E92 Track Build Thread

[former 240 s14]

Welcome to my E92 build thread! I want to document (for prosperity and selfishly myself), the build process of my new to me E92 M3. I will be updating posts as the build progresses.

History:

I have been in the S65 game for almost a decade. I have a collector grade 2011 E92 and also owned an E90 that was a daily/track build that I loved. March 2024 I noticed on a E9X M3 FB community page that Jimmy N. from Signature Wheels had posted his E92 M3 up for sale. Many people know this car as it's a beautiful build that Jimmy and the previous owner started. As soon as I saw the posting I immediately reached out to him as I was considering moving from an E90 to an E92. Jimmy was awesome to work with knowing I had to sell the E90 first. We discussed what I would sell my M3 for and the transaction should be able to be completed in a time we both were happy with. Fortunately I found a local buyer who was awesome and the car was sold. July 4th, 2024, my dad and I drove from Cincinnati to Kansas City to pick up my new E92. The car was as advertised and the transaction went smoothly.

About the car at purchase:

The car came with a serious build list before I even touched it. Most importantly Jimmy had Chicane Motorsports build him a new S65 within the past 1,500 miles. Both the main and rob bearings were addressed during the build along with literally every single gasket. Supertech Titanium Valves, Springs, and retainers were installed to ensure the valvetrain was happy at high RPM. Most shockingly the power pulleys and Evolve R tune really made the car happy at mid range RPMs, much more so than any S65 I've driven.

Secondly, the car's brakes and suspension were taken care of with MCS and AP/Essex parts. The brake package is the best kit I've ever experienced on track, as it should be for the cost. The biggest opportunity I have which will be addressed in the upcoming seasons will be a rebuild of the MCS 2NWR kit that is on the car. I will be having MCS convert to external reservoir during the rebuild.

Since Ownership:

2024 has been a blast learning and coming to grips with a car that has such a high ceiling of performance from first ownership. I have upgraded the seating to a fixed bucket for the driver (OMP M Rain Art Seat and PCI mounts.) I am 6;3: and the Recaro's and OEM rails kept me way too high in the cabin. This made a significant difference in seat position and will also let me focus on driving instead of bracing myself for turns. I've done some light weight reduction, gone back to a standard wheel and been tinkering with the pads on track.

The pads Jimmy ran were Ferrodo 3.12 which were not suitable for my driving preference. I have been testing Hawk DTC-70's but will only use on short tight tracks that run higher temps. For longer flowing tracks I will be running the tried and tested DTC-60's. Much better rotor wear and pedal feel that lines up with my driving style.

On order are Trackday Door Cards and Trackspec Hood Louvers.

Other than that I have had the opportunity to run at NCM and Road Atlanta before closing up shop for the season. After track time on two fundamentally different tracks I will adjust car height to free up more suspension travel hoping to make the car happier utilizing curbs.

If interested in seeing video check out my youtube page @rubindastoor5629 .

Future Plans:

This car is turning more and more into a track dedicated and occasional weekend drive. Plans include running a 4.10 gear, full cage engine monitoring, weight reduction and video upgrades. As stated before I will upgrade to external remote struts when I rebuild the suspension.

Looking forward to updating this thread and fine tuning the car over the next several events in 2025. I am currently slated to run the car in February 2025 at Barber with Chin Track Days.

If you've read this far thank you and I hope to see you on track next year!

Rubin

[former 240 s14]

New seat and mount, brakes, new carbon air box, etc.

[former 240 s14]

Some more small work on the track rat last week. TrackSpec Vents and Aero latches. I waited to get through early spring to install these but super happy with how they came out.

Hopeful to test these out at Putnam in Indy once I get back from VIR in a couple weeks!

Rubin

[roastbeef]

lookin good!

[former 240 s14]

Was finally able to get these two cars together. One is my collector grade 29k mile 11' Comp and the other is the track rat. The same, but different.

Rubin

[roastbeef]

brother, i think your winglets are upside down.

[former 240 s14]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

brother, i think your winglets are upside down.

OMG! You are 100% right, lol. Bought the car with the wing and never even noticed. I fixed it over the weekend and figured out why they did that way. The winglets fit better to the cheap wing upside down, oh well.

Good catch, that's funn!

Rubin

[jmeenach]

She looks like a fun track toy!! Congrats!

[former 240 s14]

Couple weeks ago I particpated in the BMW CCA Buckeye Chapter HPDE School at Mid Ohio. I instructed a friend of mine who has a E90 330i he's modifying to a track tool. Weather was absolutely gorgeous and I got lots of run time myself. I was expecting super hot conditions (weather had been in the 90's all summer) so I decided to try a set of Khumo V730's as I anticipated no one was going to be able to get super strong flyers. Well I was wrong, the weather was in the 70's all weekend and I absolutely hated the V730's. It was still a fun event regardless and I got to spend time with my dad and friends, so that's a huge win to me.

Next up for this car will be the OctoberFast event at Road America in October. I have lined up my next set of tires I will be experimenting with, Goodyear Supercar 3R (100 tread wear.) Should be a great weekend!

Rubin

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by former 240 s14

Couple weeks ago I particpated in the BMW CCA Buckeye Chapter HPDE School at Mid Ohio. I instructed a friend of mine who has a E90 330i he's modifying to a track tool. Weather was absolutely gorgeous and I got lots of run time myself. I was expecting super hot conditions (weather had been in the 90's all summer) so I decided to try a set of Khumo V730's as I anticipated no one was going to be able to get super strong flyers. Well I was wrong, the weather was in the 70's all weekend and I absolutely hated the V730's. It was still a fun event regardless and I got to spend time with my dad and friends, so that's a huge win to me.

Next up for this car will be the OctoberFast event at Road America in October. I have lined up my next set of tires I will be experimenting with, Goodyear Supercar 3R (100 tread wear.) Should be a great weekend!

Rubin

I need to decide what rubber I’ll be bringing to RA — I’ve got two days on the Bridgestones right now and will have at least 3 days between now and then (possibly more) so I’ll def need something new…

[former 240 s14]

Originally Posted by kolosy

I need to decide what rubber I’ll be bringing to RA — I’ve got two days on the Bridgestones right now and will have at least 3 days between now and then (possibly more) so I’ll def need something new…

More importantly make sure you have enough brake pad left or bring extra, lol.

[former 240 s14]

Professional shot from Mid Ohio

[former 240 s14]

Info on my "suspected" bearing failure last weekend at Road America.

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2210858

[BigTee]

Originally Posted by former 240 s14

Info on my "suspected" bearing failure last weekend at Road America.

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2210858

Ugh. So sorry to see this.

[former 240 s14]

Welp, got my double hump to single hump swap done. Removed all speakers, air bags, airbag module, rear carpet, rear deck, amps, headliner, etc. Car should weigh about 3290ish with a full tank. I am NOT thinning the wiring harness out but there are some extra small things to help clear a few more lbs. Goal is to make this driveable on the street without hating myself or having my wife kill me.

Suspension is next. MCS has my shocks and are re-valving them to modern specs and new 700F/1000R swift springs are in route from BW.

Rubin

[former 240 s14]

Now that the airbags are out I needed to add a steering wheel solution. Stephen from Togue Factory hooked me up with a great package. OMP Aluminum Hub, OMP Quick Release and a MOMO wheel. I also added a 50mm spacer to help get the steering wheel closer to my torso which was an outage with the stock unit. I think it turned out really good.

Rebuilt suspension by MCS will be here tomorrow, also upgraded the spring rates to 700F/1000R with new Hyperco Springs from Patrick at Bimmerworld.

New replacement block was found and picked up by Ben at Rogue last Friday and now we are just waiting on the pistons from Mahle.

More to come!

Rubin

[former 240 s14]

Work continues to be done on the track rat as the engine rebuild is continuing.

1. MCS has delivered an early Xmas present. Rebuilt and re-valved 2NRW dampers. These were an older tech and during the rebuild they upgraded the internals to modern specs. This will help give me more flexibility in tuning considering I am going to a heavier spring rate. You should look into this if you have MCS units that are older or haven't been rebuilt since 2020.

2. Hyerco 2.25 700lb front springs & 60mm 1000lb rear springs. These are paired with the rebuilt MCS's and will get a corner balance and alignment when the engine is back in.

3. More weight cutting. All audio, NAV, and SOS gear taken out of the car. I will not be thinning the wiring but this was a huge savings. I also separated the rear harness to retain only the wiring up top that I needed for the defrost and 3rd brake light. I think it helps clean up the interior nicely.

4. Preventative work - With the previous engine shedding it's bearings I took out the D088 cooler and lines and went to work cleaning them. Used an entire bottle of brake clean and compressed air. Very happy how it turned out. I am going to skip getting a new oil cooler as I am satisfied with the results.

5. Aesthetic upgrade - With my lower varis style carbon diffuser the stock exhaust tips looked AWFUL. I had some aftermarket units from my other exhaust that was an OEM modded exhaust. It was too loud so I just moved the tips from that unit to the unmolested OEM exhaust. Good enough for me and I have other/bigger fish to fry with my finances right now. More importantly I am still catless with my MS Midpipe.

All in all it was very refreshing to get my wheels back on! I dunno why but it gave me more energy to keep pushing as this has been a rough period since the S65 gave at Road America.

More to come soon, especially details on the engine rebuild once we settle the gameplan.

Rubin

[kolosy]

nice. that remaining amp connector etc is a fully separate harness btw. i was able to untangle it and remove it without having to cut/splice anything.

[former 240 s14]

Originally Posted by kolosy

nice. that remaining amp connector etc is a fully separate harness btw. i was able to untangle it and remove it without having to cut/splice anything.

Really?!?!? Do you have a picture of it! Curious what it looks like but alas it's gone! LOL.

Rubin

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by former 240 s14

Really?!?!? Do you have a picture of it! Curious what it looks like but alas it's gone! LOL.

Rubin

Ha.

[former 240 s14]

Originally Posted by kolosy

Ha.

Hell yeah, that looks like 10lbs! Thanks brother!

[former 240 s14]

Update time:

Engine is at Herbert Performance Company in NV getting sleeved. Engine will have forged CP Pistions (12.5:1 Compression, 92.5MM bore) upping the displacement to a 4.1L. ACL Race main & rod bearings will be paired with a custom machined OEM crank to ensure proper tolerances. Hoping to have the engine back from Rogue in the next 6(ish) weeks. Still plan on doing a tune remotely from Randy at Epic in FL.

My old suspension setup was too soft and car would bottom out easily at fast tracks or on any type of aggressive curb. The front fender liners were shot and the wheel arches had some surface rust and bare metal. I wire wheeled the area, hit it with two coats of self etching primer and then finished with two coats of Alpine white spray paint. The new arches are here and will be installed tomorrow finishing up this part of the build.

Lastly, I was able to powerwash the engine bay. It was awful after the engine failure as oil escaped from the front main seal and went everywhere.

Projects are getting smaller and less which is relieving. Checking into seeing if the cage can come early so I can get that out of the way before the engine arrives. I already have a new 6pt Lifeline Harness for driver.

Rubin