New 135 is fast !

Hello there,

I have been playing with my new 135i for a few weeks now. I come from the Saab Audi world and wanted to start tuning and playing with the BMW cars since Saab is going down. I have to say these cars are a blast with a tune on them. I am having a great time playing with rwd and here is a little teaser video of my 135i



JZW

Got my new Hankook Ventus RS-3 rear tires. These should really help with my traction issues that I am having :-) Will test fit tomorrow, went with 255 35 18.

JZW

If you think 135i is fast try the new f20 M135i
Official 0-100kmh in 4.9 sec

Originally Posted by SilverX3

If you think 135i is fast try the new f20 M135i
Official 0-100kmh in 4.9 sec

Faster... http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/3515872674.html

The M is nice, but I should be faster than that car stock. I am at 6000' in Denver and with my new tune on the car its around 360bhp . The 0-60mph times ? I have not tested my car yet, but have seen other guys claim 3.8 seconds, not sure if that is possible. I will have to hook up my logger and see what my car is doing now that it is tuned.

After I get done playing with stg 1, I plan on setting up a stg 3 with IC and exhaust and tune and then I have a plan for upgraded compressor wheels and clip on the turbine side and ?Bhp

I love to make cars go fast, have the fastest Saab in America, 10.61@139mph, but Saab is dead :-( Moving on to bigger and better things :-)

Hello RWD :-) I would love an M series, but that is double what I paid for mine and with less money I should have something that will be much faster than an M by the time I get done with it.



JZW

Get some suspension before all those power upgrades if you actually want to use it and put it to the ground. The stock suspension is built for funflats so you might start bouncing arouns on rs3. Great tires though. But bmws are meant for TURNS.

Originally Posted by JZWBMW

The M is nice, but I should be faster than that car stock. I am at 6000' in Denver and with my new tune on the car its around 360bhp . The 0-60mph times ? I have not tested my car yet, but have seen other guys claim 3.8 seconds, not sure if that is possible. I will have to hook up my logger and see what my car is doing now that it is tuned.

JZW

Yeah you made the right choice. M is nice but yours will be nice too at half the cost

Thanks, I think it will be a lot of fun for sure. I road race and go to High Plains all the time, I like to do a little bit of everything. I know what the BMW is good for, no need to worry about that :-)

I am not so sure on the tires, I know the suspension was designed for run flats, but the side-wall of these tires are so small and stiff, I really think the difference will be very minimal and everything that I read from guys that actually left the run flats behind was positive. This is a very good stiff side-wall tire and being a little less positive in the rear will be exactly what I am trying to do.

Making the car stiffer is not always the right thing to do for proper handling in the corners while playing or racing at the track. Many times you actually want to make the car a little less stiff, would rather have the car push a little and under-steer than be positive and over-steer.

Will be testing all kinds of things, been tuning and racing cars for a long time, this is a new chapter starting with BMW, but I know its going to be a lot of fun and I can't wait to find out what this 135i can do at the track. I will see what it can do at the drag strip just for fun, but the real testing will be at High Plains where I can really let the 135i show its true handling characteristics.

John

Originally Posted by JZWBMW

Thanks, I think it will be a lot of fun for sure. I road race and go to High Plains all the time, I like to do a little bit of everything. I know what the BMW is good for, no need to worry about that :-)

I am not so sure on the tires, I know the suspension was designed for run flats, but the side-wall of these tires are so small and stiff, I really think the difference will be very minimal and everything that I read from guys that actually left the run flats behind was positive. This is a very good stiff side-wall tire and being a little less positive in the rear will be exactly what I am trying to do.

Making the car stiffer is not always the right thing to do for proper handling in the corners while playing or racing at the track. Many times you actually want to make the car a little less stiff, would rather have the car push a little and under-steer than be positive and over-steer.

Will be testing all kinds of things, been tuning and racing cars for a long time, this is a new chapter starting with BMW, but I know its going to be a lot of fun and I can't wait to find out what this 135i can do at the track. I will see what it can do at the drag strip just for fun, but the real testing will be at High Plains where I can really let the 135i show its true handling characteristics.

John

Should be real fun. I have the f30 and it was decent on the track / autox on hankook ventus v12. My lady's car is the 135i sport and looking to just slap some tires on and take it out on the track as well (with or without her knowing! lol). Let me know what the differences are with the changes!

I have been busy building a race motor this week, but should get a chance to put them on the car soon, I hope by this weekend.

Planning a trip to the dyno to see how the new tuning is working. It will be a dyno dynamics, so not looking for high peak numbers, but should show the gains over stock fine :-)

JZW

I would not want to drive that fast in a Saab

Saab cars fall apart even at slow speed...

Not sure which Saabs you have been around, but they are great cars, very under estimated and go 150mph stock with a 4 cylinder. BMW is taking the lead of its spark plug ion sensing knock detection and 4 cylinder turbo charged engines now. Saab was 25 years ahead of its time :-)

There is no question BMW is in a different class, but for FWD, they are great cars, easy to get the power out of and handle quite nice with just a few suspension mods.

My 9k had 333,000 miles, its been tuned on E85 with 350bhp for over 5 years and it will hang with and beat many cars at the road race course and I am talking about M3 cars, Porsche 911 cars and many other cars. It really surprises a lot of people at the track. When we go up to Lewistown, Gary Wolf's 9k is the target at these events and I often see him battling it out with the 01-05 M3 cars, but he has better power to weight and can get by them whenever he wants :-)

I do love my BMW, but I also love what the Saab can do for a fraction of the cost. I also love my Audi A4 with its tuning, they all have their advantages and disadvantages.

JZW

And Saab is dead

For making quirky cars for too long with no buyers

Yes, Saab is dead :-( That is why I have been moving into Audi/VW and BMW is the last few years. Saab sold cars for more than they cost to make. You got a great car, but that is not the way to run a business. They were ahead of their time, 4 cylinder turbo charged engine brought to the market 25 years too early. Now even BMW is going to 4 cylinder turbo charged engine :-) Its a great way to make good power and have good fuel economy.

I think you would be quite surprised if you drove in or raced in any of my Saabs. They always shock people. That is the main thing I loved about the T5 Saabs, you could make 600bhp out of a 2.0 engine with stock internals :-) Nothing like looking at the shocked faces as you pass them in a Saab :-)

Now its a new day for me, time to see what I can do with the BMW platform

JZW

HeyJZWBMW,

I'd be very very interested in your take on how your 135i handles, especially concerning throttle control while cornering.

I'm considering a 128 or 135. While I like the idea of more power on the 135, I'm concerned about throttle feel while cornering. For example I've been playing around with my wife's 335i cornering and I'm finding I'm having trouble modulating the throttle smoothly with the turbo. On naturally aspirated engines it's been so much easier for me feeling the throttle.

Hello there,

You are correct in your feeling of the car, it is a little more tricky to get used to the power that is added by the turbo charged engine. It takes more practice, but once you get the hang of it, it can be more fun and or very controlled. The tires make a big difference and I have gone to some sticky larger 255/35 18 Hankook tires and they are very sticky and I have a lot more grip and the car is easy to control in the corners.

The general consensus is that the 135i pushes in the corners, it has understeer, that is easier to handle than over-steer, so its not too bad. That being said, the car does have a short wheel base and it can come around on you :-)

I love the extra power with a tune and its a blast to drive. I put it back to stock last week and it is very boring to me in stock form, but you put that tune on it and its a blast to drive, I am loving it so far !

Played with some RB turbos last week too, now I know my car will be getting some more mods soon !

JZW

Cool, looking forward to your experience!

Also, there's some chatter about the 135s having engine or fuel injection problems, are you familiar with this? Perhaps your mods will circumvent those anyway?

Doc Wong

Originally Posted by JZWBMW

Hello there,

You are correct in your feeling of the car, it is a little more tricky to get used to the power that is added by the turbo charged engine. It takes more practice, but once you get the hang of it, it can be more fun and or very controlled. The tires make a big difference and I have gone to some sticky larger 255/35 18 Hankook tires and they are very sticky and I have a lot more grip and the car is easy to control in the corners.

The general consensus is that the 135i pushes in the corners, it has understeer, that is easier to handle than over-steer, so its not too bad. That being said, the car does have a short wheel base and it can come around on you :-)

I love the extra power with a tune and its a blast to drive. I put it back to stock last week and it is very boring to me in stock form, but you put that tune on it and its a blast to drive, I am loving it so far !

Played with some RB turbos last week too, now I know my car will be getting some more mods soon !

JZW

def sounds cool keep us updated

Sent from my XT557 using Bimmer App

Originally Posted by docwong

Cool, looking forward to your experience!

Also, there's some chatter about the 135s having engine or fuel injection problems, are you familiar with this? Perhaps your mods will circumvent those anyway?

Doc Wong

There is some problems related to the high flow fuel pumps. Many of the cars have already had the updated fuel pump and new fuel injectors. From my understanding, they try a new software update, replace the fuel pump and then replace the fuel injectors. Once you have had all three things done, there is usually no longer any fueling issues.

When I was looking to buy a 135i, that is one thing I would check out, call the dealer with the vin# and see if the car had been updated with the new pump. I found out that my car had a new updated fuel pump, new fuel injectors and the new updated software to go with it. I have had no issues yet, but that is something to always be aware of with a turbo charged engine. You definitely need good fuel pressure !

JZW

Great, that makes sense! Now I'm on the hunt for a 135i!!!

I just put on my new exhaust and ETS intercooler and put the new tune on the car and it sounds great and is very fast. The exhaust is really something, sounds very exotic and almost like a Ferrari or something.

Little quick vid of me playing around :




JZW

sounds like fun

Sent from my XT557 using Bimmer App

wow thats really fast

Yes, I agree, the 135i is incredibly fast, even in its stock state (which is probably where mine will stay). I love driving it. I happen to have a convertible, which on beautiful days in Georgia is an absolute JOY to drive. Its white with red seats and I've had it for 2 years now. I still LOVE it.

And can I just say that I love how your modified 135i sounds! Also love that you got it up to almost 140 MPH in your video!!!

I think if you put a tune on it, you would never go back, I put mine back to stock the other day and it feels boring and slow compared to the tune. The ecu tune makes it feel much crisper and peppy with better throttle response and better power and torque of course. I could never go back to stock, they feel too darn good with a simple ecu tune :-)

JZW