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      09-27-2016, 03:45 PM   #23
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Any more updates guys
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      09-27-2016, 10:23 PM   #24
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I'm headed over the Mach V tomorrow to pick up a few bits, then going to work with Barry for the day on the car. I'll post some updates and photos tomorrow evening.

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      09-28-2016, 09:26 PM   #25
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It's late and I'm tired but I wanted to post a few photos I took. We spent some time still working on the silicone inlets and outlet. I'll just touch on a few things with the inlets. I had prototyped an aluminum bracket to hold the front tube. Barry took that, did up a CAD drawing and with the water jet cut his design from stainless steel. This mounts to a factory location and uses stainless steel, rubber covered loop clamps. The Burger filter is mounted to a 45 degree angle aluminum pipe, which is set deep enough in the tube that the rear clamp fasten overtop of that, providing a very stiff support.







Where the front inlet tube goes in front of the motor, between the serpentine belt assembly and the radiator fan, Barry made a simple stainless standoff which he then used a BMW torx screw to mount to an available threaded hole in the head. A bit hard to see, but one can view the rubber-coated loop clamp and the black Torx panhead on the stainless stand.



This photo is a bit difficult to see. The BMW factory installation of the intercooler is rather poor with a D6x20 screw. The thicker ER mount gives only allows a few threads into plastic with the factory screw - not cool. The kit should really come with proper mounting hardware, as it costs nothing. We took two fender washers and cut one side so we could increase the grab area of the screw. We then got rid of the D6x20 and used two stainless #12 screws which were about 1 1/2" long, giving 1" of thread in the plastic. This significantly strengthened the mount.



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Last edited by fmorelli; 09-30-2016 at 01:24 PM..
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      09-28-2016, 09:46 PM   #26
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The car is running and we took it for a spin today, though light rain and new tires, so no pushing. It comes back to my house and into the garage for all the remaining work. I took photos of the exhaust, and will look to share some of those over the next couple days. We are still working on installing the post-cat 02 sensors which will now live behind the new high flow cats which are under the driveshaft.

We've also spent a fair bit of time with the MMP silicone outlet, which is installed but is a tight fit. We had to cut the frontmost heat shield body mount stud because it just presses straight into the hose. The bank 1 turbo outlet is right under the exhaust manifold, and with the aluminum extender, runs too close to the manifold for our liking. We wrapped it with high temp reflective cloth, and secured the tape with stainless tie wraps for now. As well the hose connection to the ER intercooler is somewhat angled, so it flexes but puts load on the intercooler mount - putting in the longer intercooler mount screws really helps this. Barry and I are discussing making an outlet tube, using sections of the MMP. We have some ideas on how to better clear the Bank 1 exhaust manifold, et cetera. I'm thankful we have the MMP outlet - it is a quality piece, and one can't beat the price or support Mauricio provides.

In the meantime, a teaser photo of the exhaust.



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Last edited by fmorelli; 09-30-2016 at 01:25 PM..
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      09-29-2016, 02:21 PM   #27
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most of the pics arent working for me in your last 2 posts , can you take a look thanks
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      09-29-2016, 09:24 PM   #28
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Fixed ... sorry Google has gotten really squirrely about how to post JPGs directly in a forum. Unfortunately this forum does not support direct uploads. It's fixed now.

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      09-29-2016, 09:50 PM   #29
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Hi All, let me throw up some exhaust info as a few people have already PM'd questions. I'm posting early rather than waiting until I have everything. These are first photos, and a video WHICH IS USELESS FOR SOUND. Do not even try to figure out the sound. When I have the car back, I will take my Zoom H4N and will do proper idle and rev outside of car, along with an in-car recording to give you a realistic idea of the sound. I'll forego describing sound as it is in one's mind, sort of, but I will say it is undoubtedly much louder, deeper than stock.

The exhaust was done in Pasadena, MD by Mandrel Bend Solutions. It is a work of art in my opinion. We talked to them briefly in advance. They spec'd out the system specifics, I chose the tips from a few selections. While I was inclined toward Borla, they pushed me to Magnaflow, saying their experience is better longevity. We told them we would run post-cat 02 sensors behind mid-pipe cats, so they ran high flow ceramic cats that are EPA/CARB49 approved. The system is 2 1/2" back (plenty for the HP gases we'll push) They built the exhaust behind the downpipes: mid-pipes, catalysts, H-pipe, tail-pipes, 1 in 2 out pair of Magnaflow mufflers, two-wall quad-tip staggered tailpipes. All in stainless steel. Most of the exhaust is mandrel bent. They do not butt weld, but rather do slip-joints. As I said, the exhaust is a work of art - shame it is under the car. As for cost, it is well less than the two remaining systems one can buy - Eisennman or Remus - and mine includes high flow catalysts in the mid-pipes. These guys have a huge German made mandrel bending device, and have the digital measuring tools and ability to CAD design the system. We brought them the full stock exhaust (off the car in our case) so they had a reference point.

Again, these are early photos. I'll hope to have better representations in time:

Right exhaust tips:


Left exhaust tips:


Exhaust mount:


Under rear plate:


High-flow EPA/CARB49 ceramic cats, behind the trans in the driveshaft tunnel:


H-pipe post cats (works fine on a turbo car):


And while I posted these photos earlier in the thread, I'll put them here for completeness sake ...

Exhaust from rear:


Exhaust tips head on:


Tip stagger:


Finally a quick video. Again please note DISREGARD sound as it gave no sense of how good the exhaust does sound. I'll post better sound later.


I wish everything I had for this car was of this quality of fit and finish. These guys at Mandrel Bend Solutions are top shelf in my book.

Filippo
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Last edited by fmorelli; 09-30-2016 at 01:30 PM..
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      09-30-2016, 12:35 PM   #30
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Pics aren't working for me, Any one else have a problem viewing?
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      09-30-2016, 01:21 PM   #31
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I still cant see the pics , video I can see fine
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      09-30-2016, 01:31 PM   #32
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Sorry all. Google Photos is giving me fits. I can now see all of them in an Incognito Browser. Hope this is better!

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      09-30-2016, 02:07 PM   #33
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pics fine now thanks !!

Exhaust looks good ! A bespoke solution how you want it and no doubt cheaper than some of the expensive options for our cars
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      10-06-2016, 12:38 PM   #34
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Just a small update since I've gone quiet on this, in the past week. The car is running and I drove it from where we were working on it toward home (about 40 miles). Unfortunately there is a problem in the driver rear—I believe it is with the rear tire, which is new. It sounds as if the tire is mounted backwards (it is not), and occurs rolling at speed, in or our of gear. So I drove it directly to my alignment guys (it needs to be aligned) as they are good with this stuff.

Just for other content—DO NOT buy non-BMW factory kidney grills. They simply don't work. I ordered a set of factory BMW black grills. In other news, the remaining pieces for the Bavsound system arrived.

BQ Tuning has dropped a base map so we can start working on the tuning. I also picked up a Foxwell NT510 in case BQ tells me he wants the specific individual injector values coded into the DME.

The Vibrant 02 sensor 90 degree bungs arrived, so we'll be welding in the post-cat 02 sensors in a few weeks. Other than the above, I have about a month's worth of other parts and various/sundry things to do to the car, so it will soon be back in the garage at home to run through a pretty sizable remaining punch list.

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      10-11-2016, 01:08 PM   #35
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excellent work guys , will all be worth it when set up fully

Keep the updates coming , one of my fav build threads on here
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      10-11-2016, 08:11 PM   #36
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So turns out the hub center machining on one of the Forgestar wheels was tight. While the wheels were torqued, one wheel was not completely flush to the hub face and then wobbling.

The car is now aligned, on the road, and I'm doing some basic shakedown, before I drop the base tune and start working with BQ to get it dialed in.

I'll post photos on Thursday or Friday, when I have time.

Filippo
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      10-12-2016, 11:08 AM   #37
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good to know it wasnt anything more serious with the wheel and your back on track

Ive bought the MHD flash module and busy data logging my stock 35i , seems a very good diagnostic tool

Getting ready for stage 1 MHD fun
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      10-20-2016, 05:07 PM   #38
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I have my Luxon front strut bar but it is not quite fitting on the strut bolts.

It seems I am about 1/2 bolt diameter too long.


@Filippo - Did yours drop right on or did you have to modify anything to get a good fit?

I'm sure I can elongate the bolt holes enough - just wish I didn't have to.

I also thought I could move the strut a bit within the mounting but it has a locator pin of some sort. So even though there is room to move the strut bolts a bit it is actually in the only position it can be in.
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      10-20-2016, 06:20 PM   #39
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You have to raise the car off the ground to relieve and tension in the chassis. Once the car is relaxed the bar will fit. This is how we installed mine w/o modifying the bar.

Quote:
Originally Posted by NoQuarter View Post
I have my Luxon front strut bar but it is not quite fitting on the strut bolts.

It seems I am about 1/2 bolt diameter too long.


@Filippo - Did yours drop right on or did you have to modify anything to get a good fit?

I'm sure I can elongate the bolt holes enough - just wish I didn't have to.

I also thought I could move the strut a bit within the mounting but it has a locator pin of some sort. So even though there is room to move the strut bolts a bit it is actually in the only position it can be in.
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      10-20-2016, 08:39 PM   #40
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I elongated two bolt holes on one side, just a bit. I wanted the car sitting on its suspension when I bolted the reinforcement. Same thing as when one tightens up suspension components - they are best done in place and under their normal load.

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      10-21-2016, 11:10 AM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jts1981 View Post
You have to raise the car off the ground to relieve and tension in the chassis. Once the car is relaxed the bar will fit. This is how we installed mine w/o modifying the bar.
Thanks. I had considered this as well, but realized I would not be able to remove the bar for some under the hood work without first lifting it off the ground.
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      10-21-2016, 11:11 AM   #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fmorelli View Post
I elongated two bolt holes on one side, just a bit. I wanted the car sitting on its suspension when I bolted the reinforcement. Same thing as when one tightens up suspension components - they are best done in place and under their normal load.

Filippo
I will do the same
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      10-31-2016, 12:18 PM   #43
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This is awesome and exactly what this community needed. Thank you so much for sharing!
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      10-31-2016, 01:50 PM   #44
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Sorry folks been trying to move some things along to provide some kind of salient updates. I'll shoot some photos tonight and post, but most of my stuff right now is minor, as I'm playing a waiting game on some lift time. I installed interior LED's (easy), swapped out the cabin filter (easy), and have dropped a few "bits" into the engine compartment, removed some badges, etcetera ... yup ... mostly BS.

I am starting the tuning process with BQ, did the initial flash in 35 minutes two days ago. It's a bit rough running on part throttle so we're in the middle of sorting out the car and the tune. Good to be working with sharp folks that know what they are doing, that's for sure!

I'm reasonably happy with the suspension, minus the fact that the rear end feels tight. I would say it is not too sure-footed in the rear, almost as if I don't trust the rear pushing down on the contact patch. I'm wondering if this is a rear H&R spring to shock issue, or swaybar too tight. If I can loosen the sway bar setting, I will do so and see if that helps. More on that later, once we get the car behaving.

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