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Thread: 2008 E60 M-Sport 6MT - Restore and Pure Stage 2 Setup

  1. #1
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    2008 E60 M-Sport 6MT - Restore and Pure Stage 2 Setup

    Hey all,

    So this has been in-progress for some time. A few years ago, I sold a 2010 535i M-Sport 6MT and regretted selling it pretty much immediately. So a while back, I began the hunt for a another unicorn. Want an auto? No issue. AWD? No problem. RWD 6MT - Good luck! Add in M-Sport and it's even worse. All the work has been done by my friends Richard and Tyler at Dirty Euro Customs in SLC. They do amazing work and I love to keep them busy.

    I actually ended up buying two 535i's - both white.

    The first one (the one I ended up keeping) was a 2008 from MN and was a 6MT, but not factory M-Sport. Had a really awful M5 clone front bumper on it, and believe it or not, a piece of shower molding for the rear spoiler. Unbelievably, that last part was not immediately obvious. Someone had spent way more time than money saved to make that work. I don't think the seller was being inherently dishonest, but the car was a lot more rough than I'd hoped. Bad paint on the front and rear bumpers, tons of rock chips and general paint wear. Horrible aftermarket bumper. Headlights were in bad shape. Lots of wear. And it was from MN - a little worried about winter conditions.

    The second one was a 2010 from an auction in Vegas. It was a pretty low miles (86k) white 6MT M-Sport - but it was an auto. Should have been in perfect shape at that mileage but it was ridden hard and put away wet. And, after doing some more research, I decided I didn't want to do the auto-6MT swap. So, I sold that one to a friend for a steal and ate my loss.

    So, decision made, I decided I was going to go all out with a stock motor. My other passion is E39 M5's. So pretty much everything on this car seemed very reasonably priced It was a novel experience that I could still buy new OEM parts (try finding an S62 oil pump). So we immediately ordered everything to make the car "new". Total suspension refresh, all bushings, ball joints, belts, hoses, gaskets.

    Pure Stage 2 DD turbo's
    Spec Twin Disc Clutch
    VRSF DP's
    Precision Raceworks Coil Packs
    BMS TMAP, PVC Upgrade, and Meth Kit (minus tank)
    ECS Tuning Catch Can
    UUC Short Shifter / Turner Shift Bushings
    Custom rear diff from Jim Blanton at Performance Gearing (stock ratio but variable ramp LSD)
    Every bushing, mount, belt, pulley, tensioner, seal, or hose we could think of
    All new cooling system (kept it stock)
    Koni FSR Shocks with H&R Springs
    PSP Intercooler and Oil Cooler
    Custom chargepipe (Thanks Richard!) and Synapse BOV
    Fuel-it Stage 2 pump
    19" Forgestar F14's in Bronze Burst
    Complete brake setup from an E60 M5 - with new OEM rotors and Hawk HPS Pads
    Individual Pentan Carbon Aluminum Trim (this was a rare find!)
    Complete CIC retrofit kit (since this was a 2008 it had the old school CCC) - now I wish I had gone full NBT!
    Custom Steering Wheel from a great guy (https://www.instagram.com/azaautowheel). Have on in one of my E39's, and an E30 - all three great.

    Also got kind of a wild hare and decided to upgrade the stereo. Don at Unexpected Creations was an amazing resource. I got a full Helix setup from him P SIX DSK MK2, SDMI25, and an M ONE for the sub. Got a Jehnert Flatline 9-15100 kit for the front speakers, and an Audiomobile GT2 2010 for the sub-woofer (running infinite baffle in the rear deck). We just left the rear speakers disconnected and ran individual channels to the 6 front speakers. This is all installed, but not tuned, or even turned on yet - lots of configuration to make sure I don't make a speaker go boom in a bad way.

    I should have taken a lot more "before" pictures, but here it is right out of paint with a refinish of the headlights and a full clear bra. We got all new OEM M-Sport front and rear bumpers and all needed brackets, etc etc. I think the only thing I'm missing is the M-Sport door sill plates. The car has the sport steering and suspension so it has active sway bars for good or ill (they don't leak currently).







    Here is the interior trim and the steering wheel - I'll get a picture of it installed (added steering wheel picture):





    Here is the engine and tranny while out of the car after all the good stuff:




    Custom meth tank:






    Brake setup:




    Sub, Amps, MOST box on the rear deck:







    Dual exhaust, hasn't gone back to the paint shop to get the rear difuser painted yet:




    I've been driving it around to break in the clutch. The methanol is not hooked up and we're not yet running the MHD tune on the backend. Just tooling around on the auto-learning JB4 map and it's pretty quick. Love how fast those turbos spool. Richard also custom fabbed up a dual exhaust setup for me which looks amazing, I'll get some more pictures. I bought dual exhaust rear splitter from Umnizta and they were great. I would have purchased their dual exhaust setup but they were sold out and it was going to be a bit before they had anymore. More to come!
    Last edited by triksterut; 11-04-2019 at 12:54 PM.

  2. #2
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    Nice clean build! Budget?

  3. #3
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    It does not appear there was a budget. Lots of nice, expensive parts and lots of shop labor. Results should be good. Let us know how fast it is once the clutch is broken in and it is tuned.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by interalian View Post
    Nice clean build! Budget?
    Yeah there was no budget. In my mind, you don't start this kind of project unless you just want it done. You made me sit down and think about it. Certainly more than I originally anticipated.

    These are very rough numbers. ~10k for the car with shipping. ~3k in amps/speakers etc. ~1200 in CIC conversion. ~8k in paint/body work (fresh paint, new bumpers, clear-bra etc etc). 3k ish in new rims and tires. And I'm guessing around 15-20k in parts/shop labor - this would include the complete OEM M5 brakes, full custom exhaust, meth tank, interior trim and stereo install. So maybe 40-45k.

    That's probably a bit low in all honesty. Lots of custom work and I'm sure I missed some things.

  5. #5
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    Guess what I mean about 'budget' isn't that I'd expect it to be cheap. For your outlay, and the results, you essentially have a new E60.

    I'm adding M5 bits to my 535xi 6AT to refresh my appreciation of the car. It's been a while since I did mods. Maybe I'll dial up the HP too.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by interalian View Post
    Guess what I mean about 'budget' isn't that I'd expect it to be cheap. For your outlay, and the results, you essentially have a new E60.

    I'm adding M5 bits to my 535xi 6AT to refresh my appreciation of the car. It's been a while since I did mods. Maybe I'll dial up the HP too.
    That's pretty much what I was looking for; obviously money was still an object I just figured that as long as it was less than the cost of a new E60 I was ok (my rationalization anyway). I've always been knee-jerk against auto's - but that other 535i I got and sold to my friend was an auto and it may have been the best auto I've ever driven. I was just reading a great thread in here about a guy who rebuilt his auto to hold some real power. The JB4, DP's and a tune by itself would do wonders.

  7. #7
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    Triksterut should have a very high performing car. It might still be old but it has been refreshed, brakes better, handles better, and goes much faster. Should be as fast or faster than an E60 M5. Has it been on a dragstrip or on a dyno?

    I would be tempted to mod mY 08 E61 535xi more, but it is my wife’s driver. Stock except for a JB4, but I will probably replace the turbos as preventative maintenance in the next few months (145k miles) and might get RB Ones and high flow intakes instead of RB OEMs for a little more power. It’s a 93 pump gas car so boost will still be modest. No meth in this car (I do use meth in my turbo 99M3 and modded N/A 08M3).

  8. #8
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    Yeah, really nice build, you cant look at the $$$$ once the decision is made to "just get it done", love that way of thinking especially when you're able to actually do it. I was on the fence to do a lot more to my 2010 535iX wagon recently after having the motor out to repair a PITA to get to oil leak. 114K and was really surprised how nice the internals were when the engine was apart. A lot of work had been done previously to the top of the motor, stock turbos were in amazing condition, has a Cobb tune installed by PO, nice Miro wheels, car was a complete repaint in original A35 Metallic Blue, new brakes and interior complete redo, (although its different). So I refinished the wheels in Hyper Satin, repainted the road rash on front bumper, added shadow line trim and called it a day. The car you now have is piece of art, exactly how you wanted it to be and couldn't be replaced for the amount of $$$$ put into it...sounds like its going to be one hell of a nice DD worth every penny and the work to do it right...
    Last edited by SCRSUVS; 11-16-2019 at 05:03 AM.

  9. #9
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    I am considering RB Ones to replace the stock original turbos on our 08 E61 535xi with 145k miles. I could buy new stock fir about $1500 including install kit plus inlets for $250 or I could spend about $500 more to get mine rebuilt into RB Ones with install kit and inlets. I’ll probably keep the car another few years so the added cost would work out to a couple of hundred a year. The car is stock except for a JB4. I would add inlets and maybe a direct fit intercooler but nothing more. Always 93 pump. Would the Ones give a little more power on a mostly stock car? Let’s say it makes 325 rwhp now. If I added 10% that would be fine.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by pbonsalb View Post
    I am considering RB Ones to replace the stock original turbos on our 08 E61 535xi with 145k miles. I could buy new stock fir about $1500 including install kit plus inlets for $250 or I could spend about $500 more to get mine rebuilt into RB Ones with install kit and inlets. I’ll probably keep the car another few years so the added cost would work out to a couple of hundred a year. The car is stock except for a JB4. I would add inlets and maybe a direct fit intercooler but nothing more. Always 93 pump. Would the Ones give a little more power on a mostly stock car? Let’s say it makes 325 rwhp now. If I added 10% that would be fine.
    I kept going back and fourth specifically with the turbos if to change them while the engine was out. My problem was the extra $$$$ needed to keep on going with everything else to do it right and the est $$$$ kept adding up. As ive gotten older tired of the little problems keeping on top of those things that will need the extra attention like the domino effect. Fix one thing leads to another and if not planned well can be a PITA later. Triksterut did it the right way and able to throw out the budget is a wish I could do it that way. Love the way he did his build, parts added and able to not look at the expense. dont have that luxury anymore. After seeing so many parts that were in amazing condition after the motor was out surprised my turbos looked like they did lack of enough funds made me settle. Also noticed I dont drive like I use to as much as Id like to go crazy I think a FMIC is going to be next. seeing this 535iX build is beautiful will have to live vicariously through seeing it done and enjoying his build...

  11. #11
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    I have an oil leak as well, but am hoping it’s the pan gasket not the front or rear seals or bedplate. I’ll have to take a closer look.

  12. #12
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    De-badged and got the rear diffuser painted in a satin black. Rick had to do quite a bit of heat gun and molding around the tips - but I think it turned out amazing. He did the whole exhaust from essentially scratch and did a lot of great heat shield work with some E36 stuff he had laying around.

    Sounds great as well. It's been MHD tuned and jb4 mapped. Haven't had a chance to dyno it - but man is it fast. It's almost under-whelming in that it's so civilized about it. You really don't realize that you've gone from 0 to felony so quickly. Super quiet and smooth. I'll get some dyno-graphs when I get a chance to get a few pulls. Tune was just done with some drives and data logging.

    Waiting for the weather to cooperate so I can go trade rick my E39 M5 for it's "phase 2" upgrades and drive this one around for a bit!




  13. #13
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    Thread revival. Did a few upgrades on this for the spring.

    • Replaced the Koni FSR Shocks and H&R Springs with a set of Bilstein B16 PSS10 coil overs
    • Retrofitted some E60 M5 mirrors to replace the silly paddle mirrors
    • Replaced the short shifter with one made by Ron at Autosolutions (amazing work BTW - this was his first E60 non-M)


    I just wanted to state that I'm not sure how anyone can not get a set of modern coil overs. When I first approached Richard about building this car, he recommended them. But, I was thinking "I'm not going to track this thing and I want it to be very street-able." As usual, he was correct. My only previous experience with coil overs was on race cars back in the 90's. They've come a long ways.

    These Bilstein's somehow make it both "sportier" and more comfortable. They're ridiculous. I had a set put on one of my E39 M5's and loved it and knew I had to have a set on this car.

    We've got some front monoballs and camber plates inbound. With the new ride height it's just not quite enough wiggle for adjustment without the plates. Amazingly limited options for this on the non-M chassis.

    Also - I think the E60 535i is a hidden gem. The power/weight on this thing is just silly. I know younger folks (like my son) love their 335i/335xi's, and for good reason. But, if you want something that's just as crazy to drive - but a lot quieter and more comfortable - this is hard to beat.

    IMG_1111.jpg

    IMG_1112.jpg
    Last edited by triksterut; 05-28-2021 at 04:02 PM. Reason: Added Images

  14. #14
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    I missed out on seeing the photos of the stereo build... I wish these forums would keep their photos archived for people like me looking for answers
    Last edited by Dark Vader; 06-14-2023 at 11:38 PM.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Vader View Post
    I missed out on seeing the photos of the stereo build... I wish these forums would keep their photos archived for people like me looking for answers
    I’m on my phone but I’ll see if I can do a refresh tomorrow. What are you looking for?

  16. #16
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    Updated to pure meth port injection

    Hey everyone - been a minute but life has been chaotic. Again all credit to Rick at Dirty Euro Customs in SLC, UT. He can fabricate anything.

    I wanted to mostly put this up for documentation and to share how cool it turned out. Last year we upgraded to pure methanol port injection. This was quite the project. A lot of folks running mixes, but not many running pure alcohol.

    We had to find different injectors that could operate without fuel lubrication from either water or petrol, as well as lines that could deal with immersion. Had two takes on the fuel pump. Tried to go traditional meth pump route, finally ended up going full on separate fuel system with a traditional pump setup. Need to make a new meth tank.

    We're using a Motiv Reflex controller (https://www.motivmotorsport.com/collections/reflex)

    Here's some pretty pictures

    20230629_153239.jpg20230629_170423.jpg20230727_171007.jpg20230719_201113.jpg20230719_201126.jpg

  17. #17
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  18. #18
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    Not sure what meth injectors you used, but US Rally Team sells them. https://usrallyteam.com/index.php?ma...x&cPath=68_348. I have a turbo E36 M3 with direct port, but it is just using regular meth nozzles controlled by an Aquamist HFS5. I think real fuel injectors, real lines, and a real tank is better, though.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by pbonsalb View Post
    Not sure what meth injectors you used, but US Rally Team sells them. https://usrallyteam.com/index.php?ma...x&cPath=68_348. I have a turbo E36 M3 with direct port, but it is just using regular meth nozzles controlled by an Aquamist HFS5. I think real fuel injectors, real lines, and a real tank is better, though.
    The normal injectors and tank are better - but a LOT more work. So ROI may vary.

    We found some actual Bosch injectors that were rated and advertised for pure-methanol. The biggest issue was none of the seals and gaskets that come with these kits are rated for it. So we had to get different gaskets, o-rings, seals etc.

    We had to get rid of the odd wood spacer that came with the kit? (works fine without).

    The pump that came with the kit also wasn't rated for pure alcohol (no lubricity at all). So we went with an AEM 320 Green pump.

    The port injection setup is literally just another full on fuel system at this point. Also we used submersible gas line to plumb up the pump in-tank - it was fine for a few months and then literally dissolved. This was a good test of the limp-mode when the pump runs dry feature of the controller. Worked like a champ but it was scary. We had a lot of old BMW fuel stuff laying around so we replaced the in-tank line with that corrugated plastic stuff that is incredibly non-reactive.

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