What can I say? If you’ve ever modified your ride before, you know that there’s bound to be an eventual ‘Part II’ to this story. As car modifications is one addictive drug! Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s only been 4 months after the first round of mods and the ‘Beast’ is already back in the shop for a ‘make-over’ and an improve on the lungs.
To date, my one complaint with the M135i has been the fact that it’s not very sporty looking for a ‘Hyper hatch’. Like this baby before being modified could already give any genuine sports car a decent run for its money. But it looks… it looks… like a mumsey soccer run-about? Yeah sure, it can pass as a ‘Sleeper’, but after the first round of mods and the hyper hatch is now putting out 300Kw of power!..Don’t you want just a little bit of attention? Just a little bit? *Holds finger and thumb a millimetre apart*.
So, it was this reason which motivated me to be flicking through websites again looking for body-kits and aerodynamic packages for the 1-Series. And why the improve of the breathability of the vehicle? Well, the first part was a practical decision, after tuning the vehicle’s engine to 300Kw, the engine was starting to overheat after any pro-longed spirited drive. You could literally feel the heat emanating from the engine all the way into the cabin of the vehicle. So, the Wagner Competition Evo 1 Intercooler was a necessary install to manage any issues of an overheating engine. But the Milltek sports exhaust? Ok, ok, that was a ‘nice to have’ but not essential upgrade. But now with a grunt-y engine, in my opinion the Beast needed a nice sounding exhaust note to balance things up! And it doesn’t hurt that an intercooler and exhaust upgrade also equates to a 10Kw power upgrade! #Unintended outcome. Moohahaha!
So, with only a couple more hours to go before we’re re-united with the Beast, I’m so curious to see it after it’s face-lift! After all the post-surgery ‘bandages’ have been taken off, will we recognise it? With new shadow-chrome 18-inch Koya semi forged rims, blacked-out M-Performance kidney grills, matte black M-Performance boot lid spoiler, matte black M-Performance tail light fins, and the Mat black ceramic exhaust tips peaking out back!? Only time will tell! I’m literally shaking in anticipation and excitement! Yeehaw!
2.15pm
Ok, I’m back from picking up the beast! Ok, ok, we can still definitely recognise him, as the new grill, boot lid spoiler and tail fins aren’t as garish as I thought it might be (which is probably a good thing). While the rims? They’re a more modern configuration of the traditional 5 dual-spoked pattern- which I have to admit I’ll have to learn to love. The new Milltek sports exhaust? It’s definitely more audible at all situations, even sending a vibration through your chair and spine at certain rpms. Haaha. But an unintended consequence was a shuddering scrape when driving up our building’s steep garage ramp. The new exhaust pipes just stick out that little bit further than the OEM pipes did, and the car is just that little bit lower due to the new tyres (we had replaced all 4 spots with run flats). So that is a real unintended outcome, minus the laughs this time. Boo!
In terms of noticing the additional power? Hard to tell actually. My dad was the one driving the Beast home, and knowing that it now packed more than 310Kw under the hood- he was definitely hesitant in giving the right pedal too much of a poke with his right foot. I guess that’s another unintended outcome which I hadn’t anticipated- that knowing that the car is powerful, would actually scare people from utilising any of its pony power. So at this point, the jury is still out. In whether or not this latest round of mods was worth the slightly over $9K price tag? Ouch!
The next stage gate, is my wife’s reaction to the new look Beast, and breaking it to her that each time she drives it back to its resting spot, a part of the undercarriage makes a cringing metal-on-concrete scrape. Yeeks.
7.15pm
Ok, I’m back from showing my wife the outcome of mods Part II…..
The best description to her reaction to the mods? I think the best description of what she’s feeling is relief? Relieved that if I didn’t point out the changes, she didn’t really notice the difference- maybe the changes weren’t that dramatic, or perhaps she never paid too much attention to the trimmings of the car. *Shrugs*. But either way, happy wife (or at least not-angry wife) equates to happy life! Hey? But did you tell her about the scraping undercarriage part? Oh yeah…..When I told her that the car would scrape an unknown under-body-part each time it came home. *Sheepish look*. Well, after the initial flair of anger subsided, her response was “I’m going to make sure I scrape it each time we go up that ramp, just to spite you.” Now babe, it’s that spunkiness which makes me love you even more! *Hugs*.
8.42pm
I was meant to go out on a late night cruise with a mate, so he could properly push the car to see what the latest mods had really done. But unfortunately there was some rain and the roads are slick, so we’ve postponed the test drive for another day. So keep an eye out for an addendum to this post, if you want to know how this little project all pans-out.
List of Part II car mods:
*Milltek Cat-back System- $2,045.45
*Wagner Competition Evo 1 Intercooler- $1,409.09
*Koya Semi-forged 03 18” Hyper Black (Shadow Chrome) Wheels- $1,445.45
*Bridgestone Run Flats- $1,181.82
*M-Performance Black Grills- $363.64
*M-Performance Boot lid Spoiler- $327.27
*M-Performance Tail Fins- $200.00
+6 hours labour
+10% GST
Four Senses: Touch Smell Taste Sound
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