[Pearly92]

Hey guys I have a bmw 335i 2012 with the n55. I’ve been on top of my maintenance finished replacing my old expansion tank and my oil (liqui moly) just wondering if anyone has recommendations on what maintenance to do next and what mods to begin with! Thanks

[CLEAN13BOOSTED]

Regarding maintenance, what's the current mileage and any major maintenance or repair history. As far as mods, what are your goals/expectations, "mild to wild" and do you have a budget?

[Pearly92]

Originally Posted by CLEAN13BOOSTED

Regarding maintenance, what's the current mileage and any major maintenance or repair history. As far as mods, what are your goals/expectations, "mild to wild" and do you have a budget?

I have 32k miles on the dash currently I haven’t had any major issues. I’m trying to get the most power while staying reliable

[Raghza]

Lots of threads here, including this stickied one:
https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=494316

TL;DR: Chargepipe, downpipe (catted or catless), intercooler, intake (if you want the intake noise), MPP exhaust mod or aftermarket exhaust (if you want louder exhaust note), MHD, XHP.

[anjuna]

Chargepipe is a must. get a two piece metal one. it doesn't really matter the brand - they all do the same thing. You really only need to be concerned about the Intercooler > throttlebody one. I've run the other (turbo > intercooler) stock for 40k miles and have pushed upwards of 25psi on it. Just make sure you take your time and reassemble correctly. They can be difficult to deal with and align. I know you may want to use assembly lube on the coupling hose, but don't.

Downpipe is up for debate. Unless you're planning on going catless and making your emissions "unavailable" (which passes in my state) then leave it as is. Catted "performance" downpipes are a joke for power. You'll just spend moneys.

intercooler depends on your climate and driving style. If you plan to haul ass for longer durations, then yeah get one. I didn't do an intercooler (though, I should..), but in lieu of that I did do a water/meth inject since my chargepipe had two 1/8npt bungs. I use one to drive it's standalone pressure sensor and the other for meth inject. It's an AEM kit but thats honestly just because I'm lazy. Additionally, running 80/20 meth/water will help reduce carbon buildup on the back of intake valves. I've been running it for ~20k miles and went to have my valves walnut blasted ~5k ago and was told that I only had "hard buildup" and no "gunk / oily" buildup. Car has ~90k on it and (as far as I know) has never had walnut blasting prior.

Intake is unnecessary. Stock box is fine unless you're 500hp or more. Even then... meh. but yeah I have one. It's not louder / better.

No need for an exhaust / cat-back unless you want to drive a loud car. This isn't a performance gain and honestly just makes things better when you spank people.

I would add a BPV upgrade for your stock turbo. I found that my stock one would leak and also not react fast enough to avoid brief spikes. This is a pain in the ass x1000 to install, but it can be done with enough patience and alcohol. (well, i'm x-drive too).

As far as other stuff for "preventative" or general maintenance... I went with N52 spark plugs, better ignition coils (but not "extreme performance" coils), rotella T6 oil, change your trans fluid properly, change yer diff fluids properly (and t-case, if you're x-drive) and take care of things as they pop up. May be uncessary, but I did add a polyurethane guibo disk (the flex disk between output shaft and driveshaft) because I did destroy an OE guibo.

I'd say adding some of those phat ass KYB shocks with mild / acceptably comfortable lowering springs. Definitely makes the car more enjoyable to drive without killing the ride quality.

Remember that if you're changing brake pads (performance or stock) that you'll want brake pad sensors. If you have a BMW scan tool (like $5 in ios store) you can set your rear parking brakes wide open to make pad changes easy.

That's all the hardware taken care of. For a tune, I'd suggest sticking with the canned MHD tunes if you want. The BMW DME will handle most other changes. However if you're gonna go catless / MAFless, etc. You'll want to do some tuning yourself and not pay for the MHD tunes. Good power can be made easily by increasing max load, re-scaling ignition, fueling, and VANOS tables to include your load range. From there you can add some timing little by little until you see timing correction via MHD, then pull back 1 to 1.5 degrees. I did a writeup on this if you look at threads I started.

If you plan on running e85, you'll want an upgraded in-tank pump and ABSOLUTELY run a fuel lubricant for the HPFP. Without a fuel lubricant, you'll likely experience erratic injector pressure at the end of your first tank of e85.

Obviously some next steps past that are a PS2 turbo or something else, but generally if you follow these steps, you'll really only want a PS2 if youre dead nuts set on making the car a good bit quicker, but also a fucking money pit. The above mentioned stuff will be a quick chunk of change, but PS2 and supporting mods (port inject fueling, etc.) can start to creep into "I really shouldn't have done this" territory.

[wheela]

Originally Posted by anjuna

Chargepipe is a must. get a two piece metal one. it doesn't really matter the brand - they all do the same thing. You really only need to be concerned about the Intercooler > throttlebody one. I've run the other (turbo > intercooler) stock for 40k miles and have pushed upwards of 25psi on it. Just make sure you take your time and reassemble correctly. They can be difficult to deal with and align. I know you may want to use assembly lube on the coupling hose, but don't.

Downpipe is up for debate. Unless you're planning on going catless and making your emissions "unavailable" (which passes in my state) then leave it as is. Catted "performance" downpipes are a joke for power. You'll just spend moneys.

intercooler depends on your climate and driving style. If you plan to haul ass for longer durations, then yeah get one. I didn't do an intercooler (though, I should..), but in lieu of that I did do a water/meth inject since my chargepipe had two 1/8npt bungs. I use one to drive it's standalone pressure sensor and the other for meth inject. It's an AEM kit but thats honestly just because I'm lazy. Additionally, running 80/20 meth/water will help reduce carbon buildup on the back of intake valves. I've been running it for ~20k miles and went to have my valves walnut blasted ~5k ago and was told that I only had "hard buildup" and no "gunk / oily" buildup. Car has ~90k on it and (as far as I know) has never had walnut blasting prior.

Intake is unnecessary. Stock box is fine unless you're 500hp or more. Even then... meh. but yeah I have one. It's not louder / better.

No need for an exhaust / cat-back unless you want to drive a loud car. This isn't a performance gain and honestly just makes things better when you spank people.

I would add a BPV upgrade for your stock turbo. I found that my stock one would leak and also not react fast enough to avoid brief spikes. This is a pain in the ass x1000 to install, but it can be done with enough patience and alcohol. (well, i'm x-drive too).

As far as other stuff for "preventative" or general maintenance... I went with N52 spark plugs, better ignition coils (but not "extreme performance" coils), rotella T6 oil, change your trans fluid properly, change yer diff fluids properly (and t-case, if you're x-drive) and take care of things as they pop up. May be uncessary, but I did add a polyurethane guibo disk (the flex disk between output shaft and driveshaft) because I did destroy an OE guibo.

I'd say adding some of those phat ass KYB shocks with mild / acceptably comfortable lowering springs. Definitely makes the car more enjoyable to drive without killing the ride quality.

Remember that if you're changing brake pads (performance or stock) that you'll want brake pad sensors. If you have a BMW scan tool (like $5 in ios store) you can set your rear parking brakes wide open to make pad changes easy.

That's all the hardware taken care of. For a tune, I'd suggest sticking with the canned MHD tunes if you want. The BMW DME will handle most other changes. However if you're gonna go catless / MAFless, etc. You'll want to do some tuning yourself and not pay for the MHD tunes. Good power can be made easily by increasing max load, re-scaling ignition, fueling, and VANOS tables to include your load range. From there you can add some timing little by little until you see timing correction via MHD, then pull back 1 to 1.5 degrees. I did a writeup on this if you look at threads I started.

If you plan on running e85, you'll want an upgraded in-tank pump and ABSOLUTELY run a fuel lubricant for the HPFP. Without a fuel lubricant, you'll likely experience erratic injector pressure at the end of your first tank of e85.

Obviously some next steps past that are a PS2 turbo or something else, but generally if you follow these steps, you'll really only want a PS2 if youre dead nuts set on making the car a good bit quicker, but also a fucking money pit. The above mentioned stuff will be a quick chunk of change, but PS2 and supporting mods (port inject fueling, etc.) can start to creep into "I really shouldn't have done this" territory.

Well said

[Schmidty335i]

OP if you are interested in parts for your car PM me I recently installed a Speedtech kit so I have a bunch of parts for you if you want. all parts came off my 2012 e92 335i.

[Ozzie335i]

Originally Posted by Schmidty335i

OP if you are interested in parts for your car PM me I recently installed a Speedtech kit so I have a bunch of parts for you if you want. all parts came off my 2012 e92 335i.

Oh no, are you out of the game now?