2013 BMW M135i
Discussion
Evening all,
Bit of preamble before we get to collection ...
As some of you may know, I went back to a Focus last summer as some serious saving needed to happen and fortunately I have since met that goal so the hunt was on for it's successor. That reminds me, I should probably update that thread at some point as the Focus has gone now...
Anyway. Initially, I was looking at another lease on a £300pm 3+23, 10k miles as we're talking March at this point and of course commuting every day was still a thing that I was doing. The Seat Leon Cupra was a possiblity around this time but I was ultimately put off for a couple of reasons.
Stay with me here because this is where it gets a bit weird...
In March, I think the week before phase 1 lockdown, I ended up confirming my order for a Kia Ceed GT-Line S (absolutely loaded car with things the likes of heated electric memory seats, a sunroof, adaptive cruise control and all that goodness), with delivery expected to be in June.
Then, of course, things happened and next thing you know, it's June and there's no ETA (or even really purpose) for the Kia. Figured I was going to stick with it for the interim and then, August rolls around (still no Kia) and I realise that insurance and tax renewal for the Focus is coming up - the inconvienience of re-doing everything for an undetermined amount of time really turned up the heat on the mild buyer's remorse I was already experiencing with the Kia.
I then started doing the maths on something else, something more exciting and certainly something quicker than the Ceed's high 8s to 60 acceleration. Figured out I could make a budget of approximately £15k work on something past the peak of it's depreciation but not leggy enough to throw various bills like the Focus had been (had lost all love for that car by the time the second brake caliper failed!).
I then started to look at a wide range of cars including repeats of past experiences as well as things such as Golf GTIs, Focus STs and even some real left-field stuff like E500 coupes and some E92 335is (as I absolutely loved the engine in the Z4).
I then worked out that, funnily enough, £15k gets you a well specced, well cared for pre-LCI M135i.
The hunt was on as I did what I usually do once I'm set on a car and that was go through old brochures to work out my ideal specification.
My spec was set.
Must Haves:
- 3 door
- Estoril Blue
- Automatic
- Driver Comfort Package (for the cruise and parking sensors)
- Professional Media (for wide-screen iDrive screen and the instrument cluster)
- Visibility Package (I've grown very used to auto lights/wipers and auto dimming mirrors)
- Harman Kardon (more on that later)
Nice to haves:
- Heated Seats
- Front and Rear PDC
- Reverse Camera
- Folding Mirrors
Searching found some decent cars in the £15k range (below that was mostly zero spec cars) from private sellers and dealers alike.
Much looking, umming and ahhing later, I had decided on this.
It's a December 2013 car with 1 owner from new, a full service history, on 38k miles with the following spec (full confirmation and VIN breakdown to come once I collect)
- 3 doors
- Estoril Blue
- Automatic
- Driver Comfort Pack
- Visibility Package
- Sun Protection Package
- BMW Professional Media Pack
- Heated Front Seats
Contact was made with the seller to discuss the car and it's provenance over the past 7 years, reasons for selling etc. and I was happy enough with both the car and the impression I got from the seller to arrange a test drive later that week (a 4 hour round trip in the Focus!) with intent to see it through.
Test drive happened, it was an absolute hoot and a holding deposit was placed.
Collection day, intentions for the car and further pictures, first impressions etc. in the next post
Bit of preamble before we get to collection ...
As some of you may know, I went back to a Focus last summer as some serious saving needed to happen and fortunately I have since met that goal so the hunt was on for it's successor. That reminds me, I should probably update that thread at some point as the Focus has gone now...
Anyway. Initially, I was looking at another lease on a £300pm 3+23, 10k miles as we're talking March at this point and of course commuting every day was still a thing that I was doing. The Seat Leon Cupra was a possiblity around this time but I was ultimately put off for a couple of reasons.
Stay with me here because this is where it gets a bit weird...
In March, I think the week before phase 1 lockdown, I ended up confirming my order for a Kia Ceed GT-Line S (absolutely loaded car with things the likes of heated electric memory seats, a sunroof, adaptive cruise control and all that goodness), with delivery expected to be in June.
Then, of course, things happened and next thing you know, it's June and there's no ETA (or even really purpose) for the Kia. Figured I was going to stick with it for the interim and then, August rolls around (still no Kia) and I realise that insurance and tax renewal for the Focus is coming up - the inconvienience of re-doing everything for an undetermined amount of time really turned up the heat on the mild buyer's remorse I was already experiencing with the Kia.
I then started doing the maths on something else, something more exciting and certainly something quicker than the Ceed's high 8s to 60 acceleration. Figured out I could make a budget of approximately £15k work on something past the peak of it's depreciation but not leggy enough to throw various bills like the Focus had been (had lost all love for that car by the time the second brake caliper failed!).
I then started to look at a wide range of cars including repeats of past experiences as well as things such as Golf GTIs, Focus STs and even some real left-field stuff like E500 coupes and some E92 335is (as I absolutely loved the engine in the Z4).
I then worked out that, funnily enough, £15k gets you a well specced, well cared for pre-LCI M135i.
The hunt was on as I did what I usually do once I'm set on a car and that was go through old brochures to work out my ideal specification.
My spec was set.
Must Haves:
- 3 door
- Estoril Blue
- Automatic
- Driver Comfort Package (for the cruise and parking sensors)
- Professional Media (for wide-screen iDrive screen and the instrument cluster)
- Visibility Package (I've grown very used to auto lights/wipers and auto dimming mirrors)
- Harman Kardon (more on that later)
Nice to haves:
- Heated Seats
- Front and Rear PDC
- Reverse Camera
- Folding Mirrors
Searching found some decent cars in the £15k range (below that was mostly zero spec cars) from private sellers and dealers alike.
Much looking, umming and ahhing later, I had decided on this.
It's a December 2013 car with 1 owner from new, a full service history, on 38k miles with the following spec (full confirmation and VIN breakdown to come once I collect)
- 3 doors
- Estoril Blue
- Automatic
- Driver Comfort Pack
- Visibility Package
- Sun Protection Package
- BMW Professional Media Pack
- Heated Front Seats
Contact was made with the seller to discuss the car and it's provenance over the past 7 years, reasons for selling etc. and I was happy enough with both the car and the impression I got from the seller to arrange a test drive later that week (a 4 hour round trip in the Focus!) with intent to see it through.
Test drive happened, it was an absolute hoot and a holding deposit was placed.
Collection day, intentions for the car and further pictures, first impressions etc. in the next post
Congratulations pal, great cars. I sold my E92 M3 to get into mine.
I had the E92 for a year, got utterly sick of it within a year and the M135i has been with me for the last 5. I honestly can’t think of what to replace it with, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
Many a subtle modification later and Its faster and so much quicker and more enjoyable to drive.
Post up some more pictures when you can.
I had the E92 for a year, got utterly sick of it within a year and the M135i has been with me for the last 5. I honestly can’t think of what to replace it with, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
Many a subtle modification later and Its faster and so much quicker and more enjoyable to drive.
Post up some more pictures when you can.
MajorBeef said:
Congratulations pal, great cars. I sold my E92 M3 to get into mine.
I had the E92 for a year, got utterly sick of it within a year and the M135i has been with me for the last 5. I honestly can’t think of what to replace it with, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
Many a subtle modification later and Its faster and so much quicker and more enjoyable to drive.
Post up some more pictures when you can.
Cheers dude - impostor syndrome is certainly present at the moment, somehow can't quite believe that this is mine! Know what you mean about modifications as I'll get to I had the E92 for a year, got utterly sick of it within a year and the M135i has been with me for the last 5. I honestly can’t think of what to replace it with, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
Many a subtle modification later and Its faster and so much quicker and more enjoyable to drive.
Post up some more pictures when you can.
Anyway, onto today.
After a fairly long journey down to a village near Colchester, I was collected by the seller and it was off to do paperwork, transfer money etc. I then suddenly found myself the proud second owner of GF63 NLN. The car was then treated to enough fuel to get me the 120 mile journey home and then some.
Obligatory forecourt shots:
With warranty (£675 for a year including roadside assistance with BMW themselves), insurance, fuel, tax and registration in place, let's step back in time a moment. I had two weeks between placing the deposit and collection due to various reasons - nothing negative.
Naturally this meant a lot of research and so I started to work up a list both in terms of stuff which needed doing (going to chuck it in for a go-over a bit more detailed than mine soon but more on that later) and things which are regarded as worth doing for long term owners. I should make it clear at this point that I'm not massively into car modification and would consider my style "OEM+" and plug and play.
First was the suspension. My experiences on the drive back tallied with that which is observable online - the car can be somewhat bouncy and the damping is a bit "off". Wouldn't go as far as saying it was particularly uncomfortable (though that could just be because it's the honeymoon period) but it was absolutely noticeable and something that would certainly annoy me in time, I'm sure.
To that end, I am picking up a Bilstein B12 kit (so Bilstein B8 dampers and Eibach Pro springs) very lightly used (6 months and ~2k miles) tomorrow for £350 and a 150 mile round trip that someone on another forum is selling due to them selling their own M-Lite. This seems to be a very common modification for M Lites and takes great steps to help resolve the ride issues. Couldn't remotely justify something like the Birds kit at almost £2k fitted unfortunately.
Plan is to get this booked in for fitting with a local BMW specialist for when I'm on annual leave at the end of the month and get a more in-depth once over done at the same time. Welcoming any feedback on Motor Master in Nottingham if anyone's got it!
Next up is sound system - I wouldn't go as far as to say I am an audiophile but I'm certainly discering when it comes to the quality of any systems that play music which I spend a fair bit of time with and have, what I imagine to be, somewhat high standards. Not expecting reference quality by any means but I like warm bass and clear mids/highs. Reviews online are mixed about the effectiveness of the 9 speaker (2 mid+tweeters front, 2 mid+tweeters rear, 2 underseat woofers and 1 mid+tweeter front centre) HK system in the 1 and 2 series (sound systems are very subjective so no surprise there) but one thing for certain is that the HK system in the 1 and 2 series does not come close to that in the 3 series and above thanks to generally cheap quality speakers and the lack of a proper 7 channel set up. NB: There's an absolutely fantastic thread on a US 2 series forum which you can find if you look up "Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Live w the Harmon Kardon System"
The latter doesn't really bother me so much as there is an easy workaround - disconnect the centre speaker which, in reality, is actually blending both the Left and Right stereo channels and impacts on having a true stereophonic front soundstage. 15 minute job which I'll be tackling very soon.
The former is where I'm looking to focus my efforts. The drive back gave me a good idea of what the sound system is like - there's clearly a good amount of power from the amp to drive the kit but the kit doesn't really stack up (except the underseat subs, they are fantastic) and is absolutely the weak point in the system.
At present, the plan is to replace both front components and the rear components as, like I say, I'm quite happy with the underseats and the amplifer itself for now.
A few different companies (Audison Prima, Focal, Bavsound) do plug and play kits for the 1 and 2 though my research has led me to believe that Eton provide the best price/performance mix - about £500 for 2x front components (B100 W) and 2x rear coaxials (B100 XN - another £30 if I do B100 N components in the rear but I struggle to justify the extra cost as the rear is mostly just fill as I'll rarely, if ever, have people in the back - especially people that would be able to appreciate it!).
Realistically, this won't be getting done until next year as it's a fair chunk of change (which I'd hope to get some of back when I eventually return the car to stock when it is shifted on) but can't really justify it until certain other commitments are met. Fortunately, the HK system in it's current form is tolerable for now (and may even improve once I've unplugged the centre speaker and installed the Active Sound Design bypass harness which is currently sat ready to go in the car) so am happy to wait.
After that, it'll probably be little bits like LED bulbs, fitting the LCI cupholders with the sliding cover, changing the interior trim from the stock Hexagon to the Brushed Aluminium set (or something else) and I also have some brushed stainless steel "M performance style" pedal covers on their way from China which should class the interior up a bit.
And it needs a bloody good clean on the inside! Not dirty as such, just needs some love.
Nice one.
I have one of these cars myself (also have a readers ride thread)
I wouldn't say I'm an expert but I know pretty much everything you need to know mechanically on these , faults and fixes etc so any issues or q's just ask away :-)
BTW I disconnected the center speaker and sounded no difference so plugged it in again!
I'm keeping an eye out for some used drop in speakers (front speakers and maybe subs will be all for me). I have the HK system myself and it's not too bad for what I want, just some bass and noise to drown out the tyre roar
I have active sound coded out which helps as well. (sounds crap with it on IMO). No need to buy any stupid harnesses it can be done with software coding changes alone.
I have one of these cars myself (also have a readers ride thread)
I wouldn't say I'm an expert but I know pretty much everything you need to know mechanically on these , faults and fixes etc so any issues or q's just ask away :-)
BTW I disconnected the center speaker and sounded no difference so plugged it in again!
I'm keeping an eye out for some used drop in speakers (front speakers and maybe subs will be all for me). I have the HK system myself and it's not too bad for what I want, just some bass and noise to drown out the tyre roar
I have active sound coded out which helps as well. (sounds crap with it on IMO). No need to buy any stupid harnesses it can be done with software coding changes alone.
Edited by xjay1337 on Sunday 13th September 02:09
Saw your thread over on BabyBMW, congrats on the car.
My M140i is a bit bouncy too (even firmer rear springs than yours). I’ve tried lowering it with H+R -15mm springs which ha made it a bit better, but ultimately the dampers are poo. I think I’ll look into some new ones (will keep an eye out on AutoDoc probably for the B12 kit) in the new year.
I’ve used Series Nine on Nottingham in the past when my E46 let me down. They seemed pretty good, just a pain to get to. Burton Motor Workshop were always very very good when I used them. Not the cheapest Indy, but they always did a good job on my E46 and the E90 that followed it.
My M140i is a bit bouncy too (even firmer rear springs than yours). I’ve tried lowering it with H+R -15mm springs which ha made it a bit better, but ultimately the dampers are poo. I think I’ll look into some new ones (will keep an eye out on AutoDoc probably for the B12 kit) in the new year.
I’ve used Series Nine on Nottingham in the past when my E46 let me down. They seemed pretty good, just a pain to get to. Burton Motor Workshop were always very very good when I used them. Not the cheapest Indy, but they always did a good job on my E46 and the E90 that followed it.
xjay1337 said:
Nice one.
I have one of these cars myself (also have a readers ride thread)
I wouldn't say I'm an expert but I know pretty much everything you need to know mechanically on these , faults and fixes etc so any issues or q's just ask away :-)
BTW I disconnected the center speaker and sounded no difference so plugged it in again!
I'm keeping an eye out for some used drop in speakers (front speakers and maybe subs will be all for me). I have the HK system myself and it's not too bad for what I want, just some bass and noise to drown out the tyre roar
I have active sound coded out which helps as well. (sounds crap with it on IMO). No need to buy any stupid harnesses it can be done with software coding changes alone.
Cheers dude, yes I've read your thread! I have one of these cars myself (also have a readers ride thread)
I wouldn't say I'm an expert but I know pretty much everything you need to know mechanically on these , faults and fixes etc so any issues or q's just ask away :-)
BTW I disconnected the center speaker and sounded no difference so plugged it in again!
I'm keeping an eye out for some used drop in speakers (front speakers and maybe subs will be all for me). I have the HK system myself and it's not too bad for what I want, just some bass and noise to drown out the tyre roar
I have active sound coded out which helps as well. (sounds crap with it on IMO). No need to buy any stupid harnesses it can be done with software coding changes alone.
Edited by xjay1337 on Sunday 13th September 02:09
Did the centre speaker this morning for my trip to collect the Bilsteins - my initial drive back yesterday seemed to have me focusing on the centre speaker anyway and I've certainly noticed the difference myself (using a couple of songs which really rely on stereo separation/panning noise)- not bad for a free mod!
I also did this yesterday - LED bulb conversion.
Used these from Autobeam - no affiliation, just looks like their marketing campaigns have been successful on me
First up was the rears. Open the boot and this little service hatch is exposed.
Open the door (being careful to not snap off one of the clips like I did) and a 10mm nut will make itself apparent.
Then the light unit is held in by two little gromets (top left and middle right)
Pull it out, taking care to not put in too much force and damage your paintwork like some apparently have and unplug the connector by pushing down and pulling away.
Then on the light unit itself there are 5 clips to loosen (circled). Simply pop them loose with a trim tool - they may be quite stiff if bulbs haven't been replaced in a while, if ever.
One in particular was a b
d due to having very little clearance.The light board should then pull out (ensure the gasket stays with it). Convieniently, all the bulbs are P21W/PY21W on the pre-facelift. One side has a fog lamp and the other has the reverse lamp. I didn't replace the fog light in my case as just didn't see the value in it.
Didn't take a picture of the LED bulbs in the light board because I'm smart like that, but it'll look like this:
Following the taking of this picture I noticed the little arachnid friend who had clearly gotten stuck in the cluster at some point (had the same with a bee/wasp in a Focus 3 years ago, what's with them and rear light clusters?).
Installation is the inverse of removal, ensure all the clips have re-clipped and just be wary of how the seals sit when placing the cluster back in to the body, took a few goes for me to realise what was going wrong.
Some comparisons here:
https://youtu.be/lIz5-VPnfm0
https://youtu.be/zxsfD2hdIZM
Fronts were even easier.
Lift the bonnet (it's absolutely lovely to have something with bonnet struts again!) and see how absolutely filthy it is.
Rotate this little whatsit cover anti-clockwise and it lifts right off, exposing a nice little porthole to replace the indicator bulb.
Unscrew the bulb holder (it's one quarter-turn) and out comes the bulb.
Replace the bulb as you would any other bulb and do the reverse of what you've just done.
Peek a boo!
.No video comparison of the fronts sadly but the desired effect is very much achieved.
No issues that I could easily identify at the time and subsequently using other cars' reflections to check that bulbs were bulbing and indicators weren't hyperflashing etc.
Also not sure if the process is the same for non-M lite lighting setups - this only applies to the Xenon front/LED rear DRL setup.
Engine bay needs a good clean!
Nice. I was looking at the LED rear bulb upgrades myself.
no bulb errors or odd things that you've noticed so far?
Edit : Doh - i read you had no issues
Might wait a month or two to see if you have any develop, and then buy the same thing
no bulb errors or odd things that you've noticed so far?
Edit : Doh - i read you had no issues
Might wait a month or two to see if you have any develop, and then buy the same thing
Edited by xjay1337 on Sunday 13th September 20:13
Yesterday (Sunday 13th) I picked up this little lot from a member of another forum.
Been on an M140i for 6ish months and about 2k miles before being removed when the owner put the car back to stock for selling.
Set me back £350 which I thought was agreeable considering they're going for £600 new.
Inspected and cleaned them then boxed them back up ahead of arranging fitting.
Then took some more pictures of the car - just love this colour so much!
Mentioned it earlier but here's the documentation of the centre channel removal.
Not much clearance here so be prepared to be a little uncomfortable at times!
Gently coax the grill with your trim tool of choice and your hands.
This exposes a tweeter and a mid.
3 torx (either T15 or T20, I've actually forgotten!) to remove and lift the speaker up.
Forgot to take pictures at this point but there are two cables - one going from the speaker cabling to the mid and one going from the mid to the tweeter. Unplug the one going from the speaker cabling to the mid - no need to remove and unplug the tweeter.
Tuck the connector in and put everything back together.
Was around a 15 minute job all in.
Doesn't happen on the rear so I'm pretty fine with that.
Doing some reading implies that it's relating to bulb checks - every so often (felt like 10-15 seconds using the mental clock) a very low voltage is sent to the bulbs to check the connection. With halogens, the voltage is so low (and halogens are so electricity hungry) that it's not visibly noticeable, whereas it's just enough to flicker the LED as power requirements are much lower.
The good news is that these checks can be coded out (means you won't get a notification if the bulbs blow but I'm happy to accept the risk as it should be very obvious if they do given that they flash when locking/unlocking the car). The bad news is that I'm not currently equipped to do this so looks like I'll be obtaining Bimmercode or the services of someone who's got it themselves. Will look to get a few things done at the same time.
Will likely swap the indicators back to halogen in the meantime - it's quick and easy enough to do.
Been on an M140i for 6ish months and about 2k miles before being removed when the owner put the car back to stock for selling.
Set me back £350 which I thought was agreeable considering they're going for £600 new.
Inspected and cleaned them then boxed them back up ahead of arranging fitting.
Then took some more pictures of the car - just love this colour so much!
Mentioned it earlier but here's the documentation of the centre channel removal.
Not much clearance here so be prepared to be a little uncomfortable at times!
Gently coax the grill with your trim tool of choice and your hands.
This exposes a tweeter and a mid.
3 torx (either T15 or T20, I've actually forgotten!) to remove and lift the speaker up.
Forgot to take pictures at this point but there are two cables - one going from the speaker cabling to the mid and one going from the mid to the tweeter. Unplug the one going from the speaker cabling to the mid - no need to remove and unplug the tweeter.
Tuck the connector in and put everything back together.
Was around a 15 minute job all in.
Muttley78 said:
Very nice! I'm not sure about Motor Master, however, if you're in Notts I can't recommend Minster Garage in Southwell highly enough. It looks unassuming from the street but those guys look after all kinds of vehicles, always do a great job and couldn't be any easier to deal with.
Cheers - Southwell looks a bit out of the way for my liking unfortunately but will keep them in mind.Court_S said:
Saw your thread over on BabyBMW, congrats on the car.
My M140i is a bit bouncy too (even firmer rear springs than yours). I’ve tried lowering it with H+R -15mm springs which ha made it a bit better, but ultimately the dampers are poo. I think I’ll look into some new ones (will keep an eye out on AutoDoc probably for the B12 kit) in the new year.
I’ve used Series Nine on Nottingham in the past when my E46 let me down. They seemed pretty good, just a pain to get to. Burton Motor Workshop were always very very good when I used them. Not the cheapest Indy, but they always did a good job on my E46 and the E90 that followed it.
Thank you! Big fan of your threads too, especially the 116! B12 is going for about £600 on Autodoc at the moment and I very nearly bought new from there until I saw the for sale ad on babybmw.My M140i is a bit bouncy too (even firmer rear springs than yours). I’ve tried lowering it with H+R -15mm springs which ha made it a bit better, but ultimately the dampers are poo. I think I’ll look into some new ones (will keep an eye out on AutoDoc probably for the B12 kit) in the new year.
I’ve used Series Nine on Nottingham in the past when my E46 let me down. They seemed pretty good, just a pain to get to. Burton Motor Workshop were always very very good when I used them. Not the cheapest Indy, but they always did a good job on my E46 and the E90 that followed it.
xjay1337 said:
Nice. I was looking at the LED rear bulb upgrades myself.
no bulb errors or odd things that you've noticed so far?
Edit : Doh - i read you had no issues
Might wait a month or two to see if you have any develop, and then buy the same thing
Funny you say that, I did actually notice an intermittent flickering of the front indicators when I was in traffic for a while at lunchtime today. Managed to catch it on video, or at least I thought I did. Reviewing the footage seems to imply that the flicker is so brief that my phone camera can't even pick it up. Apparently this is because "the camera's recording frames per second is unaligned with the frequency of electricity". Sure.no bulb errors or odd things that you've noticed so far?
Edit : Doh - i read you had no issues
Might wait a month or two to see if you have any develop, and then buy the same thing
Edited by xjay1337 on Sunday 13th September 20:13
Doesn't happen on the rear so I'm pretty fine with that.
Doing some reading implies that it's relating to bulb checks - every so often (felt like 10-15 seconds using the mental clock) a very low voltage is sent to the bulbs to check the connection. With halogens, the voltage is so low (and halogens are so electricity hungry) that it's not visibly noticeable, whereas it's just enough to flicker the LED as power requirements are much lower.
The good news is that these checks can be coded out (means you won't get a notification if the bulbs blow but I'm happy to accept the risk as it should be very obvious if they do given that they flash when locking/unlocking the car). The bad news is that I'm not currently equipped to do this so looks like I'll be obtaining Bimmercode or the services of someone who's got it themselves. Will look to get a few things done at the same time.
Will likely swap the indicators back to halogen in the meantime - it's quick and easy enough to do.
xjay1337 said:
Not ideal.
I might just change all of the bulbs on the back then and leave the front indicators alone!
That's one thing with LED bulbs that really put me off is how finicky they can be.
If I nail the LED fronts you'd be welcome to come and get coding done for yours I might just change all of the bulbs on the back then and leave the front indicators alone!
That's one thing with LED bulbs that really put me off is how finicky they can be.
Think it'll be a next month thing though - Have ordered an adapter from China (Vgate iCar 2 WIFI) on the slow shipping option as it saves about £10 vs already imported ones on sale here so should have it mid-October time. Been a while since I've done the order-from-China thing, did it with pedal covers too. Forgot how almost exciting it is to not know when your stuff will turn up!
The app itself is I think £30 as well - can't really justify it at the moment but should be able to next month
Will be able to do a bunch of other things at the same time though which is nice. And of course will be able to offer said things to others
Thanks mate. I appreciate the offer. I think Wilts to Grantham might be over kill :-)
I'm just waiting on buying the E-net cable and my friend will give me a copy of the ISTA/ISTP stuff. Once I have it I can also share it with yourself.
Regarding the covers for the pedals, I hope you will be pleasantly surprised , if they're like the same ones I got from Amazon. I think they cost me £30 or £40.
Have you looked into the "M performance" floor matts? I really like the design, but can't help thinking £100 for some mats are expensive!!
Some used ones come up from time to time on the FB groups, but often I miss them.
I'm on the look out for a Sports cat (used) - I bought Chinas finest intercooler and a friend fitted it for me a couple of weeks ago, it was £240 delivered (but I got £20 back due to superficial damage) and the quality seems really high, and cooling effect is great from logs take on my MHD.;
once cat is fitted I will tune it with MHD.
It was from this link if you're interested https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UPGRADED-BIG-FRONT-MOUN...
I'm just waiting on buying the E-net cable and my friend will give me a copy of the ISTA/ISTP stuff. Once I have it I can also share it with yourself.
Regarding the covers for the pedals, I hope you will be pleasantly surprised , if they're like the same ones I got from Amazon. I think they cost me £30 or £40.
Have you looked into the "M performance" floor matts? I really like the design, but can't help thinking £100 for some mats are expensive!!
Some used ones come up from time to time on the FB groups, but often I miss them.
I'm on the look out for a Sports cat (used) - I bought Chinas finest intercooler and a friend fitted it for me a couple of weeks ago, it was £240 delivered (but I got £20 back due to superficial damage) and the quality seems really high, and cooling effect is great from logs take on my MHD.;
once cat is fitted I will tune it with MHD.
It was from this link if you're interested https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UPGRADED-BIG-FRONT-MOUN...
Edited by xjay1337 on Monday 14th September 23:26
xjay1337 said:
Thanks mate. I appreciate the offer. I think Wilts to Grantham might be over kill :-)
I'm just waiting on buying the E-net cable and my friend will give me a copy of the ISTA/ISTP stuff. Once I have it I can also share it with yourself.
Regarding the covers for the pedals, I hope you will be pleasantly surprised , if they're like the same ones I got from Amazon. I think they cost me £30 or £40.
Have you looked into the "M performance" floor matts? I really like the design, but can't help thinking £100 for some mats are expensive!!
Some used ones come up from time to time on the FB groups, but often I miss them.
I'm on the look out for a Sports cat (used) - I bought Chinas finest intercooler and a friend fitted it for me a couple of weeks ago, it was £240 delivered (but I got £20 back due to superficial damage) and the quality seems really high, and cooling effect is great from logs take on my MHD.;
once cat is fitted I will tune it with MHD.
It was from this link if you're interested https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UPGRADED-BIG-FRONT-MOUN...
Haha, bit of a distance then!I'm just waiting on buying the E-net cable and my friend will give me a copy of the ISTA/ISTP stuff. Once I have it I can also share it with yourself.
Regarding the covers for the pedals, I hope you will be pleasantly surprised , if they're like the same ones I got from Amazon. I think they cost me £30 or £40.
Have you looked into the "M performance" floor matts? I really like the design, but can't help thinking £100 for some mats are expensive!!
Some used ones come up from time to time on the FB groups, but often I miss them.
I'm on the look out for a Sports cat (used) - I bought Chinas finest intercooler and a friend fitted it for me a couple of weeks ago, it was £240 delivered (but I got £20 back due to superficial damage) and the quality seems really high, and cooling effect is great from logs take on my MHD.;
once cat is fitted I will tune it with MHD.
It was from this link if you're interested https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UPGRADED-BIG-FRONT-MOUN...
Edited by xjay1337 on Monday 14th September 23:26
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FOR-BMW-1-2-3-4-Series-...
These are the pedals I bought.
Not sure about the mats, they look nice but not £100 nice! Can think of many other things taking priority over the mats haha.
The intercooler, sports cat and map seems to be the direction that I'm not really considering at the moment - coming from a 150bhp manual Focus, this car seems to have way more than enough power as it is!
Put the front indicators back to halogen this morning, dead easy.
Also got around to installing the ASD harness.
Also dead easy - it piggy backs onto the existing ASD cable.
Open the left panel in the boot where the first aid kit lives and the ASD box is right there.
Unlock the connector going into the ASD and pop it out
Line up the connectors and pop this bypass harness onto the existing cable (it'll be obvious which way round it goes on)
Connect the other end of the harness into the ASD box and lock the connector.
Job done! No more fake noise and no more signal (this is only a problem on earlier cars where coding the ASD out doesn't entirely remove the signal and leaves a persistent note/tone - I believe it was fixed by the LCI and from then on, coding is fully successful but don't quote me on that).
That's all the easy stuff out of the way!
Will be a case of just driving it and enjoying it for the next few weeks before I get the B12 kit fitted. Then it'll be MOT prep (nothing is immediately obvious to me but I'll get it looked over when it's in for the B12 anyway) and fitting the pedal covers once they arrive (apparently they left China yesterday and arrived in the UK late last night - estimated arrival is Tue, 22 Sep - Wed, 07 Oct).
After that, once the adapter has arrived, it'll be onto doing some coding bits and that'll probably take us into 2021 where it'll be getting the speaker upgrade under way.
Going for a drive around the peak district with a photographer friend and his turbocharged GT86 at the end of the month once the B12 kit is fitted which I'm very excited for!
Court_S said:
I bought a set of China’s finest pedals too...balls was I paying £180 for the genuine articles. Mine have been on for a year and seem to be holding up well enough.
My Chinese exhaust tips are lasting longer than BMW OE ones too.
I think the Chinese ones are a less intrusive install too - I think genuine ones require drilling too which is certainly a drawback.My Chinese exhaust tips are lasting longer than BMW OE ones too.
Got any info on the exhaust tips? Mine look horrible - going to hit them with some Autosol or similar soon.
mholt1995 said:
I think the Chinese ones are a less intrusive install too - I think genuine ones require drilling too which is certainly a drawback.
Got any info on the exhaust tips? Mine look horrible - going to hit them with some Autosol or similar soon.
Drilling is a ball ache as I discovered on my other half’s E87.Got any info on the exhaust tips? Mine look horrible - going to hit them with some Autosol or similar soon.
The seller doesn’t appear to have any more in stock. If you go down that route, you’ll need 63mm in (Chinese sellers seem to include the whole pipe). Cobra sport do sone nice stainless ones for about £120. F30 335 tips fit too and come in brushed aluminium or polished and seem to last longer than the black. The silver tips look good on an Estoril Blue car too.
xjay1337 said:
Nice one.
I have one of these cars myself (also have a readers ride thread)
I wouldn't say I'm an expert but I know pretty much everything you need to know mechanically on these , faults and fixes etc so any issues or q's just ask away :-)
BTW I disconnected the center speaker and sounded no difference so plugged it in again!
I'm keeping an eye out for some used drop in speakers (front speakers and maybe subs will be all for me). I have the HK system myself and it's not too bad for what I want, just some bass and noise to drown out the tyre roar
I have active sound coded out which helps as well. (sounds crap with it on IMO). No need to buy any stupid harnesses it can be done with software coding changes alone.
My ebay alert has just pinged for Eton B100 W for £130, might be worth a look for yourself (I'm not at the point of being able to pull the trigger myself yet!)I have one of these cars myself (also have a readers ride thread)
I wouldn't say I'm an expert but I know pretty much everything you need to know mechanically on these , faults and fixes etc so any issues or q's just ask away :-)
BTW I disconnected the center speaker and sounded no difference so plugged it in again!
I'm keeping an eye out for some used drop in speakers (front speakers and maybe subs will be all for me). I have the HK system myself and it's not too bad for what I want, just some bass and noise to drown out the tyre roar
I have active sound coded out which helps as well. (sounds crap with it on IMO). No need to buy any stupid harnesses it can be done with software coding changes alone.
Edited by xjay1337 on Sunday 13th September 02:09
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