DIY: The Ultimate Golf Tee Mod

[BerkTechnology]

OUR 135i IS FINALLY HERE! So naturally I have to start tweaking things. :wink:

I've been looking around the 1addicts forums and the 335i forum and found the "golf tee mod". I thought some of the methods used were a little helter skelter (wooden pegs, ball bearings, etc.), so I decided to make a DIY doing it my way.

It's a LOT more involved than what I've seen from the other DIY's, but IMO this is a bit more professional looking than the other methods I've seen. This should be a FREE mod, if you are a car enthusiast you should already have all of this stuff in your garage.

I don't like having things dangling from under the car so that's why I decided to go from the trunk instead of just pulling the line from the actuator. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED, you're removing a lot of panels just to get to one hose!

So here goes!

Legal fine print: USE AT YOUR OWN RISK! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR CAR AND THIS INFO!

1. Remove the rear trunk cover. It's the large square piece of carpet starting at you in the face. If you can't find it then STOP NOW. Modding is not for you.


2. Remove plastic cover from rear of trunk. There are two Philips screws and two plastic pins. To remove the pins, use a large flat blade screw driver with electrical tape on the tip to pry up the center pin. Then you can pop out the entire clip. See the picture for how these pins work. Pull out and up on it to remove. Be careful here so you don't crack anything.














3. Fold down the rear seats. You're gonna need some room to pull the trunk side cover off. No picture, you guys are on your own for this one.

4. Remove the 3 small plastic clips/pins that hold the driver side trunk cover in place.


5. Pull the trunk cover out. Sounds easy right? It's actually a pain. Just work your way around and it'll come out. Be careful not to fold it over too much or it will loose its shape.


Continued next post.....

[BerkTechnology]

6. Gently but firmly pull the hose with the YELLOW stripe off of the solenoid. BMW uses adhesive inside the hose to make sure the hose stays secure in case you are wondering why it's kind of hard to pull off.




7. Take about 6" of 4mm vacuum hose and find yourself an M6 bolt. I used an M6x1.0x15mm A2 stainless allen head bolt just because it looks cooler, but really any short M6 or 1/4" bolt will do. IMO, I highly recommend that you do NOT use a golf tee or ball bearing. The golf tee WILL deteriorate over time and possibly cause a leak, and a ball bearing.... well that's just weird. By using a threaded bolt that is slightly oversize from the OEM 4mm tube, it will NEVER come loose. And the threads from the bolt will slightly thread into the soft hose which will again never come loose.





**Other items you should be able to use instead of the 4mm hose.

-4mm or 5/32" vacuum cap
-3mm, 4mm, 3/16", 5/32" vacuum hose, fuel line hose, heater hose, etc. They sell this stuff for cheap by the foot at the autoparts store but this is supposed to be a free mod remember!!

8. Connect this hose to the solenoid nipple with a zip tie. And use one or two more to tidy up your new hose and the old OEM hose. The new hose and old hose run along the same path as before.


9. Reinstall the trunk covers. The side cover is a bit of a pain to realign properly, but just work it back into position, just work patiently. Now go for a drive! VROOM VROOM!

[Motorsports_3]

Looks nice.

[morscode]

Did you just leave the black/yellow hose exposed?

[wrongprotocol]

very nice, neat clean job!

[mistermojorizin]

i don't get it. is this the same nipple that's under the car? can you see the red vacume hose from under the car now?

[BerkTechnology]

Originally Posted by mistermojorizin

i don't get it. is this the same nipple that's under the car? can you see the red vacume hose from under the car now?

That red vacuum hose in the pic is only about 6" long. It stays inside the trunk.

From outside the car, the OEM BMW hose with the yellow stripe will still route back into the trunk as it did before. I didn't want to pull the hose from under the car and have it held up with a zip tie.

As I said, this method isn't for everyone. It's a hell of a lot of work to get to one hose!

[BerkTechnology]

Originally Posted by 1Mor

Did you just leave the black/yellow hose exposed?

Updated the picture in step 8. It should make more sense now.

You can't really see the OEM hose w/ yellow strip because it's behind the wire harness. The red vacuum line is only about 6" long, it ends right where the arrow is.

The whole point of this is so you don't have any zip tied hoses dangling from underneath the car.

[juiced135]

Excuse my newbieness, but whats a golf tee mod?

[hooner35]

Originally Posted by BerkTechnology

Updated the picture in step 8. It should make more sense now.

You can't really see the OEM hose w/ yellow strip because it's behind the wire harness. The red vacuum line is only about 6" long, it ends right where the arrow is.

The whole point of this is so you don't have any zip tied hoses dangling from underneath the car.

Nice job.
Did you leave the end of the OEM hose open?

[rocketpop]

Oh my! I think I am jsut going to stick a BB in there and call it a day.

[ChrisM]

Originally Posted by rocketpop

Oh my! I think I am jsut going to stick a BB in there and call it a day.

+1 This seems like the easiest way to do it, plus it looks stock. Just use a BB thats large enough re-attach the hose and you're done.

[BerkTechnology]

Originally Posted by hooner35

Nice job.
Did you leave the end of the OEM hose open?

Yes, we left it open. But if you want to, you can plug it with another M6 bolt.

[RobLS]

Very nice, a lot better, imo, than the original under car way.

[Andres G]

Originally Posted by DC5TC

Excuse my newbieness, but whats a golf tee mod?

Ditto, what does this mod do for me??

[BerkTechnology]

The BMW mufflers have an "active" muffler. There is a flap that closes when the engine is running, and opens up during higher RPM operation.

The "golf tee mod" keeps the flap open at all times. On paper this mod is better for flow, but the difference is so small that you won't feel any power difference. A dyno "might" pickup a slight power difference, but I doubt it would be statistically significant.

But it will make your exhaust sound slightly louder and throatier. So it's a free mod, and something that satisfys our need to tinker with our cars!

See this video on the 135i exhaust. You'll only see exhaust coming out of one of the pipes. The pipe on the left is closed shut as you can see.

[PrimoM3]

I've been hesitant to try any of these golf tee variations for fear that I may experience increased vibration in the car. Anyone care to comment on this? I guess it's easy to just re-plug it back in to stock form if I don't like it or experience any shaking.:iono:

[TPLSM3]

Would it be possible to just use a vacuum cap at the solenoid nipple instead of having the red tube with a bolt at the end?

[BerkTechnology]

Primo - no there won't be any vibration. Plenty have done this already.

TPLS - absolutely. a vac cap would work the same. I just happened to have spare silicone hose and not caps.

[Oregon]

No vibrations whatsoever after modding, here's my approach, a simple miniature machinist clamp. Easy to reverse, you can do it with one hand.

[PrimoM3]

Thanks for replies guys re: vibration. I'll give it a try and see if I like it. Again, it's an easy reversal if I change my mind.

[markhammill]

Hi,

My first post. I don't pick my car up until Wednesday but I thought I would start reading up in advance.

Does this apply to all exhausts on the 1 series even the diesels?

Also is a superchip a good idea or can anyone suggest anywhere cheaper in South Wales, UK?

Thanks in advance,

Mark