Baby BMW Forum banner

Git-r's road/track progress M135i

41K views 487 replies 26 participants last post by  git-r2 
#1 ·
Greetings everyone, my first proper thread, one I've been hoping to make for a while, my search is now over!! :spotman:

Firstly, I wanted to thank folk for the great forum and advice, fingers crossed I'll give a bit back through this thread :)

I've been a petrolhead since birth, initially not too keen on speed but that developed! I enjoy anything with wheels....

For over ten years I've been running highly boosted geriatric Datsuns around most tracks of the UK with a few other interesting cars alongside.

The last few years have seen my driving become less bad enabling me to put some benchmark lap times for the 'new' cars I've had and also to try and improve the times for the Datsun.

I use Brands Indy circuit as my comparison, it's so short that even with my failing memory I can remember where it goes :D

Times so far:

R32 GTR Nissan: 52.6
Megane RS 250: 56.6
E46 M3 : 57.9 (from memory)
Audi A6 1.9 tdi: 1:00 +

To give an idea of these times the 4wd clubman class time attack record is 52.8.

I'm hoping the 1er will be quicker than the Megane. From memory a relatively standard 1M can do 54's so think around this time should be possible.

Initially I was looking at the 140 having taken one for a day long test drive. What a car! Amazed with the power, refeinment and economy. However, the 135 will suit my needs better although I haven't driven one yet - fingers crossed I won't be disappointed!

'My' car (that I haven't even seen yet!) is coming as a BMW used car. It has adaptive suspension (That I'm so keen to have as it'll be used mostly on the road), HK sound and lots of other options that aren't really necessary. I've left a refundable deposit just in case.

Picking it up on Tuesday fingers crossed. I have booked a place at Snetterton on Wednesday but will probably take the Datsun.... and break it... again... :redface:

Hope people might be interested in how I get on, please ask if you'd like to see any of my other 'babies' in action... mostly sideways :D

Also hope to meet a few of you :)

Cheers
Sam
 
See less See more
#281 ·
Vid from snett :)

You can hear how noisy the tyres are, 911 obviously quicker but the ugly1 is way more fun :D

I removed and reinstalled the RaceChip, downloaded an update for the app and tried it again but no difference. Maybe the first time on throttle you notice something extra, like how it wouldn't grip from low revs in second then without the chip it would (with tyres at similar temp). It would've been easier to notice a difference if the app had worked but it just freezes when you turn it off then can't turn it on again without going under the bonnet. Sent it back, asking to be contacted once they've tested it. If faulty, I'll get them to send another, otherwise I'll want my money back!

Spoke to evolve today about remapping and for £640 they reckon about 390 bhp and 420lb/ft on standard stuff regardless of ewg or pwg, they can also retune as required if upgrades happen. That's a hell of a lot of extra power for the money.

Fingers crossed I'll collect a set of cup 2's on Friday (for an absolute bargain price of £300), er, that's the 4th set since June :redface:

Lol it doesn't need them but stupid not to at that money.
 
#282 ·
That Racechip sounds like a complete waste of money. My cousin got a dyno verified 416hp from his DMS remap 3.5 years ago and it's still going strong with over 60k on the clock!
What size Cup 2s are you getting?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#283 ·
godzilla said:
That Racechip sounds like a complete waste of money. My cousin got a dyno verified 416hp from his DMS remap 3.5 years ago and it's still going strong with over 60k on the clock!
What size Cup 2s are you getting?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
[/quote

It does seem that way but I'm impressed with their support and engine/transmission warranty.
They've already tested the chip I sent back and found it's got faulty firmware so have offered to send a new one. If they send another I can always send it back.
I've asked for them to confirm they've fixed the app the. I'll probably try another.
The dms/evolve option seems really good, nice to hear some good feedback.

I went for 4x 225/40/18 as I'll swap them around, don't want too much rear grip anyway ;) the westlakes in this size have no problem.

Used the car for a long journey and the west lakes are noisy! Not so noticeable at motorway though.
 
#284 ·
git-r2 said:
godzilla said:
That Racechip sounds like a complete waste of money. My cousin got a dyno verified 416hp from his DMS remap 3.5 years ago and it's still going strong with over 60k on the clock!
What size Cup 2s are you getting?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
[/quote

It does seem that way but I'm impressed with their support and engine/transmission warranty.
They've already tested the chip I sent back and found it's got faulty firmware so have offered to send a new one. If they send another I can always send it back.
I've asked for them to confirm they've fixed the app the. I'll probably try another.
The dms/evolve option seems really good, nice to hear some good feedback.

I went for 4x 225/40/18 as I'll swap them around, don't want too much rear grip anyway ;) the westlakes in this size have no problem.

Used the car for a long journey and the west lakes are noisy! Not so noticeable at motorway though.
It takes a ballsy driver to go down a tyre size on the rears whilst (attempting to) tune the engine! :D

I think if you get any of the torque increase you're supposed to, you will be regretting the reduced width of the rears, plus they leave the rims more exposed to kerbing...
 
#285 ·
git-r2 said:
godzilla said:
That Racechip sounds like a complete waste of money. My cousin got a dyno verified 416hp from his DMS remap 3.5 years ago and it's still going strong with over 60k on the clock!
What size Cup 2s are you getting?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
[/quote

It does seem that way but I'm impressed with their support and engine/transmission warranty.
They've already tested the chip I sent back and found it's got faulty firmware so have offered to send a new one. If they send another I can always send it back.
I've asked for them to confirm they've fixed the app the. I'll probably try another.
The dms/evolve option seems really good, nice to hear some good feedback.

I went for 4x 225/40/18 as I'll swap them around, don't want too much rear grip anyway ;) the westlakes in this size have no problem.

Used the car for a long journey and the west lakes are noisy! Not so noticeable at motorway though.
It takes a ballsy driver to go down a tyre size on the rears whilst (attempting to) tune the engine! :D

I think if you get any of the torque increase you're supposed to, you will be regretting the reduced width of the rears, plus they leave the rims more exposed to kerbing...
 
#286 ·
godzilla said:
It takes a ballsy driver to go down a tyre size on the rears whilst (attempting to) tune the engine! :D

I think if you get any of the torque increase you're supposed to, you will be regretting the reduced width of the rears, plus they leave the rims more exposed to kerbing...
[/quote]

[/quote]

Lol! My 32 did 52's at brands running 235/40/17 Federal RSR with about 500bhp, 225 is fine for the 1 esp if in something like west lake or cup 2. Track tyres are usually huge too I'm my experience, there's no visible stretch on the rear in 225 but kerbing always an issue!
 
#287 ·
Lot's of good news to report! :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

Wheels/tyres:
Somehow, much to the disgust of my master, I've acquired the following:
1 set Cup2
1 set MPSS (incredibly these were free from Michelin after I killed the set I bought in sept :D )
1 set Westlake RS currently fitted
1 set stock wheels/tyres with used MPSS

Felling quite pleased with that as we already have 3 other sets for my wife (the R32 GTR) :lol2:

Warranty/servicing/mods:
Such a coincidence... It turns out the same BMW dealership that reignited my interest in ugly 1's has a mate that works there as a mechanic. That is such a result as he'll service my car!!

RaceChip :
The support has been really good. I sent the chip back last mon/tue, they tested it, reported a firmware fault and offered to send another. After confirming I still had my money back guarantee for the second RaceChip I agreed for them to send another.
That was yesterday and it arrived today.
The app now works properly.
It is definitely quicker.
How noticeable? Not huge, but it's impossible to test properly on the road.
Keeping in same gear I tried timing 50-70 over and over with it turned on and off and with my internal clock was about half a second quicker.
Doesn't sound much but that would equate to a lot over a lap if the stop watch in my head is anything like accurate.
Tasting what 1 is like with a bit more grunt did make me quite excited. It sounds slightly better too.

I'm not sure if I'll keep it yet. A remap will be better and is the same cost and way more potential, the RaceChip may have to be binned if i changed turbo.

Such a great car - absolutely loving it!!! :cool2:
 
#288 ·
UPDATE:

Racechip:
It's working well and has had no issues whatsoever, just works as it should and makes the car about as quick as an M2 in a straight line. No noticeable increase in temps on track either. I'll be keeping it :)

Westlake RS tyres : are ****! Yes they gripped as well in the dry as MPSS but were no better lasting on track and felt nothing like as nice. Also noisy and hopeless with higher pressures. After 1.5 dry track days the back left is completely ruined.

Brakes:
After fitting the M4 pads back in September for my ring trip the fronts finally wore past the sensor at my last track day a week ago. Backs are about half worn. I've lost count how many days they've done but they are incredibly good performance and life for the cost.

Servicing:
tomorrow the car will go for its first visit to BMW in my ownership. Thankfully a friend will be the only one that touches it so mods aren't a problem. It's due a brake fluid change but I'm going to get them to do an oil change too and measure how much comes out so that I'll know for sure if the electronic gauge is accurate. In about 6k miles I think I've added about 7 litres which sounds high but it only uses oil when being driven properly, normal use on the road and the entire ring trip didn't see any usage. It also says in the instructions to expect higher usage in sporty driving so I'm no longer worried about it.

I bought a set of stock wheels with MPSS tyres before Christmas and swapped them over today. Also put another set of of M4 from pads and sensor in. Feeling quite good after doing that as the difference is huge going back to MPSS, also saved probably £150 on labour for getting the pads done. Obviously swapping pads is so easy but finding where the sensor goes was easy too :)

I'll try and keep the westlakes mounted on my other wheels so that I can finish them off properly at somewhere like north Weald.

I'm loving it after about 6 months of ownership. I simply don't get the feeling on this forum about how badly these cars handle, at the limit it's nice and slow to slide as you'd expect with any nicely balanced car. The engine/gearbox/cooling sytem and brakes are superb. It feels totally unphased when tracking it :)

And did I mention how much I like it as a road Car? Adaptive is fab in this respect :)
 
#291 ·
Blind Pugh said:
Git-R2

Thanks for sharing your ups and downs wrt tracking and effects on maintaining your car.

Keep up the good work on yr TD videos.

:thumbs: from me,

BP
Thanks Dave, being used to mostly tracking old cars it really impresses me how good some modern cars are. My old Megane was the same, used in 30 plus degrees running Aircon it had no issues.

I much prefer my 1 series though, more fun on track yet so much nicer on the road :)

I used my R32 GTR last week at Brands. It was stupid fast as always but it's so much faster than everything else it's no more fun than running a slower car. I killed its brakes so ended up finishing the day in a 1.6 MX5. That was lethal in comparison but seriously no less fun :)
 
#292 ·
Ended up taking the Ugly 1 to Brands yesterday for a little play in the wet.

Fantastic fun and perfect tyre wear as you'd expect for wet.

The Clio at the end of this vid was quicker (running rainsports), he let me past but I couldn't put any distance between us. Great fun and you can see how slippery it was. Probably about 6 degrees/rain/wind. The track was virtually empty all afternoon, didn't get black flagged either :cool2: :cool2: :cool2: :cool2: :cool2:


Bedford next Saturday - with a lot of other folk from here - happy days :D
 
#293 ·
looks like you had fun ! what tyre's were you using ? lets hope the weather is good to us this saturday :wink:
 
#294 ·
markhurley said:
looks like you had fun ! what tyre's were you using ? lets hope the weather is good to us this saturday :wink:
Was running the stock MPSS tyres.

Was fun but Bedford is better for fun - forecast looking not bad :)
 
#296 ·
Hi Dean,

Sorry I missed your post mate. All good with the service, nothing mentioned :)

I reported a clunk from the front (like a drop link) but they didn't find anything after a good look, it's my mate that did the service which is a result!

The car performs flawlessly on track, runs cooler than when on the road even with a bit more power 😎
 
#297 ·
Another fantastic day with the ugly 1 👏👏

Great turn out from folk here with a nice selection of quick 1 series'.

Have now completely destroyed the Westlake's, grippy tyre but all 4 had destroyed the outer edges.

Video below but even my friend with the focus has now conceded that the 1 with racechip is quicker than his mountune tuned focus. In the dry there's nothing in it but I actually think the 1 would be quicker. I might be biased though!

The POS focus has blown its engine. This is the third one. It was crap at Bedford too, kept on going into limp mode. Not sure but don't think they'll replace the car again, probably just the engine... which we all know will face the same demise :lol2:

Currently running my spare set of wheels with MPSS again but can't wait to get the Cup 2's fitted.

Very much looking forward to a holiday in the Lake District next week so probably best to stay on the MPSS! If anyone has any road suggestions please shout, we're staying near Windermere.
Must confess the thought of doing a sneaky track day whilst I'm there has crossed my mind :D

Interestingly the car hasn't used much oil since its service. Only down to about half on the guage after an afternoon of wet lapping at brands and a hardcore days dry lapping at Bedford :)

It's still proving just as nice to use as a road car, even managing a frankly unbelievable 37mpg on a recent trip.

Brake life also impressive, original disks still looking remarkably good.

VIDEO:

 
#298 ·
git-r2 said:
Another fantastic day with the ugly 1 👏👏

Great turn out from folk here with a nice selection of quick 1 series'.

Have now completely destroyed the Westlake's, grippy tyre but all 4 had destroyed the outer edges.

Video below but even my friend with the focus has now conceded that the 1 with racechip is quicker than his mountune tuned focus. In the dry there's nothing in it but I actually think the 1 would be quicker. I might be biased though!

The POS focus has blown its engine. This is the third one. It was crap at Bedford too, kept on going into limp mode. Not sure but don't think they'll replace the car again, probably just the engine... which we all know will face the same demise :lol2:

Currently running my spare set of wheels with MPSS again but can't wait to get the Cup 2's fitted.

Very much looking forward to a holiday in the Lake District next week so probably best to stay on the MPSS! If anyone has any road suggestions please shout, we're staying near Windermere.
Must confess the thought of doing a sneaky track day whilst I'm there has crossed my mind :D

Interestingly the car hasn't used much oil since its service. Only down to about half on the guage after an afternoon of wet lapping at brands and a hardcore days dry lapping at Bedford :)

It's still proving just as nice to use as a road car, even managing a frankly unbelievable 37mpg on a recent trip.

Brake life also impressive, original disks still looking remarkably good.

VIDEO:

Glad the 1 is holding up nice!

Can't get over the focus, again! how will he get on with the dealership? you'd think they be trying to blame him while its the 3rd one? Our local ford garage told my friend they are covered for track use but luckily he's been fine. I think its done about 7 track days and never had any issues. his is scheduled for the HG recall though.
 
#299 ·
deanw said:
git-r2 said:
Glad the 1 is holding up nice!

Can't get over the focus, again! how will he get on with the dealership? you'd think they be trying to blame him while its the 3rd one? Our local ford garage told my friend they are covered for track use but luckily he's been fine. I think its done about 7 track days and never had any issues. his is scheduled for the HG recall though.
I know, it's really **** especially with all the hype and crap that is reported about them. I'm not sure but think it's an issue with the engine block cracking.

Tbf his ford dealership have been fantastic.
His first car did about 12 k miles, blew 2 engines then they gave him a new car. The second car has done about 3 k miles and has blown already. He has no mechanical sympathy and all that crap you read about it being able to run for 30 mins on track is just bs - even he doesn't run for that long. Also to add the brakes are warping regularly too. It's not even that quick.

I so nearly bought one, so disappointed with Ford :(
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top