[anelson524]

Hello all, I have quite a few upcoming mods on order and I thought I would put together a build thread to share my progress with everyone.

My previous car was a 2012 Audi A5 which I loved so much. I had it for about 9 months before trading in for my 335i.



2013 335i SA M-Sport Black Sapphire Metallic picked up on 12/5/12

Dealer installed 20% tint all around the car as well as M Performance Exhaust prior to pickup.



First trip home


Black M-Performance Grilles Installed


Matte Black M-Performance Spoiler Installed & M-Performance Carbon Fiber Shifter
The adhesive that comes with the spoiler is some powerful stuff. Without even applying pressure the moment the spoiler touched down on the car it felt as if it were cemented on. Be perfect on the alignment before sticking it on!
The carbon fiber shifter is super easy. You just use a flat head to pop off the gear display on the oem shifter it is plastic with adhesive on the back. Remove one torx bolt and the oem shifter trim comes off and you can put the new carbon fiber trim on. Be sure to re-use the white plastic diffuser/spacer from the oem assembly with the new one.




DIY Painted Brake Calipers (G2 paint)
Doing this really wasn't to hard. The difficulties are having to do all 4 simultaneously so you have to jack up the entire car and remove all the wheels to do the 4 calipers one after another before the paint dries up. The G2 paint systems works great, more paint than needed. I only did 1 coat and some touch up. Then applied ///M logo and clear coated over the top of it.
I used G2 Caliper Paint from eBay here
and ///M decals from here
and a clear coat from auto parts store here

I really can't get myself to spend $2,000+ for what in my opinion is more of an aesthetic upgrade than performance upgrade. So painting them was my best option. The process is actually fairly simple. The G2 kit comes with paint, activator, brush and brake cleaner.

Just abuse the brake cleaner I used the entire can, spray on and let it drip off and then I used some 60 or 80 grit sandpaper to really get the grime off on the thicker areas. I wasn't very liberal about it by any means, if it was easy for me to clean it with the sand paper I did as best as I could but I didn't spend more than maybe 5-10 minutes per caliper cleaning them.

After that I just masked off the rotors and anything else that I thought might need to be protected. The real question I came into was how much of these calipers did I actually want to paint.

On the front calipers I only painted the front visible half of the caliper and on the rears I painted as much as I could easily get to. There is more than enough paint in the can and it brushes on quite easily. I only did 1 full coat and then some touch up work.

Be sure to let the paint dry!! I was very impatient and it almost ruined my ///M decals. After I painted the calipers I waited maybe 1-2 hours and it was probably about ~70 degrees out and then applied the decals which really wouldn't have been a problem. But the clear coat is what almost ruined the decals. The caliper paint hadn't dried completely and after applying the decals and spraying with the clear coat I either sprayed to much clear coat or didn't let the paint dry. It caused the blue paint to run onto the decals and I barely caught it with enough time to do my best to save them.

It really is very easy to do the front calipers look amazing but I continually contemplate just stripping the paint from the rears. They just look puny and more DIY than OEM.


If you have any questions let me know, I'd be more than happy to offer any help!




Installed Catless ER Downpipe & BMS Stage 2, no picture as the install was down by a local shop, but a video of the exhaust. Turbo spooling much more apparent and the favored burbles.


IND Painted Reflectors and H&R Sport Springs

Reflectors are a fairly simple install. Just followed this DIY (http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=730082)

I did the spring installation on my Audi and doing it on the BMW was much easier. The ECS tuning video for the E92 coilover install can be used for the springs.
ECS video click here
Tips:
-Didn't mess with the shocks on the rear, only removed the bolt holding the bottom of the shock on.
-On the front's when we got to the strut, instead of removing the entire spring perch and strut we just removed the middle nut to drop the shock/spring down and rotated it out as he does in the video. Then we just pulled the spring off and put the new one on. Avoiding remove the shock from the knuckle. Doing it this way imo was easier not having spring compressors. We then used a scissor jack to compress the spring against the perch to tighten the shock/strut back in place.
-Also when doing the front it is best to have both sides jacked up at the same time to ease the tension on the swaybar/links.



Everything on the car was pretty much DIY except the downpipe. I didn't mess with that, although I can't imagine it was that hard to do. If you have any questions I'd be more than happy to give you some advice on the task.

I have some more mods on the way and should have them on within the next week or two.

-Forgestar CF5V 8.5" Front and 10" rear with 235/35 and 275/30 hankooks.
-aFe intake
-M Performance Front Splitter
-M Performance Carbon Fiber Interior & M Performance E Brake

I am a bit concerned about the splitter now having the springs on. I would still like to keep my car somewhat practical. I fear with the springs & splitter combination I'm going to be scraping the bottom quite often. If anyone could chime in on this please feel free!

[Maz335i]

Very nice!

I also got the front M Performance Lip installed and currently have H&R Sports Springs too. I havent tried but I fear scraping the bottom too. Hence I avoid steep speed bumps now.

Are those 19" wheels? I got 19" MORR's coming in and going with the same tire formation except getting the PSS instead of the Hankooks. Do you forsee any rubbing issues?

[anelson524]

Originally Posted by Maz335i

Very nice!

I also got the front M Performance Lip installed and currently have H&R Sports Springs too. I havent tried but I fear scraping the bottom too. Hence I avoid steep speed bumps now.

Are those 19" wheels? I got 19" MORR's coming in and going with the same tire formation except getting the PSS instead of the Hankooks. Do you forsee any rubbing issues?

I have another friend on here with a similar setup only he is running 245s on the front I believe. He has no rubbing issues with his current 275s in the rear and said he wants to go 285 next. I'm assuming my offset is the same as his since they are both forgestars so I'm not to worried about tire clearance.

I'm wondering if there is something to maybe put beneath the lip even to protect it. Something like those ez-lips or even some adhesive padding. I'd like something not visible at best though.

[Jamesons Viggen]

What's your opinion on the look and ride of the Sports, Super Sports seem a teensy bit too low for me.

[AntBabeee]

Can I get more pictures of the brakes? Front and rear? I was thinking of doing the same, but didn't know how the rear would look...

[Maz335i]

Originally Posted by anelson524

I have another friend on here with a similar setup only he is running 245s on the front I believe. He has no rubbing issues with his current 275s in the rear and said he wants to go 285 next. I'm assuming my offset is the same as his since they are both forgestars so I'm not to worried about tire clearance.

I'm wondering if there is something to maybe put beneath the lip even to protect it. Something like those ez-lips or even some adhesive padding. I'd like something not visible at best though.

Yeh I was thinking about the same. Some sort of clear tape?

But thats great news about the tire setup. I hope MORR gives me conservative offsets...

But I dont think I'll have any problems. My current setup is 18" as its for my winter driving....once I get the 19", I should have about an inch clearance from the front...that will be enough to counter the speed bumps.

[anelson524]

Originally Posted by Jamesons Viggen

What's your opinion on the look and ride of the Sports, Super Sports seem a teensy bit too low for me.

Albeit the sports definitely gave me more of a drop that I expected. There is no way I would go with the super sports after seeing this in person. I think once I get my new wheels and tires on it will fill out nicely.

As far as the ride goes I guess I'm not much of an car person to really notice a difference as others state. I don't notice anything more harsh or any 'cornering' improvement either. This was a purely cosmetic upgrade for me, the performance side is just a bonus.

If you do not plan on adding a front lip I think think the drop is perfect. I think the front lip would probably be safer with coilovers to adjust height and be safer. But either way I'm adding the lip, I believe it really adds to the overall look of the car.

Originally Posted by AntBabeee

Can I get more pictures of the brakes? Front and rear? I was thinking of doing the same, but didn't know how the rear would look...

Here are a couple more pic's of the brakes. Not the best as they are with the wheel on still. I almost recommend not doing the rears. It loses the performance oem look and gives it more of a dinky DIY job. Stripping the rears is probably in the future for me.

[anelson524]

Forgot I can't leave out my two favorites.

Just installed my Blackvue DR500GW-HD over the weekend as well. The unit is bigger than I had originally imagined but with the correct mounting location it is near invisible to the driver. The quality is great and I have already captured one good moment the first night out with it. Girlfriend and I were sitting in the car waiting on our friend when this lovely lady came strolling by lol..





Second is my Valentine 1. I just purchased this about two weeks ago as well. I have been using the Escort 9500ix for the last year or two and I really do love it. I bought the Valentine 1 to test out against my Escort on a trip to Dallas two weekends ago and the Valentine 1 out performed the Escort by a long shot. The arrows are very addicting and although it does not block out false alarms the Valentine 1 SAVVY does appear to be a great tool to avoid alot of the more annoying alarms.

[1bad335]

great job. Car looks great. Always nice to do it yourself too.

[shivaswrath]

nicely done...

[PaulBailey@ltbmw]

Very cool!
Definitely looking into getting one of these Blackvue DR500GW-HD

[mikew2069]

Lookin good. You should've went 255 in the front and 285 in the rear!

[anelson524]

Originally Posted by mikew2069

Lookin good. You should've went 255 in the front and 285 in the rear!

I really thought about it lol. But in the event my offsets would somehow be different than yours I didn't want to risk it. I'll get some good use from these and go more aggressive next time. Especially after seeing the drop on these H&Rs I'm already a bit skeptical about the 275s in the rear.

To late now one shipment of many has arrived.

[J-boogey]

looking good, I just installed the ER downpipe I'm loving it! i'm going to probably get the challenge exhaust or the PE

[MassBimmer]

The F30 actually calls for a taller tire than what you got...should be 235/40/19 and 275/35/19 I believe. Car looks great with the stock wheels though, I wouldn't change them..

[anelson524]

Originally Posted by MassBimmer

The F30 actually calls for a taller tire than what you got...should be 235/40/19 and 275/35/19 I believe. Car looks great with the stock wheels though, I wouldn't change them..

I just went with the recommendation of my dealer for an aggressive offset and my lowering springs.

[mikew2069]

Originally Posted by MassBimmer

The F30 actually calls for a taller tire than what you got...should be 235/40/19 and 275/35/19 I believe. Car looks great with the stock wheels though, I wouldn't change them..

That's not true - unless you want the tire to have a larger diameter than the stock setup?

[MassBimmer]

Originally Posted by mikew2069

That's not true - unless you want the tire to have a larger diameter than the stock setup?

Original equipment is 225/40/19 and 255/35/19 for the M-Sport staggered tire set up. Check your facts

[mikew2069]

Originally Posted by MassBimmer

Original equipment is 225/40/19 and 255/35/19 for the M-Sport staggered tire set up. Check your facts

Oh Boy oh boy do I love the 'check your facts' statement. Facts checked. Check yours....

Stock
225/40/19 26.08 Diameter
255/35/19 26.02 Diameter

Larger
235/40/19 26.4 Diameter
275/35/19 26.57 Diamter

Smaller but closer to spec and more suitable for a dropped car
255/35/19 26.02
245/35/19 25.75
275/30/19 25.49
285/30/19 25.73

[MassBimmer]

Originally Posted by mikew2069

Oh Boy oh boy do I love the 'check your facts' statement. Facts checked. Check yours....

Stock
225/40/19 26.08 Diameter
255/35/19 26.02 Diameter

Larger
235/40/19 26.4 Diameter
275/35/19 26.57 Diamter

Smaller but closer to spec and more suitable for a dropped car
255/35/19 26.02
245/35/19 25.75
275/30/19 25.49
285/30/19 25.73

Thank you for proving my point. The sizes I mentioned are nearly identical in size difference to the ones you posted yet you have him needlessly going to a smaller sidewall. If it were my car, I would prefer to stay with the same sidewall.

[anelson524]

Originally Posted by MassBimmer

Thank you for proving my point. The sizes I mentioned are nearly identical in size difference to the ones you posted yet you have him needlessly going to a smaller sidewall. If it were my car, I would prefer to stay with the same sidewall.

With the car being lowered don't I want smaller sidewalls? There by reducing overall diameter allowing more clearance?

[Maz335i]

Guys,

Since the car is being lowered, your best bet is the following:

235/35/19 or 245/35/19
275/30/19