My E90 M3 Dedicated Track build (with pix!)

[Exclusivs]

SUPER nice addition Gabe!

[SYT_Shadow]

The Max Jax is great. I had one for a few years when I lived in NH. Feels very stable.

I suggest you invest in the shortest stool you can find, as it doesn't lift very high and you end up craning your neck all the time while doing stuff under the car.

Lifts are wonderful devices. One day I'll expand my garage and put a lift in

[admranger]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Yeah I researched that opener. It's a great solution for clearing up the ceiling. I was ready to buy it if needed. But it turns out where the lift was placed and if you back the car in, it's not required. I might still get that opener later if I want to use the lift with the car parked head-in.

I placed the columns on the far side of the cement joint from the garage door because the cement of the garage gains a noticeable slope toward the door on the other side of the joint. The lift sits level where it is without shims.

I had two of those openers in my old house in Vegas with the 2 post lift. Ran the garage door tracks all the way up to the ceiling for maximum clearance. Side benefit of those side loader GDO's is they are sooooo quiet. Also, no way for anyone to do the typical GDO defeat by snaking in a wire to pull the safety latch down. Mine came with dead bolt locks for the doors that operated when you opened/closed the door. Slick.

BTW: get some insulation on those garage doors! Helps keep the garage at a more moderate temp.

Be sure to maintain torque on the bolts on your lift. They can move around a bit due to expansion/contraction. I torqued my big lift (1k lbs each post) at least once per year.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by Exclusivs

SUPER nice addition Gabe!

Thanks! Yeah, will be nice to save my knees....

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

The Max Jax is great. I had one for a few years when I lived in NH. Feels very stable.

I suggest you invest in the shortest stool you can find, as it doesn't lift very high and you end up craning your neck all the time while doing stuff under the car.

Lifts are wonderful devices. One day I'll expand my garage and put a lift in

I have both a horizontal creeper and a height adjustable rolling stool.

Originally Posted by admranger

I had two of those openers in my old house in Vegas with the 2 post lift. Ran the garage door tracks all the way up to the ceiling for maximum clearance. Side benefit of those side loader GDO's is they are sooooo quiet. Also, no way for anyone to do the typical GDO defeat by snaking in a wire to pull the safety latch down. Mine came with dead bolt locks for the doors that operated when you opened/closed the door. Slick.

BTW: get some insulation on those garage doors! Helps keep the garage at a more moderate temp.

Be sure to maintain torque on the bolts on your lift. They can move around a bit due to expansion/contraction. I torqued my big lift (1k lbs each post) at least once per year.

Thanks for the tips! Yeah, should probably insulate the doors. Next project! I'm actually in the middle of getting 220v power in the garage and we're gonna do some kind of heat in there, so the insulation would help.

[roastbeef]

it looks like your garage ceiling is higher on the left side. why not put it over there?

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

it looks like your garage ceiling is higher on the left side. why not put it over there?

Good eye! Yes it is 12ft but not for the length of the whole bay. The ceiling steps down—-most likely just to accommodate a regular garage door track and mechanism. You could change the ceiling because it is open up above, but it’s a lot of money. Also, it’s the closest bay to the entry into the house. It’s not practical to make the first bay into a lift. You’d come down the stairs into the garage and slam right into a lift.....

[roastbeef]

Hmm... I'm sure you already considered it, but I'd probably still exploit it to park the e90 up on the lift and the e92 under it.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

Hmm... I'm sure you already considered it, but I'd probably still exploit it to park the e90 up on the lift and the e92 under it.

The cost to changing the ceiling is significant----altering the ceiling joists and roof rafters, moving sprinkler piping, alarm sensors, drywall work, insulation, electrical wiring, changing the garage door rails, getting a new garage opening mechanism, etc. I estimate it at $10k before purchasing a lift. A 4-post lift that can also raise the car off the ramps is not a cheap purchase. Probably $5k by the time you get all the pieces.

Being able to park one more car in the garage for $15k is not worth it to me. The extra car would be my daughter's SUV. My 2013 Tundra does not have electric folding mirrors. The truck is 96" tip-to-tip. The garage doorway is 91". I would have to jump out of the truck and fold the mirrors every time I went in and out. Forget that. So, as much as I love my daughter, I don't see any value in spending $15k so she can park inside. And besides, I like the E90 being on the floor. I like seeing it!

Also, my E90 race car is not meant to be a permanent resident of CO. Hopefully later this year it will return to CA.

[Move Over]

Nice gabe! my lift has been absolutely worth every penny. I couldn't imagine working without it now. You'll love every second of that max jack.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by Move Over

Nice gabe! my lift has been absolutely worth every penny. I couldn't imagine working without it now. You'll love every second of that max jack.

Please don't tell me that's a home garage!!!

[Move Over]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Please don't tell me that's a home garage!!!

It is

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by Move Over

It is

Wow, amazing space!

I'm not worthy!!

[ThunderMoose]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Wow, amazing space!

I'm not worthy!!

Definitely more crowded in my garage but it gets the job done.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by ThunderMoose

Definitely more crowded in my garage but it gets the job done.

Looks like you're making some real trouble in that garage! One suggestion: I've heard that running a recycle container on the front like that is terrible for aero!

[ThunderMoose]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Looks like you're making some real trouble in that garage! One suggestion: I've heard that running a recycle container on the front like that is terrible for aero!

I plan to switch to a CF recycle container this year.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by admranger

I had two of those openers in my old house in Vegas with the 2 post lift. Ran the garage door tracks all the way up to the ceiling for maximum clearance. Side benefit of those side loader GDO's is they are sooooo quiet. Also, no way for anyone to do the typical GDO defeat by snaking in a wire to pull the safety latch down. Mine came with dead bolt locks for the doors that operated when you opened/closed the door. Slick.

I have to comment on this. My garage has the typical GDO but a friend, who has a fullsize lift, has the door tracks all the way up and a side loader GDO.

Talk about a night and day difference! It is SO much quieter it is hard to express. And the automatic dead bolt lock is fantastic as well.

This is a very worth it modification

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by ThunderMoose

I plan to switch to a CF recycle container this year.

hahahaha! Touché!

[dogbone]

ahhhh------Winter tracking in Colorado.....

Was looking forward to going to High Plains Raceway today. In the Winter, they have Open Lapping Days every weekend----Tentatively----meaning, the day only happens if the weather is good enough AND they get enough sign ups.

The weather was looking good today----probably perfect for setting some fast laps----high 43ºF. They have a phone message system that updates the situation and it said it was looking like there wasn't enough sign ups.

Let me tell you how sad I am------I emailed the track manager and said I was willing to buy a few more driver slots if the sign ups were close to the minimum. For me, that's still cheaper than a semi-exclusive day. And with me buying up several slots, that means even less cars out there. He said they don't allow that, and that we weren't close to the minimum anyway......C'MON COLORADO TRACK JUNKIES!!!! WHERE'S THE COMMITMENT!!!??? GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!! hahahaha

So the day was cancelled....It was the perfect setup too because my wife is in the mountains skiing all weekend. I didn't even have to trade any good will points for this one!


On a different topic, I believe I have sorted the recessed threads for the lift. The threads were just such a bizarre problem.....Anyway, I lifted my E92 to the maximum height several times and then left it at max height for over 12 hours. No issues.

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by dogbone

ahhhh------Winter tracking in Colorado.....

Was looking forward to going to High Plains Raceway today. In the Winter, they have Open Lapping Days every weekend----Tentatively----meaning, the day only happens if the weather is good enough AND they get enough sign ups.

The weather was looking good today----probably perfect for setting some fast laps----high 43ºF. They have a phone message system that updates the situation and it said it was looking like there wasn't enough sign ups.

Let me tell you how sad I am------I emailed the track manager and said I was willing to buy a few more driver slots if the sign ups were close to the minimum. For me, that's still cheaper than a semi-exclusive day. And with me buying up several slots, that means even less cars out there. He said they don't allow that, and that we weren't close to the minimum anyway......C'MON COLORADO TRACK JUNKIES!!!! WHERE'S THE COMMITMENT!!!??? GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!! hahahaha

So the day was cancelled....It was the perfect setup too because my wife is in the mountains skiing all weekend. I didn't even have to trade any good will points for this one!


On a different topic, I believe I have sorted the recessed threads for the lift. The threads were just such a bizarre problem.....Anyway, I lifted my E92 to the maximum height several times and then left it at max height for over 12 hours. No issues.

Feel your pain Gabe - what a waste of a freebie weekend!

[DRLane]

Originally Posted by OG Shark

Feel your pain Gabe - what a waste of a freebie weekend!

Sorry Gabe. I'm still waiting on brake upgrade before I can make it back out. I'm unwilling to buy another set of ST60 pads when the AP 9668 are so close...

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by OG Shark

Feel your pain Gabe - what a waste of a freebie weekend!

You know what I'm talking about!! hahaha

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by DRLane

Sorry Gabe. I'm still waiting on brake upgrade before I can make it back out. I'm unwilling to buy another set of ST60 pads when the AP 9668 are so close...

brakes.....is that necessary? Just get out there!!