[DR-JEKL]

Recently I had acquired an AP Racing Pro 5000R BBK and I had decided to get VTL to install it and make the most of that trip and also get a few other bits and pieces of other work done whilst I was in Melbourne.

I had a list of mods piling up that ideally I would get VTL to install as he’s had the experience installing them and also has specialised tools that most shops wont have.

So I decided to bite the bullet and take a 4 day 2100km return trip down to Melbourne to get VTL install my mods. Interestingly it was almost bang on 10 years ago I bought my 335i in Melbourne and done the drive home in it and also on this trip I clocked up 100,000 kays (damn my 335i wont be worth much now lol)

I was concerned the race seat would be mega uncomfortable I’d only ever done 2 hr drives in them but was kinda surprised after 4 hours it was fine. The drive down I left at 4:30am & ended up being a 13hr trip as a I got stuck in some unlucky traffic jams in Melbourne CBD and I felt totally fine at the end of the trip.







Vince was able to upgrade my MSD80 DME to a MSD81 he had all the programming tools. There was nothing wrong with my existing DME just that the mosfets are more reliable in the 81. There is a train of thought that weak worn coils puts a strain on the mosfets causing them to crap out, but I’ve never had any issues just one of those things I’d been meaning to do in the sake of PM but never gotten around to it.

Changing DME types also meant that my tunes would have to get converted and the timing had worked out quite well as there was recently a new major upgrade with MHD allowing on the fly map switching, anti lag and improved oem style boost control. So Tim managed to convert the tune for me no problems and also the new functionalities were incorporated into the one tune (98 map and a E40 map in my case)





Then the BBK was installed not too many dramas fitting it up thankfully! Since I went for a F8X setup with F8x ///M uprights this required customising the wheel speed sensor which Vince modded so that it had a E9X compatible plug on one end. The F8X upright has improved ‘geometry’ my alignment basically indicated it added approx. an extra 0.25 Deg of camber and they run a M14 front stud/bolt (some track guys do a retrofit for this alone)








The BBK is absolutely huge by comparison to the oem E9X M3 brakes and surprisingly weight came in pretty much bang on the same as the oem setup. oem rotor is 360mm x 30mm AP is 378mm x 36mm with 25mm thick brake pads so you save a kilo or so in the caliper but the much larger rotor and pads is actually heavier compared to OEM.







I also had the rear M3 subframe oem rubber bushings pressed out for solid bushings, and whilst the rear subframe was dropped swapped over the stiff oem M3 rubber swaybar bushings for powerflex poly bushings. Vince explained that for the rear swaybar its ok to have a softer poly bushing and this also increases ride comfort as the bushing allows the rear bar to deflect more under movement (noticed it on speed humps etc)

After the subframe bushings were done, Vince had designed a monoball bearing kit for the rear arms utilising an oem high quality lemforder solid bushing and custom tapered washers. The oem M3 rubber isolator bushings are pressed out for solids bushings. The last day of work was basically reassembling everything, ironing out any bugs and I also had a M3 microfilter cowl kit fitted up.

Thankfully she drove great on the 1100 kay trip home, and with spotify playing through the NBT it was actually an enjoyable 11 hr drive with bugger all traffic.



The N54 was overdue for its annual oil change and after 10 years of using Mobil 1 Euro formula Ive changed to Shell Helix 5W40 which seems to be a great BFYB spec oil (I believe this formula is marketed as pennzoil in usa) so dumped the oil and done an oil change once I'd gotten home from the trip



The rear end suspension mods have now offered a dramatic improvement, the rear used to squirm a bit under WOT (nowhere near as bad as the oem 335i setup which was just bloody horrible) the rear feels totally locked down now. Whilst I’m only on the 98 map so far (need to get some logs done to finalise the 98 tune) the real test will be how the rear feels after the E40 tune is in.

The BBK around town I didn’t notice any braking improvement (VTL mentioned going from his oem 135i to Alcon’s he felt a big difference in pedal feel even around town) but on a recent log at high speeds the car definitely braked so much better! I still need to do the second lot of brake pad bedding in unfortunately the Project Mu Club Racer pads were initially squealing like a stuck pig when coming to a stop…

So the car now has the big mods I’d always wanted to do (turbos, race seats, ohlins, M3 driveline with upgraded solid bushings, 18” forged rims) there’s not too much more left to do! Just some small things to do like get some new keys made up, m3 microfilter tabs needs modding as the oem ones are always split or busted up easily (VTL was talking about designing some 3d printed metal tabs to epoxy onto the filter housing)



I’ve had a set of side skirt extensions for years setting in the packet as I want to sort out a lip to suit the M3 front bumper. I’d ideally go for a GTS style lip in plastic, I’m wondering if I can mod one to fit… I’d also like to remove the roof wrap and paint the roof black kinda over the wrinkly vinyl wrap look plus the vinyl would be about 6 years old now (even though it’s a garage queen has a few marks)

After 10 years of ownership I never intended to go this far with the car, but I still love the look of the E92 and it’s a really great car to jump into and go for a fang in. Sure there are much quicker cars out there nowadays I guess at times it’s kinda nice to just stick with what you have and improve upon it. The only worrying thing is now these cars are 15+ years old finding parts will be tricky in the near future…

[TSilver335i]

Apparently you can improve on perfect Well done.

Long way! You would have enjoyed the trip.

With the 1M PS reservoir do you need to change hoses to swap a normal reservoir out?

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by TSilver335i

Apparently you can improve on perfect Well done.

Long way! You would have enjoyed the trip.

With the 1M PS reservoir do you need to change hoses to swap a normal reservoir out?

Hi mate

I bought a new hose, the guys who fitted it for me said the oem hose was better they managed to get more clamp on it so it was more secure. They said the new one was a bit loose in comparison and preferred a tighter fit (vtl has run the other hose for a few years so it must work OK though)

[Coupes33]

Shane, your car still looks immaculate as always. The additional mods look great. Has the improvements to the rear end resulted in any extra noise coming into the cabin?

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by Coupes33

Shane, your car still looks immaculate as always. The additional mods look great. Has the improvements to the rear end resulted in any extra noise coming into the cabin?

Hey Ken hope you're doing well mate!

I left oem M3 LSD bushings in everything else is solid. I do some noise in certain frequencies in the cabin but its only minor, mainly noticed it on rough coarse roads. It wasnt like oh this is awful I have to rip it all out like poly bushes can be

[Socket]

Great work Shane.... Nice catching up with you in Melbs although briefly

[donR]

Always a joy to come back and check out your mod updates. Car must be very nicely dialed in now.

Those AP racing brakes and J hook rotors look very nice. Which supplier did you use?

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by Socket

Great work Shane.... Nice catching up with you in Melbs although briefly

Great to see you too Phil and Gary

Originally Posted by donR

Always a joy to come back and check out your mod updates. Car must be very nicely dialed in now.

Those AP racing brakes and J hook rotors look very nice. Which supplier did you use?

Hey Don I bought the brakes from paragon, Godfrey was great to deal with and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them!

https://paragonbrakes.com/