If you’re only here for the car details, skip passed the first five paragraphs
Otherwise, a little of me, before we begin;
I'm currently 31 years old, from Rossland, BC, Canada. I’ve been a car/tuner nut since I was a teenager (well earlier, but that’s when my “ownership” journey began). I started off my journey, at 16, with a ’97 GTI VR6. I loved the sound of the 6cylinder engine, the basic but “euro” look of the car, and the enthusiast following around the VAG scene, in Toronto, where I grew up. I quickly lost interest in the hatchback and traded that car for a ’95 Corrado VR6 at 18, my very first REAL coupe (sans RWD) of which I fell in love with. The ‘Rado simply handled much better than the GTI, probably due to lower CG, etc. And it had a rarity to it like no other car I’ve owned, to date. Unfortunately, a friend completely totaled it “racing” a Grand Prix (supercharged) on the highway, without my knowledge, as he was to take the car home for me (was drinking that night). After receiving my (petty) insurance payout settlement, I started longing for a turbocharged car, but wasn't finding anything on the used market, worth getting excited for...
I managed to sourced a rust-free shell out from a local used VW yard, and built a ground up ’95 Golf CL (lightest spec Golf, manual everybody, no sunroof, etc). We painted the engine bay and full gutted interior matte black, had the shell painted gloss black, and transplanted a 20v 1.8t Audi A4 engine, along with standalone, full fuel system, custom everything from intake to exhaust manifolds, piping etc, and a t3/t4 turbo. This was now about 2003/4 time frame and this type of build, in this generation of shell had never commenced, as of yet, lol.. It was absolutely my “gateway drug” into car building/racing/modding, outside of racing motorcycles and karts, from my youth. I then sold that car, “as-is” after blowing up my 2nd engine (self-taught tuner, and horrible local support for SDS), it was later featured on PVW with the new owner, who's since swapped in a Haldex AWD system, full OEM harness and ECU (newer technology, today).
I then picked up a ’00 A4, which I built into another "drag car" (first street trim A4 to hit 10’s in NA, went 10.82@136), using a built stroker 2.0l 20v , w/Borg Warner S366, 1000cc injectors, all tuned on the OEM Bosch Motronic ECU, resulting in my first home-built high hp “turn-key” reliable car.. That was the highest HP car I’ve ever owned (580awhp), but was also the biggest $$ pit I’d had owned, to date. I had that car for two years, dragged it over a dozen times at local events, then grew tired of having an “older car” and sold it to a friend out in Alberta, in search of some newer technology/comfort.
FFWD a few years and a bunch of in between boxes on wheels, to my first ever, new car. This was a ’12 GTI DSG, which I acquired in summer of 2012. Car was perfect for me at the time, had a new career etc, and the city/condo life was tough to own more than one vehicle so it had served me well as a 12mo/yr vehicle. I ended up modding it to Stage2+ APR, DSG tune, etc and it served me well as an "everything" car. THEN, 1.5 years later the ALL NEW GTI came out with a punch of news releases, in spring of 2014, so being me, I “HAD TO HAVE IT”!! The remorse had kicked me straight in the nuts, I was choked this had happened, and shame on me for not doing my DD on the upcoming model release.. I took a healthy financial hit on the ’12 and found an allocation on a ’15 GTI DSG and moved on it without thinking twice about it. This was the first time, I had felt good about what I had in terms of a fun/reliable/quick DD that I could enjoy for years to come, one that wouldn’t leave me wanting “more”. I modded that car to APR Stage 2 very quickly with some tasteful suspension/wheels, and was super happy with the power and handling at that point.
LOL!!, and that was
UNTIL Chris Harris did some reviews on the new R, and M235 (one was the R vs M235, which got me bent over the RWD/6MT config.) and I was now in a position of remorse, yet AGAIN, lol. So it came down to, “what haven’t I tried?” well, it was clear, I was still longing for another Coupe, and this time it had to fit the following criteria: German, RWD, 6MT, 6cyl turbo, factory LSD, 4 seats. Doesn’t leave much out there for options, hey?
On with the BMW Journey:
Car as delivered in 2016
Car started its life as a 2015 Black Sapphire Metallic M235i “M Performance Edition” car. It is a 1 of 50 build, which was exclusive to the Canadian market. It was built with the lot of cosmetic M Performance bits, including Carbon exterior pieces and the Forged 19” Wheels, MPE, etc. Basically, everything checked off aside from the carbon interior options.
I purchased it from Kelowna BMW, Certified Pre-Owned with about 12k kms on the clock. I had initially put the call out to their Sales rep, for a build/price on a Base 2016 m235i with minimal options (Base White paint, 6mt, sunroof delete, LSD, MPE) and he came back later that same day, with this option (a low km 1yr executive lease return, over $13k off of MSRP, and +5 years of combined factory/CPO warranty). At first I was not wanting to hear about another car “no, sorry, only interested in what I called in, for” lol. He was reluctant to let me have the last word, said “let me send you a link on this car, I think you’ll be impressed with the price and options”, so I caved. Upon receipt of his email, my jaw dropped, I hadn’t seen one spec’d this way before, and started to add up the cost of everything it came with, I was already over and above my initial budget, so value was there, for someone like me, who would probably do most of this on the aftermarket, anyway. I initially thought the look and colour of this car was a bit “over the top” for my style, especially being my first BMW. Just being black and accessorized with “M”/wheels etc didn’t help as a first-time owner, but it started to grow on me over a few days of pondering about the future and what I’d want from my car, down the road. So it was on, from there, happy camper, smiles for miles!
On with the modd’ing, yea? I initially said this car would stay stock (LOL), less some suspension work until out of warranty, but we know how that goes.. It started with Dinan Springs/Bump stops, some new rubber, and a JB4. It quickly turned into a FBO car thereafter, with a catless 4” DP, Intercooler, Intake, Chargepipe, and Meth integration. At this point, the car makes plenty of power, more than it really needs..
Car as of last year/week
What you notice, when you add power, is how quickly everything else starts to surface as an “issue” or bottleneck. It wasn’t until I got the car on the track that I saw the demand for more grip, braking power, and damping control. Brakes could have sufficed with endurance pads, but I wanted to take it a step further. I could have lived with a 235 square tire setup, but seeing that a 255 could be done, if done right, I wanted to take advantage and spend the money, once. Suspension could have been left alone, but I feel as though I’d become unhappy without the ability to set this car up the way I truly want to. The OEM damping in these cars is great for touring and street driving, but shows weaknesses at speeds, namely on the track where your highest forces are being applied to the chassis. That all being said, I’ve decided to take this car to the level where I’ll be able to track it several times, yearly, drive it on the street when I feel like it, and have it handle/perform the way I want it to, to be happy with it, long term. Have had most of these parts for almost one year, it’s time to finally put the pieces, together!
FWIW. Buying an M2 at this point of ownership was becoming a thought, a serious one, but when I weigh in the cost of the base car, and combined it with everything I'd end up wanting to do, to it, I'd be better off building from the F22 platform, first. No sense in paying upfront for uprated suspension, brakes, etc if I'd be changing it all to suit my needs, anyways
The car’s equipment/modifications consist of the following, all work is currently underway, ETA end of week for completion (MORE PICS ARE COMING):
Exterior
- Stock MP Edition w/ smoked reflectors
Interior
- Ledermanz Alcantara wheel w/ flat bottom and tri-colour stitching
- M2 Dry Carbon Trim kit
- MP Pedal Set (Clutch, Brake, Gas)
- Escort Redline Radar Detector w/ Blendmount & wiretap (super clean install, highly recommended)
- F30 Headrests, which allow tilt both rearward and forward to clear a helmet, comfortably
Wheels/Tires
- Apex ARC-08 18x9 square ET42
- Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R 255/35 (track)
- Michelin Cup2 235/40 F, Michelin PSS 255/35 R (street) Reason for the 235 is to hopefully run less aggressive camber on the street and to compensate for the grip lost from the smaller front section. Had the tires anyways, so f’it.
Engine/Driveline
- Burger Motorsports JB4 tuner
- Burger Tuning WMI kit, utilizing washer fluid tank as reservoir
- Burger Tuning Intake
- VRSF Chargepipe
- VRSF Race 6” FMIC
- VRSF 4” Coated Catless DP
- N20 spark plugs
- Superpro Rear Subframe Bushings
- Turner/Derlin Differential Mounts
- LSD
- MPE
Suspension/Chassis/Brakes
- KW Clubsport 3-way adjustable coilovers w/external dampers
- KW EDC cancellation kit
- Swift springs w/ -50lbs spring rate
- Brembo GT 370mm/345mm F&R BBK, with Type 3 2-piece rotors, Endless pads (street) PFC-08's (track)
- Motul RBF 660 Racing Brake Fluid
- Hotchkis F&R Swaybars
- Hotchkis uprated steel F&R Swaybar End Links
- F8x Front Lower Control Arm’s and Torsion Struts
- Powerflex Rear Lower LCA bushings
- Megan Racing 4 links (full 4 link replacement setup, fully adjustable to get rear end back to factory toe specifications, from changing the factory geometry)
Some petty pics at early build stages, have the DSLR at the shop being used for more of a "documented" step by step. Hoping to help future DIY'ers, especially on the sway bars and bushing job(s), they'll be the largest task at hand, without a doubt.
Couldn't fit the parts all into one pic, missing rear coilovers, sway bars, brakes
Strut/Spindles out
Front Sway bar in
Rear suspension/axles unbolted in prep to drop rear end for bushing work
Street/DD tire setup mounted
Pic of Meth lines, pump is mounted to the fender liner, underneath the intake. Really the easiest place to mount up front, without having to get under the car for service, etc. Tapped into the washer fluid reservoir instead of running a tank in the trunk;
I'll edit/modify and add progress photos to this as I go, as I'm sure I've missed out some key details, and feel free to call me out if I've missed something obvious, this was long winded! Thanks for reading, if you've gone this far, know that I appreciate any feedback or suggestions you may have. Thanks to all, in advance!
D