CP-E Intercooler and DPs are in! (335xi)

My first major "project," I scooped up the FMIC and DPs I've been eyeballing during the black Friday sale a couple weeks back.

So I decided to do this myself and after reading all the DIYs and watching the videos available it was still a giant PITA. Had the car on the jack stands for 3 days. Probably took me anywhere between 18 and 24 hours of actual work to finish both the DPs and the FMIC. I will say though I removed everything with hand tools...it's not hard but it IS time consuming. All of the belly pans and such...I guess I just never realized how much time it takes to turn that many bolts. After day 1 I went out and got a drill with a 1/2in driver so I could speed things up a bit - best idea ever.

Sheared all 4 DP to exhaust bolts...those things just refused to move even after soaking with PB Blaster. I ended up just banging them out with a hammer and punch. Also sheared the bolt that holds the exhaust tight to the bracket just after the DP flanges. I just took the whole bracket off for now and I'll order a new one...the rattle that thing made at low RPM while it was loose was embarrassing to say the least.

The intercooler came out super easy and went in almost as easily. I didn't cut a thing but did have to use my jack to get some leverage and push it up into its home. I did see something that made me believe what most of you have been saying all along: GET A DAMN OCC. The amount of oil on the intake side of the intercooler was impressive. Definitely going to be my next purchase.

I think the hardest part of this whole thing was getting the sub frame back up in place. It kept catching on the motor mounts and I had to keep moving from one side to the other every time I would jack it up a bit more just to make sure everything was still lined up. Took me like 3 tries to get it to where everything lined up and I could bolt the thing back in.

I got everything buttoned back up and threw the Cobb stage 2 OTS tune on her to keep the CEL for the o2 sensors suppressed. THE SOUND! Sounds throatier and more aggressive at low RPM and under high load but still surprisingly quiet otherwise. I'm in love all over again!

In the end it sucked that it took so long but I'm glad I did it myself instead of paying a shop (although next time I'd recruit a buddy to help). Nothing against shop guys; I just enjoy working on my own car :) She feels quicker on her feet and more responsive to mine...there's nowhere around here to open her up but DD-ing I can certainly feel a little difference.

Next things on the list to purchase: that clean vent gauge for real time data monitoring (or something similar), OCC, and a pro tune to get the most out of everything I just did lol. There's nobody around here that will tune BMWs that I've found so I may just have to make a weekend trip down to Portland and hang with the Cobb kids down there. Money and time well spent, I think :)


The dog is making sure there is no shenanigans going on
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We're good to go
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Fresh outta the boxes
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I decided to do this myself....
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Out with the old, in with the new!
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Nice! The quality of cp-e downpipes is impressive!

You don't need to take the subframe down, though I have never done it so I can't say if it would be easier or more difficult that way. I just unbolt the front sway bar and the rack and pull the rack forward and down to gain more access to the primary O2 sensors and turbo to downpipe v-band clamps. I've even swapped my turbos this way, multiple times unfortunately.

Either way glad to see people are doing work themselves.

@ajm8127
Yeah I was gonna try just moving the steering rack but when I got under there it almost seemed easier to do the subframe. Plus 90% of what I could find online was about doing the subframe so I accepted defeat and did what the internet told me to do lol. If (when) I need to get back in there I'm definitely going to try and jimmy the steering rack instead.
@Stucks
yeah I agree...that's why I went with them! I haven't really heard anything negative about their DPs or any other product so figured money well spent. Glad I waited for them to throw up a sale though...saved several hundred bucks. Which I promptly spend on all the tools I needed to install the parts lol.

Props for doing the work yourself! Especially on an xi! I thought you HAD to drop the subframe on Xi's to do dp's but I could be wrong. Does the cpe intercooler no longer come with the extra oil cooler? Repped!

I loved my Cpe DP's when I had my 335. Good choice in mods op and rep for doing your own work! Btw, I also had a cobb protune and it's well worth it. The cobb ots map feels stock in comparison, get it ASAP.

Repped simply for the pics of the dog. I'm in a giving mood.

Thanks guys!

You can order the oil cooler with it...they still offer that but I've got that M sport goodness so I already have an oil cooler lol.

You might be right about the subframe with the xi...I feel like while I was under there poking around the steering rack was behind the subframe maybe. All I remember is it didn't look as easy as the YouTube videos I had seen so I decided you drop the subframe...you might be right though.

Yeah I wanna get a pro tune ASAP. If only I didn't have to be responsible with my money lol. When I got these parts I had to buy the girl some pearls...I messed up...now I'm gonna have to budget in a jewelry purchase with every car mod..

And thanks sticky! Lol holidays put everyone in a giving mood :-P

More dog pics.

Your not supposed to tell her about every mod! I guess thats a issue with doing your own labor. She thinks my car gets oil changes every month lol:laughing-rofl:

Or you could be single and do whatever the hell you want.

The XI has an extra crossbar that requires the subframe to be dropped to get the DPs out .