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      04-26-2021, 05:26 PM   #1
USC_MTBR
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2015 435i Just Another Stormtrooper/Ghost build

Hey y'all long time lurker and first time poster. Earlier this month I was able to pick up a F32 in the exact spec that I wanted. Coming from a 2009 328i xdrive it has been a treat. (I still love the e92)

It's a 2015 435i with just over 64k miles, m sport including breaks, technology, heads up display, and premium package. It was a little higher millage then I wanted but had all the options I cared about, and looked clean with a solid carfax history report. After over a year of looking I pulled the trigger and traded in the e92.



The previous owner had done some work to the car before it was sold. It had an aftermarket air intake and when the put the OEM one back on they didn't have the right screws. Thankfully the janky Philips heads are holding and aren't causing any issues. They also broke the clip holding the vacuum line going into the intake. All this means is I have an actual reason to upgrade the air intake.



They also put on a metal charge pipe. It looks like an ebay special but if anyone can help me identify it'd be appreciated.





First thing I had to take care of (after pre-purchase inspection/oil change) was getting my bike rack back on so I could start hitting the trails again this summer. Refinished the Thule end caps with a black epoxy spray paint. They were sun bleached and the glass fiber reinforcement was starting to show. The silver runners are wrapped in 3m's 2080 carbon fiber wrap. It's holding up so far to the Charlotte weather and has survived a trip to Charleston. We'll see how the heat hits it in a few months.



Hard to see in this picture but the white on black blends in pretty well and doesn't stand as tall as the OEM BMW roof rack.



Had to throw the M4 style spoiler and black chrome 435i badge on it. I'm not a fan of chrome in general The spoiler will also be the only M4 style mod I'll do. I'm not trying to up-badge although I wish I had a M4. The exhaust tips will be changed out in time. I'm still trying to decide on what exhaust to go with. Currently leaning towards the M Performance one since I daily this and don't need it too loud, but that's pricy. Hopefully I can find a used one on ebay or in a pull-a-part that isn't damaged.



The tensioner pulley was starting to make the chirping noise and had a wobble to it so I replaced that as well. This was way easier than I thought it'd be. It was harder tracking down a T60 bit after the one I ordered on amazon was lost in the mail. Ended up going to 3 auto parts stores and decided to just get a kit that has all the weird sizes I'll need in the future. The faces the reps made when I asked if they carried a T60 was worth it




Had to get rid of the orange reflectors. These are the "smoked" reflectors you can grab on ebay for like $20 the fitment is better than I thought they'd be. I might switch to the paint matched ones later. Depends on how these look with a front lip once I get one.



The project from this past weekend and last until my bank account recovers 6.5" VRSF stepped intercooler. They're on sale and with the Carolina summers coming up I figured more bigger more better. I also picked up the FTP Boost Pipe because I'd be in there anyway, and I like the idea of all metal from turbo to throttle body.

Stock:



The difference. This doesn't do it justice. The weight of the VRSF intercooler compared to the stock one is laughable.



I had to put in and take the intercooler out twice. The first time I had the silicone coupler on the turbo side of the boost pipe and couldn't get it to move down over the silver metal half. The second time I put the coupler on the intercooler and with the silicone tube and slid that onto the black side of the boost pipe. Other than that the only hard part about this was getting that dreaded black clip off the stock boost pipe.



Once the boost pipe side was seated the charge pipe wouldn't want to move the 5mm to clip in the part in red. I ended up needing to undo the C clip at the top and do some persuasion, but it finally clicked in. All in all this took about 4 hours, but I was taking my time. This is easily doable if you have the basic tools and mechanical knowhow.



After:



Other then a few coding options I've done that's how the car sits today. The next mod will be a downpipe then tune. I'm still torn on MHD or BM3. I wish there was a way to view the BM3 tunes that are available without purchasing it, or you can and I'm just dumb

Currently the VRSF high flow cat is in the lead. I'm not out racing so the added power of a catless downpipe doesn't out weigh the smell or emissions and there are enough straight piped Hondas and 350z's around where I live to where that loud of an exhaust gets old. The M Performance exhaust with a high flow cat should be a pretty good match up for a stock+2 like sound that's aggressive enough but can still have a pretty chill cruise on Sunday morning. It's just the BMW tax that comes with it

My only complaint is how numb the steering is in comfort mode, but sport mode is good enough I miss the hydraulic steering in the e92, but absolutely love this car. It was worth waiting over a year for the right one to pop up.
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      04-27-2021, 12:53 AM   #2
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Nice ride. Looks like same spec as mine just in white.

I'm running MHD with the VRSF catted pipe and love it every time I drive the car. Before you buy exhaust do the tune and DP first as I've found the stock exhaust to be enough. I even get compliments on it from time to time.
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      04-27-2021, 03:19 PM   #3
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That's some solid advice, thanks! I'm thinking of going MHD now as well. I made a BM3 account last night and was going through the tunes. It's looking like a lot of options, at the end of the day, I won't use.
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      04-30-2021, 11:22 PM   #4
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Congrats on your 2015 435i! I bought my 2015 435i in November and love it. It came with the MPPK and MPE plus a lot of carbon fiber goodies and was low mileage (less than 27k) so I jumped on it when I saw it. I'm also in Charlotte and am in the process of modding but am almost done. All that is left that I will do is the Active Autowerke high flow catted downpipe, which I hope to do in the next couple months. So far I've done:

- FTP charge pipe
- Dinan intercooler
- Carbahn Autoworks Stage 2 tune
- New spark plugs and gap
- New carbon fiber front splitter (original cracked)
- K&N high flow air filter (I decided to keep the MPPK intake for now)

I will say that the N55/MPE combination sounds great. I came from a 2016 340i, which is also great with the B58, but the N55 sounds better. Looks like you got a really nice spec too! Keep us posted on which tune and exhaust you end up going with and what you think.
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      05-05-2021, 09:31 AM   #5
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That's a nice looking car and great find! The black accents down the sides look pretty good!

I should be picking up the VRSF high flow cat here in the next week or so, and will most likely stick with the stock muffler, or move to the MPE if I want more sound.

How do you like the K&N filer? I was thinking of picking either that or the AfE dry filter for the time being.
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      05-06-2021, 10:21 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by USC_MTBR View Post
That's a nice looking car and great find! The black accents down the sides look pretty good!

I should be picking up the VRSF high flow cat here in the next week or so, and will most likely stick with the stock muffler, or move to the MPE if I want more sound.

How do you like the K&N filer? I was thinking of picking either that or the AfE dry filter for the time being.
Thanks! I like the K&N filter. I know that topic has been written about a lot in these forums but this is the second BMW I have used a K&N filter in and neither one has given me an issue. I like it for the improved sound. I'm not sure if throttle response is improved or not but maybe a little.
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      05-11-2021, 08:55 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by BMWApp View Post
Thanks! I like the K&N filter. I know that topic has been written about a lot in these forums but this is the second BMW I have used a K&N filter in and neither one has given me an issue. I like it for the improved sound. I'm not sure if throttle response is improved or not but maybe a little.

True! I'd mainly get it for the sound, and can't justify a full intake yet. I've had K&N before and never had issues. Got the itch to grab something and just ordered one.
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      05-16-2021, 07:12 PM   #8
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Got this in the mail today going to throw it on this weekend while doing an oil change. I also noticed the breather hose is cracked, so I need to order a replacement.
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      06-07-2021, 10:41 AM   #9
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Got the down pipe on a couple weeks ago and couldn't hold off on getting a tune. Ended up grabbing BM3 and used the "free" map on their multimap stage 2. Which worked out well. I was worried about not being able to get 93 if I go on a road trip and was going to get a 91 map before I saw the multimaps being available. Now I can switch between a couple maps depending on octane. Ended up replacing the spark plugs with the NGK 97506's gapped to .022. The ones I took out were BMW branded Bosh ZR5TPP33-S plugs. I'm not sure if they were stock or replaced at some point. I failed to save the carfax so /shrug. No misfires or anything on the NGK plugs and the timing's all the same during WOT with no knocks detected.

I wasn't originally planning on it but now I'm looking for an axle back exhaust. Valvetronic's in the lead since it retains the valve to keep is "quite" in comfort mode, and the TurnerMotorsports is a close second.
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      06-08-2021, 01:09 PM   #10
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Miss my while and black cars. working with blue and black now.
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      06-08-2021, 04:17 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Ru View Post
Miss my while and black cars. working with blue and black now.
The Estoril Blue with some darker matte bronze rims looks so good. I would have picked that up if one came in the spec/price I was looking for.
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      06-08-2021, 04:33 PM   #12
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Went a bit crazy with some 3m vinyl wrap. The other week I wrapped the front brace with "3M 1080 Gloss Deep Blue wrap" searching that on amazon should pull it right up. The 1/2ft x 5ft is more then enough . It matches the brakes surprisingly well. I did this the other week and so far it's holding up pretty well. Pretty cheap mod to give it that little bit more.






Admittingly bad picture.



Today I realized that I had enough 3M 2080 Carbon Fiber wrap left over from my roof rack that I could knock out a few of the trim pieces. It came out better then I thought, but still has mistakes. I thought I'd end up pulling it off before I started. I am planning on getting some actual carbon trim pieces, but after getting a tune I do want an aftermarket muffler. Even with the downpipe I'd like it a bit more loud in sport mode.


The shifter is OEM, except for the trim around the leather.



The vent on the other side of the steering wheel is also wrapped but didn't think it needed a picture.

I did attempt to do the door pulls, but I didn't have enough to properly cover them. That'll just be my motivation to get an actual trim kit
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      08-02-2021, 12:50 PM   #13
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Well that didn't take long. Even though I wasn't planning on getting an axle back I ended up with the AWE axleback Well worth it. I was looking to get a muffler that retained the valve but adjusting the burble settings in BM3 did the trick. Comfort mode is quite enough and Sport "wakes it up". These are the 102mm tips. I'll end up swapping them out with something carbon. They fill out the cutouts pretty well if that's what you're looking for. The one on the passenger side also was a tad too big, but the beer can shim did the trick to make it snug.

This was really easy to install. 1 cut 2" back from the resonator weld and it bolted right up. The only issue I had was that the muffler hangers seem to hang lower. I'm not sure if it's because the rubber hangers are worn out or just because the muffler is heavier than stock. Thankfully I had a big'ole zip tie that helped support it.





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      08-10-2021, 02:27 PM   #14
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Let check sound
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      08-24-2021, 01:49 PM   #15
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Very nice mods, nice engine, nice car !
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      08-31-2021, 09:42 AM   #16
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I'll get a sound clip this weekend. I just got over the 800 mile break in period. The AWE with the High Flow VRSF downpipe sounds pretty good and I highly recommend it if you don't want to go straight pipped.
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      08-31-2021, 10:28 AM   #17
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Perfect! Is much brutal/bass sound then straight pipe?
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      09-01-2021, 03:14 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alpina_user View Post
Perfect! Is much brutal/bass sound then straight pipe?
I think there is, but others do not. Especially around the 1800-2000 rpm range. When I first put the muffler on it was noticeable, but now that all of the packing is fluffed up it's gone.

Last edited by USC_MTBR; 09-01-2021 at 03:45 PM..
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      09-01-2021, 04:55 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by USC_MTBR View Post
I think there is, but others do not. Especially around the 1800-2000 rpm range. When I first put the muffler on it was noticeable, but now that all of the packing is fluffed up it's gone.
Thanks for the answer. All the best.
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      09-04-2021, 05:57 PM   #20
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Here's a cold start video. No revs or anything. I'll get those here soon. Sounds pretty good even with the high flow cats.



Comfort and Sport Mode revs after the engine has warmed up.


Last edited by USC_MTBR; 09-05-2021 at 01:18 PM..
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      09-06-2021, 10:14 AM   #21
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great sounds
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      09-14-2021, 07:50 AM   #22
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Got around to putting together a time lapse of my trip to Texas. Drove 2700ish miles in 6 days and loved every minute of it.

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