I have acquired a thing

"DasWauto" (DasWauto) 12/16/2018 at 17:44 • Filed to: 1-Series, 128i

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It is quite red.

‘09 128i, 150k km (90k miles). Should be a reasonably fun, comfortable summer cruiser/autocross car. 

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > DasWauto 12/16/2018 at 17:46

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PITL is calling it.

Eury - AFRICA TWIN!!!!!!! > DasWauto 12/16/2018 at 17:56

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Nice!

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > DasWauto 12/16/2018 at 17:58

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Nice! I regularly wish I’d bought a 1er but I do regularly car things and people that a 1 couldn’t 

phenotyp > DasWauto 12/16/2018 at 19:36

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Looks like a fun thing. 

DasWauto > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock 12/16/2018 at 19:50

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Already trying to figure out what my wheel and tire setup will be for autoX. I’m hoping to be able to fit the 245/40 R17 RE71Rs that I use on my WRX on it but the front fender and suspension clearance is going to be tight. I’ll need to find a set of 17x8 or 17x8.5 wheels within a small offset range (ET40-45, I think) .

DasWauto > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 12/16/2018 at 19:53

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Luckily this is a second car for me so I don’t need it to be all that practical. It is more practical than other options I considered (miata, S2000)  but those were ruled out because I don’t fit.

DasWauto > phenotyp 12/16/2018 at 19:54

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I hope so. I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to leave it stock but we’ll see. 

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > DasWauto 12/16/2018 at 20:02

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You could do a BMWCCA Spec E36 setup, it pretty similar to what you mentioned. BMWCCA Spec E36 requires a 17"x 7.5" +40 with a 245/40r17 square stance. You could find take offs from a old Spec E36 too assuming the 1 series & E36 share the same bolt pattern.

CompactLuxuryFan > DasWauto 12/16/2018 at 20:10

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Love the color and wheels! 

DasWauto > CompactLuxuryFan 12/16/2018 at 20:26

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I wasn’t sure about the colour but liked it more than I’d expected to. I’m going to order some black kidney grills and shadowline window trim to get rid of the shiny bit and tone the colour scheme down just a tad.

I’m not too attached to the staggered wheels though; I’ll probably look to move to a square setup for both street and autocross. I’m already looking at wheel options. :D

DasWauto > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock 12/16/2018 at 20:30

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I hadn’t thought of that fitment - thanks!  They are both 5x120 bolt patterns but I’ll have to check on the hub bore diameters. I hadn’t considered a 7.5” wheel as I thought it’d be too narrow for a 245 section tire but I’ll have to see what Bridgestone recommends now if specE36 runs that (on slicks presumably).

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > DasWauto 12/16/2018 at 20:37

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Looking at tirerack the spec tire is BFG oodrich G-Force R1 s lick. Correction on my part, the spec wheel size is 17"x 8.5", not 17"x 7.5".

Captain of the Enterprise > DasWauto 12/16/2018 at 20:39

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Congratulations! I can’t wait to hear more about it!

DasWauto > Captain of the Enterprise 12/16/2018 at 20:46

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Thank you.  It’ll likely be parked in our barn for the winter after I get the registration/insurance sorted out but I’ll probably start picking up a few little things I want to change (trim, shift knob) and try to work out my wheel and tire setups for street and autocross.

DasWauto > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock 12/16/2018 at 20:56

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Ah, good. I thought I was out to lunch on my fitment thinking for a minute. :) I think there are a good number of e36 m3 and e46 wheels that can be had in the 17x8/8.5 range so I hope I can get the right offset on a set that looks good too. 

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > DasWauto 12/16/2018 at 21:04

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I’m looking going up to a 235/50r17 (from 215/55r17) on a 17"x 8" wheel. Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 would be nice.

OmerCarrothers333 > DasWauto 12/16/2018 at 21:26

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Mrrrrrrrrrrrrooooooooowwwwwww

Vicente Esteve > DasWauto 12/16/2018 at 21:36

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Welcome to the N52 community! Its a sweet sweet motor. 

dannyzabolotny > DasWauto 12/16/2018 at 22:06

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Good choice! The 128i is the last light, naturally-aspirated BMW you could buy before everything went to turbo hell. The N52 engines hold up really nicely with age, and there’s a decent amount of stuff you can do to make them faster, like installing the performance intake manifold off of a 330i. Despite BMW badging various cars with that engine as 325i, 328i, 330i, 128i, etc, it’s always been the same 3.0L block, just with different intakes and tunes for various power levels. At my BMW shop we don’t really see too many serious problems with the N52, just the usual valve cover gasket leaks, cooling system issues, coils failing, and belt drive system failing. All easily fixed by a savvy DIY’er without too many special tools. Point is, it’s a good engine, and easily my top pick for the 1-series. The N54 is too much trouble unless you’re throwing all reliability to the wind and doing a crazy 600hp+ build.

DasWauto > dannyzabolotny 12/16/2018 at 22:29

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That was the reasoning for my choice exactly. I specifically wanted a sport package, no- sunroof, not- black car as well. This was only the second example that fit those criteria and the colour definitely grew on me quickly. I think it’s actually the only crimson red 1er I’ve ever seen in person too.

I expect the N52 to hold up well with the usual suspects you mentioned. I need to check if the water pump was done yet but the valve cover and oil filter housing gasket have been replaced, iirc. I’m not sure I’ll touch the engine performance wise for a while but if I do I’ll have to decide between the intake/tune from a 30i model like you mentioned and going supercharged.

For now, I plan to get the safety/e-test/registration done and park it in the barn for the winter. The first changes I make will probably be wheels/tires, then suspension.

Any tips for storing a modern bimmer? I think the battery going flat wouldn’t be great.  A battery tender is not an option (no power in said barn) so maybe I’ll have to start it and run it every month or couple of weeks?

dannyzabolotny > DasWauto 12/16/2018 at 22:41

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If you plan to drive the 128i in a sporty manner, wheels and suspension will be your biggest bang for the buck. Even in stock form, the 128i is reasonably quick.

For storing it, I would recommend disconnecting the battery in that case. That’s better than letting it go flat and ruining the battery. I would also inflate the tires a little more to minimize how much they flat-spot, as BMW’s are quite sensitive to that. Though if you plan to replace the wheels/tires anyway then it doesn’t matter. Aside from that, just make sure to keep it dry. BMW’s have all sorts of fun water ingress issues that can cause electronic problems so try to minimize that.

DasWauto > dannyzabolotny 12/16/2018 at 23:22

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If I disconnect the battery am I going to have to code anything to get it all working again? That’s my reason for concern. I’ve read bits about things like needing to code the car for a new battery and that just seems a bit silly the uninitiated me. If all should be fine I’ll do just that.

It’ll be stored indoors on a concrete floor  and should remain dry short of some sort of biblical event so I’m thinking it should be alright that way. 

dannyzabolotny > DasWauto 12/17/2018 at 00:17

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You won’t need to code anything. The only time you need to code the car is when you put in a brand new battery, especially if it’s a different type of battery or a different capacity. You should be fine in your case.

E90M3 > DasWauto 12/17/2018 at 09:00

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I’m assuming that you didn’t get the sport pack, I really enjoyed mine, just wished it had been a stick. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > DasWauto 12/17/2018 at 09:11

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Nice! Congrats.

DasWauto > E90M3 12/17/2018 at 10:28

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It is a sport package car. I believe they were configured a little differently than in the states. I know we got the 18” wheels I have  and shadowline trim doesn’t appear on every sport package car (I will be ordering some for mine).

Sport package, no sunroof, not black and 6 speed manual were my requirements. This is the only crimson red 1er I’ve seen in person and it grew on me quickly.

DasWauto > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 12/17/2018 at 10:29

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Thank you. It’s not an M3 but I decided I wasn’t willing to deal with the potential maintenance costs of an M car yet. This will do for now. 

E90M3 > DasWauto 12/17/2018 at 10:50

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I know for mine, shadow line came standard with the sport pack, then again it was a 2012. Pretty sure mine was still on 17s.

I’ve seen a few crimson red, and they do look good. Personally I prefer the vermilion red mine was in, but sadly it wasn’t a stick.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > DasWauto 12/17/2018 at 11:21

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little + light = fun!

DasWauto > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 12/17/2018 at 14:12

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It’s pretty much the smallest/lightest rwd/manual car I can fit in. The 350Z maybe being a bit smaller, though a good bit heavier . Miatas and the S2000 were ul timaltely too impractically small.

Now I just have to wait a few months to actually drive it. :p

DasWauto > E90M3 12/17/2018 at 14:14

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The 18s were optional in the states apparently but standard here. I think heated seats were standard here as well, though that’s pretty common for cars up here. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > DasWauto 12/17/2018 at 14:17

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Yeah, the impracticality of the Miata/S2000 are just killer. That doesn’t mean I won’t own something that size at some point, once I don’t have to worry about shuttling kids around (I barely fit in an ND, but it’s fun enough that it may be worth it).

I could possibly see an M2 in my future... Time will tell!

AM3R, lost another burner > DasWauto 12/19/2018 at 01:52

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Congrats! Looks beautiful. If you wanna do some nice cheap suspension mods, throw some M3 front control arms on! You can get OEM ones for like $220 and they make a very tangible difference. Lots of M3 suspension parts swap right in, and you can get a lot of them cheap online. 

DasWauto > AM3R, lost another burner 12/19/2018 at 10:11

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Thanks! I was thinking of doing the M3 arms front and rear, as well as the rear subframe bushings as the stock ones make up a lot of the squish at the rear end. That’ll probably wait until I get a LSD to install as I don’t want to drop the subframe twice; I’ll hold off on that for probably a year. I was thinking of ordering coil overs (Ohlins) but it’s already got Bilsteins struts up front and had the rear shocks replaced with OE units so I’m going to wait on that too.

I’m now  thinking I’ll drive it pretty much as is (maybe a front swaybar) for a year to get familiar with rwd dynamics ( in autocross and on the street) before I start messing with it.