Just got back from the track. In a nutshell, this is THE TRACK SETUP for those of you who have limited budgets like me.
No rubbing AT ALL while driving on the track. Tremendous grip. My lap times went from 2:04 to 2:01. Car feels completely balanced.
I used no spacers for the front, 5mm spacers on the rears.
Regarding braking, had Hawk HT-10s in front and stock pads on the rear + ecs tuning steel lines + Motul RBF 600 fluid. No fade, no brake balance issues, nothing. Simply great.
Drove all day with MDM on + EDC on sport + Power Normal + Steering Sport, didn't go all the way to DSC OFF saw no need + afraid to trash an expensive car.
Only rubbing is at full lock when parking which can be easily avoided by limiting lock a bit with an extra parking maneuver. So - great setup and inexpensive - total cost for wheels & tires was about $2,300 from the tire rack + shipping - excellent service. Total brake cost was less than $350.
Had the car aligned for maximum stock camber which is about 1.4 negative up front. Wear seemed quite even, much much better than stock PS2s. Will post pics tomorrow as I am exhausted from today.
I only do tracks, no autocross. For autocross maybe, just maybe 265/18s would do a bit better.
Started with tire pressures at 34 and then had to bleed a couple of times to keep them between 39 & 40 which seems to be their sweet spot. Above 41 they start sliding a bit.
My car is a loaded E90 with sunroof (had no choice in that). With this setup I feel I am now on the top 20% of people at this track. Gave hell to 911TTs even on the twisties + kept up easily with a very well driven R8 and basically walked every other BMW in sight including quite a few M3 coupes, 135s, 335s, etc.
Car felt so good I am getting cocky!
Now the magic of the M3 is also in driving back from the track with all the settings on soft and feeling like you are comfortable in your mini 5 series. I just love this car so much. No other car in the world does so many things so well.
UPDATED BELOW WITH PICS.