[AndrewC1989]

Hey all. Bought this 2015 F30 328dx with ~30k miles on it in the spring of 2018, but never started a build thread for it since it was my daily driver at the time and the plan was to leave it bone stock. I recently sold my M2 however due to the used car market being very high (as well as other life circumstances), so the 3er is now my new project car so to speak. I don't plan on doing anything crazy to it and just want it looking and feeling OEM+ since I need it to be both reliable and presentable. Nonetheless, I find it both fun and useful to document my modifications as it helps me keep track of what I've done and it might be helpful/inspirational to others. Anyways thanks for looking!

Basic Info

Year: 2015

Model: 328d xDrive

Color: Imperial Blue Metallic

Transmission: 8AT

Interior seat/trim color: Black/Anthracite

Package Options: Base Model w/Cold Weather + Premium

How The Car Was Purcahsed - 100% Stock

Exterior Modifications

BimmerTech MMI Front View Camera
BimmerTech MMI Rear View Camera
Full Front and Rear LED Bulb Swap
IND Gloss Black Kidney Grills
M Sport Body Kit
M Performance Front Lip
M Performance Rear Diffuser
M Performance Side Skirt Extensions
OEM Aspherical Wide Angle Mirror Glass
Euro LCI Taillights + Drip Rails
Front Fog Lights Coded To DRL
Ebay Trunk Lip Spoiler - Paint Matched
OEM Matte Silver Exhaust Tip
Painted Calipers + Rotor Hats - Black
M Performance Carbon Fiber Fuel Filler Cap
BMW CCA Plate Frame - Black

Interior Modifications

2022-1 Nav Update
Llumar AB 80 - Windshield
Llumar IRX 50 - All Other Glass
M Sport Steering Wheel
2TB Sport Auto Shifter
OEM M Performance Shift Knob Sticker
Rear Fog Light Mod
Removed Visor Warning Stickers
Various Coding
Gates Innovations X5M Key
M Sport Door Sill Scuff Plates
M Sport Blue Aluminum Hex Trim
M Performance Stainless Steel Pedals
M Performance Stainless Steel Footrest
Estoril Blue Door Accent Molding 1 2 3 4
IND Gloss Black Ignition Bezel
MNLaserCutting Functional M Buttons Kit
OEM F8X M1/M2 Buttons
OEM F8X Shift Paddles
6WB Digital Instrument Cluster
Door Pull Handle Covers - Matte Black
BlackVue DR970X-1CH Plus 256GB
BlendMount
G11 Start/Stop Button - Matte Silver
Galvanic Window Switches
Estoril Blue Speaker Grille Covers

Wheels/Tires

OEM 403M - Powdercoated Bengal Silver
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 4 225/40/19, 255/35/19

Suspension

Stock

Engine/Drivetrain Modifications

Sport+ Driving Mode Coding
2TB Sport Auto Transmission Coding
Kerma TDI Stage 2 Flash Tune (235whp/370wtq)

Exhaust

Stock

Coding

Bimmercode

Cables

Enet
Lightning Adapter

Possible Future Modifications

LCI LED Headlights

Current Photos (Updated 09/01/23)

[perezr10]

Your car looks great!

Was it difficult to remove the sun visor stickers?

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by perezr10

Your car looks great!

Was it difficult to remove the sun visor stickers?

Thanks!

No, it wasn't too hard. Just have to remove the visors from the car and get some nail polish remover on them and rub with a microfiber. It's not 100% perfect and you can still make out a faint outline or where the sticker used to be, but it's a much cheaper alternative to purchasing new visors.

[Frizione]

Good job��

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by Frizione

Good job��

[AndrewC1989]

Added some M Sport door sill scuff plates:

[AndrewC1989]

Added some fresh floor mats and M performance side skirt extensions

[_baz]

Thought id come check out this build thread, liking what you've done, love that new style key fob

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by _baz

Thought id come check out this build thread, liking what you've done, love that new style key fob

Thanks! This car was a base model so it's taken a lot of time/money just to get it to look halfway decent, lol. Had I known it was eventually going to be my only car I definitely would've gotten an M Sport LCI but oh well, too late now.

Yes I agree, the key fob is a nice touch. Definitely looks/feels much more expensive than the little plastic footballs 🏈 bmw gave us.

Wish I could lower the car on some coils but the roads here are terrible and I need all the clearance I can get to not scrape. If this car was a bit newer I'd consider air suspension but I don't see myself keeping it more than a couple years before moving on to something else so I'm not sure that kind of investment is worth it to me. Might just live vicariously through your build, haha.

[_baz]

Originally Posted by AndrewC1989

Thanks! This car was a base model so it's taken a lot of time/money just to get it to look halfway decent, lol. Had I known it was eventually going to be my only car I definitely would've gotten an M Sport LCI but oh well, too late now.

Yes I agree, the key fob is a nice touch. Definitely looks/feels much more expensive than the little plastic footballs �� bmw gave us.

Wish I could lower the car on some coils but the roads here are terrible and I need all the clearance I can get to not scrape. If this car was a bit newer I'd consider air suspension but I don't see myself keeping it more than a couple years before moving on to something else so I'm not sure that kind of investment is worth it to me. Might just live vicariously through your build, haha.

Best I managed was to swap for a fresh key fob case to replace the scratched up one from the previous owner.

For real, I catch my M performance lip on stuff all the time at standard height. I see why you'd want to keep it stock height.

If only I was as sensible as you and thought about how long I would keep a car before putting air suspension on it. My S3 was brand new and I put air suspension on it within the first 4 months (only because I still had the kit from the GTI and I knew it was a straight fit, this was after I got impatient and threw some cheap coilovers on and ruined the paint on the rear wheel arches from running too low on wheels that were too wide) S3 ownership was costing way too much to run and I ended up trading it in a few months later for the A4 TDI wagon and had to strip all the bags off and return it to standard !

[AndrewC1989]

Didn't love the M Performance logo on the OEM MP side skirt decals, so I had my rocker panels custom wrapped in satin black. Love the clean and simple look.

[AllaVodka]

Originally Posted by AndrewC1989

Didn't love the M Performance logo on the OEM MP side skirt decals, so I had my rocker panels custom wrapped in satin black. Love the clean and simple look.

I want to do this.. did you just reach out to a shop that does wraps and show them some pics?

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by AllaVodka

I want to do this.. did you just reach out to a shop that does wraps and show them some pics?

Luckily I have a friend who wraps cars in his spare time as a side hustle so I didn't have to find a shop to do it for me. But yeah essentially I just showed him what I wanted and he ordered the film for me and then did the install once it came in. He marked the area off with some knifeless wrap cutting tape and just peeled it off at the end to make the cuts. This saves a ton of time in comparison to installing something precut where you have to line it up perfectly, and it prevents knife marks on your paint so double win. Materials were ~$100 and I threw him $50 for the labor.

[AndrewC1989]

Swapped my interior trim this evening. Went from Anthracite to Blue Hex. Super happy with the result.

[jeffm82]

Originally Posted by AndrewC1989

Swapped my interior trim this evening. Went from Anthracite to Blue Hex. Super happy with the result.

Good choice, look loads better after the swap.

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by jeffm82

Good choice, look loads better after the swap.

Thanks, I think so too! I was debating if I should go with matte blue or gloss black accents on the hex trim and I'm really happy I went with the blue.

[_baz]

are you selling the old trim ? I'm kind of bored with my aluminium trim and fancied a change.

EDIT: just realised, your trim is all Left hand drive orientated. no good for my RHD UK car anyway !

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by _baz

are you selling the old trim ? I'm kind of bored with my aluminium trim and fancied a change.

Sure am. Send me a pm.

Edit: whoops, forgot you're in the UK!

[_baz]

Originally Posted by AndrewC1989

Sure am. Send me a pm.

Edit: whoops, forgot you're in the UK!

Wasn't meant to be

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by _baz

Wasn't meant to be

Guess not. Funny though that I'm sick of the wood going for aluminum and you're doing the opposite 😂 Guess the grass is always greener on the other side

[roberto1337]

do you use an original navi display with an aftermarked reverse camera?

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by roberto1337

do you use an original navi display with an aftermarked reverse camera?

Correct. Camera is from bimmertech:

https://www.bimmer-tech.net/category...a-retrofit-mmi