Our Newest Project is in, The BMW X1 35i Project Sleeper
We recently acquired a 2013 BMW X1 35i for our latest project vehicle. We needed something with the ability to carry larger items, like car parts and go-fast bits that might not fit in most sedan trunks. Our new project needed to be AWD and of course, needed to be easily modified for increased horsepower. We already had a number of performance parts in-stock for a BMW E-Chassis with an N55, so this vehicle made the most sense. The X1 35i E84 is underrated in our opinion and the closest thing to the BMW 335i sport wagon that BMW should have made. Unfortunately, Americans have never really warmed up to wagons, at least not the mainstream automotive market.
We ran the X1 35i a number of times to get some baseline numbers while it’s still stock using Dragy. Two of our best 0-60’s are above. Ambient temperatures ranged between 40 and 55 degrees. We ran with the transmission in both Sport and Manual modes with the traction control turned off to get these times. Even in Sport and Manual modes, the transmission is still sluggish. We’ve had great results in the past with the Alpina B3 transmission flash and the X1 35i uses the same 6-speed automatic trans as the E90 335i. Best of all, the flash is free. You just need a K-Dcan cable and a working copy of Winkfp. There’s lots of resources online for both and plenty of tutorials on the forums showing how to flash your trans using Winkfp. Here’s a link to N54Tech.com where you’ll find the instructions for the flash. So, our first modification if you can’t tell, is to sharpen up the transmission for better performance. Once the flash is completed we’ll be installing a JB4 for tuning.
*Here’s our disclaimer on this: flashing your transmission can end badly if you don’t know what you’re doing. We love DIY and have flashed many transmissions. Even with our experience doing this we have had failures. Failures flashing your trans are really bad and if you’re concern, you should let someone do it for you.
Check out our X1 35i E84 sleeper project page here.
We’re keeping our progress and build specs on a separate page because the list is getting long. Current status: FBO plus Pure Turbo Stage 1. Click on the link above to stay informed.