[GTBrandon]

Originally Posted by Empower04

Are you going to buy an exhaust too or at least a mid pipe? It seems there's a lot of potential there for our cars.

I am thinking about the exhaust but before that I will need to get some nice PS4S tires and a tint. Might modify the stock exhaust as well before I go full cat back just to see if I can get the sound I want without dropping $1500 on a full setup

[GTBrandon]

Originally Posted by mr_kay

FMIC also looks good. I got mine installed a week or so ago and definitely feel the difference. It required no modifications for me, just needed to finesse the under guard a bit. You'll realize how puny the stock one really is once you take it out. I couldn't believe it...has to have been only 8-9lbs maybe.

Do you have m-sport bumper? I do and I wasn't sure if that would make a difference. Either way I'll figure out tonight for the install haha

[GTBrandon]

Originally Posted by yoandry

Cp looks good, even come with O rings. The only bad thing are those meddle clamps that wont tight as good as others with screw and nuts.

Where would you recommend getting those new clamps? If it's something I can pick up at home depot or similar then I'll pick them up tonight. If I'd have to order then I'll just stick with what they came with.

[mr_kay]

Originally Posted by GTBrandon

Do you have m-sport bumper? I do and I wasn't sure if that would make a difference. Either way I'll figure out tonight for the install haha

Yup, MSport. It's easy if you're DIY'ing, but you might need a second set of hands to help you wiggle the new IC up.

[GTBrandon]

Originally Posted by mr_kay

Yup, MSport. It's easy if you're DIY'ing, but you might need a second set of hands to help you wiggle the new IC up.

I've got a friend who's helping me tonight. I'll post pics/videos once we're done!

[FSociety]

Originally Posted by mr_kay

Yup, MSport. It's easy if you're DIY'ing, but you might need a second set of hands to help you wiggle the new IC up.

Yup my shop needed 2 guys lol but it was all done within the hour.

Some logs from first day 40-70F ambient stock + upgraded and some logs from last night 30F ambient (Ohhhh its working)

http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showpo...35&postcount=7

[Empower04]

Originally Posted by GTBrandon

I am thinking about the exhaust but before that I will need to get some nice PS4S tires and a tint. Might modify the stock exhaust as well before I go full cat back just to see if I can get the sound I want without dropping $1500 on a full setup

I definitely hear you there. Part of owning a BMW unfortunately. I got hooked on the AWE Tuning exhaust for the sound and horsepower gains. I love the aggressive sound. A lot of places have great sales around tax return time and black Friday so I'll be picking it up around then. It's the last piece I need to be FBO too.

[GTBrandon]

Update #3



Oh. My. God. That 2 hour job just took me 6 hours even with help from a friend.

So to start, everything was going fine, got the belly pan off, and the pipes off of the intercooler just fine. Pro-tip, use zip ties to get the clips off of the chargepipe, makes your life ten times easier.



Then came to the torx bolts...these things were so rusted that even with PV blaster, they stripped right away.



So now we decided to use something to bite into it, which meant a trip to Home Depot. After we got back, we tried to get the heads to bite with no avail. I ended up returning these today as they were no use with torx heads.



Now came some thinking and some beers. Our final idea besides a dremel was to drill out the center of the bolt and pull it out with pliers. On the first side the drill bit broke in half while trying to drill through. And on the other side, we drilled through but the bolt still wouldn't budge.

So now, the bolts were still stuck in, and the heads of them were stripped to all hell... Eventually, I found a box of every head imaginable for my wrench. With some creative angles and persuasion, I was able to use an Allen head on one side, and a square head on the other to finally get those damn bolts out.

The second bolt, only the head came out but we'll get back to that..

Now the intercooler came right out, and it was time to get the chargepipe before we put it back in.



Funny side story. When removing the intercooler, lots of rocks/sand/etc was falling on our faces from getting trapped in the intercooler. Something we weren't expecting, was a FULL F******G BIRD CORPSE falling out of my intercooler inches from friends face. So yeah, that was interesting, definitely was restricting some airflow somewhere along the way

The chargepipe was okay at first, but the process of snaking the thin through the bottom of the car was a total PITA. It took a long time of one person pushing, the other pulling/twisting/swearing/breaking plastic pieces throughout the engine bay. There were multiple attempts of getting halfway out, then going back up and trying a new angle, but we finally got it.

Now at this point, the chargepipe went in perfectly fine, and we were at the last step of the process with the intercooler screwing back into place. Mind you it's about 1am at this point and we had started around 7 so we are both tired and any parts store is closed.

We had new bolts to replace the ones that were utterly destroyed in the process of removal. The first side was fine that we never drilled fully through. But the other side, well it still had half the bolt inside of the plastic it screwed into. At this point we realized that nothing could screw in far enough to substantially hold the intercooler in.... so time for more beers and brainstorming.

Since I am going to the shop Monday, and because it was close to 2am with work the next morning, we decided to rig it. A couple of zip tie chains later and the thing was snug. I personally don't like the idea of zipties holding this thing into my car, but there are other bolts, and pans, and clips so I am not too worried for only two days.




So that is my story of installing the chargepipe and intercooler! Not as graceful as I would have expected but it was only due to rusted OEM bolts honestly. The intercooler fit great which was surprising considering how much bigger it was compared to stock

Next will come the downpipe, intake, tune, and dyno on Monday and Tuesday so I will update then! Feel free to ask any questions in the meantime

[stxf30]

Originally Posted by GTBrandon

Where would you recommend getting those new clamps? If it's something I can pick up at home depot or similar then I'll pick them up tonight. If I'd have to order then I'll just stick with what they came with.

I know u already got the CP installed, but they are called t-bolt clamps and you can get them at NAPA auto parts. They get much tighter and are more durable then the worm gear clamps. Less than $5 a piece.

[GTBrandon]

Originally Posted by stxf30

I know u already got the CP installed, but they are called t-bolt clamps and you can get them at NAPA auto parts. They get much tighter and are more durable then the worm gear clamps. Less than $5 a piece.

Think any issues will arise out of the worm gears? It would be a PITA to get them back off and replaced, but if it stops something from blowing off then I wouldn't be opposed to the extra labor.

[stxf30]

Originally Posted by GTBrandon

Think any issues will arise out of the worm gears? It would be a PITA to get them back off and replaced, but if it stops something from blowing off then I wouldn't be opposed to the extra labor.

Really can't say for certain. Might be overkill, but my ER CP came with t-bolt clamps. Pics speak for themselves.

[yoandry]

Originally Posted by GTBrandon

Think any issues will arise out of the worm gears? It would be a PITA to get them back off and replaced, but if it stops something from blowing off then I wouldn't be opposed to the extra labor.

I have installed and uninstalled my cp 3 times, it's a breeze for me now. Just keep an eye on those clamp. You really have rust problem up there in the cold weather.

Originally Posted by stxf30

Really can't say for certain. Might be overkill, but my ER CP came with t-bolt clamps. Pics speak for themselves.

My VRSF came with the T bolt too and it is not overkill, that middle connection needs to be tight.

[stxf30]

My VRSF came with the T bolt too and it is not overkill, that middle connection needs to be tight.[/QUOTE]

Couldn't agree more. After blowing my OEM CP I'd hate to pop that connection off at peak boost.

[GTBrandon]

Originally Posted by stxf30

My VRSF came with the T bolt too and it is not overkill, that middle connection needs to be tight.

Couldn't agree more. After blowing my OEM CP I'd hate to pop that connection off at peak boost. [/QUOTE]
Definitely agree, alas, it's already done and I don't want to pull it out again so I'll just hope everything stays on

Off to the stock dyno now, will update later today with progress!

[jgoens]

Originally Posted by GTBrandon

Couldn't agree more. After blowing my OEM CP I'd hate to pop that connection off at peak boost.

Definitely agree, alas, it's already done and I don't want to pull it out again so I'll just hope everything stays on

Off to the stock dyno now, will update later today with progress![/QUOTE]

I would just leave it--if it is working fine at boost and you put those things on tight, most likely you will not have a problem. If for some reason you do have to take it off then put the t-clamps on. I'm pretty sure I had worm clamps on my VRSF CP for my e90.

[J_MENIS]

Originally Posted by GTBrandon

Update #3



Oh. My. God. That 2 hour job just took me 6 hours even with help from a friend.

So to start, everything was going fine, got the belly pan off, and the pipes off of the intercooler just fine. Pro-tip, use zip ties to get the clips off of the chargepipe, makes your life ten times easier.



Then came to the torx bolts...these things were so rusted that even with PV blaster, they stripped right away.



So now we decided to use something to bite into it, which meant a trip to Home Depot. After we got back, we tried to get the heads to bite with no avail. I ended up returning these today as they were no use with torx heads.



Now came some thinking and some beers. Our final idea besides a dremel was to drill out the center of the bolt and pull it out with pliers. On the first side the drill bit broke in half while trying to drill through. And on the other side, we drilled through but the bolt still wouldn't budge.

So now, the bolts were still stuck in, and the heads of them were stripped to all hell... Eventually, I found a box of every head imaginable for my wrench. With some creative angles and persuasion, I was able to use an Allen head on one side, and a square head on the other to finally get those damn bolts out.

The second bolt, only the head came out but we'll get back to that..

Now the intercooler came right out, and it was time to get the chargepipe before we put it back in.



Funny side story. When removing the intercooler, lots of rocks/sand/etc was falling on our faces from getting trapped in the intercooler. Something we weren't expecting, was a FULL F******G BIRD CORPSE falling out of my intercooler inches from friends face. So yeah, that was interesting, definitely was restricting some airflow somewhere along the way

The chargepipe was okay at first, but the process of snaking the thin through the bottom of the car was a total PITA. It took a long time of one person pushing, the other pulling/twisting/swearing/breaking plastic pieces throughout the engine bay. There were multiple attempts of getting halfway out, then going back up and trying a new angle, but we finally got it.

Now at this point, the chargepipe went in perfectly fine, and we were at the last step of the process with the intercooler screwing back into place. Mind you it's about 1am at this point and we had started around 7 so we are both tired and any parts store is closed.

We had new bolts to replace the ones that were utterly destroyed in the process of removal. The first side was fine that we never drilled fully through. But the other side, well it still had half the bolt inside of the plastic it screwed into. At this point we realized that nothing could screw in far enough to substantially hold the intercooler in.... so time for more beers and brainstorming.

Since I am going to the shop Monday, and because it was close to 2am with work the next morning, we decided to rig it. A couple of zip tie chains later and the thing was snug. I personally don't like the idea of zipties holding this thing into my car, but there are other bolts, and pans, and clips so I am not too worried for only two days.




So that is my story of installing the chargepipe and intercooler! Not as graceful as I would have expected but it was only due to rusted OEM bolts honestly. The intercooler fit great which was surprising considering how much bigger it was compared to stock

Next will come the downpipe, intake, tune, and dyno on Monday and Tuesday so I will update then! Feel free to ask any questions in the meantime

I'm doing my FMIC and CP in about a hour or two lol

[J_MENIS]

Originally Posted by stxf30

Really can't say for certain. Might be overkill, but my ER CP came with t-bolt clamps. Pics speak for themselves.

The work clamps on my other car flew loose and charge pipe came undone. I would recommend t bolts

[mbanks21]

I had a dead dragonfly fall right in my face along with dirt/rocks/ etc when I pulled mine out.

[GTBrandon]

Update #4

Just got the car off of the dyno over at PTuning. They were using a dynodynamic with dynodynamic numbers just so everybody knows. These are going to be lower than a Dynonet that everybody else uses, but they were not going to change the numbers for me. I will have the tuned dyno run in the same dynodynamic numbers to show the correct delta.

Also keep in mind that this is a xDrive system meaning an extra differential and transfer case. This will add drivetrain loss, so any rwd drive car would have shown higher numbers on the same dyno. With the calculated HP at 237.6, this equates to a 21% drivetrain loss from the crank horsepower of 300.

My car also was running hot and actually disabled the front tires after the last run because of the heat in the trans. The spark plugs are needed as well since there are 40k on the originals. This is what caused the bumpiness on the curve towards the higher RPMs

So today we will be adding the downpipe, Intake, spark plugs, and the ECU flash. And tomorrow, we will have it back on the dyno for updated numbers after all the work is done.

[dr.roro]

I thought you were going to TTFS for the ECU flash?

[GTBrandon]

Originally Posted by dr.roro

I thought you were going to TTFS for the ECU flash?

These are the stock numbers to compare for after the tune. PTuning was a closer drive than going up to MD just for a baseline dyno. But Franks dyno will be set up for the same dynodynamic numbers in order to have an accurate comparison.

[GTBrandon]

Update #5

There aren't enough words to express how impressive the car is now. Picking up the car and driving it for the first time, I was honestly speechless. The exhaust note sounded amazing, the intake spool was great, and the car revved like nobodies business.

As soon as I put it into park, I could immediately feel the difference in throttle response, torque, and sound even at extremely low speeds. This was a great feeling, but immediately trumped when I was able to really hit it on the highway. It was raining when I picked it up, and I still have original continental run flats on the car, but man did that thing go.

I will take some videos tomorrow of the cold start, revving, 0-60, etc, but for now I am just sitting in awe of what my car has turned into. I am ashamed that BMW didn't make the car come like this out of the factory, because this is how it should have been delivered to everybody.

I could not be happier with the work done by GTPeace Automotive, and Frank Smith. The experience with Galen and Shawn over at GTPeace was nothing short from excellent, and their knowledge and friendliness made working with them so enjoyable and relaxing. I learned a lot and was impressed by how experienced those two are in the auto industry. I can not recommend them enough for people in the DMV area, and will definitely be going back to them in the future for any further work or modifications

I was not able to get the dyno done tonight as it was too late once I had picked up the car and take it on a test drive. Once I am able to go to one, I will post the numbers up here for comparison. Fingers crossed I am able to make it down on Saturday morning. Until then, all I can say is wow, if you haven't thought about a tune and bolt-ons, you are simply missing out on a truly amazing experience.