E46 Fanatics Forum banner

Build thread - 2010 to Now - S54 sedan

37K views 105 replies 47 participants last post by  Levim9 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey fanatics! I've never setup a build thread so I might as well now. My 2001 325i is just about at 200k miles and I've decided to make some big changes. Honestly the car has been fun and enjoyable and I don't have plans of getting rid of it. It's about to get a whole lot funner. :4ngie: Cosmetically, the car needs some work but that will come in time. Right now I'm focused on getting it running in top shape.

I know some of the picture quality sucks ITT. Sorry - Will try to get good pictures when I have the car back in couple weeks! :D Also this is sort of a teaser thread. I plan on taking more detailed pictures of everything installed then.

Some recent mods in the past 2 years:

- 17x9 D'Force LTW5 wheels: Loved these wheels but somehow bent one. I found a set of BBS RKs on craigslist last fall within driving distance and bought them and sold the 3 LTW5s.

- Rear Shock Brace: Took a welding class in school and bought myself a Hobart 180 Mig welder. I ended up making a custom rear shock brace and had it powder coated by a local shop. I really can't notice any performance gain but it looks cool and might stiffen the chassis slightly. It's better than the cheap ebay ones but I'd love to upgrade to the mason engineering brace in the future.

- BMW Performance Strut Brace: I bought this when all the BMW Performance stuff went on sale. Looks great and is lightweight!

- Valentine 1 Radar Detector and Uniden BCT-12 Police Scanner

- M3 Tri-Stitch Steering Wheel: Bought this used from a fanatic. It's one of my favorite upgrades.

- Mtech I Front Bumper: I had some front end damage after hitting a fox. Literally right after this happened So Lowww was selling his Mtech I in Jet Black. I drove down to Philly right after school to get it lol. Thanks Khalil!

- 330 Front Brakes, Stoptech Front and Rear Rotors, Stoptech Pads, Stoptech SS Lines, Vorshlag 75mm Stud Kit : Bought the 330 brakes from a fanatic and rest of the brake parts from Anthony at Bimmerbrakes. Thanks guys for the quality parts!

- Cosmos Racing Intake: Sounded nice. I went with the Amsoil dry filter and also had the Amsoil hydro filter to prevent hydro lock. This is a great intake for the price. It's not flashy looking like an AFE or BMW Performance intake but it's a true CAI.

- ebay lip spoiler

- BBS RK wheels 17X8 - I actually found these by mistake. I found a set of steel wheels down near Philly on craigslist and contacted the seller. They were already sold but asked me if I was interested in RKs. Got a good deal so picked them up and sold the D'Forces. Turns out he's a fanatic on here too. They were too small for his M3 but fit my sedan perrrfectly. :)

------------------------------------------------------------

Now for the stuff I'm VERY excited about! :excited:

I dropped the car off at Motorcepts in NY last weekend for an s54 swap.

It's getting an s54 with 76k miles, 6 speed transmission, complete M3 rear end, JVT headers, Active Tuned ECU, UUC Clutch, and UUC SSK. I can't wait to drive it but the wait is killer.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, so now I have a build thread! I'll update pictures and maybe gopro video in the next couple weeks when the car comes together. Thanks for looking :hi:

.
.
.
.
.

D'Force LTW5s after getting them on.


lol suby rally mode..


Flange design for the rear shock brace



Flanges cut and pipe.



Welded and test fitted.



Finished project - I forget who got the other but I sent one out to a fanatic. :) I don't have any installed pics. Looks like sh!t without the trunk liner but with the trunk liner installed and slit properly the bar looks amazing.



BMW Performance Strut Brace





Snow pics.





Valentine 1



Uniden BCT12 scanner picking up Pennsylvania State Police chatter. :p



M3 Tri Stitch Steering Wheel - This replaced my sport wheel.



Mtech I Front Bumper



330 Front Brakes





Cosmos racing intake - sort of the reason I took the foglights out



lip spoiler



BBS RK 17x8







-------------------------------------------------------

Some mods to go with the M conversion

M3 Rear view



Black gauge face from LEDmods. Should look good with orange needles.




Thanks again for looking! I'll keep this updated as the car comes together. :hi:
 
See less See more
23
#10 ·
#11 ·
Amazing progress and mods. I have a question though!


Will your new black gauge face be mated to your stock cluster? I don't see any other parts from an M cluster in that picture besides the panels. My thought is that your stock cluster will not be accurate in speed or RPM if it is still calibrated to a speedometer ending at 140 mph, or a tach ending at 7k rpm. I hope you see what I'm getting at. Small, little thing, but just an honest question.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Amazing progress and mods. I have a question though!

Will your new black gauge face be mated to your stock cluster? I don't see any other parts from an M cluster in that picture besides the panels. My thought is that your stock cluster will not be accurate in speed or RPM if it is still calibrated to a speedometer ending at 140 mph, or a tach ending at 7k rpm. I hope you see what I'm getting at. Small, little thing, but just an honest question.
Thanks!!
I understand what you mean and thanks for the concern and pointing that out. I left out a lot of little parts here and there but this is getting an M3 cluster with the swap. :)

It's funny. With my non-m gauge cluster I swapped the gauge face to the grey M style bimmian gauge face. I got tired of that look and wanted to go back to the black gauge face but now it's getting an actual M3 cluster. I'll swap the LEDmods gauge face in the new cluster and I'm pretty sure I'll keep this one in. :p
 
#23 ·
:thumbup:

Sweet. I want that BCT 12 but I don't think they are sold anymore.
Nope, they don't sell the BCT 12s anymore but you can find them on ebay sometimes. Some police have switched to digital so the BCT 12 is becoming dated. It works in my area though. :) Make sure to look up your local police frequencies to see if the BCT 12 will cover them. I believe it covers up to 800mhz.

:D

Wow dude awesome work! I didn't even know you were gonna S54 it!

Glad you like the front bumper :hi:
Thank you Khalil! Hehe it was planned but once I found my swap I jumped right on it. Love the bumper. I've got a little mod coming up for that soon. ;)

Perfection exactly what I want to swap into my sedan! :drool: Love your wheels and studs too.
Thanks man, I feel the exterior of my car is pretty rough but it makes it that much more of sleeper. You're sedan looks amazing. :drool:



Just curious how much is the labor+parts costing you? I'm looking to do this in the next year or two myself. PM me if you don't want to post it up. Thanks! :thumbsup:
I'll send you a PM. I had to buy a lot of little parts here and there but I'll get you a figure of my parts and labor.

nice build by the way. cant wait to see it how it goes in the end!
this is gonna be ****
Very nice.
Thanks guys I appreciate the kind words! :hi:


Well I picked up the car Saturday and drove it home from NY! The guys at Motorcepts were awesome. There were no hidden costs or anything of the sort from Leo. If there was a problem or an extra cost I had a phone call right away and we would work it out. They took there time and did excellent work. I couldn't ask much more from a shop. :thumbsup:

I've been very busy the past couple days so I haven't been able to update much. I'm actually in hurry to leave the house now so I'll post some pics up quick. I'll make more updates and my impressions of the car and some pics and video, I promise!

Right now I have to finish the exhaust. It's got JVT headers, M3 section 1, and M3 section 2. They left the back section open so I could pick out a muffler. I ordered a magnaflow and it should be here by the end of the week. It's extremely loud right now lol

Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content


M3 cluster, Tri stitch wheel, and zhp 6 speed knob.



I'm loving the car. It's got so much more power and is a lot funner to drive. I haven't even felt the need to drive fast to have fun with it. Just some backroad twisties with hills in 4th gear is pure pleasure. It's awesome not having to downshift or mash the throttle to keep at a decent speed. I'm enjoying every second of it except for my ears hurting from the sound at times. :p That's going to change by this weekend, though. That's my quick update - more to come... :thumbup:

 
#28 ·
It's got vogtland springs but I've been eyeing up the TMS Tracksport coils. In time, my wallet needs a break for now

love it ! looks like its been done very nice and clean, glad to see im not the only one messing around with s54's in sedans ;)
Thanks! I'd like to see what work you're doing. :)

Thanks so much! That S54 looks so good in the engine bay. :drool:
Hehe I keep popping the hood to "check the fluids" when I'm really just using that as an excuse to check it out lol



:thumbsup: Love the carbon strut tower bar, where did you buy that from?
Thank you. It's the BMW Performance strut bar. I bought that from my local dealership and was lucky enough to get one while the prices were down. Here's the main thread when the price drop took place. http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=796468&highlight=bmw+performance+strut+brace
 
#29 ·
As you saw from the recent update, I'm driving around with JVT headers, stock M3 section 1 & 2 and it's driving me crazy. It's SO LOUD! :banghead: That's the main reason I haven't taken any video. It sound like sh!t.

Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content


I ended up not wanting the magnaflows I ordered. Magnaflow glasspacks probably weren't that great of an idea..

I decided to go with a borla 400286 dual 2.5 in/out. It's on order now and will be welded up the day it arrives. :)

 
#32 ·
Thanks! I'm enjoying the Mpower :woot:

I don't blame you! I would probably do the exact same thing. :rofl: Did you ever figure out a total cost or estimate of how much you spent? I would love to know how much I need to start saving. PM me when you have the chance. :hi:
PMd about this but will get back to your reply. I've got a few bugs to figure out like the tamper dot and correct mileage. Too bad I didn't have all the electronics from one car.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wanted to update you guys about the exhaust. I got the borla muffler welded and it no longer hurts my ears and scares people. :rofl:

It sounds a lot more tame but still has a growl to it. The current setup is JVT headers, OEM M3 section 1 & 2, and the Borla left exit muffler (dual 2.5 in/out).

Yes, I have to replace the rear bumper trim. The hot air from when I didn't have the muffler blew the trim off on the freeway. Also I've got new roundels on order. They were starting to peel. I took a quick video today so you can hear it. :thumbup:







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb0JtzSV0VA

Next thing will be tires. Some of you guys may have noticed my tires.. I still have Blizzaks on because the car has been sitting since February. I've got a set of Nittos in the back seat. They'll be going on sometime this week. :)
 
#34 ·
sounds great! nice work! ultimate sleeper with that stock rear bumper
 
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