Chadillac2000's Journal: 2008 BMW 535i

[chadillac2000]

Hello everyone. I just wanted to introduce myself and start a small journal as I have on previous forums i've been a part of. My past two cars have been E46 M3's and i've finally decided to move on to bigger and better things. Although I loved the raw and high strung S54 powerplant, i'm really loving the new N54 platform.

4 years ago I picked up this beauty:



I spent the next two years modding this car into a great looking all around car equipped with TCK coilovers, a full exhaust, BBS wheels, and a slew of exterior and interior modifications. This was the final product weeks before returning the car back to it's stock form and delivering the car to it's buyer.





After selling my first M3 I drove a few other cars but eventually came back to the E46 M3. This time I opted for the Cabrio in the Oxford Green with Cinnamon interior combination. I kept this one mostly stock. I lowered the car on springs and ordered some new OEM parts to freshen up the interior and exterior but that was the extent of the modifications.



After driving the car for about 6 months I made the decision to finally get into something newer, in warranty, larger and a bit more comfortable on the highway since that's where I do the majority of my driving. I had tossed around the idea of perhaps getting a 335i sedan until I rode in a friend's 550i. I loved the size, comfort level, and plushness of the interior. I immediately went on the hunt for a 535i after having been a huge fan of the N54 engine. I found a lovely CPO 08 535i at my local dealership and acquired it last week. This Space Gray sedan is everything I was looking for. The engine is smooth and responsive, the interior is elegant and refined and the ride comfort of the suspension coupled with the La-Z-Boy-esqe feel of the seats make driving in this car pure heaven. The car is fully covered under warranty until the middle of 2014 from bumper to bumper (including maintenance). I'm going to do a few little things here and there but this car is very impressive in it's stock form.

Here is a picture of the car on it's first day in my driveway.



The car had a front license plate holder installed when I purchased it (unfortunately). After removing the screws I discovered two nasty looking holes. I've since then ordered two Space Gray bumper plugs from bumperplugs.com to make these less of an eye sore.

But the more exciting news, is that my JB4 PNP + DCI combo will be here Friday. The N54 in it's stock form is a stout engine, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what this tune can do. I'll do a review on the car upon installation. I was bouncing back and forth between the Cobb Accessport and the Juicebox unit, but ultimately chose the JB4 after reading reviews. Warranty is a huge concern of mine and even though the Cobb Accessport seems easier to install i'd rather be able to just completely remove the JB4 when going in for service or warranty work and not risk the Cobb unit leaving any traces of evidence on my ECU that may void my warranty.

Look forward to contributing to the community!

[chadillac2000]

Well to my surprise when I arrived home today my bumper plugs were sitting in my mailbox. I ordered them Monday so the shipping was alarmingly fast. I ripped open the box to reveal two little plastic plugs painted Space Gray Metallic. Pretty hard to believe these cost nearly $30 with shipping, but it definitely saved me some time.



The holes before were such an eye sore. Here is a before view with the tag holder freshly removed revealing the screw holes:



The instructions with the plugs said to drill out the existing holes with a quarter inch drill bit in order to make room for the plugs to fit inside snug. The current screw holes were a bit too small to allow the plugs to slide in.



And the finished product. Not as good as a hole free bumper but the next best thing. Worth the money even though it's expensive for what you're getting. No one will ever even question these, the paint match is so nice they literally look BMW had them installed from the factory.

[williamh22]

Hey man- I just recently picked up a 08 535 as well. The car had the front plates on there like yours did but the dealership, upon my request, removed it and filled in the holes for free! The front if the car looks brand new with no sign of there ever being holes in them. U should go ask your dealer to take care of that for you!

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by williamh22

Hey man- I just recently picked up a 08 535 as well. The car had the front plates on there like yours did but the dealership, upon my request, removed it and filled in the holes for free! The front if the car looks brand new with no sign of there ever being holes in them. U should go ask your dealer to take care of that for you!

This never even crossed my mind. That's a lot of work to cover up two little tiny holes in the front bumper. May have to ask about this soon although i'm pretty happy with the look now. The plugs closely resemble parking sensors i've had on previous cars.

[chadillac2000]

First off...Terry at BMS handled my transaction with top notch customer service. He ensured my package would get here by the time I needed it (a day earlier actually). I'm headed out of town tomorrow afternoon, although I was going to delay my trip to install this, so I needed it this week. He responded promptly to all my emails and stupid questions and luckily enough everything arrived this afternoon and I was able to install everything soon after.

After opening up the nicely packaged products:



I was eager to tear into this install and ripped through the installation of the DCI very quickly. I'm usually not into this type of thing but these dual filters look great in the engine bay.

Before:



And after:



I was feeling pretty confident at this point and headed straight into the JB4 install without a break. I quickly got to the point where I had the ECU completely exposed. I rolled right through the sliders portion, placed the subconnectors inside the connectors, and reinstalled the smaller connector with slider. I then came face to face with one of the most frustrating ordeals I've had in quite some time. The larger connector and slider simply would not go back into place. I spent 45 minutes on this piece until finally taking back out the smaller connector and completely removing the silver ECU from it's brackets and FINALLY getting the larger connector with slider pushed into place. After that the install was cake. Took a little longer than I expected but I was still happy with how it went. I hopped in the car only to have it turn over and over but not crank. I was pretty frustrated at this point but after reviewing my connections I discovered a subconnector connected to the OEM subconnector backwards. Turned it around, buttoned everything else up, and the car fired up immediately. I activated the steering wheel controls and set the car to auto delete codes and put the car into map 1.

After taking it for a drive i'm very impressed for the amount of money invested. The power comes on linear and the speedo just jumps at a steady rate as long as you have your foot buried in the floor. 15-100 is up in a flash. I may put the car in map 5 tomorrow and see how that is. I really love the steering wheel interface, however, i'm not excited about the installation and removal of the kit for warranty/maintenance work.

[NYAWE60]

Subscribed. . . I was on the fence too. I still am and for the same exact reason, ease of removal for warranty/maintenance work. Did you look at the ESS flash tuner. It yields 85+ whp on the N54 for the 535i.

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by NYAWE60

Subscribed. . . I was on the fence too. I still am and for the same exact reason, ease of removal for warranty/maintenance work. Did you look at the ESS flash tuner. It yields 85+ whp on the N54 for the 535i.

I considered all the "flash tunes" that update the ECU through the OBDII port but ultimately decided against it after doing some research. I was assured I can clear absolutely all "tuner" codes with the JB4 so the dealership can't detect any foul play if something were to go awry or if I need to go in for maintenance work and ultimately, me being under full warranty, this was the most important aspect for me.

[DwsPrime]

Cool stuff. I just ordered the filter setup and Im thinking about getting the JP+. Can't wait to see how yours goes.

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by DwsPrime

Cool stuff. I just ordered the filter setup and Im thinking about getting the JP+. Can't wait to see how yours goes.

I highly recommend the tune. You should just spring for the full JB4 setup. The steering wheel/on the fly controls are great and it really wakes the car up. No where else can you gain this much power per dollar. The car pulls smooth and strong all the way up to redline. Looking forward to Terry at BMS to finalize the WW methanol injection kit for the 5 series and i'll be picking one of those up immediately.

[chadillac2000]

Well I've decided to switch things up a bit. I guess I should have thought about my decisions a bit more before pulling the trigger on the JB4 + DCI combo. After installing these components the first time I realized this was definitely not something I wanted to go through every time I needed to remove these and re install them for warranty and maintenance work at the dealership.

The tune felt great and I loved the steering wheel controls of the JB4. I was able to sell the JB4+USB within a day and i've since then ordered the Cobb AP. This will make installation and removal much easier, especially this Winter when it's cold out and I have no garage to work in. I've also thought about a possible breakdown en route to somewhere and having to be towed directly to the dealer. In that case it'd be nearly impossible to remove the components, causing a serious dilemma with me being under CPO warranty for the next 3 years.

I'll definitely post my comparisons between the two units. I'm looking forward to running the "Stage 1: 93 Octane" tune provided by Cobb, flash capability, and Mac compatibility seeing as how I only own a Macbook Pro and wasn't able to use any of the data-logging capabilities of the JB4 software since it was purely PC based.

[NYAWE60]

Wow, it seemed like you were really impressed with the JB4 + DCI. Let me know how you feel about the Stage 1: 93 Octane with the Cobb. And to think I was right about to pull the trigger this weekend for the JB4 then I read this. You're very much like me. I'll wait for your review of the Cobb AP 93 tune.

[NYAWE60]

BTW, did you look at the ESS Tune?

[rest0r]

Subbed. Nice to see you started with performance mods.

[chadillac2000]

Well i've had the Cobb AP installed for over a week now. My final verdict is...if you have the extra cash and run 93 octane the Cobb unit is what you're looking for.

After installing and removing the JB4 + DCI combo once I could tell this is not something i'd want to be doing on a regular basis. Dealing with the driver side larger slider on a monthly basis is something i'd be willing to avoid at all costs. Installing the Cobb AP can be installed and removed much faster than I can see any professional doing the same with the JB4, and the best part, I did all this from the comfort of my driver's seat with no tools, no sweat, and even with a drink in my hand. I'm going to appreciate this even more during the winter i'd imagine.

Ease of installation and removal aren't the only pros to the Cobb. Granted I didn't have the car dyno'd or anything of the sort to compare the two tunes, from strictly a butt dyno standpoint the Cobb AP Stage 1: 93 octane tune felt noticeably stronger than the JB4 map 1/DCI combo. With it being a very hot summer period the DCI always seemed to hinder the car more than help it so maybe that would be a bit more beneficial once the climate calms down. But as of right now: Cobb AP 93 octane tune with no DCI is stronger than the JB4 Map 1 or 5 with DCI.

The ease of installation along with the power benefits make this a no brainer. These main pros coupled with the fact that this software/hardware is compatible with Mac (I have a new Macbook Pro and had no way to utilize the JB software) is very helpful. I'm definitely glad with the decision I made to switch.

[NYAWE60]

Thats all I needed to hear , you have me sold. Hey guys at Cobb, give this fella some commission. I think he just started a domino effect with me for the E60 N54 guys. Im going in REAL soon!!

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by NYAWE60

Thats all I needed to hear , you have me sold. Hey guys at Cobb, give this fella some commission. I think he just started a domino effect with me for the E60 N54 guys. Im going in REAL soon!!

Go for it! I'm sure you won't regret it, especially considering if you happen not to like it you can simply unmarry it from the car and resell it for almost what you bought it for.

[jjrdoherty]

bumper plugs look great. unfortunately in texas we are required to have front license plates...

[NYAWE60]

Any recent updates or opinions??

[chadillac2000]

Originally Posted by NYAWE60

Any recent updates or opinions??

I haven't had a chance to do anything else to the car as of yet. I'm in the middle of a move and haven't really decided if i'm going to do anything else anytime soon.

I love the smooth ride which no matter what I do will be compromised with any type of spring/coil-over setup, and unless I do something with the suspension I doubt i'll do anything with the wheels/tires if I don't modify the suspension. Anything more performance wise would made voiding the warranty a serious concern.

Honestly I'm really enjoying the sleeper status the car has right now. There's no way a car this large and normal looking should be this quick. I'll be sure to update anything I do to the car on this journal though. I'd love to get to a drag strip during the winter to make a few runs and see if I could bust into the high 12's with the colder weather.

[chadillac2000]

Finally got the car tagged in my home state as well as the Cobb Tuning plate frame. Maybe some people will want to play now.