....the "other" 1M

[ChrisBuer]

I got around to having my Forge intercooler fitted today and then popped back to DMS to have my ECU tweaked with the new mods. Last time they mapped it I didn't have the N55 mids on so they recommended that another dyno be carried out to ensure everything was running as expected.



The intercooler took all of 15-20 minutes to install and is a superb bit of kit

After the drive to DMS they gave the car a few dyno runs with the first run returning a 425bhp (up from 402bhp). Rob at DMS then tweaked it and the result was:



I'm really happy with it now and he car feels stronger than ever. We initially lost some torque but increased on the power but after the tweak Rob got the torque back to around 480 lb.ft and power up to 431bhp.

I'm very happy

[ChrisBuer]

mpm1987 said:

Lovely figures!
Must be a real weapon.

Yeah I'm really pleased with it. It's got a lot of poke now but is also very refined which is a nice balance to have

[ChrisBuer]

Dan1983 said:

weird stalker alert...

saw this parked up at a hospital in maldon last Thursday looks lovely in the flesh, very nice.

Hehe weird stalker indeed

Yes I had to take my daughter to an appointment and parked over in the car park at the back

[ChrisBuer]

mig25_foxbat2003 said:

This is just as lovely as Aussie's. I love that people are getting these cars from BMW and going "Hmm, great car. Let's make it better," immediately!

Thanks

I think putting your own personal touch on any car is a good thing and makes them unique.

Aussies car is stunning however and whatever he does always looks good

[ChrisBuer]

BorkFactor said:

Just seen this thread for the first time, that car looks fantastic!

I have seen 2 in the flesh and they look brilliant. Must have been quite a feeling picking up a brand new car from the dealership!

Hope you are still enjoying it

Yeah it was great collecting it from the dealership and the way they presented it. It felt very special indeed

I'm really enjoying the car still and although I'm known as a serial car changer, I just love this car so much that I really can't see me wanting to swap it for anything else for a long time. In fact what I may end up doing is just keeping it and buying something like a Caterham when I can afford it.

I'm yet to find something that I dislike about the 1M. It's comfortable, practical (for my needs), fast, great handling (and this is coming from a previous Elise / Exige owner!), I like the way it looks (although that does split opinion) and above all it's fun. Hassle it down a back road and it puts a grin in your face but ask it to do a long journey and it rolls its sleeves up and gets on with the job with minimum fuss.

I'm aiming to do a few more track days with it shortly as I've only managed to get to one so far at Brands back in Feb. Plus I'll get along to the Sunday service at the end of the month

[ChrisBuer]

cerb4.5lee said:

Awesome motor, i adore these & the mods you have done are great, i can understand why you are over the moon with it, i bet it flys with that BHP!!

Hope you continue to enjoy it, have fun

Thanks I'm really enjoying it even more now!!

Beefmeister said:

Wow, that's a gorgeous looking 1M!

Didn't realise it was Essex based too, might see you around as i'm often up Maldon way.

Yep I'm not far from Maldon. In fact I used to live in North Fambridge. I'll have to try and make it along to one of the local PH pub meets soon as I want to see some of the tasty cars our area has on offer

AMGpower said:

Saw you a couple weeks back on the way to school, in Manchester, near the Lexus and Mazda dealerships. Car looked amazing, made my day!

Hmmmm couldn't have been me. I've not been in Manchester for a while.

[ChrisBuer]

AMGpower said:

It was definitely C8 UER, some time this year :

Hmm that's concerning. Maybe someone has cloned my plate as I've not been to Manchester in about 10 years!

[ChrisBuer]

Yeah I think I will. The only places I've driven in the last 4 months has been over to Norwich, into central London, down to Southampton and over to Hertfordshire. My 1M has never been to Manchester.

I'll report it in the morning at the local station as a precaution.

[ChrisBuer]

rmaurer said:

Saw you on the M25 last week near St Albans (I was in a Scooby). Lovely looking car, I was straight onto the classifieds when I got home!

A silver scooby? If so I remember you. Nice looking car

[ChrisBuer]

rmaurer said:

Thanks yes that was me, still laden down with a boot full of camping gear having got back from the Le Mans Classic at 1am that morning...

Haha small world. I thought I saw you slowing in the traffic and we both had a good look at each others cars

How was the Classic?

[ChrisBuer]

GALLARDOGUY said:

Spotted you today. Hylands Park. I was walking my dog so was driving the 4x4, not one of my toys. Shame.

Looked very nice in the evening sunshine.

Yep I was over there

It was filthy though and needed a good clean. That's the problem with a white car

[ChrisBuer]

For anyone interested, the next edition of BMW Car Magazine (due out on the 18th October), there will be a review of my car

Once published, I'll be allowed to post up some of the photos of the shoot which I'm sure will look stunning

Just got to hope now that the review is good

[ChrisBuer]

AWG said:

Chris, great thread and lovely car. Did you use Royals for the wheel retrim?

I actually took it to a place in Hitchen and they used a firm (outsourced) where there wheels were sent too. Whoever did them, the finish is superb

Rosscow said:

Out of interest Chris, what would BMW have to say about any warranty issues after your modifications?

Or would you be happy to pay the bill should anything go pop?

What a cracking car - and I love the pressed plates. They are on my shopping list for my A6

No idea what BMW would say. I'd guess if I needed a warranty claim on a part that was directly related to one of my mods they might say something. However there are a few much higher powered N54 engined cars in the US that are fine. I'm quite relaxed about it though.

The pressed plates are really nice and a cheap item that visually make a big difference I think

stuart-b said:

Fantastic, really want one of these. Did you drive the 3 coupe/m3? How does it compare in feeling, if you did? I appreciate it's M (and all those nice M bits), but what's the difference between a 335i and this engine? Saw lots of videos on youtube of the latest 335i (DCT) running 420+ bhp.

I drove an E92 M3 and the 1M back to back at my local dealer when they ran an M-Power day. I felt the 1M was more nimble and direct...a compact feel compared to the M3. It was also easier to drive more quickly as its torque at 1500rpm (402 lb.ft standard or at least mine was) compared to the 295 lb.ft of the M3 made it a very quick real world car. It didn't sound as nice as the M3 mind you.

Not sure what the difference between this and the 335i engine is to be honest, but I know that the 1M has an additional oil cooler and better overall cooling, so the power it makes is pretty consistent. Combine that with the M3 chassis that it runs on and the LSD and it does put the power down well. The entire package just works very well

I just need to buy some Michelin Pilot SuperSports for it soon as they are meant to transform the handling even more!

[ChrisBuer]

It is subjective but I personally think that the 1M looks a lot more aggressive than the M3. The arches bulge out more and it looks very muscular and squat. As a number of people have said to me, it looks more aggressive in the metal than it does in photos.

It's a lot more frugle than the M3 (if that is a factor when buying a performance car) and like I've said before, the torque it has makes it a much more effective road weapon.

I think everyone should drive one if they get the chance. The best way I can describe it is like a mini M3 but with more in gear thrust. It's a package that I thinks works very well

[ChrisBuer]

As promised, here are some photos from the shoot / review that hit the shelves today

Some stand-out quotes really made me smile:

“What’s not is doubt is the way this DMS-tuned 1M goes down the road; “fast” seems an inadequate way to describe a car that would take on a Ferrari 360 (or just about any other Noughties performance car you care to mention) in a straight line”.

“…where the performance of the standard 1M ebbs away into merely impressive, this DMS tuned car continues gathering speed unabated”.

“It’s fourth gear though that really nails this car’s performance to the board under the title “supercar” though with simply no let-up in urge..”

“It’s one of the finest 1M’s we’ve seen yet”.













I'm a happy man

Edited by ChrisBuer on Wednesday 17th October 11:19

[ChrisBuer]

TobyLaRohne said:

What are the estimated performance figures now? Sounds like a bit of a giant killer.

Performance figures as in 0-60mph and 0-100mph? Or power and torque?

Power is 431bhp and torque is 485 lb.ft (or 656nm in new money).

0-60mph? Not sure as I've not tested it, but a friend of mine with similar power managed 0-100mph in 9.5 seconds, with what he called a "poor start"....

It is quick

[ChrisBuer]

TobyLaRohne said:

Sorry, I meant 0-60 etc... Get it to a vmax event and stretch its legs! I really like the wheels and rear lights and all of the mods you have done, but truth be told I'd paint the rear carbon spoiler white ...but overall, I think it's gorgeous! Any future plans other than lots and lots of replacement tyres?

I think I'll be doing my wheels this colour some time in the future.

Ah, no I'm not sure to be honest on the 0-60 times etc. I need to strap a proper VBOX to it and test it, but like you say a VMAX event would be the perfect place to try. Once I get some free time from work, I'll see if I can make it along to one.

Future plans? None that come to mind apart from a complete set of different tyres. A lot of people have been swapping the Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tyres that come with it over to the far superior Michelin Pilot Super-Sports. Apparently they make a big difference in both the dry and wet and also help with stopping the traction control light from flashing away under aggressive acceleration. However I need to cook the current set of tyres a bit more first before swapping over (still got about half my tread left).

Apart from that, the car really doesn't need anymore power now. I may do braided hoses, better pads and better brake fluid, but that's probably about it for now. I did consider swapping the exhaust over, but in all honesty, it sounds pretty good as it is

[ChrisBuer]

TobyLaRohne said:

Fair enough, I wouldn't change anything else if I were you for fear of over-egging it. Im suprised about the tyre comment, they're as highly rated as can be for corvettes, (the 335 rears rated to 200mph kind of limit your choice of manufacturers)

To be absolutely honest, I only ever intended on remapping it.

The intercooler just came about as a fellow 1M owner had it on his car for a few weeks before taking it off so that he could have one of the "packages" a tuner was offering which included their own intercooler. Therefore he sold it to be for a very fair price and I thought that it was an opportunity that I shouldn't miss. I also thought it would be better at cooling the car in the summer months

Then the N55 mid-pipes went on, purely because I wanted it to sound a bit more fruity (wasn't bothered about the power). After putting these two parts on I thought I'd better get it back to DMS for them to make sure the map was tweaked to it's optimum and the result was as you see. I was never chasing headline figures and have no intention of trying to add any more power to it.

The current tyres (PS2) are very good, don't get me wrong. But if you read online, all of the reviews say that the Super-Sports are just so much better. They perform better in the dry and wet, last a lot longer, are quieter, more comfortable and give more grip. I know a few people who have put them on their cars and have said at how stunned they were with them.

[ChrisBuer]

Thanks for the kind comments. I really must get it back on a track-day though as you can't really stretch it on the roads. I especially want to explore it's handling further as well and have a proper play around with it on the limit

[ChrisBuer]

Rosscow said:

GALLARDOGUY said:

I really don't know why anyone would choose an M3 over a tuned 1M like this one.

I have been looking at M3's, C63's, IS-F's etc for a daily but I may well opt for a 1M and tune it.

Can't see it depreciating at all...

What about the obvious - if you buy a new one and tune it like Chris has you won't have much of a warranty left?

But you'll be having a lot more fun