Obioban's 2005 IR/IR Coupe

[heinzboehmer]

Single hump. The car is actually optioned exactly how I would have done myself other than having a sunroof.

I had a 335i cluster in my wife's e91 for just that reason!

Never heard of the valvetronic mod-- will look into that.

Oh cool! That's a pretty great spec. Mine is a no option car except for auto and iDrive (both things that my GF insisted on ). If we weren't so far apart, it would be interesting to see how the two compare weight wise.

I tried looking for the valvetronic thing and can't find it for some reason. tlow98 was who originally told me about it

[Obioban]

Nice, they're fun little cars. Been having fun modding mine in a different way to the M3. Very different experience when you're modding for convenience vs performance.

Single hump or double hump? Mine has iDrive and have been running the bimmertech MMI for carplay/android auto. Works and integrates with the BMW stuff great.

Get yourself a 135i cluster. It's exactly the same as the 128i cluster, except it has an oil temp gauge. They're cheap on eBay too. Just make sure it's lower mileage than the one in your car to avoid the hassle of desoldering the EEPROM. I've got the chip programmer if you want to ship stuff to me, but might be easier to just buy and do it yourself.

Also, look for part outs in California. All 128i sold here were N51 cars, so they all came with the 3 stage manifold.

There's also some popular mod to the valvetronic variable lift system, but can't remember the name of it right now...

Single hump. The car is actually optioned exactly how I would have done myself other than having a sunroof.

I had a 335i cluster in my wife's e91 for just that reason!

Never heard of the valvetronic mod-- will look into that.

[heinzboehmer]

Bought a car. Someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse-- dealer trade in value ($3000).

M sport, rwd, manual trans, NA, HPS, 3100 lbs. The last "real" BMW IMO.

AC doesn't work and the back window tint is garbage. Otherwise, it's in great shape.

I plan to replace the AC compressor this coming weekend (which a mechanic had previously diagnosed as the issue).

... I might try to junk yard dive a 3 stage DISA intake manifold.

Nice, they're fun little cars. Been having fun modding mine in a different way to the M3. Very different experience when you're modding for convenience vs performance.

Single hump or double hump? Mine has iDrive and have been running the bimmertech MMI for carplay/android auto. Works and integrates with the BMW stuff great.

Get yourself a 135i cluster. It's exactly the same as the 128i cluster, except it has an oil temp gauge. They're cheap on eBay too. Just make sure it's lower mileage than the one in your car to avoid the hassle of desoldering the EEPROM. I've got the chip programmer if you want to ship stuff to me, but might be easier to just buy and do it yourself.

Also, look for part outs in California. All 128i sold here were N51 cars, so they all came with the 3 stage manifold.

There's also some popular mod to the valvetronic variable lift system, but can't remember the name of it right now...

[Obioban]

Bought a car. Someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse-- dealer trade in value ($3000).

M sport, rwd, manual trans, NA, HPS, 3100 lbs, no idrive. The last "real" BMW IMO.

AC doesn't work and the back window tint is garbage. Otherwise, it's in great shape.

I plan to replace the AC compressor this coming weekend (which a mechanic had previously diagnosed as the issue).

... I might try to junk yard dive a 3 stage DISA intake manifold.

[Obioban]

Installed

Up close and from face level. I swear I don't smoke, despite the dust making it look like I do...

[K-Dawg]

Interesting that the Avin and Xtrons both have their logos cast into the heat sink. Hopefully this unit will be less quirky than they have been in the past. 🤞

[Obioban]

You didn't want to opt for the new Carphonics upgraded OEM nav with touch screen and Apple CarPlay?

I would if I could, but I can't.

A couple of years ago, before the carphonics solution existed, I replaced the factory wiring harness on my car with one I made. Doing so, and eliminating the redundant modules and mounting brackets, allowed me to save ~50 lbs without losing any functionality. But it also means that I can't use the stock nav display anymore.

If I had know the Carphonics solution was coming, I probably would not have gone down that road. But, these days... I can only use a head unit with a built in amp for the speakers.

[duracellttu]

You didn't want to opt for the new Carphonics upgraded OEM nav with touch screen and Apple CarPlay?

[Bry5on]

Interesting. My Avin rear doesn’t look like either of those, it has the white xtrons connectors but different layout. Does/did your microphone work for taking calls while using CarPlay? Mine’s got an incredible amount of feedback

[0-60motorsports]

I was replacing my Avin (because, being the high quality Chinese unit it is, it has decided that it won't turn on if it's a little chilly out) with an Xtrons, and was kind of surprised that the two units were seemingly different inside.

Fronts (Identical):




Rear (unrelated, everything in different locations):



Also, the new unit has internal wireless carplay, instead of a dongle.

I'm sure it's pissing into the wind, but I selected this particular unit over Xtrons other offerings (or another Avin) because it supposedly uses automotive grade internals. We will see...

Nice, Lets see how it turns out for you as my Blubus is starting to be annoying now.

[Obioban]

I was replacing my Avin (because, being the high quality Chinese unit it is, it has decided that it won't turn on if it's a little chilly out) with an Xtrons, and was kind of surprised that the two units were seemingly different inside.

Fronts (Identical):




Rear (unrelated, everything in different locations):



Also, the new unit has internal wireless carplay, instead of a dongle.

I'm sure it's pissing into the wind, but I selected this particular unit over Xtrons other offerings (or another Avin) because it supposedly uses automotive grade internals. We will see...

[Obioban]

You are wise to do it now. Our house was built in 79-80, and I must have pulled a mile of ethernet along with a half mile of coax. I got good at using fishtape and patching drywall.

I no longer use the coax, and I am curious as to why you are installing it. The ERV looks good. You in a cold climate?

D-O

It's cold in the winter (below 0) and hot in the summer (above 100) here. We should benefit from it on both ends. Mostly, though, the house is going to be passive house levels of air tight-- so need it to have breathable air 🤣

COAX is for broadcast TV, in the event that the internet goes down for an extended period. By default, it really won't be used. But, for $50 for a nice attic antenna, and $30 of coax cable... seemed like a cost effective fallback.

[D-O]

You are wise to do it now. Our house was built in 79-80, and I must have pulled a mile of ethernet along with a half mile of coax. I got good at using fishtape and patching drywall.

I no longer use the coax, and I am curious as to why you are installing it. The ERV looks good. You in a cold climate?

D-O

[Obioban]

I took last week off from work, and spent 12 hours a day for the last 9 days running Ethernet/fiber/conduit/coax/sensor wire/speaker wire/power shade wire, and installing an ERV, in the house I'm building.

I'm feeling BEAT.... but it's pretty close to done.

[Obioban]

Makes sense, I was concerned about the NVH being solid mounts. I feel as I am getting older I tend to tolerate less from the car as I did when I was younger.

Is there any other things you can recommend while being back there doing the job?

Aftermarket parts? Not really.

If your bushings/ball joints are original, good time to refresh them. Even if they're low mileage, at this point they're probably getting aged out.