My E90 M3 Dedicated Track build (with pix!)

[dogbone]

I went to the shop to be Cory's assistant last night. I've been interested in the process of how the engine comes out. I learned a lot! I pulled a bunch of bolts and lines, worked the lift, dealt with floor jack positioning, etc. We worked late into the night last night and got the engine out of the E90. We eased it out the bottom without a hitch.

Here's how things looked when we were done.





Here's how I imagine the E90 would look if I had a lift kit on it......


Today the teardown of the E92 is going to be high priority. My understanding is that three guys will be on the task today. We've ordered a bunch of parts that should arrive today. I'll be running around town to pick some stuff up.

So, everything is moving along!

One more little detail that adds to the drama. 4-8" of snow is coming Thursday evening starting at 7PM. hehe just what the doctor ordered.

[dogbone]

Things continue to progress. The second engine came out today. This engine was pulled out the front.

Looking pretty crazy right now.

[SYT_Shadow]

Good luck Gabe!! They're pulling it out differently than the 4 engines I've helped on, but as long as it gets to the same result you should be good!

The plan is to move the supercharger right? Will you also transfer the ECU? You may end up dealing with EWS stuff

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

Good luck Gabe!! They're pulling it out differently than the 4 engines I've helped on, but as long as it gets to the same result you should be good!

The plan is to move the supercharger right? Will you also transfer the ECU? You may end up dealing with EWS stuff

Yeah I can imagine there would be some different approaches to all this. We talked about his approach and it was a reasonable plan.

The snow storm that's coming will give them more time. I'm hoping to leave on Friday---dodging snow flakes, and now I'm just gonna have to hammer the drive all at once. No relaxed two day drive.

We'll see!

[roastbeef]

Looks like great times. This would be me trying to keep up with everything and a rapidly approaching deadline.

[Ngilbe36]

Good luck this weekend Gabe! You sure know how to keep things interesting haha

[Richbot]

Nothing like a check wrench to help take the panic out of a crappy situation. Pre-event thrashes are the stuff epic stories are made of. Good luck!

[rhyary]

Are you on the road?

[///Mobbin]

Watching the live feed and hoping to see Gabe out there! Imagine it's been a crazy few days.

[///Mobbin]

Gabe made it, go go go!

[dogbone]

I apologize for my silence. I’ve been power slammed with trying to get to COTA.

The swapped engine is running very well. But I’m having a power steering problem that’s been keeping me from running full hot laps. (I’ve gotten 1 in so far.) The steering wheel goes super stiff in the middle of a lap. The OG Shark Motorsport techs having been working very hard to deal with it. They were great today. The power steering pump that was on there at the start of the day was the E92 pump. I brought the E90’s pump with me and it’s been installed. We’ll see how things go tomorrow.

Anyway, I’m utterly exhausted after the long drive here at the last minute. I’ll write more later.

[fsmtnbiker]

We kicked Gabe out of the garage yesterday and told him to go get some sleep. The car should be ready to rock today, hopefully no more issues! Gonna be real fast this morning. Gabe and I should both be out in group 2 at 9:15am CST.

This track is incredible! So awesome to be here driving and competing.

[rhyary]

Originally Posted by fsmtnbiker

We kicked Gabe out of the garage yesterday and told him to go get some sleep. The car should be ready to rock today, hopefully no more issues! Gonna be real fast this morning. Gabe and I should both be out in group 2 at 9:15am CST.

This track is incredible! So awesome to be here driving and competing.

Remind us, loyal fans, your number and how to recognize you on the scoring board

[fsmtnbiker]

Gabe is 881, I’m 194 (Chris Mayfield.) They’ll hopefully be talking about how I’m fending off last year’s class winner (Jackie Ding) but not catching Amir (NSX) in street class. It is going to be a battle today session 1 (and maybe 2, but I’m guessing session 1 will be the fastest again today.)

[///Mobbin]

Just a thought, power steering issue could be the plug for steering assist coming temporarily unplugged, some people intentionally unplug it for no assist. It's located in the front driver wheel well, only have to take tire off to check it. White plug located next to driver side engine mount, have to unplug it to drop the lower subframe so likely got unplugged and replugged when you did the engine swap.

Go guys go!! Enjoying the live feed.

[rhyary]

Group 2 next
Go go Gabe and Chris

[dogbone]

Argh—-power steering issues again.

The tech guys are pulling a Hail Mary and going to replace the steering rack. They’re getting the parts now. The rack is already out. Unreal how fast they can do stuff.

Hope to get one or two more sessions.

[rhyary]

Did you solve the AIM can bus problem?

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by rhyary

Did you solve the AIM can bus problem?

Until the car runs fine by itself, I’m not adding the AIM to the mix. Leaving it off the CAN bus for now.

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Argh—-power steering issues again.

The tech guys are pulling a Hail Mary and going to replace the steering rack. They’re getting the parts now. The rack is already out. Unreal how fast they can do stuff.

Hope to get one or two more sessions.

I didnt see this until just now but there is a harness wire behind the wheel well that leads to the steering rack that you can rub through - I had this exact same issue and the fix was fixing and lengthening that wire around where the wheel won't rub through the liner.

[roastbeef]

gabe, what is keeping you from running in the limited class as opposed to the unlimited class?

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

gabe, what is keeping you from running in the limited class as opposed to the unlimited class?

I recall unlimited is the only one that allows a full slick, and Gabe wants a full slick. If you drop lower you need to use pedestrian tires