[Joebie]

CHINA EXHAUST TIP UPDATE

Its been a couple weeks with the china tips and the far right one is starting to discolor compared to the other 3. I think this is because that tip gets the most flow from the exhaust and is therefore the hottest after every drive.

Check out the far right tip in this pic compared to the rest:



So what I did was I swapped that discolored tip with the far left one, and im going to try to discolor them symmetrically.

Another thing that has been driving me crazy is that the bolts that come with the exhaust tip clamps are WAY too long and at certain angles you can see the excess threads or the head of the bolt more apparently than I like. See the images below.





So at work (im a mechanical engineer) i chucked some M8 bolts up in the lathe and made a little shoulder on them to clear the sheet metal of the clamps and that made things much cleaner. No more threads/bolt heads poking out and distracting from the look of the car.





I just completely guessed at the shoulder diameter and i must be a good guesser.


no more thread stickout


these bolts are just carbon steel so theyll probably rust a bit but im not too concerned, if it gets really bad ill order some SS bolts. For reference these are M8x1.25 , 40mm length.


Id also like to clarify that despite the discoloring im still VERY happy with the exhaust tips for the price that I paid. I think once they all discolor evenly they will look just fine. The blue anodization is holding up fine so far.

[Joebie]

I also installed a Viofo A119 V3 dash cam. Hardwired back to the trunk with the path shown. Wasnt hard at all and now I got a cam in case im ever in an accident or anything crazy happens out on the road.

[///393]

Nice work. ME FTW

[Joebie]

I ordered a 5" intercooler and charge piping that should show up today. Might not install it until next weekend though.

Is it concerning that i feel like the power of my car is not consistent? Some days i step on the gas and i get pushed back into my seat completely satisfied, and other days i step on it and im thoroughly unimpressed. I'm not really sure if this is completely placebo or if theres a mechanical problem of some sort, or if thats just the way these cars are.

I might download bimmerlink and do a couple datalogs just to eliminate a boost leak. Part of me also wonders if maybe theres some inconsistent OEM diverter valve problem going on. Maybe I'm overthinking.

My amateur drag racing skills got the car to run a 13.2 quarter mile so I know its not like completely down on power or anything and theres no CEL or any indication of issues so im probably just getting used to the power and overthinking it.

Really really thinking about pulling the trigger on BM3 now that im used to the power of the car I want more of course. I should have seen this coming!

[Joebie]

Car parts are here!!!!!!!!!!





I wanted some sort of intercooler paint, but I wanted to keep it simple so I went with an ///M logo.

Print out an M logo in the size you need


Glue to it a cardboard backer to add rigidity..... crap i ripped it..... start over.


tape worked better than glue




measure center of intercooler, tape in place. Its really important that the stencil is laying as flush as possible with the face of the intercooler for nice crisp paint lines.


mask with paper


wait, nevermind that was a bad idea. Mask with masking tape instead.



first coat of paint, i used high temp engine paint. Very light coat dont go crazy with this stuff.



second and final coat of paint. Lookin good.




ready for install this weekend! I hope you guys like it, i wasnt even sure if i was going to go ahead with this originally but i figured hey why not i can probably strip the paint off of it later if i really want to without much issue. Plus it gave me something fun to do tonight.

[Joebie]

Well guys I gotta say im unimpressed with MAD parts. The MAD charge pipe does not fit the MAD intercooler properly. There is interference between the intercooler side of the charge pipe and the intercooler outlet.

The edge of the charge pipe indicated by the blue line hits on the intercooler where the yellow arrow points before the clip that secures the two together is allowed to clip into place.





Ive sent a message to the vendor to see how they would like to resolve the situation.

Super disappointed. I guess thats what i get for ordering the cheapest parts out there, but like cmon, any reasonable person would assume that a MAD intercooler and a MAD charge pipe would, uh, fit together properly. im not even mixing brands.

[ShortSides]

CSF to FTP for the win.

[Joebie]

Update: I was able to get the parts to click together by grinding a small chamfer on the blue edge in the pictures above. I didnt take any pictures of the process unfortunately.

The vendor is giving me ~25% ($50) refund on the charge pipe for the inconvenience.

In hindsight I wish I would have purchased another brand but it worked out in the end. That car is back together and runs fine.

It doesnt feel any different with the charge pipe and intercooler on it (i didnt expect it to).... but now its ready for BM3. Got spark plugs in the mail today that ill install next weekend.

[Joebie]

Dropper her off this morning for tint. Going 25% ceramic all around.

[Joebie]

I did wind up cutting a plastic piece out to make room for the intercooler. The 5in intercoolers claim to be a no-trim install but i genuinely have no clue how you are supposed to fit that thing up in there without removing some plastic. Well truthfully the reason is deeper than that. I actually accidentally broke part of the plastic piece when removing the stock intercooler, which made it even more enticing to just cut the piece out which eventually i did end up commiting to to make the install of the new one super smooth.

Anyways, the plastic I removed means that there is a gap below the new intercooler where air can get around it which is obviously not desirable. I have designed some simple parts to block the airflow again. This design will probably progress a bit, just starting with something simple to see how my parts fit up.



These parts will go in the area highlighted in blue in the picture below. The piece that i cut out to allow for easier intercooler install means that air can slip through a small ~1in tall gap below the intercooler that i plan to fill with these 3d printed pieces.

[Joebie]

Over the weekend I installed NGK 97506's gap @ .022 and flashed stage 1 91 octane BM3 tune.

I only took a couple pics but overall the process was extremely easy. Swapping spark plugs on these cars takes like 30 minutes hood open to hood close. I'm grateful that BMW made the rear of the valve cover more accessible on the M2 compared to my 328i with the removal of just a couple pieces.

I'm writing this from memory but the process for spark plug replacement is
-remove plastic engine cover
-remove 2 plastic triangular covers seen in pic below (half-turn 10mm plastic "bolts")
-remove 4 bolts and then strut bar
-remove 7 bolts and then the big plastic piece under the strut bar. This just pivots out of the way cause its connected to some weather stripping
-remove engine foam piece
-remove O2 sensor bracket to gain access to #5 coil
-disconnect coil electrical connections and pop out coils
-remove spark plugs
-repeat steps in reverse order with new spark plugs





After I installed the spark plugs I took a cruise around the block to make sure things were running smoothly before flashing the tune. It could totally be placebo but I do feel like the new spark plugs cleaned up the top end of the rev range. Car feels smoother in general. Once again could be placebo cause it ran fine before the spark plug change but yeah very happy with the new spark plugs too. I will say I was a bit worried because I've heard of people installing NGKs and having misfires and other issues, but I got some advice from a trusted tuner that does this stuff all day every day.



So after I went around the block I flashed the BM3 stage 1 tune. Very quick, easy, and painless process. Took maybe 5 minutes, if that.

First impressions of the tune are great. The first thing I noticed was the new noises the car makes. More turbo spooling noises, and I went with the OTS burble settings which are pretty crazy even with the stock exhaust you can get some pretty loud gunshot noises from this thing on occasion but most the time its just a nice snap crackle pop. Enough to grab some attention but not enough to be overly annoying.

As for the power I didnt expect too much; its just a stage 1 tune on an already pretty tuned motor afterall. Overall the car feels more responsive and Im not sure if thats just throttle mapping or if its actually spooling faster. Power feels more linear to redline. If there is more power its not too terribly noticeable, the car just feels way more linear, responsive, and drivable now compared to stock, like its just ready to rip no matter where you are in the rev range. The extra racecar noises that it makes now are also welcomed, as well as the ability to dial it back if all the noises get old to me at some point in the future.

I took a 2nd gear log of the new tune and i know 2nd gear logs arent ideal because the engine isnt loaded like a higher gear pull, but the 2nd gear log looked great. Looks like Stage 1 targets ~16psi whereas the stock tune targets ~12. I was going to take a 3rd gear log on the way to work today but it was raining and im not about to send my car into a guard rail just to get a log so ill do that next time its dry out.

[Joebie]

I got a 3rd gear log in today. Accidentally did it in Sport+ but I'm confident that i didnt get any wheelspin

https://www.bootmod3.net/log?id=6361...729b2dfc47325b

Car sounds and feels amazing. Strong all the way to redline. Log is one of the best datalogs I've ever seen the ONLY thing I see is that cyl 2 pulls timing a little bit but that's not concerning to me i see that on a lot of logs. It eventually catches back up to the other cylinders anyways.

Other than that, boost is tracking perfectly, HPFP keeping up with demand perfectly, wastegate doing its thing right in the 80's where it should be, no knocking, sputtering, or misfiring, AFRs perfect.

Ive got a great running healthy car on my hands, I feel like its in a really great sweet spot of reliability, power, and sound. Amazing Daily.

I'm going to garage it as soon as they start putting salt down on the roads so i probably only got a couple more weeks maybe a month left with it this season which has me depressed.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by Joebie

Its been some time now driving with the CS diff/steering/dsc coding and unfortunately i dont think i cant recommend this change to anyone.....

.....who values their rear tires.

THIS THING IS SO FUN!!! SIDEWAYS THROUGH EVERY TURN IN SPORT+ IF YOU WANT TO!!!!!!!!

This car definitely gonna get me into some trouble with the law sooner or later.

lol

I didn't code the CS diff/steering/DSC, but I drive with everything off, so it's probably near the same; fun.

[Joebie]

Been a while since I posted any updates. I finished up my 3D printed intercooler airflow blocker or whatever you want to call it and it looks great. I doubt it actually does much to be honest it was just a fun project. I learned how to use Fusion for this instead of using the regular Solidworks. Printed on an Ultimaker printer at work in PLA.







It was hard to get a picture with the bad lighting but these printed pieces just block air from going around the intercooler. The logic is that if it cant go around then it has to go through!

[Joebie]

Also installed 10mm spacers all around.

I went with 10/10 instead of 12/10 just so that i use the same parts and bolts on all 4 corners, just for simplicity really. I was worried that I would regret not getting 12 in the front but i love how it looks with 10 all around. How much noticeable difference could 2mm make anyways, right?

BEFORE: NO SPACERS



AFTER: WITH SPACERS

[Joebie]

Over the holidays I installed a Turner Motorsports poly shift bushing.

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/BMW...ifter-bushings

I did not take pictures of the process, but I did go over to a friends house to use his lift. I tried putting the car up on ramps to do it myself at my house but there just wasnt room to work under there near the middle of the car. I probably could have done it with enough cursing but I'm glad I took it to a lift to do this job. Once we got it on the lift it was a 15 minute job.

I like the way the shifts feel with this part and would recommend the upgrade to anyone looking for a better shifter feel. Its hard to describe but the shifts just feel like they engage easier and cleaner with more precision and less vague-ness.

[Joebie]

Blacked out the rear reflectors today, see this thread for more picture and a free template if you want to do the same!

https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=2034859

[Joebie]

Today I installed a CF spoiler and diffuser from 1ne Performance. I have no affiliation with this company in any way.

I chose M performance replicas of both the spoiler and diffuser.

https://1neperformance.com/products/...fiber-diffuser

https://1neperformance.com/collectio...-trunk-spoiler

I am satisfied with what I got given the price. im 99.9% sure that these parts come from china and ordering through 1ne like I did is basically just getting china parts with US based customer service. I got both these parts for half the price of a single genuine BMW diffuser. I think my total was $660 + $90 shipping. Shipping actually took a bit longer than i would have liked. I got the parts 8 days after I ordered them. That's fine, but this is the era of amazon where im used to my orders being delivered like same-day lol, so it felt like a while.

Fitment was acceptable.

The spoiler I'd give a 7/10. The right side has a gap maybe 1mm taller than the gap on the left. Nothing that you would ever notice unless you scoured the car for hours trying to find things like that. The actual surface of the carbon fiber has a small bit of waviness to it in places if you look in the light just perfectly. Again, nothing that you would notice unless you were specifically looking for it, had perfect lighting, and were 2 feet from the defects or closer.

The diffuser I'd give an 8/10. It looks great but the clips dont really *click* into the painted part of the bumper with the authority that I would have liked to hear and see. Regardless of this, once all the hardware was in, it appears to work fine. The hardware at the bottom kind of acts to pull the top part in, so at the end of the day it works. The diffuser meets up with the plastic painted part of the bumper essentially flawlessly. Really happy with that part. Just wish the clips clicked into place a bit more.


BEFORE


Comparison


AFTER

[Joebie]

So after thinking for a while and practically losing sleep over this, ive decided that the MPerf spoiler is not the look I'm going for, so I've listed it for sale here

https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...3#post30457463

Theres nothing wrong with the spoiler or the company selling it at all, its just a little bigger and more attention-drawing in person than it looked in the photos.

I plan to reinstall the OEM lip spoiler. I may paint it black though.

Keeping the diffuser, I absolutely love the diffuser!!

[Joebie]

I spent some time designing my own shift knob after not being satisfied with anything on the market.

My main objective was to design something that could sit as low as possible WITHOUT modifying the OEM shifter shaft/linkage like beautifully illustrated below


Secondary objectives
-Smaller knob. Currently targeting 1.9in diameter but subject to change.
-Completely reversible to oem if needed/wanted (seperation of OEM boot from knob unfortunately unavoidable)
-No visible mounting hardware/seamless look
-Wont burn you in the summer.... well maybe a better way to put this is - wont burn you if youre careful.

Here's what I've come up with. The black part is plastic so it wont burn you. The "cap" will just be tack welded to the body of the shift knob or else it is not machinable. The plastic part will thread onto the body and hide the mounting set screws. These threads are not shown in the model.







So heres the idea... We'll see if it works!

[Joebie]

I modeled the threads for clarity.

[Joebie]

Continuing the shift knob saga in its own thread here

https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=2047753