My brave pill: E92 BMW 335i with the infamous N54 engine

My brave pill: E92 BMW 335i with the infamous N54 engine

Author
Discussion

Court_S

Original Poster:

13,060 posts

178 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
roadie said:
Good effort, swapping out the charge pipe is a good job to get done. It really looks like it should be simple, but it it is difficult to get a solid pipe in place and I had more space with the N55 than you!

Can I ask which spoiler you ordered? I followed an M3 for a little way the other day and the lip spoiler adds to the rear view.
Yeah, it’s a swine to get the new one in. There are bloody hoses everywhere in this engine and they’re always in the way! I decided to prioritise the charge pipe over the intake given that it’ll hopefully be getting some more power soon.

The small spoiler makes a nice difference. Lots seem to be fitting the M4 style high kick spoilers but they don’t look right to my eyes.

I bought my spoiler from SSDD.

https://www.ssdd-motorsport.com/painted-e92-m3-sty...

It fits well and the colour match is bob on.

d_a_n1979

8,566 posts

73 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
There was a lovely white E92 335i and Interlagos blue E92 M3 at Bowker BMW yesterday Sam

Owned by husband & wife by the looks of it

Stunning cars and they both sounded absolutely superb! The 335i looked like it had a Supersprint exhaust and the M3 had an Akrapovic exhaust (I think) judging by the tailpipes and their finishes...

Maybe your next 'upgrade' winkbiggrin

Court_S

Original Poster:

13,060 posts

178 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
d_a_n1979 said:
There was a lovely white E92 335i and Interlagos blue E92 M3 at Bowker BMW yesterday Sam

Owned by husband & wife by the looks of it

Stunning cars and they both sounded absolutely superb! The 335i looked like it had a Supersprint exhaust and the M3 had an Akrapovic exhaust (I think) judging by the tailpipes and their finishes...

Maybe your next 'upgrade' winkbiggrin
Too rich for me I’m afraid. laugh

I will get the tail pipes sorted on mine this summer. Unfortunately BMW saw fit to weld the damn things on.

d_a_n1979

8,566 posts

73 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
Court_S said:
d_a_n1979 said:
There was a lovely white E92 335i and Interlagos blue E92 M3 at Bowker BMW yesterday Sam

Owned by husband & wife by the looks of it

Stunning cars and they both sounded absolutely superb! The 335i looked like it had a Supersprint exhaust and the M3 had an Akrapovic exhaust (I think) judging by the tailpipes and their finishes...

Maybe your next 'upgrade' winkbiggrin
Too rich for me I’m afraid. laugh

I will get the tail pipes sorted on mine this summer. Unfortunately BMW saw fit to weld the damn things on.
Apparently eBay are allowing the selling of kidneys and wife's now pal biggrinlaugh

Court_S

Original Poster:

13,060 posts

178 months

Friday 31st March 2023
quotequote all
d_a_n1979 said:
Apparently eBay are allowing the selling of kidneys and wife's now pal biggrinlaugh
rofl what about kids?

Court_S

Original Poster:

13,060 posts

178 months

Saturday 1st April 2023
quotequote all
Warning; lots of pictures of a clean car….

My other half was out today with the boy, so I managed to blag a day to di dh the post winter detail and the weather played ball this weekend.

First up, I decided that as I’m stuck with the stock airbox for now that I’d treat it to a new air filter. I ended up with a K&N which is dry unlike the oily filters of yesteryear



The old one didn’t look too bad, but hey ho.



The airbox was full of crap, so that was cleaned out.



I noticed on Thursday night that the old cabin filter looked a bit grotty. On closer inspection, it was dated 2018 so I’m guessing it’s not been changed for a while.



Was swapped for a Mann filter.



Then it was time to start the big clean. I used Garage Therapy Zero as a snow foam and shampoo today which is supposed to strip wax which it seemed to do.



After it was washed it’s as time for a chemical decontamination with Car Pro Trix which looked like it removed loads of contamination. It then went over it with a clay bat and around the wheel arches and on the lower parts of the door that was still a fair amount of tar.



There were a few areas of light scratches after the winter.



So it was time to break out the DA polisher.



The car was then given a two stage polish; first stage was with Menzerna 2500 with a purple Hex pad. After that it was finished with Menzerna 3800 and a green Hex logic pad. Reflections were pretty good at this point.





It was the topped with a coat of KKD glaze and two coats of Soft99 Fusso coat.



I then gave the engine bay a quick wipe over.



Glass cleaned inside and out, interior vac’d and wiped over with an interior detailed and tyre dressed.























And a silly little something that was cheap enough on eBay from Cotswold; BMW valve caps.



All done ready for Sunday Service tomorrow.

Edited by Court_S on Saturday 1st April 21:24

cerb4.5lee

30,872 posts

181 months

Saturday 1st April 2023
quotequote all
Your car looks amazing as always Sam. cloud9

Enjoy tomorrow bud. beer

thumbup

Court_S

Original Poster:

13,060 posts

178 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
cerb4.5lee said:
Your car looks amazing as always Sam. cloud9

Enjoy tomorrow bud. beer

thumbup
Cheers Lee.

The forecast was dry for the next few days when I last checked….woken up to yet another wet morning. Joy.

At least I’m not in a Caterham like my mate who’s heading to Prescott with me. laugh

pmorg4

722 posts

117 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
Ugh, the weather so far this year has been atrocious. We’ve surely earned a long and scorching summer cool

Your car is looking fantastic as always, it’s really coming along nicely with those mods. I personally wouldn’t be too fussed about the DCIs, I prefer the stock look and I’ve always been sceptical about claims regarding cone filters etc. Pretty much all the objective scientific testing I’ve seen suggests that stock filters and intakes tend to flow very well, so unless you’re going for a big hike it’s unlikely to be a bottleneck. Definitely worth changing the charge pipe more for reliability than anything else, so good job there.

I see you still have the large paddles fitted (which look great), were they NRW items? Any further thoughts on trying M3 paddles instead like you mentioned before? I’m assuming none of these options bolt up to the standard wheel and need various types of adapters etc to work.

Matt_E46

117 posts

40 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
Looks very clean. Who did your Steering wheel trim?

Court_S

Original Poster:

13,060 posts

178 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
pmorg4 said:
Ugh, the weather so far this year has been atrocious. We’ve surely earned a long and scorching summer cool

Your car is looking fantastic as always, it’s really coming along nicely with those mods. I personally wouldn’t be too fussed about the DCIs, I prefer the stock look and I’ve always been sceptical about claims regarding cone filters etc. Pretty much all the objective scientific testing I’ve seen suggests that stock filters and intakes tend to flow very well, so unless you’re going for a big hike it’s unlikely to be a bottleneck. Definitely worth changing the charge pipe more for reliability than anything else, so good job there.

I see you still have the large paddles fitted (which look great), were they NRW items? Any further thoughts on trying M3 paddles instead like you mentioned before? I’m assuming none of these options bolt up to the standard wheel and need various types of adapters etc to work.
The weather has been awful; my car is pretty grotty after today; there was a lot of mud on the start of the hill climb first thing. I’m so bored of the constant battle to keep it looking decent.

I’m not stressing about the DCI’s. I’ll probably just try and sell them now.

The paddles are the NRW jobbies. I quite like them; them look nice but do hinder access to the buttons on the stalls a bit. They’ll be for sale soon if you fancy trying them wink

I’ve ordered some adapters so I can run the M3 paddles I bought.

M3 paddles are plug and play but are sodding expensive, like really expensive. With hindsight, I’d have been better off buying a wheel with them on. Hey ho.

Court_S

Original Poster:

13,060 posts

178 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
Matt_E46 said:
Looks very clean. Who did your Steering wheel trim?
Thanks.

Royal Steering Wheels (this now wheel number four). I had them make it thinner too since the M sport wheel on this is so fat.

Matt_E46

117 posts

40 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
Thanks for that Sam. How did it work for you, did you get them to fit it? And they took yours? Looks great. Thinking about it for my E92 M3.

Court_S

Original Poster:

13,060 posts

178 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
Matt_E46 said:
Thanks for that Sam. How did it work for you, did you get them to fit it? And they took yours? Looks great. Thinking about it for my E92 M3.
I did it on an exchange basis; so paid an extra deposit and the sent me the new wheel (which I fitted). I then sent the old one back and for the deposit money back.

They will fit them for you if you can get to them. The wheels on these are dead easy to swap if you’re inclined to give it a go.

Court_S

Original Poster:

13,060 posts

178 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
Woke up and it had rained (again) and was drizzling. So much for the dry, sunny forecast, at least it gave me the opportunity to take some beading shots.





My friend Richard swung by my house so we could head down in convoy which where the fun started. It was very wet so he was taking it super steady with his fairly aggressive tyres. We got as far as Dorridge when he called to say his car was making some odd noises from the diff / transmission. He didn’t fancy travelling the rest of the way and rather than go home his car was ditched somewhere safe.

We made it to Prescott without incident other than the manky weather. Sign in took a while, but there was a really good turn out. I’ve never done a hill climb not have a done a track day, so I was slightly nervous especially having seen a few guys really send it off the line. Traction for the first run was dry much an issue because there was so much mud from the cars that were parked on the mud but we made it. It felt fast, but I’m sure it looked pretty slow. laugh

Just after parking up, an E92 parked next to me…..to show what I could have bought had I put my big boy pants on! hehe



I then spotted MDifficult in his Atom so said hello and had a chat which lasted the entire day! laugh







The second run was a bit frustrating because it turned into a free for all ratter than being sent up in parking zones but it was starting to dry out a bit. My car definitely makes a pretty good noise at full chat although the video doesn’t quite capture it.

https://youtube.com/shorts/MZSTgN6HFuI?feature=sha...

MDifficult very kindly took Richard and myself for a passenger ride up the hill in his Atom which is one hell of a thing. The noise of air being sucked in and the supercharger tight by your head are very, very loud. It certainly gets a wriggle on….my car felt very slow after. laugh

The only hiccup I had was my car deciding that it needed a litre of oil. I didn’t think it did given that it was full when we arrived and there were no signs of leaks etc. I just don’t think it liked being nose down for so long. The PH area was a fair way up the hill so to get to the start there was a lot of idling, nose down the hill. I ignored it for my third run tumbleweed

It was still asking for more oil on the way to the final run, but we had a delayed start after someone took a trip into the gravel so it was then sat nose up the hill. Low and behold it was absolutely fine. Her 125i gave us a similar scare in Scotland last year on the Applecross pass. Bloody BMW’s.

Made it home safely, although I managed to use £55 of super doing 115 miles and that was filling up where it was cheap. Well worth it though. I’ve never really paid much attention to hill climbing but it’s a lot harder than it looks or sounds (the last corner freaked me out).

Edited by Court_S on Sunday 2nd April 21:09

MDifficult

2,069 posts

186 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
Court_S said:
It was still asking for more oil on the way to the final run, but we had a delayed start after someone took a trip into the gravel so it was then sat nose up the hill. Low and behold it was absolutely fine.
Happy to be of service laugh

Seriously though, great to meet you and delighted you enjoyed the passenger ride. Was a great day all-round.. if a little nippy at times

Court_S

Original Poster:

13,060 posts

178 months

Sunday 2nd April 2023
quotequote all
MDifficult said:
Happy to be of service laugh

Seriously though, great to meet you and delighted you enjoyed the passenger ride. Was a great day all-round.. if a little nippy at times
It certainly shut my car up! laugh

It was a bit parky first thing…not taking a jacket was a big mistake. Lots of fun though.

pmorg4

722 posts

117 months

Monday 3rd April 2023
quotequote all
Court_S said:
The weather has been awful; my car is pretty grotty after today; there was a lot of mud on the start of the hill climb first thing. I’m so bored of the constant battle to keep it looking decent.

I’m not stressing about the DCI’s. I’ll probably just try and sell them now.

The paddles are the NRW jobbies. I quite like them; them look nice but do hinder access to the buttons on the stalls a bit. They’ll be for sale soon if you fancy trying them wink

I’ve ordered some adapters so I can run the M3 paddles I bought.

M3 paddles are plug and play but are sodding expensive, like really expensive. With hindsight, I’d have been better off buying a wheel with them on. Hey ho.
Let me know by email how much you're after for the paddles, I'd be interested in giving them a try. I'm still running the stock paddles (albeit rewired for proper left down right up operation) and they're pretty small!

M3 paddles look great but I'm not sure I could stomach the cost for the amount I use the car.

Court_S

Original Poster:

13,060 posts

178 months

Monday 3rd April 2023
quotequote all
pmorg4 said:
Let me know by email how much you're after for the paddles, I'd be interested in giving them a try. I'm still running the stock paddles (albeit rewired for proper left down right up operation) and they're pretty small!

M3 paddles look great but I'm not sure I could stomach the cost for the amount I use the car.
Will do; I’ll probably do it once I know when the adapters from NRW are on the way. It’s the paddle and adapters that I’m selling, same as what you’d buy from the states.

I found a few pairs of complete of M3 paddles; too rich for me and new is brutally expensive. Sod that.

Court_S

Original Poster:

13,060 posts

178 months

Monday 3rd April 2023
quotequote all
Took the opportunity at lunch to remove the mud etc from Prescott yesterday; looks like it’s picked up a few battle scars that definitely weren’t there on Saturday p.





After it was clean, I pulled over on the way to the cinema to grab a few pics of a very clean car. The water runs off the car so well after the Fusso coat.















The reflections in the paint looked pretty damn good.





I’ve also booked the car in with P Torque on 21st April for an engine and gearbox remap. It’s a dyno set up, so I’m happy going down this route rather than MHD.