beautiful car.

[Aus335iguy]

If you're changing your oil filter housing gasket you'll likely be taking off your inlet manifold and it would be a good time to have a look at the valves and whether you need a walnut blast at that point

The 225 wheels are notorious for cracking so I've never had any issues myself suggest changing from run flats to conventional tyres if you haven't already done so

It looks like your car is exactly a twin of mine...

[Aussieatlarge]

Welcome.
Downpipes improved the exhaust note and volume significantly in my case. I have reconnected the flapper at the rear because the droning is quite irritating but get on the gas and the flapper opens and with the downpipes it sounds really good. Wolf in sheep's clothing?

MHD stage 2 for sure. 8 PSi versus 16 PSI translates to a theoretical 8/(14+8)% increase in power....assuming it can breathe you need intakes and downpipes for starters.

I have a set of dual cone intakes on mine but I really don't like the idea of sucking in hot engine bay air. Without boost my IAT is 10 degrees higher than ambient.

Speaking of hot air, an upgraded intercooler is in my mind optional depending on what you plan to do with your car. In Australia it is doubtful you will stay at full throttle for any extended period of time on the street. Chances are the stock intercooler will cool down between pulls. (My opinion - subject to ridicule).

Great car.

[Will_D]

Originally Posted by fgpalmer71

Congratulations on the purchase

Thank you kindly

Originally Posted by Aus335iguy

suggest changing from run flats to conventional tyres

It's really funny you mention that, I definitely already have that intention. When my bank account allows it, I'm currently looking at picking up some TE37's. But when I was getting the rego inspection done, the mechanic mentioned the rears needing replacing soon. I said I was going to ditch the RFTs anyway and his response was - "You can't do that.....", "What, do you mean?", "It'll completely change the characteristics of the car", "I... know...". Strange to hear that feedback from a mechanic.

Originally Posted by Aussieatlarge

you need intakes and downpipes

I really like the look of the Dinan carbon box, but boy is it.. not cheap.

I'd like to do bit of a bulk buy for the aftermarket stuff. I quite like the look fo the Wagner Tuning Competition Packet EVO 2 kit. Which just leaves a charge pipe/BOV. So VRSF and Turbosmart on are next on my spreadsheet.

Everyone else has spreadsheets right? For all the parts/prices/websites and options??

[Brule]

Get a new mechanic.
Runflats are rubbish all round.

[Brule]

Dinan intake waste of cash stock intake is good for 400 odd hp. Get a drop on airfilter if you want but not worth dinan or any unless your around 400 hp.

[Hoper]

Originally Posted by Brule

Dinan intake waste of cash stock intake is good for 400 odd hp. Get a drop on airfilter if you want but not worth dinan or any unless your around 400 hp.

+1 I'm running stock air filter at well over 300rwkw, no issues

Tim the tuner says it's fine and isn't causing issues with airflow yet, so I'm a believer in the stock airbox

I did have dual cones but went back to the stockie on Tim's advice