BMW 1m 1m3 s65 DCT

BMW 1M3 S65 V8 DCT

The picture was taken the day I picked up my 1 series M from the dealers and this is my journey building this monster 1m3 the way BMW should have done in the first place, a shared sentiment by the many.

As a child I always loved cars and I had an extensive hot wheels collection, so when the M factory engineers built and BMW released this baby, my childhood memories came flooding back.

Feasting my eyes upon this beauty l was like a kid in the toy store for the first time but it was a little out of reach for me, so when the opportunity came along some years later I pounced like a kitten on a yarn ball.

It is fun, exciting and tough looking but I always felt the n54t powerplant was just a slightly optimised variant of the 135i donk and an afterthought especially where the model has a host of parts raided from the e9x M3 parts bin.

The ///M variant of the n54t was nothing special besides some electronic software improvements and a host of revised parts to improve it's reliability.

The most standout improvements from the German M factory where,

Gearbox being smoother and quicker.
Differential was from the E series m3 which was fitted with an lsd center.
Dampeners and suspension was also raided from the m3 to increase track and handling.
Bodywork was pumped out to fit the extra wide m359 m3 rims and tyres.
Specifically designed 1 series M exhaust.
Aerodynamic and visual improvements .

Whilst it had many more modifications over the years to fill my adrenaline addiction it never felt like the one, it spent more time on the hoist than me driving it due to the engines unreliability to handle the increased horse power output car was producing from my modifications.

It was running a premium unleaded/ethanol blend of e20 fuel to help resist timing corrections to make the power and thus making it more reliable but the engine was never designed for this kind of output.

Fast forward an opportunity came along to buy a salvaged m3 from the auctions some years later, looking at the pictures of the statutory written off e92 m3 the driveline seemed untouched.

The biggest gamble was the odometer not being visible and in the peak of July 2020 COVID-19 restrictions made inspection impossible.

I'm not a gambling man and this was going to be my first and what a gamble it will be.

Purchasing this m3 many sleepless nights where lost contemplating the decision and watching the auction count down timer, but my gut was telling me do it.

Stepping out of my comfort zone I made my bid which was accepted, the purchase was made and a tow truck delivery was organised to take possession of what it turned out to be a once in a life time opportunity.

Seeing the car for the first time I thought to my self "oh my god what have I done ?"

It looked far worse in real life but we pushed it into the warehouse and the strip down began.

Troubleshooting the m3, I was able to diagnose that the battery explosive fuse was blown due to the airbags being deployed. Luckily I had a spare from my e92 335i race car and when powering the ignition my heavy heart was lifted as I saw it only had 39k km on the clock or 24k miles.

I knew in the back of my mind I had something special but not to get to excited because sometimes things can be to good to be true, we had no log books and with no access to previous service history we had to drop the oil.

To our amazement the car was recently serviced as the oil was like new, so the motor was refilled, oil filter replaced and all other fluids where checked.

The start button was pushed and the engine burst into life for the first time in god knows how long without hesitation, visually and audibly the car passed all checks with flying colours.

At this point my mind started racing what will I do with this little gem as it went under cover up for a few more months whilst we bounced a few ideas around.

Then one day my mate suggested something crazy "why don't you put it in the 1m" which I initially dismissed as I had a lot of money invested in that little monster but as the weeks rolled by, the idea manifested.

So whilst visiting my good friend Tom the BMW Whisperer at JPL Auto Parts, we started to toss a few ideas around.

Before you know it we started planning the unholy union of S65 4L V8 and DCT transmission but we had to leave it totally reversible for the n54 if one day one chose/needed to reverse it for financial gain.

These cars only came out in manual so making a bold move like this was not lighthearted, but I wanted something that was never been done before to a genuine 1m.

I towed both cars to his workshop as he had all the electronic equipment to prewire/test the car before the motor went in, it was just going to make it far easier and quicker to diagnose and over come hurdles if they happened which they did not.

We started at 4.30am Saturday morning and had both cars stripped by lunch, the 1m was prewired, the s65 motor installed and running by 6am the next day which has never ever been done and a true testament of Tom's electrical knowledge and coding of these cars. Tom, his mechanic and I just pulled off the impossible what others took 6 months or more to accomplish.

The remainder of the wiring, programming and coding took Tom a further 6 days to complete as the 1m was a manual lci and whilst the m3 was a non lci dct which held many more hurdles that needed overcoming unlike if we had an lci m3 to begin with.

The following week I towed it back home to complete the exhaust, tail shaft and to ready it for John from John Oste engineering to come inspect, test and certify my new reinvented toy.

After jumping through many hurdles the car was complied & registered with the authorities for me to enjoy over the Christmas break.

Since completion I've done a few visual enhancements to the car which has seen it take out a few awards at the local car shows. We added a replacement Eventuri carbon fibre intake that just transforms the visual appearance and ads to the aural pleasure of this engine whilst keeping it legal.

I've received a lot of positive feedback from people, but I always get asked why ?

Well my answer is "as I'm never ever going to sell it I might as well enjoy it the way I want it".

The car always draws a crowd and love seeing the peoples reaction when they see what's under the bonnet and with typical Aussie amazement all I hear is "what the fxxk ?".

That's all the the recognition I need whilst inspiring others to think outside the box.

Very few people have seen a conversion of this complexity, it just shows with the right people helping and a load of perseverance what can be accomplished.