*M3*___Matei's M3 from Romania - ( Amuse Ericsson, ESS, Volk TE37SL )___*M3*

[PetrolHead87]

Great job!

Frumos exemplar, l-am vazut share-uit undeva pe Facebook, iar acum ma bucur ca am dat de el si aici. Spor!

[RogeM3]

really nice!

[esquire]

Beautiful. Only car I've ever seen that makes the Arkym Trunk look good.

[Jay-K]

euro plates,
but looks an indonesian Plate set up..

#justsayin #justwonderin..

[Jay-K]

Originally Posted by jk688

euro plates,
but looks an indonesian Plate set up..

#justsayin #justwonderin..

courtesy, Leonard ADAM.

[Tak1986]

very nice, the te37 suits the car very well!

[Matei]

Originally Posted by remmib

Congrats on M3 cotm.

Thank you. I really appreciate that it was voted.

Originally Posted by John Tanglewood

Awesome ride - everything is perfectly balanced

Originally Posted by tmntmn

Love the car

Thank you!

i always wanted white wheels

I wanted to give it a racing look and also loved how the white wheels go with the white car.

Originally Posted by jk688

FTW.. love your rear..

Thank you.

Originally Posted by positiveions

Matei, welcome buddy. Congrats.
Interesting racing portfolio.

I really miss the days I was involved in racing as a driver

Originally Posted by Tony135

Wow that looks AMAZING

Thank's Tony.

Originally Posted by ///carbon

a masterpiece. i luv it. saw it round town a few months ago. keep the pics coming. you should really go for a z-performance wheels shooting.

Hi. I think I saw you also, you were driving a badass R8.

Originally Posted by m3monkey

Wow beautiful car!!

Originally Posted by RingMeister01

Bravo!

Originally Posted by Loaded

Very beautiful Matei. Enjoy it !

Thank you very much.

Best

Originally Posted by davesaddiction

Beautifully done. Very clean...



Can you share your "pro" opinion on the M3 in stock form and as you have it set up now? For someone who is looking for the best setup for spirited driving on back roads and occasional track days, in what order would you suggest making modifications?

In Romania there are no race tracks and I did not have the chance to drive the car on a proper race track at the limit. Maybe I will go this summer to some track days in Hungaroring or Hockenheim if I have the chance.
The car in stock form it is very well balanced. The weight distribution is very well made.
Under hard braking even with the stock brakes wich are the weak point of the car in my opinion it still has a good initial bite and its keeping that quite well. Stability under braking is quite good even with the weight of the car as it is not too light. The problem its repeated hard braking. Brake fading quickly settles in. Acceleration is smooth and nice with good traction but the lack of torque in low rpm range is very soon noticeable. The engine and gearbox in my opinion are very well suited for the track. On a track you will rarely go under 4-5k rpm.
The power you start to feel it once you get passed 5-6k rpm.
About the gearbox the grinding from 1st to 2nd gear for a drag race is pretty annoying . The car is not meant to drag race it or stop light racing. You really have to be patient when you shift from 1st to 2nd gear. The rest of the gearbox I find it really good for city driving or highway cruising.
Now, about modifications.

First the base of the M3 can handle very easy a VT1-550 Ess supercharger kit for example. This would be the first mod that I will do. I really recommend this one over all the bolt on upgrades that you can do for the NA engine setup. It brings the car to life and I think that also can be more budget wise.
After that an anti roll bar kit will make the car much more responsive in steering and side rolling wich is a big improvement over stock.
Also a suspension would be great or at least a lowering spring kit.
Now it really depends on how do you use your car and your budget.
After that a set of pads that you can use when you go to the track or if you do not daily drive your car you can use track pads for the street also but will make a lot of noise. Of course a bbk setup will be ideal but that is a budget issue.
18 inch wheels is a must for track days as there is big handling difference between 18 and 19. Anything bigger than 18 is just for looks or street.
I see a lot of square setups here on the forums. This is something I would not recommend. When you get to drive the car to her full potential that will upset the balance. The car was not built with square setup in mind. That is for four wheel drive cars. When you increase the grip in the front with wider tyres you must go wider in the rear to keep the balance. This is how it works. With a clubsport suspension kit you have a lot of suspension setups like toe, caster and camber, front height, rear height, wich you can use to make the car handle very well. Square setup is just going a step back. All the racing setups for a rear wheel drive car are based on a wider rear and a narrow front contact surface.

This order in mods I think will satisfy a big majority of owners for a entry level in modding and for a car with a better response and of course a lot more power.

In my case with the VT2-600 soon to be upgraded to 625 with the new software and no cats the car has a lot of power. Even so the chassis is doing a good job but you can start to feel the car is a bit too soft.
About handling: This is a big difference, first the car has a lot of oversteer.
I had to go with quite some negative camber in the rear and a 295 setup and semislicks to be how I like it.
I had on my car for 2 months KV Clubsports. It was a big improvement but also I used my car for driving around town and some road trips and I changed back to the H&R Springs. Now I am planning in doing the clubsports again together with some other things that I want to try. Like polyurethane bushings and engine mounts, roll cage, bbk and some recaro sportster cs and to take out the rear seats.
I want to go as close as possible to a clubsport car.
I am a bit disappointed about the M3 coming from the factory with no coilover setup in the rear. That is something that I would try to make. Is a bit difficult to do it as you have to modify the top of the coil housing for more strength. But it is possible.
I drove recently a 997.2 GT3 RS wich I really like it but is a stiff car for city or road trips. I like stiff so for me it was ok. It was my second more expensive choice when I got the M3. I decided to go with the M3 as there is a more all around car and also much less $ and the mods not that expensive as the P car. Now I want to achieve a handling wich can be close to the P car.

Originally Posted by 8_is_enough

your car is really well done!

i'd also love to hear about your professional opinion on the M3

Thank you. I write it in the upper post.

Originally Posted by i001947

It's really nice to see some serious "man loving" towards your car. Inspiring!

Yeah, I really love my car. )

Originally Posted by vladberca

In which champ you'll race this year?
Pretty curious to follow your evolution I heard that will be a track near Bucharest in ~ 2 years.
Congrats for the awesome (performance oriented) mods

In this moment I do not race anymore. I stopped in professional racing in 2008 once the financial problems began. Now I want to try to make a comeback in rally racing but is difficult to find the budget. I race from time to time in Karting in KZ class. I try to stay in shape with karting.

Originally Posted by kwike92

yes...this car looks amazing.

Originally Posted by 1LRM3

so clean and impressive!!! AW's are sweet!!!

Originally Posted by mazspeed

Damn, very nice

Thank you very much guys.

Originally Posted by gavro

Marfa masina ta,de ce nu incerci jante pe 19".Am avut si eu un 335i dar l-am schimbat acum 3 ani cu E Coupe Carlsson.Felicitari pt masina,poate daca auzi vreodata de vreun meeting prin Bucuresti poate ma anunti si pe mine.Eu sunt din Ploiesti.Felicitari pt masina.

Salut. Multumesc mult. Am avut si jante pe 19, BBS LM-R. Le-am schimbat pe Volk TE 37 SL pentru o stabilitate mult mai buna si pentru ca sunt mult mai usoare.

Originally Posted by Renus

Simple, clean and elegant (thumb up)

Thank's.

Originally Posted by MerrittM3

Glad to see Romania represent. I was born in Oradea = )

Hi man. So you are romanian too. Nice to meet you. Where in the states are you?

Originally Posted by adiPintilie

Great job!

Frumos exemplar, l-am vazut share-uit undeva pe Facebook, iar acum ma bucur ca am dat de el si aici. Spor!

Salut. Multumesc mult.

Originally Posted by RogeM3

really nice!

Thank you.

Originally Posted by esquire

Beautiful. Only car I've ever seen that makes the Arkym Trunk look good.

But I have the Amuse Trunk. Arkym is a bit different.
Congrats to your car esquire. Very nice setup.

Originally Posted by jk688

euro plates,
but looks an indonesian Plate set up..

#justsayin #justwonderin..

yeah, I know. They do look similar. )

Originally Posted by Tak1986

very nice, the te37 suits the car very well!

Thank you very much.

[8_is_enough]

awesome, thanks for the insights!

[davesaddiction]

Originally Posted by Matei

I see a lot of square setups here on the forums. This is something I would not recommend. When you get to drive the car to her full potential that will upset the balance. The car was not built with square setup in mind. That is for four wheel drive cars. When you increase the grip in the front with wider tyres you must go wider in the rear to keep the balance. This is how it works. With a clubsport suspension kit you have a lot of suspension setups like toe, caster and camber, front height, rear height, wich you can use to make the car handle very well. Square setup is just going a step back. All the racing setups for a rear wheel drive car are based on a wider rear and a narrow front contact surface.

Interesting comment - thanks for the detailed reply.

Look forward to hearing how you continue to improve the car.