Joban's E92 M3 Track Build

[JobanM]

I figured I should make my own little journal to keep tabs on the build as it progresses.

All I know is, I always wanted a M3 especially a E9X M3. I remember when a E90 M3 pulled in to the coin operated car wash. I was surprised at how wide it was in the rear and the sound as it pulled away.

Fast forward many years and I was able to get an Alpine White E90 DCT M3. Sadly this car wasn't that clean. It had no claims, but clearly had body work done as the paint didn't match some of the panels. I just couldn't get over the paint and ended up selling it.

I always loved the new M2 especially the N55 version since it actually had a pleasant exhaust note. It was a riot of a car extremely fun due to all the torque down low. I put Ohlins Road and Track coilovers along with camber plates. The car handled extremely well even on the stock suspension. The chassis rigidity was noticeable right away especially the solid subframe along with the electronic differential. I wanted to track the car, but the N55 never felt special. I even picked up M2C seats, M2C aluminum and carbon brace, but I still had an itch to get into a E9X M3. The electric steering was numb despite the brace from M2C which improved things slightly.






I met a great friend on here Drifter2090 and we went to look at a E90 M3 in Sparkling Graphite. The car just required bunch of work and at the price point it made no sense, so I passed on it after doing a PPI. My friend had picked up a 2008 E92 M3 Jerez Black. It was just sitting since he had only driven about 100KM after picking it up due to winter.



I asked him if he was willing to sell it to me. He thought about it and agreed to sell the car to me. I drove the car and immediately fell in love with the S65 along with the chassis mounted RTD shifter. It also had resonated test pipes along with Valvetronic rear muffler. Car sounded awesome more of an American deep V8.

Right away I noticed how much more movement there was at the rear subframe when compared to the M2. The differential also wasn't as sophisticated. Despite the flaws I had to buy it just for the drivetrain alone. I ended up purchasing it and sold the M2.

The car had 180,000 Kilometers and luckily rod bearings were done just few thousand kilometers ago. It came with KW HAS kit, so that had to go. I picked up brand new KW 2 Way Clubsports. Picked up Enkei RS05RR locally and paired it up with Hankook RS4 265 front, and 285 rear for some seat time at the track (recommended by a friend). I also decided to upgrade the brakes to AP racing front kit since I felt I would need to upgrade them quite fast as I progressed.





We also did the SLON vanos covers just as a precaution. At the same time did new valve cover gasket, spark plug tubes, and timing cover gasket. Decided to do an oil change and sure enough the main sump would just spin, so I had to time-sert the oil pan.



I did my first track day which was a lot of fun, but the rear just didn't feel the best compared to the M2. The differential felt slow to lock up. I decided to do solid rear subframe bushings and luckily someone local to me had the full SPL kit for sale. I picked that up for a good price since the car had high mileage and sure enough one of the front lower control arm had excessive play.

I had a friend help me with the subframe and while we were doing that I noticed the differential was weeping slightly. There were no plans to upgrade the diff right away, but I was like let me browse the marketplace, and sure enough ralphwarren was selling a 4.44 final ratio 3 clutch unit. I decided to pick it up since eventually I would upgrade and the whole subframe was out, so might as well. I also decided to coat the subframe with POR-15 since the car had been somewhat winter driven.











After the rear subframe was refreshed along with the all the suspension arms combined with the differential. I decided to buy AIM Solo DL 2, so I can have some data to analyze and have some sort of reference for lap times. I had ordered Pole Position ABE and they arrived. I paired them up with BK mounts and OEM E9X manual sliders thanks to slicer.



After doing about four track days with the RS4 and in the 1:18's at my local track TMP here in Toronto. I figured it was time to upgrade to a square setup. Thanks to turbo_joe. I ordered Apex VS-5RS, 18 x 10.5 ET 22. Joey also helped me with the spring required to run the setup in order to delete the helper spring on the Clubsports. I paired the Apex with 295/30/18 A052, and right away the grip felt immense compared to the RS4. First lap I had to get used to the grip, but right away the car went into 1:17:660 with my friend onboard. Ended the day with 1:17:500 by getting too greedy into the last sector and getting the car sideways.










Slow motion of the mistake!

View post on imgur.com

The 295/30/18 A052 felt great, but the car also felt lose especially on corner entry. It would rotate by just turning into the corner which was nice, but scrubbing off speed. I went back to TMP and was hard to get a clean lap due to traffic. I managed to improve to 1:17:290 and figured that would be that as the weather gets colder day by day. I honestly cannot complain as the goal was to break into 1:18's, but to have a chance at getting into 1:16's is amazing considering the car was bone stock almost few months ago. Also managed to add antigravity battery to get rid of the heavy oem battery.







It was only my sixth time tracking the car ever and same for the car. Everything I had learned came from sim racing and applied it actual driving. I don't think I would be as quick or have the car control if it wasn't for putting hours into the sim setup.



As the winter approaches the car will go into hibernate mode. Before the next season I would like to add a light flywheel with a new oem clutch. Pair that with a carbon driveshaft since my oem one has the famous cowbell noise. Definitely need stiffer engine and transmission mounts as there has been few instances of the car not wanting to go into 3rd gear downshift. I would like to add some aero especially after seeing photos of Bimmerword wing on Bernooo's car. I would like to add half a cage to run harnesses since with the oem belt I am struggling to stay in the seat under hard braking. Maybe add some ducting to the front to help run longer sessions and extend pad/rotor life.









Sorry for the long essay, and I wasn't much of a social media person either, but I am glad my friend got me on it, so I could chat with some of the people who have helped me along the way.

2008 BMW E92 M3 Jerez Black
- KW Clubsports 2 Way. Front helper springs deleted and running Eibach springs along with chassis modification to the seam (I had my shop do this as someone had posted a thread about it)
- Apex VS-5RS, 18 x 10.5 ET 22 paired with 295/30/18 A052
- SPL Full Kit
- Diffsonline 4.44 3 Stage Clutch Unit
- AKG Solid Subframe bushings and Poly 75D differntial bushings
- Akra Evolution
- Pole Position ABE paired with BK mounts to E9X manual sliders
- Rear Seats Delete
- RTD Shifter and Ultimate Clutch Pedal
- Antigravity Battery
- AP Racing 9660 Front Kit
- Mjunkee GTS Armrest Delete

[Drifter2090]

Took you long enough!

My car couldn't have gone to a better owner

[Redd]

Nice build! Now that you've had solid subframe and diff done, how would you compare the E92 M3 to your old M2?

[tsk94]

Great looking build.

[JobanM]

Originally Posted by Redd

Nice build! Now that you've had solid subframe and diff done, how would you compare the E92 M3 to your old M2?

I think the F8X is such a big leap when it comes to tracking. Right away you get inside the M2 and it feels stiffer. It's probably not fair to compare my E92 to the M2 since my M3 is old and had decent mileage on it.

The M3 when I drove it back to back felt extremely soft compared to the M2. It felt more like a GT car just overall a softer car which isn't a bad thing for a daily driver. The electronic differential is a big upgrade as well over the viso lok that comes in the E9X. I am sure if it was newer it would be less noticeable, but right away I could notice how slow it was to lock up. In my opinion the differential was the biggest upgrade to the car especially for the track.

With my current setup the car is managing the same top speed as a stock M2C down the straights. I would love to take more weight out of it, but still want to daily my car to work which is a short commute.

With the solid subframe and differential along with other solid suspension components the car feels solid. It provides feedback although every time I get inside a M2 you can notice the chassis rigidity over the E92 M3, but that's just what you call progress.

I just prefer NA high revving engine to a turbocharged and that was the biggest reason I got rid of the M2. It never felt special due to the drivetrain maybe if I had the S55 I might have kept it, but that doesn't sound the best either.

Also with every new car being turbocharged and that's all I see mainly out on the track. It's fun to see what this old platform can do despite not having the most power, but it's such a fun car to drive.

[1FastSicilian]

Nice build! I like the direction your going.. What else do you have planned?

[///Mobbin]

Always love a new build thread, thanks for sharing!

[JobanM]

With the weather still holding up. I was able to get two more track days in at TMP. Goal was to break into the 1:16's. I managed to put together a decent lap and figured that would be it, but it was such a tease at 1:17:09.



I was just trying too hard overdriving the car.

View post on imgur.com

With it being an evening session and running out of daylight. I would only get one more chance and hope I didn't get traffic. I had one green led on my aim delta and crossed the line with a 1:16:91.









With the weather still holding up. I decided to do an oil change before I did an another track day. I made an adjustment to the compression -1 click at the rear before heading out.



On my first session out I already managed 1:16:91, so I knew there was way more time left on the table.



Somehow I ended up doing a race run out there! With traffic and not able to put together a lap. I managed the brakes and tires as best I could. I didn't want to pit because I knew I had a new pb. Sure enough on my 26th lap I put together a lap which didn't have the fastest sectors overall, but close enough to improve 1:16:760. After I went home and looked at the data. There was at least a 1:16:500 had I been able to put together a cleaner lap and did it much earlier in the session.



I was happy with the progress. Came home and decided to clean the car next day. The sock did it's job of not creating a power steering fluid mess, but I do have a catch can that I will be adding.



I wanted to do an another track day, but my outer pads were thinner than the inner ones, so I decided to swap them around. These have about 8 track days on them, but not full days.





A052 after 4 track days on them.



I went out to test the car and noticed the throttle felt weird. Ten seconds later the car lit up like a Christmas tree and went into limp mode. I cycled the ignition on and off which cleared the codes. I made it home and it went into limp mode again. I scanned the codes and sure enough bank 2 TA was the culprit. Now I am waiting for TA's to arrive and with the weather getting colder I doubt I will be able to go back until next year. Also noticed the front shocks compression dial was sitting at 1 while the rears were at 4. I moved both front and rear compression to 3, but sadly cannot test until next year now.





I want to strip some more weight out of the car. I am looking at doing carbon front door cards, removing rear carpet, sound deadening, rear door cards, all the rear panels in the trunk, amp delete, radio, iDrive, front cowl delete as well. I am hoping to get close to 3200lbs. Will be adding a light flywheel and oem new clutch along with a carbon driveshaft. Any input will be appreciated! Thanks!

[bmwm3fanatic]

Originally Posted by JobanM

I figured I should make my own little journal to keep tabs on the build as it progresses.

All I know is, I always wanted a M3 especially a E9X M3. I remember when a E90 M3 pulled in to the coin operated car wash. I was surprised at how wide it was in the rear and the sound as it pulled away.

Fast forward many years and I was able to get an Alpine White E90 DCT M3. Sadly this car wasn't that clean. It had no claims, but clearly had body work done as the paint didn't match some of the panels. I just couldn't get over the paint and ended up selling it.

I always loved the new M2 especially the N55 version since it actually had a pleasant exhaust note. It was a riot of a car extremely fun due to all the torque down low. I put Ohlins Road and Track coilovers along with camber plates. The car handled extremely well even on the stock suspension. The chassis rigidity was noticeable right away especially the solid subframe along with the electronic differential. I wanted to track the car, but the N55 never felt special. I even picked up M2C seats, M2C aluminum and carbon brace, but I still had an itch to get into a E9X M3. The electric steering was numb despite the brace from M2C which improved things slightly.






I met a great friend on here Drifter2090 and we went to look at a E90 M3 in Sparkling Graphite. The car just required bunch of work and at the price point it made no sense, so I passed on it after doing a PPI. My friend had picked up a 2008 E92 M3 Jerez Black. It was just sitting since he had only driven about 100KM after picking it up due to winter.



I asked him if he was willing to sell it to me. He thought about it and agreed to sell the car to me. I drove the car and immediately fell in love with the S65 along with the chassis mounted RTD shifter. It also had resonated test pipes along with Valvetronic rear muffler. Car sounded awesome more of an American deep V8.

Right away I noticed how much more movement there was at the rear subframe when compared to the M2. The differential also wasn't as sophisticated. Despite the flaws I had to buy it just for the drivetrain alone. I ended up purchasing it and sold the M2.

The car had 180,000 Kilometers and luckily rod bearings were done just few thousand kilometers ago. It came with KW HAS kit, so that had to go. I picked up brand new KW 2 Way Clubsports. Picked up Enkei RS05RR locally and paired it up with Hankook RS4 265 front, and 285 rear for some seat time at the track (recommended by a friend). I also decided to upgrade the brakes to AP racing front kit since I felt I would need to upgrade them quite fast as I progressed.





We also did the SLON vanos covers just as a precaution. At the same time did new valve cover gasket, spark plug tubes, and timing cover gasket. Decided to do an oil change and sure enough the main sump would just spin, so I had to time-sert the oil pan.



I did my first track day which was a lot of fun, but the rear just didn't feel the best compared to the M2. The differential felt slow to lock up. I decided to do solid rear subframe bushings and luckily someone local to me had the full SPL kit for sale. I picked that up for a good price since the car had high mileage and sure enough one of the front lower control arm had excessive play.

I had a friend help me with the subframe and while we were doing that I noticed the differential was weeping slightly. There were no plans to upgrade the diff right away, but I was like let me browse the marketplace, and sure enough ralphwarren was selling a 4.44 final ratio 3 clutch unit. I decided to pick it up since eventually I would upgrade and the whole subframe was out, so might as well. I also decided to coat the subframe with POR-15 since the car had been somewhat winter driven.











After the rear subframe was refreshed along with the all the suspension arms combined with the differential. I decided to buy AIM Solo DL 2, so I can have some data to analyze and have some sort of reference for lap times. I had ordered Pole Position ABE and they arrived. I paired them up with BK mounts and OEM E9X manual sliders thanks to slicer.



After doing about four track days with the RS4 and in the 1:18's at my local track TMP here in Toronto. I figured it was time to upgrade to a square setup. Thanks to turbo_joe. I ordered Apex VS-5RS, 18 x 10.5 ET 22. Joey also helped me with the spring required to run the setup in order to delete the helper spring on the Clubsports. I paired the Apex with 295/30/18 A052, and right away the grip felt immense compared to the RS4. First lap I had to get used to the grip, but right away the car went into 1:17:660 with my friend onboard. Ended the day with 1:17:500 by getting too greedy into the last sector and getting the car sideways.










Slow motion of the mistake!

View post on imgur.com

The 295/30/18 A052 felt great, but the car also felt lose especially on corner entry. It would rotate by just turning into the corner which was nice, but scrubbing off speed. I went back to TMP and was hard to get a clean lap due to traffic. I managed to improve to 1:17:290 and figured that would be that as the weather gets colder day by day. I honestly cannot complain as the goal was to break into 1:18's, but to have a chance at getting into 1:16's is amazing considering the car was bone stock almost few months ago. Also managed to add antigravity battery to get rid of the heavy oem battery.







It was only my sixth time tracking the car ever and same for the car. Everything I had learned came from sim racing and applied it actual driving. I don't think I would be as quick or have the car control if it wasn't for putting hours into the sim setup.



As the winter approaches the car will go into hibernate mode. Before the next season I would like to add a light flywheel with a new oem clutch. Pair that with a carbon driveshaft since my oem one has the famous cowbell noise. Definitely need stiffer engine and transmission mounts as there has been few instances of the car not wanting to go into 3rd gear downshift. I would like to add some aero especially after seeing photos of Bimmerword wing on Bernooo's car. I would like to add half a cage to run harnesses since with the oem belt I am struggling to stay in the seat under hard braking. Maybe add some ducting to the front to help run longer sessions and extend pad/rotor life.









Sorry for the long essay, and I wasn't much of a social media person either, but I am glad my friend got me on it, so I could chat with some of the people who have helped me along the way.

2008 BMW E92 M3 Jerez Black
- KW Clubsports 2 Way. Front helper springs deleted and running Eibach springs along with chassis modification to the seam (I had my shop do this as someone had posted a thread about it)
- Apex VS-5RS, 18 x 10.5 ET 22 paired with 295/30/18 A052
- SPL Full Kit
- Diffsonline 4.44 3 Stage Clutch Unit
- AKG Solid Subframe bushings and Poly 75D differntial bushings
- Akra Evolution
- Pole Position ABE paired with BK mounts to E9X manual sliders
- Rear Seats Delete
- RTD Shifter and Ultimate Clutch Pedal
- Antigravity Battery
- AP Racing 9600 Front Kit
- Mjunkee GTS Armrest Delete

Glad you’ve put together a build thead! Owner of the painted e90m after joban here LOL. Happy to be along for the the ride with this build.

[JobanM]

I figured this thread needs an update. Had my friends cut up the hood and install the Trackspec vents. We also installed the APR GT250 wing. I had a local fabricator install the Zebulon front splitter and duct the brakes.








I wanted to run harnesses and decided on Pinnacle half cage. Also upgraded to Core4 hubs, but stuck with the E9X hubs just for ease of installation.







I also decided to strip the interior behind the driver. Taped up the wires and cut up the center console to make it look clean. I got the idea from DRLane.









I had my local shop install the carbon driveshaft and the TTV light flywheel along with a new oem clutch. I decided to compete in Ontario Time Attack (OTA) series. I went on Friday to test the car out with aero and bolted on some fresh RE71RS. Despite 32c temp I still managed to set my PB at 1:16:500. I was able to acquire a Smartycam 2.2 for videos. Below is the lap.

Showed up to the first OTA event as a rookie. I had my friends help me out for pit duties. We managed to win my class, and came second overall along with top rookie plus second fastest time of the day. I was able to improve on the 1:16:500 with a 1:16:416. The aero has made the car more stable. The KW clubsport springs are far too soft with the aero. The car has decent amount of roll and I think it's one of the reasons my left front tire was rolling on the sidewall. We had to bump the pressures on the front. berns is sending me a MCS two way remote setup. I will hopefully have it before the next event in July.

Here is the lap:

Below are the photos of the event taken by friends:

















I also upgraded the engine mounts to Bimmerworld and transmission ones to Revshift 80A.

[nsogiba]

Good to see you out at TMP, it's a great track! I am local to you, just over the border in WNY and try to hit TMP a couple times a year.

Can you share any more details of your brake ducting setup?

[JobanM]

Originally Posted by nsogiba

Good to see you out at TMP, it's a great track! I am local to you, just over the border in WNY and try to hit TMP a couple times a year.

Can you share any more details of your brake ducting setup?

Hey, sorry for the late reply, but it's nothing special. I got the backing plate and the hose from Pinnacle Motorsport.

When I had the splitter installed he basically made a hole into the both intake and oil cooler side routed them. Maybe down the line I will make it a little cleaner instead of two hoses sticking out.

Awesome that you make the trip! it is a great track especially to learn on as it's quite simple and easy, but it does beat up your car. Brakes take a beating versus other fast tracks. Let me know when you are coming back!

[JobanM]

I have been competing in my local Ontario Time Attack series before the second event I had berns send over MCS 2 Way Remote dampers. I don't know a damn thing about setting up the car or dampers, so his knowledge helped. Sadly I had a lot of issues sourcing the Nitrogen to fill up the front canisters, but luckily someone's name drop got me into a Porsche local race shop. I was little annoyed that I asked for -4 camber up front and only got -3.6 due to the shop not having "time".



The next event was at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and this is the best track we have in Canada. It's fast and big elevation change. I had to do a school day in order to compete on Sunday. No biggie, but little did I know how painful of a day it would be. I was paired with an instructor who either had a bad experience the prior year or I got unlucky. Anyway I showed up he started inspecting my car telling me how to setup the car and so forth. I was told that him driving my car was an option, but I didn't have to let him drive it. I was not trusting a random with my car even if he was going to go slow. That seemed to upset him and I spent my whole day lingering around at 6000 rpm's. I told my friends who are also instructors and they were surprised at this rule. Either way I just went along to get signed off, but considering I wasn't learning a damn thing since how slow we were going. I begged the chief instructor to go out with me and we upped the pace a little in the damp conditions. Either way he signed me off and that was the entire day done and dusted. I drove home and was like yeah I have a mountain to climb tomorrow in 2 x 15 min practice sessions to figure out everything.

Went out on Sunday first practice session and my first clean lap was already a 1:31:4XX. My fastest time was a 1:30:142. It's probably the most consistent I have driven as these were my five fastest laps:


I have to say the car felt alive at this track. The speed combined with aero and just the grip you have when the suspension compresses was great. I was rolling all 4 corners on the sidewalls and this is where I wished I had more camber up front.

Anyway here is the 1:30:146 lap:

I won my class, third fastest time of the day along with third place in rookies.

[JobanM]

My time attack season ended few months ago, but I have been just lazy updating this.

3rd and 4th event took place at Shannonville Motorsport Park. Honestly really struggled at this track to put power down with the quality of the pavement, but I later learned once track season was over that my front sway bar had been upside down the entire season acting as a bump stop.



3rd event had the shorter layout where I did pretty well, but with seeing green delta on my aim I pushed way too much into the final corner, and cost myself.

I ended up as the top rookie and won my class (not really much competition in this class to be honest). Finished 4th overall.

4th event was the longer layout, and my fastest lap actually came during practice without pushing that much. I like to typically build up the pace and just like to match my practice time in the first session, but I had a total lapse of concentration, and missed my braking point for turn 2. I ended up mowing some flowers and once you go off track your laps for the entire session don't count. This put me on the backfoot with no lap on the board. I just wanted to put something on the board for the second session. By the time third session came around the track was too hot and that was it for me. It was the first time I was disappointed in myself. The car for sure had a 1:53:XXX that day, and I messed it up. I didn't even make the rookie podium although I won my class and finished 13th overall.





Here is the fastest lap:

[JobanM]

Well with the crap fourth event I had fallen quite behind from P3 for overall. The 5th and 6th event took place at Mosport DDT which is a smaller track next to CTMP.



Probably one of the best laps I did over the season. Finished top rookie, 2nd overall, and won the class. Also set the overall lap record for Ontario Time Attack with a 1:31:843.

Here is the lap:

I think after the 5th event I had clawed back into 3rd spot with one event to ago.

The sixth event layout removes the chicane, and it's a pretty fun layout. Lap felt pretty good, but I ended up P4 overall which meant I would lose out on P3 overall and finish P4. I also bent a wheel pretty bad flying over the first chicane kerbs. I did end up winning the rookie of the year award, and along with my class win.

Here is the lap which is the class record:

Here are season standings missed out on P3 by 0.275.



At least I get to keep this big trophy for the year.

[Drifter2090]

About time you updated this! Hopefully much faster next year without the swaybar "mod".

[omgzirra_exe]

:3