Hibernation is over...

[NRBRNG]

First HPDE of the year this Saturday at PIR. Forecast is 65 and sunny in Portland. Priceless.

Winter projects are done:

3.62 Diff upgrade, solid diff mounts to go with already solid subframe mounts. Will be keeping any eye on diff to gauge whether a cooler is needed. Unlikely given max 30 mins sessions.
Lost another 110 pounds of lard (the car, not me).
Upgraded, extended and welded the cage- I'm never going to race the car so don't need full on SCCA spec and ingress/egress is important for my knackered body.
Removed all Air Con components.
Aluminum door cards finished in 3M CF vinyl. Saved 38lbs and look good IMHO for a couple of hundred bucks.
Looking forward to another year of cat 'n mouse with these two beasts- and anyone else who wants to play! Cheers.

[PrimeBMW]

Looking good! I am anxious to see how the new gearing and triple ramp diff change your car.
I am signed up for this Saturday also. The e46 M3 is still up on the rack waiting for the S62 dry sump so I will be bringing the E92 M3 street car. All stock but camber plates running BFG-R1. I am really looking forward to knocking some rust off and having some fun out there!

[Wendall]

Love it!

[slicer]

Looks great! I like how the door cards turned out.

[Evolve Automotive]

great work, the doors look pretty good

[warp10]

Info on Door cards. DIY or custom?

[AWM3ME2]

Originally Posted by warp10

Info on Door cards. DIY or custom?

Yup what this guy asked.

[NRBRNG]

Originally Posted by warp10

Info on Door cards. DIY or custom?

Local fab shop cut them out and welded the corner. I cut out the window controls and door levers. fixed the door levers in with epoxy adhesive and routed the Bowden cables. Covered em in 3M.

[radiantm3]

Love it. What's the point of extending the cage like that? Not being a smartass. Genuinely curious.

[knolow]

wow great results and looks.

Can you post more pics of the extended welded cage (inside rear anf front)

D you know the total wieght of the vehicle now?

[NRBRNG]

Originally Posted by knolow

wow great results and looks.

Can you post more pics of the extended welded cage (inside rear anf front)

D you know the total wieght of the vehicle now?

Originally Posted by radiantm3

Love it. What's the point of extending the cage like that? Not being a smartass. Genuinely curious.

Cage: I will post more pics soon. Long answer... Most of us who track often and at faster paces realize that ignoring the risks is not an option, and we all look at the various ways of mitigating those risks.
To me they started with good coaching (really good coaching), education, seat time, adapting driving style to every track- (and other drivers on it) and ultimately ensuring that if the worst came to the worst, I could at least say I tried...
The car started out with a sunroof, so when I had the cage & Recaro's first put in I didn't have full head-below-bar clearance for my own peace of mind- especially with 6 points and Hans (your'e gonna be bolt upright with limited place to bend in a bad roll/roof down impact). So when I stripped the car last year and went for performance weight saving, the sunroof was replaced with an OEM carbon fiber roof- giving me about 2 more inches of clearance above the existing top bar.
So, this winter we raised and welded the cage in and extended forward as an additional forward welded point for rigidity (albeit minimal as it is only on the floor frame Vs front towers). In addition, there is better side impact if ever need, again 'unlikely' as I will not race the car. I also took the Recaro slider out and mounted the seat to gain an additional half inch. All in, I have now lowered myself 2.5 inches in the car (lower COG) and most importantly mitigated a bit more risk by adding bar height above my relatively fixed head height.
Call me cautious. Yes. For less than the cost of a set of tires- worth the peace of mind, for me at least.
The clincher for me was unfortunately witnessing a very experience driver leave the track in his E92 M3 at the last track day last year and roll several times. Thankfully He walked away no problem with stock seat belts and airbags. Because he was able to 'flop' and be cushioned etc. As his totalled car was towed past, the roof and frame was about 3-4 inches lower. That made me change my cage set up.
Car is sub 3050 lbs.

OK! Off to the track tomorrow to relearn my shit.

[radiantm3]

Originally Posted by NRBRNG

Cage: I will post more pics soon. Long answer... Most of us who track often and at faster paces realize that ignoring the risks is not an option, and we all look at the various ways of mitigating those risks.
To me they started with good coaching (really good coaching), education, seat time, adapting driving style to every track- (and other drivers on it) and ultimately ensuring that if the worst came to the worst, I could at least say I tried...
The car started out with a sunroof, so when I had the cage & Recaro's first put in I didn't have full head-below-bar clearance for my own peace of mind- especially with 6 points and Hans (your'e gonna be bolt upright with limited place to bend in a bad roll/roof down impact). So when I stripped the car last year and went for performance weight saving, the sunroof was replaced with an OEM carbon fiber roof- giving me about 2 more inches of clearance above the existing top bar.
So, this winter we raised and welded the cage in and extended forward as an additional forward welded point for rigidity (albeit minimal as it is only on the floor frame Vs front towers). In addition, there is better side impact if ever need, again 'unlikely' as I will not race the car. I also took the Recaro slider out and mounted the seat to gain an additional half inch. All in, I have now lowered myself 2.5 inches in the car (lower COG) and most importantly mitigated a bit more risk by adding bar height above my relatively fixed head height.
Call me cautious. Yes. For less than the cost of a set of tires- worth the peace of mind, for me at least.
The clincher for me was unfortunately witnessing a very experience driver leave the track in his E92 M3 at the last track day last year and roll several times. Thankfully He walked away no problem with stock seat belts and airbags. Because he was able to 'flop' and be cushioned etc. As his totalled car was towed past, the roof and frame was about 3-4 inches lower. That made me change my cage set up.
Car is sub 3050 lbs.

OK! Off to the track tomorrow to relearn my shit.

So increased rigidity and slightly better side impact protection?

[imserious]

It must feel so right at 3050 lbs. jealous!

[S65 Underdog]

Nice build!

[reborn]

I'm jealous! I want to get on a track! Hopefully this year I can make it.

[pkimM3r]

need some vids pronto!!

[knolow]

Just realized you did the door inserts, if you don't mind where can I find them?

[ixm3]

Sounds like a great and thoughful buld.
Would love to see/hear some trackday videos.

Ever consider scraping off some of the (heavy) sound deadening material to lose some more weight?

[PrimeBMW]

Originally Posted by ixm3

Sounds like a great and thoughful buld.
Would love to see/hear some trackday videos.

Ever consider scraping off some of the (heavy) sound deadening material to lose some more weight?

There is not much sound deadening material on the E9x M3 chassis. The weight/sound deadening is more in the carpet.

[klammer]

Originally Posted by imserious

It must feel so right at 3050 lbs. jealous!

+1 sounds awesome!

[NRBRNG]

Originally Posted by PrimeBMW

There is not much sound deadening material on the E9x M3 chassis. The weight/sound deadening is more in the carpet.

Very true Greg. Given the deadweight you and the AR guys pulled out of your 46, there is nowhere near the same amount in the 92. I have to say i was amazed at how efficient the carpet is for sound deadening. I took the rear out, it weighed only about 8 pounds, but what a difference in noise increase. Of course, the new diff/bushings added a huge amount of noise.

No videos yet as I was not timing or anything this weekend due to 'breaking' in the diff. OMG! talk about corner exit speed and getting the power down. Insane acceleration- and I was not getting to full slip angles/power down until the diff fluid is changed after this event. The car is extremely rapid in partial/forward motion and through the gears. Getting to redline in 3rd/4th/5th is just amazing and I saw 6th very quickly in quite a few spots. It's gonna be a fun year!
Few more cage pics.
Cheers.

[knolow]

Originally Posted by NRBRNG

Very true Greg. Given the deadweight you and the AR guys pulled out of your 46, there is nowhere near the same amount in the 92. I have to say i was amazed at how efficient the carpet is for sound deadening. I took the rear out, it weighed only about 8 pounds, but what a difference in noise increase. Of course, the new diff/bushings added a huge amount of noise.

No videos yet as I was not timing or anything this weekend due to 'breaking' in the diff. OMG! talk about corner exit speed and getting the power down. Insane acceleration- and I was not getting to full slip angles/power down until the diff fluid is changed after this event. The car is extremely rapid in partial/forward motion and through the gears. Getting to redline in 3rd/4th/5th is just amazing and I saw 6th very quickly in quite a few spots. It's gonna be a fun year!
Few more cage pics.
Cheers.

Cage looks great. Looking for info on the door inserts you used to replace the Oem panels?