BMW 135i
The E82 M135i from BMW is the compact little brother to the prolific 3 series. You might say this makes it a good city car, it may well be. It probably is easy to park. It might fly under the radar and be more of a sleeper than most European performance cars. However this small 2 door coupe is running the N54 twin turbo inline 6 engine, nothing little about that.
The model as featured today is a 2009 model M135i coupe, the styling would suggest a much more modern car. With a shorter wheelbase and a lighter weight than the comparable 3 series while retaining a big engine arguably makes this car more fun than some of its bigger brothers. While being a relatively modern euro beast there's no dual clutch trickery here, this car is on the rarer side having an old school 6 speed manual.
Often people say JDM cars are more easily moddable, with more parts and options available; this car sets out to prove that idea wrong. Highly modified by owner/mechanic @fulbring.135 this cars mod list is as long as the car is cool; very.
Starting with the monster powerplant. The N54 twin turbo inline 6 is often referred to as the German 2jz because its strong, robust and can take big power tuned on the right mods. This particular example is comfortably putting out roughly 280KW at the rear wheels on 98 at 18psi.
A series of tasteful additions to this N54 weapon help it achieve this power. Air is provided to the turbos via FTP motorsport air intake scoops to an Injen SP series cold air intake, double pod filters is always a win. After the turbos charge air is passed through VRSF charge pipes to a 5” VRSF intercooler. The 18psi is relieved by a HKS SSQV blow-off valve, accompanied with a VTT PCV delete to help keep intake temps down and oil free. To ensure these parts perform at their best all day every day, with a street pull or pounding laps at the track, the car has a Snow Performance stage 2.5 water-methanol injection kit.
Eldor ignition coils paired with an MHD stage 2+ tune help this N54 make the most of that cool pressurised air to safely and reliably produce the 280kw it puts out. FTP motorsport dual catch cans and a Burger motorsport oil cooler valve help keep the engine performing at its best.
Beyond the turbos a pair of VRSF catless downpipes reduce back pressure and a rear muffler delete gives the coupe a deep raw exhaust note that is good; really good.
The striking looks of this car given to it by its German designers are supplemented with a number of aftermarket accents, this car has enough carbon fiber to make an F1 team double check their inventory. A definite theme of the car is carbon. The most obvious being the Revozport style carbon fiber boot wing and our personal favourite the Rieger style carbon fiber rear diffuser. Beautiful BMW LCI blackline taillights draw your attention to the rear if the previous didn’t already have you looking.
Other exterior mods include M performance carbon mirror covers, carbon side splitters, carbon vortex generators and a second duck lip M performance style spoiler. The M2 gloss black kidney grills are a particularly noteworthy addition.
Upfront a 1M style front bumper and and BMW 1M air ducts give the car a meaner look. Since shooting with us and this article coming out Dan has taken delivery of a beefy carbon front lip to increase this aggressive look even more.
Looks are finished off with a stunning set of double pressed black Volk racing TE37SL wheels in 18x8.5 up front and 18x9.5 in the rear. Wrapped in Nankang NS-2R semi-slick tyres, the finish of these wheels need to be seen in person to appreciate the metallic colour. TE37s on every car we say, what a set of wheels!
All that power and all those looks need some good handling mods to ensure the car is as good to drive as it can be. A set of green Gecko racing G-street coil overs with camber plates replace stock shocks to provide a planted ride at all speeds. Paired with Powerflex rear upper shock mounts, Super pro rear subframe bushes and rear lower shock mounts; nothing has been overlooked when it comes to grip.
The heaviest parts of the car are kept where they’re meant to be with KAZZ engineering gearbox mounts and 034Motorsport engine mounts.
The mods on this car are incredibly well thought out and make this 2 door coupe a wolf in sheep's clothing. Absolutely no corners were cut in the build, the care for reliability and longevity in this build is admirable and something people often overlook. All work on the car has been completed by owner Dan, no small feat. TLC at its finest.
Dan has more performance mods planned, mainly a big single turbo upgrade; we can’t wait to see how it performs!
We love a car with a turbo at the big boost club and this one has two! We love getting out and talking to owners about their builds and this one is meticulous to the last detail. We’re really keen to see what Dan does as he continues the build. Keep an eye out for this beast at a car meet around Adelaide, you’ll definitely want to check it out. Thanks to Dan for coming out to shoot with us and for repping the Greenhill edition banner.
Enjoy some more shots from the shoot below
Got a car you think is worth a feature? Want to do a shoot with us? Message us at @thebigboostclub on Instagram.
All opinions are our own.
Owned and built by @fulbring.135
Photos by @intent_media and @jeremy.khuu
Article by @thebigboostclub
All photos are property of The Big Boost Club 2021 ©