Obioban's 2005 IR/IR Coupe

[0-60motorsports]

Very Nice! Love it. I wonder if SLON can make the cabin air filter housing for those of us that do not want to use their strut bar.

[Surge709]

Looked like such a nice piece of work! So much want! Let us know how install goes this weekend.

[Obioban]

Back story:
SLON has made a front strut tower brace that triangulates loads to the firewall (as BMW has done on newer cars). The result of this is an 18-20% (depending on other mods and chassis condition) torsional rigidity increase (as actually measured on a chassis twister). More torsional rigidity is only better-- better handling, better ride quality, better grip, better NHV. In terms of making your car better, it's right up there with reducing weight. Speaking of reducing weight, this is also 5.5 lbs lighter than stock, on the front end of the car (where it's hard to remove weight).

This is how it assembles, so the part pictures make sense. The portion behind the cabin air filter housing is structural epoxied to the firewall. The cabin air filter housing needs to be replaced to create the clearance for the brace to fit:



These parts are like nothing I have seen in the aftermarket space, or professionally (I'm a product design engineer, in an automotive adjacent space). I hesitate to say it, because it sounds absurd, but they feel like I imagine F1 parts would feel. Super light, super stiff, super precise.

They're also some of the best packaged parts I've received. Every significant part has it's own custom cut foam hole, so they can't damage each other. They'd have to come by a truly inept shipping company for any hard to come to them.

Everything is absurdly rigid, all the alu parts are pocketed and ribbed, for weight and structure, and the CF looks perfect. Oh, and the cork filled carbon firewall plug is just next level (more on that)




Pics:



^accurate mold, can still see the BMW stamp





This last part may be the most interesting of them all. The original version was pure carbon. A Space-X engineer, that's also a member on here (who I don't want to out-- he can self identify if he chooses), bought one of these of that version, and suggested it would be a more effective thermal barrier if it was sandwiched cork, as they do rockets. SLON tested that out, and the results were as below:

^stock vs carbon vs carbon/cork/carbon

So, that got integrated into the design (and the member who suggested it received the updated version).

Amusingly for me, that probably means I'll get a comfort upgrade out of this-- I have been running the (NLA) CSL cabin air filter housing for a decade now, and it's lighter but same material as stock-- so presumably it's just thinner, and a worse thermal barrier as a result.

So, yeah. Consider this the most gushing post I have ever written. As I said back when we had the SLON rear wall group buy, they're making the parts that I have wanted for this chassis for a decade+, that nobody was willing to do.

Hoping to have time to install it this weekend, so more to follow...

Not my car, but this is how it should look when done:



No affiliation (though I've never heard anyone say anything bad about IND), but it appears IND has one in stock, if you want one and don't want to wait:
https://ind-distribution.com/product...5727c149&_ss=r

[Obioban]

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

My brothers old 128i, speced the same as mine other than slick top, with non run flat tires was 3050 lbs.

[tlow98]

Love the n51/52 motors. Great power package for the weight and balance of those cars. Congrats!

MILV - modified intake lift valve is the mod ppl are doing. It definitely falls into “diminishing returns” category, but does add up once you’re at the end of the regular flow mods.

Take a look in here: https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...1329840&page=3

awesome price Obioban. I’d have definitely picked it up for that price. Nicely optioned, nice color. No brainer!

[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.