Late Model Throttle was hosting a dyno day at their shop in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Knowing that there would be a DynoJet and some cool cars, I decided to sign up!
The car was strapped on and put down 448whp and 501wtq with SAE correction. However, all of the N54 guys use STD correction and that converts to about 468whp and 523wtq!
Continue reading BMW 135i – FBO Stock Turbo Dyno Results (N54)
After owning my 1-series for over a year, I finally got sick of the halogen angel eye bulbs. I previously coded their voltage intensity up higher to make them brighter, but I still didn’t like the warm color.
So, I decided to buy myself an early Christmas present! LUX was running a sale, so I grabbed a pair of their latest and greatest angel eyes. Their H8 angel eyes advertised a pure white 7000k temperature with extreme brightness. Perfect!
I received them a few days after ordering and wanted to install them right away. All I had to do was pop the rear headlight covers off. They can be finicky, but you’ll figure it out. After the cover was off, I twisted the old bulbs out. Next, I inserted the new bulb and tucked the power supply box out of the way. Drum roll please…
I finally got around to installing these two cosmetic parts that have been sitting in my garage. I bought the Rieger diffuser used and the carbon fiber hydrodip was fading. Time to get to work!
Sanded it down with some high-grit sandpaper and setup a ghetto booth in the shop’s bathroom.
Put down a few coats of primer and then started spraying Plastidip.
Continue reading BMW 135i – Rieger Rear Diffuser Install
A few weeks ago the car started making a squeaking noise. So, I popped the hood and started taking a video. Here is what I found:
As soon as I noticed the shredding serpentine belt, I drove home and parked the car. Ordered a new belt and tensioner, along with oil filter housing gaskets (#1 & #2) because mine were leaking. Once the parts arrived, Bob helped me install everything. Here is a picture of the OFH gaskets going in, what a mess…
Obligatory picture of the shredded belt:
We put everything back together and assumed all was good. Wrong. About 50 miles later, the belt started shredding again. This time it started wrapping around the alternator pulley and burnt up the backside of the brand new tensioner pulleys.
Continue reading BMW 135i – Serpentine Belt Issues and Fix (N54)
I recently purchased a 75mm Wheel Stud Conversion Kit from APEX Race Parts to go with my APEX ARC-8 wheels. I chose the kit with hex head studs and silver lug nuts.
This kit makes wheel changing much easier and allows you to use spacers without having to buy extended lug bolts.
As the weather has been getting warmer, I decided it was the perfect time to install them with my summer wheels. So, I documented the process to share!
Step #1 – Loosen all 5 lug bolts while the car is on the ground.
Step #2 – Jack up the car, take off lug bolts, remove the wheel.
Step #3 – Apply a drop or two of thread-locker onto the threads at the short end of the stud.
Continue reading How-To: Install APEX Stud Conversion Kit for BMW
