[tmaung]

This is not a DIY but has some notes from my ETS install. I did the install over the weekend with the help of my roomate who also has the 2012 335is...

1.) I used this as the DIY: http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=397220

2.) On step 6, there is a blocker in place on the radiator so i had to lift up the shroud tabs and force it off with a flat head.

3.) Even though ETS says no cutting required, you MUST cut off the permanent clamp on the passenger side piping. (Step 12).

4.) I put the angled rubber hose to the intercooler on the driver side first as the straight up part was easy to put on once the intercooler is in place.

5.) There are like mud guards on the bottom of the IS. Unscrew all the screws under the bumper and those guards can be bent to fit the IC.

6.) After everything was in place, I found that there was like a 3-4 mm gap between torx screw mounting points. It wasn't going up all the way. Found out the lock mechanism in my #1 was in the way so I ended up sawing it off to make room for the tabs under the IC. Once it was sawed off, it gave enough room and everything sits flushed.

It took me about 3 hours for the install but included many breaks in between. It goes by so much easier with the help of another person.

Overall, after autotune did its thing, the car runs consistently with no feeling of heat soaks. Its been hot in the east the last couple of weeks and after driving it all day with the new IC, I am very happy with it and the feel is very noticeable. I haven't done logs yet but will do so in the next couple of days and send them to Terry.

Pros: Fits without cutting shroud. Nice and solid and somewhat heavy but not as heavy as the AMS IC I used to have on my old 335i. Great price. Solid connectors and hoses.

Cons: I was hoping to not cut anything but still ended up having to do so.

Overall: In this heat, get an IC. .

[nikitino25]

Hey I had a couple questions for you. I had trouble installing mine in that I had to really force it up to be able to screw it in with the torx mounting screws. What do you mean by having to cut off the lock mechanism on your #1? I didn't see anything else that i need to cut off. Also, I think i need to readjust the lower driver side connector hose-did you have to put the hose pretty far onto the intercooler and metal pipe?

[tmaung]

If you look at the PDF on step #6, you are able to turn the schroud tabs. I couldn't on my IS so I had to cut it off. There was able tab in place blocking it. I wish I had taken pics. Due to that, I couldn't push up on the intercooler. After that, it fits just fine. Again, this is on the 335i"s" so the radiator might be different.

[ETS Michael]

Interesting. The radiator is different on the IS version if i remember right it comes with the BMW performance radiator, very similar to the 1M cars. The 1M cars have no cutting though. The piece wasn't removable?

[tmaung]

If I have to take the tray off again, I'll take some pics. Essentially at the bottom of the radiator it looked like this: |_| |___| And you have to cut off the first small piece so that the OEM intercooler can come off. There is the rotated L shaped hook on the ETS intercooler that attaches to the 2nd bigger locking piece and part of that L is hitting the smaller tab as well so it couldn't hook into the radiator. I am sorry if my description is confusing.

[nikitino25]

Yeah I didn't notice you had an IS and I didn't have the same problem you are referring to. The problem I had though was that once I got the ets connectors put onto the pipes and tried to mount the intercooler, at some point it became very hard to adjust the connections any further for length and I think mine still needs to be adjusted on the driver's side. I think I'm going to take it back off and use some anti-sieze paste as the bentley manual suggested to make it easier to adjust the connectors as I'm installing it. Should have done that the first time....

[BQTuning]

I documented my install, dont know if this will help any concerns at hand. My FMIC was definelty larger than the OPs though. There was a 93% increase in volume size so I had to do some cutting.

[nikitino25]

I took mine off and put it back on today because I wasn't happy with the overall fitment (the upper stock corrugated rubber pipe on driver's side was kind of kinked or bent more than I liked). This time I ended up putting some grease on all the fittings to make adustments with the pipes/couplers easier; I highly recommend this. Without it, it gets almost impossible to move or adjust the silicone couplers once you get them on. On the second time around I also noticed a piece of rubber that I can best describe as a piece of weather stripping that runs along the bottom of the fan I think that was kind of obstructing the fmic from seating properly. The welds on the top of fmic connecting the side sections are raised a bit and they were kind of smashing the weather stripping piece on either end. So, I took the rubber stripping piece off and cut two notches out of it on either end with a razor blade where the welded part of the fmic pushes up into it. You can actually cut notches out of it instead of cutting out a section. Hopefully this isn't too confusing, prolly should of took a pic. Hope this helps....

[07_335i]

Hi, Nikitino25, me and my buddy installed this over the weekend. It took us 7 hours to install, due to a number of problems. Anyway, we finally got it done but I am having the same issue as you, the upper OEM corrugated hose is kinked pretty badly----how did you end up resolving this? After you reinstalled, was it a smoother bend?

Thanks,
Rob

[gsr1416]

Working on installing 7in vrsf on my 12 335is. I didn't remove from bumper behind honeycomb on front bumper there is a plastic bar that runs from diver aide to passenger side. On the 335is did you all cut off completely to fit? I can't seem to squeeze fmic in after trimming as other diy install videos show. Any feedback is greatly appreciated