dubuu “Grand Touring” E92 M3 Journal

[davidato]

Hey everyone! I’ll be writing up the process of “building” a recently purchased M3 into my flavor of GT car, something similar to Porsche’s GT3 road car. Where I currently am in life I’m comfortable but not rolling in cash, so this won’t be a build that’ll finish in a year or something.

A little background on myself. I come from the JDM scene. My previous cars were a Subaru WRX and Civic Type R. Why didn’t I get an ISF instead, you might ask? There was always something about this particular generation of M3 that intrigued me into it. Maybe it’s cause it revs so high or they way it looks. I don’t know but you could say I have a soft spot for it. I’ve been to 4 track days with the CTR, mostly at Buttonwillow. I am nowhere near as skilled or as fast as a lot of the guys on here, and I’m looking to change that! As a baseline, my fastest lap with the CTR essentially stock with wheels and springs on PS4S was 2:04.

Enough about me, let’s dive into where the car is at the moment and where I want it to be. As mentioned before I kind of want it to be something similar to Porsche’s 911 GT3. A similar build I could think of on this forum is Bernoo’s, but maybe dialed down a notch or two. I want it to be a capable track car but still be streetable for dates and car meets. In regards to the car, I picked up a 49k mile, 1-owner non-zcp from a fellow forum member. Most of the bigger maintenance items were taken care of by the previous owner at EAS with receipts to show for it. However, there are smaller maintenance items to account for just from the pure age of the car such as valve cover gaskets, spark plugs, differential fluid, etc, so I’ll be taking care of that first before any major modifications. Fortunately, the previous owner included a lot of high quality parts to boot. To name a few, 380mm Brembo GT front and rear, BBS FI RKP, and KW V3.

Here are some pictures of it as it sits. Cheers!

[derbo]

Those RKP wheels are rare!

Welcome! Looking foward to seeing the progress towards your ideal car vision.

[davidato]

(As of 8/17/22)
As promised, I’ve had the valve cover gaskets taken care of by Precision Dynamics. While they were there they recommended I take care of the spark plug and tubes, breather valve, and decided to do the (slon) vanos covers.

For those who enjoyed the Arkym hood and BBS’s, unfortunately I sold those. I much preferred the stock hood the previous owner provided, and as much as I love the BBS’s I would feel bad thrashing them. I ended up selling them to someone who was a much better home. Instead, I opted for the traditional TE37 in Mag Blue. Sizing is a bit of a weird one since SL’s were discontinued and my good friend was selling his f8x spec for cheap. They are 18x9.5+22 and 18x11+34 (-10 spacer.) I tossed the Toyo R888 in favor of Falken RT660 in 265/35 and 285/30. Unfortunately Falken doesn’t have appropriate sizing for the rear, so a slight stretch will have to do. Next cycle around I think I’m going to try out Continental’s Extreme Contact Force. One, for sizing availability, and two for good reviews on consistency and longevity. I’m still learning the car so a “lapping” tire similar to RS4’s was what I am looking for.

On a side note, I changed out the stock exhaust for an Eisenmann Race and test pipes (both purchased on Facebook) as well as an engine/Dct tune from Alpine. I wasn’t looking for a big power bump or anything, just to clear the CEL from the test pipes. I understand more power = more heat on track, so I want to keep it conservative.

The next things lined up on the to-do list are DCT service and differential fluid service. I did notice a sweating lower DCT pan when installing the test pipes. I’m most likely going to upgrade that to an aluminum one while we’re at it. What’s everyone’s take on Fall-Line vs Slon in this regard? I appreciate the extended suction tube from Slon but the better ground clearance from Fall-Line can be appealing.

[spammysammich]

The ac condensation drain tube empties into the DCT cover so that also makes it messy. When I back out of my garage I leave a trail of slightly oily water on the ground. But I definitely have a weeping oring at my DCT thermostat that I mistook for a pan gasket leak.

[davidato]

Originally Posted by spammysammich

The ac condensation drain tube empties into the DCT cover so that also makes it messy. When I back out of my garage I leave a trail of slightly oily water on the ground. But I definitely have a weeping oring at my DCT thermostat that I mistook for a pan gasket leak.

Oh yeah good point! I do use the AC quite a bit here in SoCal summers. My mechanic said it was the DCT pan, though, and I’d like to get it changed out in the name of “preventative maintenance” and peace of mind.

[derbo]

#teeverything

[davidato]

No update mechanically from me this time. Currently waiting on fluids and Dct pan from Slon. That should finish up the rest of the immediate maintenance needed before the next track day on Black Friday. In the meantime enjoy these photos my friend took for us from the last canyon run!

[omgzirra_exe]

bro we literally live next to each other, we need to link up~ red te and mag blue te ahha

[davidato]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

bro we literally live next to each other, we need to link up~ red te and mag blue te ahha

I’d be pretty down! What’s your socials?

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by davidato

I’d be pretty down! What’s your socials?

damn dude trust me I have no money and my ssn is busted...

IG omgzirra_exe

[s0ldats]

great start, see you in the canyon!

[davidato]

Smol update:

We have registered for a track day on 11/25 at Buttonwillow with SpeedSF. Looking forward to heading out!

Updates on the car. I ran out of talent in a parking lot and ran up a curb. Needed to repaint the side skirts. The week after was the appointment to install the Slon DCT pan. Both of these were done with a quick turn around. I want to thank ABS Autobody and RTMOTORWORKS. I dropped the car off at ABS for the side skirt on Thursday and got it back on Tuesday. Richard at RTM stayed out late until 11 PM completing the install for me instead of making us wait another day. Appreciate them both!

[omgzirra_exe]

me and some other e9x are attenting big willow on 11/26 if you want to do a double header.

[davidato]

Long time no see! Just wanted to update the beginning of track day week with what’s changed on the car. We changed out all the fluids, aligned the car, and installed Recaro RSG’s!

Let’s start with the boring stuff: oil was changed out to redline 10w60, coolant was flushed, diff fluid was changed out (oem fluid), and power steering was checked out. Alignment wise we managed to get -2 camber in the front and -2.4 in the rear. Not ideal but should be at least usable.

Fun stuff! I didn’t expect the recaro seats nor rails to come in just in time for track day but we scrambled to get it installed the weekend prior. The initial idea was to actually get pole positions, however the plug told me the RSG was made almost specifically for my body type, so I listened. Safe to say that was a great idea. It’s snug but not uncomfortable at all (for me). Bride rails sit lower too! My only complaint is the lack of hardware to mount the seat to the rails. Coming in with zero clue what was needed I ended up visiting Home Depot like 5-6 times in a day. Zzzz

Excited to finally shake down the car this coming Friday! Come to think of it I haven’t tracked any car in over a year! Hopefully not too rusty.

[spammysammich]

How are you liking the Slon pan? I'm considering doing the Fall-line or Slon next spring.

[davidato]

Originally Posted by spammysammich

How are you liking the Slon pan? I'm considering doing the Fall-line or Slon next spring.

I haven’t noticed anything wrong with it! Regardless of my ride height. From the looks of it the rear diff heat sink still sits lower than the pan. That was the only drawback I thought I was gonna have over fall line. But since I don’t have any issues with it, I think slon was the better move for the increase in fluid capacity (banjo bolt) and lower fluid pickup tube.

[s0ldats]

what camber plates are you using that has such limited adjustment? seems like you could get more in the front w/ the height you're at

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by s0ldats

what camber plates are you using that has such limited adjustment? seems like you could get more in the front w/ the height you're at

i am assuming he's just using the OEM top hat with the KW V3s, would recommend a vorshlag or GroundControl camber plates, if that's the case.

[s0ldats]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

i am assuming he's just using the OEM top hat with the KW V3s, would recommend a vorshlag or GroundControl camber plates, if that's the case.

makes sense as the max w/ pins pulled would be around -2 at that ride height!

[davidato]

Originally Posted by s0ldats

makes sense as the max w/ pins pulled would be around -2 at that ride height!

Correct! No camber plates, pulled pins. I’m stuck in a weird spot since I want to buy camber plates but will have to buy new ones if/when I get new coilovers. I don’t see the V3’s sticking around.

[s0ldats]

Originally Posted by davidato

Correct! No camber plates, pulled pins. I’m stuck in a weird spot since I want to buy camber plates but will have to buy new ones if/when I get new coilovers. I don’t see the V3’s sticking around.

absolutely feel that. i held off until getting the end game setup! -2 is a great place to be for canyons/ street.

[davidato]

Return from the first shake down track day with the m3. I have to say that there was a LOT of traffic. I looked at the registration and my run group had 40 cars!! Anyhow, having come from a “cheater” FF platform, this was a very different experience. Can definitely feel the weight and actually have to respect the throttle/rear end of the car kind of broke my confidence in a way. The bright side was that the car took everything I threw at it temps wise, besides the tires. Temps were high 60s throughout the day, so that definitely helped. I had time to look over the lap and regroup thoughts. A baseline has been set and we’ll be back out at buttonwillow on the 11th of December with better confidence. Some adjustments to the rear damper could help as well! Here are some photos from the day. At the very least the entire friend group had fun!