03-18-2021, 11:29 PM | #133 |
Lieutenant
500
Rep 411
Posts |
The chargepipe was about as easy as the intercooler and radiator. It's just adult legos.
Really liked the textured finish on the VRSF chargepipe. Lots of cursing trying to line up the couplers and such. Took a attempts before it fit good enough to move on. Buttoned up. Without the logo on the coupler and the bright silver clamps it would look OEM-ish. Coolant hoses with billet connections. Next time I'm breaking my hand before I break the radiator or hose. Also take note, I installed the radiator outlet to thermostat hose backwards like a moron Corrected it when I tried to install the fan and it just. wouldn't. fit. |
Appreciate
0
|
03-18-2021, 11:39 PM | #134 |
Lieutenant
500
Rep 411
Posts |
The way this oil cooler kit adapted to the OEM N54 oil filter housing and OEM oil cooler assembly was nice. Machined adapter to adapt the housing to AN fittings. Kind of shows how the oil is routed. IIRC oil pumps out of the driver's side port and returns via the passenger side port. You can see the stupid coolant line is all kinked because of the aforementioned genius moment. Ziptied the crossover line in place. Just there to keep the hose from flopping around between the subframe and the bellypan. The passenger side of this kit fit amazingly, as it reused the OEM mounting brackets. The drivers side was a piece of shit compared to all of the other OEM-like components I had already installed. I coerced it into place but I'm not happy about it. With the fan in place you can see the AN lines if you're looking and the VRSF chargepipe coupler peeks out also. Filled it up with liquimoly and crossed my fingers. No leaks on startup and first heat cycle. |
Appreciate
0
|
03-19-2021, 12:01 AM | #135 |
Lieutenant
500
Rep 411
Posts |
The driver's side cooler before I started adjusting the slotted bolts. It's still not great on clearance, and I hate the $0.50 excuse of a mount that they shipped with this kit, but hopefully I won't have to mess with it anymore. Did I mention how disappointed I was with this bracket? Belly pan in place. No wheel wells liners yet, I want to be able to look at the oil coolers and check for leaks/movement for now. If I manage to rip a line off the car then I probably hit something big enough to also destroy the intercooler Testing the look of no OEM foglight shroud vs OEM shroud on the passenger side. Going to leave that up to my dad, who will taking delivery of this car in a few weeks. I kind of like without the shroud, just need to trim and clean up the bumper a little. All buttoned up. A small stack of parts and ~30 hours all to keep an OEM power N54 from overheating on a track when thrashed 8/10ths for 45 minutes. Nothing I hate more than needing to do cooldown laps, I want to be able to rip 8/10ths from full tank until fuel starve with maybe a lap here or there to let the front tires cool down a little. I was pretty surprised at how reasonable most of the parts were to upgrade all of the cooling systems. I think I'll regret not replacing the rear differential with an E92M3 diff, or aftermarket LSD, but this isn't a race car and it isn't for me so Need to clean up a few things like the fender liners + reinstall the headlight sprayer cover + make a decision on the foglight shroud, but everything replaced is working as intended. Up to around 200 miles averaging ~9mpg trying to stress the cooling loop in canyons and it just isn't possible. Great success. |
Appreciate
0
|
04-05-2021, 12:21 PM | #136 |
Lieutenant
500
Rep 411
Posts |
Weather warmed up so I started pulling cars out of storage. Subaru naturally has another oil leak, so that'll be fun to trace. The 135i is almost completed, the Subaru will be getting an exterior and interior restore this year as I decided to keep it. It was my first car, it's got a lot of nostalgia associated with it
M4GTS got a bath for the first time in a year after checking the knuckles + wheel bearings, replacing the pads front/rear, bleeding the brakes, checking the rotors, and eyeballing all of the eccentrics. Loaded it into the trailer, have 40 gallons of gas and 8 gallons of distilled water sitting in the storage unit with the Subaru. We're bound for the track on Wednesday for a semi-private test and tune, we'll drive until we cord the Toyo RRs, hoping for maybe 6-8 sessions 30 minute sessions. I didn't take photos, but the PPF along the last 12" of the side skirt is incredibly beat up from rocks. Nothing has penetrated the XPEL PPF, but I'm going to see about having something thicker applied as the cumulative damage is beyond what the film can self-heal. Oddly enough the rear quarter PPF in front of the rear tire just has a few scratches from rocks, I thought it would catch more. Additionally the rear tires are chucking rocks at rear bumper cover that trails the rear tires. This isn't surprising, but the damage is less severe than the side skirt. In general the PPF is doing its job of protecting the paint. The nose/hood of the car is absolutely covered in rubber and minor abrasions, and the windshield has several starburst in it. I do not regret the cost of the PPF install after really looking things over. Highly recommend if you have a frozen/matte GTS and plan on tracking it extensively. edit: still running the mismatched color 18x11 EC-7. Have another 4 on order, Apex has been backlogged real bad. I don't particularly care about the color, I just need more wheels to have more rubber available. |
Appreciate
3
|
04-08-2021, 10:24 PM | #137 |
Lieutenant
500
Rep 411
Posts |
Got out to High Plains Raceway for a season opener test and tune with my dad. It was us and 4 Porsche race cars on a 2.55 mile course, and they didn't even start running until 11am. It was rather nice to leisurely do some sight-in laps, coming to complete stops at various corners and just showing him the track at 15mph before turning him loose. We covered 200 miles, I drove ~20 of those showing him lines, he drove the rest. Let an old friend drive a few laps as well but he immediately got motion sick and didn't really get to experience the car
I took photos only when we were loading up at the end of the day. The GTS performed flawlessly. With MDM it saved us several times with him coming in 5-15mph too hot and panic braking mid-corner. Kept the car out of the dirt and didn't mess up the test and tune for the actual race cars. Towards the end he knew which corner was which, so we'll take out the 135i next so he can practice in the car he'll be driving moving forward. The X5 didn't do so well. Blew the IAT sensor out of the charge pipe while climbing a slight hill. I probably have close to 20k miles towing(60k total) with this thing, that charge pipe has seen peak boost for 30+ minutes sustained several times climbing with the trailer. The irony is I fixed this on the 135i, but I never thought the X5 would blow up. Zip-tied the sensor back in place and drove back at 50mph. I'm sure the engine ingested some dust but whatever, it's a N55, it'll survive. Track season is back! |
Appreciate
4
|
04-16-2021, 09:35 PM | #138 |
Trackwarn
97
Rep 53
Posts |
Sorted
Just got back from NCM. The car is finally sorted to my style of driving.
- 19 x 10 (or 18 x 10) square setup - AP brakes - Front control arms with spherical bearings - Millway camber plates - rear upper control arms - Millway - rear adjustable sway bar links - Millway - replace rear eccentrics with adjustment blocks - Euro MDM - track alignment Fast predictable and very fun. Car does not eat tires or brake pads, just gas and distilled water.: lol: |
Appreciate
4
|
04-16-2021, 10:10 PM | #139 |
Lieutenant
500
Rep 411
Posts |
Camber plates/alignment was such a huge improvement in the track behavior of this car. I'm on the fence on going full SPL rear arms/sphericals with the front monoball. We'll see how I feel in June-July.
|
Appreciate
0
|
04-17-2021, 09:34 PM | #140 |
Trackwarn
97
Rep 53
Posts |
Sphericals are da bomb. Super stable braking from 100+. The full rear completed the transformation by dialing back the oversteer. Worth it. Let me know if you have questions.
|
Appreciate
0
|
04-18-2021, 07:23 AM | #141 | |
Brigadier General
3663
Rep 3,422
Posts |
Quote:
- rear upper control arms - Millway - rear adjustable sway bar links - Millway - replace rear eccentrics with adjustment blocks Product links, more info, alignment specs, pics, whatever you can offer would be appreciated.
__________________
M4 GTS, GT3, C63 S | E90 M3s, E39 M5
|
|
Appreciate
2
ClubsportJunkie311.50 Gomeler500.00 |
04-18-2021, 03:28 PM | #142 | |
Trackwarn
97
Rep 53
Posts |
Quote:
1. Fall-Line lowered the suspension, replaced the front control arm with spherical bearing, adjusted the shocks, replaced the eccentrics and rear toe link. Car was better but fully capable of oversteer in all wrong places. I tried several different alignments but still not acceptable. 2. Replaced the fixed rear sway bar links with adjustable sway bar links and adjusted while on ground to zero tension. Big improvement as the car was clearly over - barred in the rear. 3. Final step removed the Ground Control camber plates and replaced with Millway. Big improvement in noise control and the Millway piece is much sturdier. Truly engineered for a M4 GTS (Thanks Samuel). I also replaced the upper rear control arms with Millway. Again a much sturdier piece than the other US sourced pieces. The adjustable rear upper control arms allow more rear camber which is noticeable in the high speed sweepers and tight 180 degree corners. Finally I went back to a trusted alignment setup that was given to me by Master Engineer Bob K. from TireRack, an excellent driver with empirical based alignment settings. I have tons of track miles in E30 M3, E36 LTW, Porsche 991.1 4S, 991.2 GTS and other cars. All of the aforementioned cars are high HP, low torque cars with manual transmissions. The M4 GTS with the automatic is a high HP, high torque car that drive more like a Corvette or Mustang given the torquey nature of the car in a corner. Keeping the power down in the corners was difficult before steps 2 & 3. Alignment Camber 3 degrees F & R Total front toe 0.50mm Total rear toe 6 mm Did I miss anything? |
|
Appreciate
5
|
04-19-2021, 07:05 AM | #143 | |
Brigadier General
3663
Rep 3,422
Posts |
Quote:
__________________
M4 GTS, GT3, C63 S | E90 M3s, E39 M5
|
|
Appreciate
0
|
04-19-2021, 08:35 AM | #144 |
Trackwarn
97
Rep 53
Posts |
|
Appreciate
0
|
05-29-2021, 10:44 AM | #145 |
Lieutenant
500
Rep 411
Posts |
Since this is basically my bimmerpost blog at this point, here's a lowly N55 powered vehicle. It's basically a M4 GTS though, since they use the same wing element out back.
It took a bit with several canceled plans, but the car arrived on Friday. The car was out at Thermal Club in Rearden Racing's possession, Rearden shipped it out to me and did a great job working through all the complications that arose. I'll clean up a lot of the sponsor/Pirelli labels, and maybe wrap it in a new livery this fall/winter. For now the goal is to just get it out to the track and start working through NASA GTS qualification. Hello old toy, meet the new toy. I'm guessing this is going to mean I won't be taking the M4 to the track much anymore. My son cannot reach the pedals yet, but he really enjoyed playing with the wheel and the bright red radio button. Better indicator of how short his legs are. Maybe in a few years he'll fit. I'm looking forward to learning more about this car, and running it through a NASA GTS3 season for 2022. For now I need to replace belts/nets + recert the fire suppression system, double check bearings + pads/rotors, and sort out wheels/tires. I'm real curious if my 18x11s will fit, the 18x10.5 has a ton of clearance with the overly wide fenders. |
Appreciate
4
|
05-30-2021, 10:37 AM | #148 | |
Lieutenant
500
Rep 411
Posts |
Quote:
Thanks. I'm very excited for GTS3, I miss racing. Thanks! |
|
Appreciate
0
|
07-03-2021, 10:25 PM | #149 |
Lieutenant
500
Rep 411
Posts |
I haven't had the chance to get out to the track in.. 2 months? There was a Cars and Coffee nearby that some friends and I planned on attending so the car got a quick wash.
I need to find something to remove the rubber from the PPF. I love the hood profile on this car. Also love the hood of the old Miata racecar. Just waiting to build the new garage to hang the hood. Semi-dirty wheel. These wheels take forever to detail, and I think the 666s had maybe 200 miles on them since the last time I cleaned them. Derp. Dried the car off and then saw the absolute mess of rubber that was left around I don't think anyone stopped to look at my i3 in the background Anywho, hoping to get out to the track in ~2 weeks with the M235iR and get back to a ~2 day/month cadence. |
Appreciate
1
Lienrocs703.00 |
07-04-2021, 06:19 AM | #150 |
Brigadier General
3663
Rep 3,422
Posts |
She looks lovely after the detail.
Use this stuff for rubber removal including on PPF. It's incredible effective https://mothers.com/products/r3-raci...-remover-09224
__________________
M4 GTS, GT3, C63 S | E90 M3s, E39 M5
|
07-04-2021, 12:16 PM | #151 | |
Lieutenant
500
Rep 411
Posts |
Quote:
|
|
Appreciate
1
FormulaMMM3662.50 |
07-04-2021, 12:36 PM | #152 | |
Brigadier General
3663
Rep 3,422
Posts |
Quote:
Good news for us apathetic detailers, this stuff is next to no effort. spray on, let sit for a minute or so, then it comes off with an easy wipe of a microfiber. I've used it to dislodge just general road grime and bugs well.
__________________
M4 GTS, GT3, C63 S | E90 M3s, E39 M5
|
|
Appreciate
1
Gomeler500.00 |
07-28-2021, 10:40 PM | #153 |
Lieutenant
500
Rep 411
Posts |
Racecar or airplane?
Dumped the oil and flushed the brakes on the M235iR today, hitting up the track tomorrow with some friends. This will be the first outing with the car. I'm just hoping to turn a few laps and not have something fall off the car Anywho, hopefully a positive update tomorrow. |
Appreciate
0
|
07-29-2021, 10:15 AM | #154 | |
///M Powered for Life
11480
Rep 10,328
Posts |
Quote:
When my cars get home from the track I powerwash them to get the bugs off as well as the brake dust, but the rubber remains unless I have a month before the next event. Heads-up for CS/GTS owners: I've found strange permanent water stains on the plastic piece around the hood vent opening, and I speculate whether it's the RDX - haven't been able to test that theory one way or another yet! No issues anywhere else using RDX all over my e90 and f80 CS, but heads-up juuuust in case
__________________
Last edited by SYT_Shadow; 07-29-2021 at 02:58 PM.. |
|
Appreciate
1
FormulaMMM3662.50 |
Post Reply |
Bookmarks |
|
|