F80 Track Build

[ninekrpm]

Its happening...this weekend I took the plunge into converting the F80 into a full on track car. May the force be with me

Last time I went through this was with my E46 M3 back in 2007/2008, I must say that the E46 was so much simpler then the F8x.

I would like to use this thread to document the process as much as I can, including your contributions...so that this can become a good reference thread for anyone taking on this journey in the future.

The goals with this (for me):

- Safety is number one with a full cage in the car. This is my second stint at this, took 8ish years off to focus on the family. I am fortunate/blessed to have the family support to jump back into this. Wit that, I am at a stage of life (family, kids, etc.) that I am probably indexing towards safety more then I did with my E46 M3. Even though the E46 had a full cage, safety, etc. In other words, would like to at least have the same level of safety credentials.

- Weight reduction, the holy grail for all of us...I am currently at 3370# with driver. Goal is to get the car to/under 3200# w/driver. I am not building towards any sanction, just want a fast/balanced car...that has all the safety credentials. I had gotten the E46 down 2950# w/driver...

- Finally, I want to keep the car clean/sorted...so will be spending some time on organizing the interior (interior will be painted, wiring organized, etc.)


The Journey...


I will try to keep the first thread updated with my progress to keep everything organized...

6/27 (the beginnings)

- This past weekend, I completely removed all the interior parts (rear was already gutted) that will be tossed (carpet, airbags, speakers, plastic panels, etc.). Fun fact, the airbags alone came to 100#'s...

- Removed the dash and sorted through it

- In the process, have marked all the wires for now (nothing removed yet)


Pending decisions (any feedback/guidance welcomed here)

• AC/Heater removal: need to figure out what to do here, including do I remove now or defer to later? So much easier to do now...but, would need to sort though plumbing (would love any feedback here)
• Wiring / Modules: a lot more electronics here then the E46. Need to figure out how far I can go without impacting/killing something critical
• What to do with I-Drive and Screen: this I believe needs to be kept in order to be able to read messages, make some adjustments, etc.
• Head/DVD Unit: what to do here...how dependable is this to everything? It has the most harnesses/wires plugged into it (scary, LOL)

7/22 Update

Well, not a lot of engagement, but progress continues...

Spent the past few weeks getting the interior prepped and car is now at the fab shop in LA.

Took almost 50 hours getting the car gutted, wire loom thinned, etc. Now, a week in and another two weeks to go for fab work and then off to paint...

For the Heater/AC, I ended up looking up the GT4 parts to loop the water line.

I did hire someone to help me with the coding and also worked with two guys that I connected with via IG in Europe who have either built or are building their F8x cars. They have been a great help guiding me through the process...

Unfortunately, idrive, headunit and screen are required unless some major coding is done. For now, I have decided to keep these.

All and all, the extraction took out over 400 pounds...would love to be at 3200 w/driver. Might be wishful thinking...lets see

Going to be very weight conscious, so a few goodies that will go back...with some weight reduction.

Stay tuned for more...

















August 19, 2022 Update


The car is back in habitat...

8 weeks from start of the build, it took 3 weeks to prep, 4 weeks for cage, 1 week for paint...

Pretty excited about the progress and craftsmanship of both the fabrication (pit garage_la and kingsautobody in LA/OC).

Cage is chromoly, tig welded, nascar side jack points, etc...

Much to do now to put this back together and setup the next test/track day...lets see where it goes and how long it takes.























February 2023 Update



Long overdue, but it has been that kind of a build…
To recap, I started stripping the car in June / July (2022). The car was then dropped off at the fab shop for a good 6-7 weeks of work, which took the timing to pretty much end of August.
I took a few days off week of Labor Day off to knock out at least 50% of the work effort to put the car back together…well, this is where it all started.
After getting the basic car back together (harness, seats, etc.), I wanted to test the cars electronics, including taking the car for a dyno to ensure there is no limp mode issue or similar. Basically, at this point the car started, but the cluster was lit up like a Christmas tree and I had no power to the iDrive system. I took the car to EAS for a few dyno runs and the car ran with no issues, however, the cluster continued to show all the lights. I was a bit lost given that I was careful/thoughtful striping the harness and had gotten help from someone in Europe who was doing the same and posted his build along the way on IG – I reconnected with him immediately but was unable to diagnose the issue remotely.

I found a copy of ITSA and started tracing wires and which led to no resolution either. I spoke to several shops (yes, all the motorsport / bmw focused shops) and still got nowhere unfortunately. Amazing, how much little knowledge and or lack of resourcing is available in the states for E9x and F8x wiring – call it a specialty. Most pro shops are not dealing with the complex wiring in these platforms and guiding the owner to leave the factory wiring as-is or go to a standalone unit or buy a factory build car – LOL, yes a couple of shops gave me that answer.

Anyhow, 4 weeks plus in and my research continued and now trying to find more people / shops in Europe / Germany. Randomly, I found an IG reel of an F8x car that was just built, full cage, and what looked to be professionally stripped / setup wiring. I reached out to the owner who shared more details and what looked to be an amazing build and wiring setup; he connected me to Martyn @ Project Rogue Motorsports. Martyn (originally from England) now runs a motorsport shop around the corner from Team Shirmer, Custom Racetec, etc and focuses on the electronics. I connected with Martyn, and he tried to help remotely diagnose the issue, and again, had NO luck and I can only imagine how frustrating it must have been for him. Jokingly (but half serious), I offered to fly him to California for the weekend to help me with the issue. He had never been to the States, and he committed to the visit; however, said that it would be over the winter when he can break away from the shop commitments, builds, etc.

Meanwhile, I continued to plan for alternatives and wanted a backup plan. I stared searching for a used full chassis harness and found one on eBay for the same car, year, tranny, etc. and for only $400 shipped. OMG! This was my backup plan in case I needed to start from scratch…

Well, Martyn finally did commit to the visit and arrived second week of January – yes, it had been almost 5 months since I was stuck. He arrived to my house / garage and I kid you not, he identified the issue in 30ish min and what was a blown canbus feed from the FEM body module. The FEM has 3 canbus outputs that run around the car for various modules; somewhere, somehow, I faulted one…he quickly moved the faulty can to another feed and everything lit up, including all the modules that were not working. The smile on my face and relief was as you can imagine, priceless…WTF! I could not believe it, wanted to kick myself…however, was extremely happy to see it all come to life.

So we had a choice at this point, keep the OEM harness and have Martyn cleanup the wiring while he was there, or use the backup harness which was sitting here and have Martyn strip and build a new harness. I know he was nervous touching / messing with the original harness but happily committed to putting the spare harness together. We spent the next 3 days working on this (see my IG for videos) and it came out absolutely clean with like factory finesse. By day 3 we had the harness on the car, he started coding everything, including the AIM Dash.
I am extremely grateful that I connected with Martyn and so appreciate the friends that I made through IG.

Anyhow, 8 months since all this started, I have the car back together and working the chassis setup this weekend – a few final touches from there and so look forward to getting the car on the track in a few weeks for a shakedown.

Can now sits at 3050 (w/no driver) with about a half talk of gas, I have carbon doors on order which will definitely get the car down to under 3000.

More shortly after the shakedown weekend late March…stay tuned.

[ninekrpm]

[drroc]

What are you doing for brakes and suspension? Are you keeping the motor and tune stock?

[ninekrpm]

Originally Posted by drroc

What are you doing for brakes and suspension? Are you keeping the motor and tune stock?

Previous build details here…


AP Brakes, 3way MCS, spl, FLMS, millway kinetics, and more…

[GuyLedouche]

Reading threads like this is bad for my bank account. Nice work!

[NYG]

Subbbbscriiibe

[SYT_Shadow]

very cool! best of luck!

[D_SheerDrivingPleasure]

Can you reuse the windshield rain sensor with Lexan?

[ninekrpm]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

very cool! best of luck!

yes, much needed

[ninekrpm]

Originally Posted by D_SheerDrivingPleasure

Can you reuse the windshield rain sensor with Lexan?

LOL

[FrankMstein]

I remember doing the same to an E36 M3 back in 2001/2. Bought #32 Spartanburg '94 318i made shell from GMG/James Sofronas for "motorsports purposes only" and stripped it. Installed the entire '95 drivetrain from a "Gotcha Auto" in NY stolen/stripped car. When it comes time to remove all that sound deadening, an air chisel with a blade is like hot knife through warm butter. Instead of cutting the wiring harness, I sold ALL the stuff to Zionsville Autosport in Indy when I lived there. I was lucky to have Fabcar (All NA Porsche 962 frames around the corner from ZA) install my cage. Mine ended up 2750 and within 30# corner weighted. Truly a strange car. Sold it to a guy in CA. Never saw it since. Best of luck!

[sly1types]

Nice, great work! In for the updates.

[pno02]

This is awesome. Looking forward to watching this.

[Suds]

9k, I’m looking forward to see the outcome.
Have fun!

[ninekrpm]

moving along...see post 1 for updates.

[FrankMstein]

Who did your cage and where did you/they get the design? Also, what method did you remove the sound deadening with?

[ninekrpm]

Originally Posted by FrankMstein

Who did your cage and where did you/they get the design? Also, what method did you remove the sound deadening with?

A local shop in LA did the cage, pretty standard FIA design, we did get fancy in a couple of areas.

They used heat and a light chisel to remove the sound deadening.

[GuyLedouche]

Originally Posted by ninekrpm

A local shop in LA did the cage, pretty standard FIA design, we did get fancy in a couple of areas.

They used heat and a light chisel to remove the sound deadening.

Nice!!!! How much weight did the cage add?

[D_SheerDrivingPleasure]

Originally Posted by GuyLedouche

Nice!!!! How much weight did the cage add?

Safety first. Then add lightness.

[ninekrpm]

Originally Posted by GuyLedouche

Nice!!!! How much weight did the cage add?

just under 100#'s

Originally Posted by D_SheerDrivingPleasure

Safety first. Then add lightness.

[GuyLedouche]

I need an update on this project.

[TractionControlDelete]

I'm subscribing to this page just so I can send the link to the next person with 1 track day that asks about putting in a half cage in their F80. That's not a cage, THAT'S a cage (Crocodile Dundee voice)

And also, looking forward to an awesome build… but just mainly need it for later