Engine Rebuild
Believe it or not, it has been almost 2 years since I got this car and so far I’ve only put on a few thousand miles on it. It’s not because I don’t like driving it or anything like that, but because I got it with a blown engine that tool some time to rebuild. The N55 engine in this BMW 335i was completely destroyed and I learned a ton rebuilding it. It was one of the most fun winter projects I’ve done in a while. I ran into some issues and had to redo a few things, but that’s part of the process. Check out the entire playlist to see it start to finish!
Done Since Rebuild:
Anyway, what has been done since the engine rebuilt? In all honestly, not too much. I have painted the air intake to match the nice engine and make sure no rust or paint chips go into the engine. I replaced, registered and coded the battery to make sure it starts every time and installed Apple CarPlay to make it more modern and enjoyable to drive daily.
What stopping me from driving it all the time:
So, why haven’t I been driving it as much as my BMW Z4 or the i3? Well, the biggest factor for me has been that air conditioning not working. I have attempted to fix it and was not able to find the leak with the bumper and panels in place, so me driving this car has been limited to cold days and evenings.
The second biggest reason has been the front of the car. Not only is the bumper hanging and catches on stuff, but the headlights and the fenders are also in very poor state. As you can see the headlights are glazed and not very clear and the fenders have re-cracked in the location where they have been fixed before.
The next one is fairly minor, but at certain engine load, the car will stutter a little bit on acceleration. I’ve scanned the car already and found a valvetronic code, so I’ll be investigating that as well.
The last biggest annoyance with driving this car has been the exhaust. While I like loud and throaty exhaust and this one sounds almost decent on startup, someone has cut out the mufflers on it and it sounds horrible at higher speed. The drone of the exhaust kills all the fun of driving this car over 45 MPH as it encapsulates the entire cabin.
Plan for the future:
Alright and finally let’s talk about my plan for this BMW! No, I will not be installing the M4 style bumper on this car, but I will be installing this aftermarket M-Sport bumper just like the original OEM. Well, except this one isn’t ripped and hasn’t been repaired a few times in the past. To go with the bumper, I will be replacing the fenders as it was cheaper to buy new aftermarket ones than to fix the original cracked ones. During this process, I will look into the air conditioner again as I could hear it hissing in the general area behind the bumper and it will be the perfect time to find what the issue is. Once I test fit all the parts and make sure everything works well, I’ll take it to a body shop to get painted and hopefully fix the rest of the paint on the car at the same time. After the body shop, I’ll buff out the headlights to make them look new again and try to figure out why the left headlight doesn’t level itself properly making it difficult to drive at night.
Once the car is looking better, it will be time to make it sound great also. For that reason, I have bought this complete exhaust system that I will be installing myself. I CANNOT wait to get this installed and hear what it sounds like! This is stainless steel construction with no welding required and should make a huge difference for drivability and comfort.
A few other minor common issues on these cars I will have to fix are the broken cup holders and the seat belt extender, which are both very easy to replace.
So, there you have it guys, the truth is that I have been saving up to get the parts I needed and wanted so that I can finally finish the transformation. I can’t wait to get working on this and I’m hoping to have everything done in the next couple of months. If you’d like to follow this car from the start, check out my previous videos, subscribe if you’d like to see what happens next and I hope to see you in the next one!