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PranK

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Posts posted by PranK

    "Unread content" always shows nothing.

    in Site discussion - including Ideas/Feedback & Bugs

    Posted

    On 13/11/2023 at 10:13 AM, GTSBoy said:

    I'm not sure it's all working. This is a snip of my "Unread Content" page, admittedly after I had already opened new threads that I saw on my usual forum pages. There is nothing new there - the one from you on the top has been hanging around for ages now. I don't know for sure that there is no other activity elsewhere on the site that is missing from here, but I would presume that there should be something going on in the nether recesses (like the NA forum, the VQ engined forums, state forums, etc).

    image.thumb.png.ebc70dcc04b5774b4095b84e018de02b.png

    Cool, found it. Will sort shortly.

     

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    From my understanding, thats exactly how it is configured, it adds a rev limiter which is set to a conservative level, rather than a cold power cut. Unfortunately (or, fortunately) I'll have no real way of testing it when it arrives! 🤣

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    So, apparently the N54 can suffer from oil starvation at track G's. Its not quite as bad an RB26 but still possible. 

    As my oil pan has to come off to get a new seal I thought I'd look into baffle options. There are some out there but they're definitely not perfect and you still run a bit of a risk.

    Then today, I found that I can fit an aftermarket oil pressure sensor which is monitored by the car as usual but my tuning app (MHD) can tune the car to protect itself with various pressures. A 'soft' warning will tell you to take it easy while a harder warning will actually kill power to protect internals. Sounds freaking cool and as I said it just piggy backs off my existing tune software.

    https://nexsysmotorsport.com/n54-oil-pressure-sensor-kit/

    The lads at Zero to 60 have a video showing the pissy install and features. 

     

    I've already bought it (approx $340 delivered) and not sure I'd worry about a baffle as well. My car will be going in soon for the oil pan and turbo swap.

    • Like 2

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    Oh and a quick trip back to the brakes. They kinda suck. They shook like nuts before I bought the car and the dealer changed them all and obviously used cheapest parts available. Although they're 18mm bigger diameter than the 330i's 330mm they dont have anything like the bite that car has with DBA slotted rotors and Bendix ultimates.

    I think I have posted earlier that I'll get the DBA rotors again and maybe some Yellowstuff or even the Hawk HP pads.

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    So, I'm pretty excited about this. I found a guy on gumtree with some ~100k's old turbos for sale. I asked if they had wastegate rattle and he said he didnt know but it's a safe bet at this age that they do. We got to talking and he said that he used to own a turbo shop and I asked if he'd be interested in fixing the flapper on the used turbos and selling to me as 'repaired' and he said he would.

    Top bloke in the end and for about ~$750 I got a pair of repaired turbos. (note that the going rate to fix the flapper is anywhere between $600 - $1k alone without the turbos.) 

    They arrived on Monday and look great with the actuator arm and flapper all tight with no play.

     

    20231011_101426.jpg 20231011_101405.jpg 20231011_101359.jpg

     

    I can see why BMW hid these turbos underneath everything else. They're far from impressive and look like pretend turbos they're so small. 

    • Like 2

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    Although I do very few k's, I was starting to rip through my Federal 595's on the street so I decided to get street rims. Especially as I have hardly been to the track recently (besides a day at Luddenham).

    I found some F30 3 series '403 M' style wheels and got some tyres for them. 

    I really don't like the polished face on these rims so have already done something about that. Will update on that soon.

     

    20230826_131125.jpg

    • Like 3

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    I replaced my stupid Pro Vision xenon bulbs which just flickered all the time with Osram replacements. Crazy how expensive these are. Fixed the problem and the light is far superior to the Pro Vision.

    I contacted Pro Vision about them and was told I needed to change my ballasts 🤔. Conveniently they sold the ballasts I needed for ~$300ea. Yeah no. Cut my $100 loss and move on. 

    Also more recently I changed the adaptive headlight controllers as they didn't adapt and were giving an error. The whole front had to come off for that.

    I also ran a little bit of ducting from next to the foglight up near my pods. I'm not sure if that will do anything but thought I'd try. The engine bay temps in the N54 are SO much higher than the N52.

    image.jpeg

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    At this point, with the FMIC I could try the MHD Stage 1+ tune. This brought the car to around 390HP.

    On first run I blew the silicon pipe off the charge pipe. The one supplied with the charge pipe was far too short. Managed to pick up a SAAS replacement from SCA which was a good 30 - 40mm longer.

    20230629_134723.jpg 20230629_085639.jpg 20230701_150719.jpg   

    Its pretty crazy how much more power I got for minimal funds. It has a fair bit of lag but it pulls pretty well.

    I can't leave this tune enabled though as the wastegate rattle is really bad when it is enabled. 

    • Like 1

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    Then came the new FMIC. A Mishimoto. I could have gone much larger including some 'step' designs which increase the surface area but retain the factory mounts. But, in the end I'm not looking for heaps of power and this was perfect. The quality was top notch and the fitment was spot on. Intake temps came down a fair bit but I didn't note them down and can't remember 😕

    The main benefit of this cooler is the end tanks. The OE end tanks are quite restrictive and also prone to breaking as they're plastic.

     

    20230624_130421.jpg

    20230624_131647.jpg

    • Like 1

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    So, the squealing noise kept getting worse. I booked the car in to BimmerTech to have a few things looked at and while en route, the engine momentarily revved with no drive a few times and then refused to shift out of 3rd. Thankfully this was the perfect gear as I could get going and keep up with traffic for the 15 k's or so to go. These boxes are notorious for strange behaviour when they haven't had a fluid change or service (despite "lifetime" fluids being used by BMW). 

    Hilariously I had a new filter/pan for the box with oil so I could do this job myself. They were in the boot so I got BimmerTech to replace the pan (the filter is built into the plastic box pan) and fluid. They said it was really terrible fluid. I've had no box problems since and the squealing is also gone. Looks like the squealing was from the box. 

    While there I spoke to them about the excess oil consumption. I had been requested by the car to add 1L oil on 2 occasions within a few months of buying the car. BMW's burn oil during normal driving conditions and the on board computer will ask for a top up when it gets low but 2L over about 5 months and 2k k's was a bit excessive. Mech said most likely the valve stem seals (common issue). But he said we could try a thicker grade oil and also an additive that softens the rubber on the seals so we put in 10w-50 with this additive and the car hasn't requested a top up since. 

    I'm not sure what I'd do if the valve stem seals get worse. It *looks* like a DIY job but also super fiddly and easy to screw up. 

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    I'd started hearing some strange squealing noises which sounded a lot like the pulleys so, next job was to replace the pulleys and tensioner and whack a new belt on. The pulleys felt a bit rough but weren't particularly bad. The noise continued afterwards. 

    I also replaced the plastic PCV which is prone to leaking with an aluminium one. I also replaced all coils with brand new Bosch OEM ones as the idle was sometimes a little rough. Bosch spark plugs were done  a few weeks later ... Believe it or not, standard plug sockets don't work on the N54, you need a special 'thin wall' socket which I had to order. 

    Buying parts got a whole lot cheaper recently through FCP Euro. In the past buying anything from the states was SUPER expensive to ship and would take forever. FCP now have the package with you within about 10 days and is much more akin to what you'd expect. With shipping the Bosch coils were about $30ea rather than the several hundred locally.

     

     

    My BMW 335i

    in Euro Discussion

    Posted

    I thought it was about time I updated this. I'll try to keep it chronological but apologies if its a little all over the place.

    Not long after doing the rear window seal and (thankfully) before I'd done the front, the windscreen broke. I have windscreen cover and a new one was on in no time and it had a fresh seal so I'm happy I didn't do that part.

    Then came the front brakes. I had bought some 335i calipers to upgrade the brakes on the 330i (348mm v 330mm) and never fit them. So, I decided to rebuild them as I'd never done that before. I sanded them and wire-wheeled them back to fresh metal and replaced the seal and dust covers (which was stupidly frustrating but alas, as is common with BMW's I'd been sent the wrong part.) Painting them came out perfectly, until the fricken clear coat which needed 4 million degrees for 30 mins to cure. As I have a broken oven I had no way of doing this. I did the best I could with boxes and heat guns but it 100% ruined the finish and the calipers had to go on looking far worse than I'd have liked. Although, the reason I chose silver to start with is to make them look clean and not especially 'painted'.  I flushed the brake fluid and replaced the last of the rubber lines with braided.

    image.jpeg

     

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