Bernooo's E92 M3 Clubsport Build

[berns]

Update from Florian driftflo at LimitedSlip.de today... Ordered the diff on Tuesday and it's been completely built and shipped out today, by Friday. Awesome service, and he's been quick to answer any questions. Really excited to test this thing out.

Drexler 8-clutch GT Race Light w/ BMW Motorsport 4.10's. Nice that there is no core exchange here either, will happily keep my stock as a spare or sell it to recoup some costs.
Plus, less downtime with install now. So StripclubDJ won't complain (as much) when he installs it at European Auto Source.

[berns]

More parts rolled in. Just got this setup from Core4 Motorsports.
Tom was great to deal with and answered a ton of questions. He's got lots of info and options for whatever you're looking to do.

For me, I'm faced with needing new hubs on the right side of the vehicle from the hit anyway. Plus new wheel bearings. Plus replacements studs.. So, not necessarily a ton of money in parts, but the labor is still there. Paired with the fact that this is an 08 that's been well used, it's probably a good time to throw some new wheel bearings in all around anyway. This lead me to just going for this upgrade.

Now, I've seen a lot of people complain about breaking screw-in studs on the track. In fact, this is a cornerstone of Core4's marketing tactics. Maybe I'm just lucky, but in the 7+ years of building and tracking BMW's with screw-in upgraded studs, I've never had an issue. I've run the Macht Schnell and Motorsport Hardware studs almost exclusively, and worry free. I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't do routine replacements, either. Just ran them. Torqued them. Sent them with an impact. Yolo.

All that said, this still did play a factor, because with the crash, the baby, maybe some level of maturity and risk tolerance, and the thought of upgrading to something that is safer AND doesn't need seasonal changes of the studs, and I'm all ears.

I've seen people opt for the F8x M3/M4 hubs with 14mm studs, and was thinking about it, but man... you're talking about $1800+ for a marginal weight savings and a bigger stud. I just didn't see the point, but that's just me.

Core4 also just released their own 12mm 82mm/94mm studs that take the best qualities from the ARP and MSi variants. From Tom, these studs are "combining manufacturing techniques utilized by ARP to increase fatigue strength/life of the thread form of their most critical fasteners, with geometry advantages from MSI (quick start bullet nose, smooth unthreaded shank section, etc.)"

I paired the 82mm studs with their new floating collar lugs. Pretty interesting design that I really had no idea about. This is the same design Porsche has used since the early 2000's. They say these will be far better in the long run for developing consistent and sufficient tension/preload when compared to regular lug nuts. Again, I know this isn't snake oil, but I've never had a problem with regular ol' nuts. Happy to try something new and potentially better though.

Here's a quick photo. Just waiting for this diff to show up, and then the car is off to EAS for some wrench time.
Ok, two more photos. One from the garage, because that's where the car sits for most of its time, and it makes me happy to see it back there, and the other is from its big adventure to the gas station today, to fill the tank up for the first time since June! I'm super nervous driving around with this lip. It was fun having a no-aero-whatsoever M3. Drove it like a rally car and already missing that.

[Kelse92]

Great setup!
And I agree, the f8x hubs when I was doing mine didn't seem worth it to me. The new oem ones are just fine.
I am really jealous of those new nuts. They weren't ready when I had my car, but they look really nice! Kudos to Core4 on those.
Stud failures are a weird thing, I think it really depends on the grip level of the track and the tires you are using. All of my stud failures (6 total) have been at or related to driving at Eagles Canyon which has a newly repaved surface in the last year and I ran mostly on Pirelli DH's, I think on street tires the grip level is enough less that it's not straining the parts as much.

[StripclubDJ]

Time to ruin this man's car

[DRLane]

Originally Posted by StripclubDJ

Time to ruin this man's car

Going to put a small hole in one of the tires again?

[berns]

Originally Posted by StripclubDJ

Time to ruin this man's car

The front bumper fitment looks pretty terrible from there. plz fix.

[StripclubDJ]

Originally Posted by DRLane

Going to put a small hole in one of the tires again?

I would never , just cause I don't like the guy doesn't mean I wanna hurt him lol

[StripclubDJ]

Originally Posted by berns

The front bumper fitment looks pretty terrible from there. plz fix.

No

[DRLane]

Originally Posted by StripclubDJ

I would never , just cause I don't like the guy doesn't mean I wanna hurt him lol

I figured it was a bit to soon for that joke. Sorry berns

[berns]

Originally Posted by DRLane

I figured it was a bit to soon for that joke. Sorry berns

yeah man come on. <3

[StripclubDJ]

Originally Posted by DRLane

I figured it was a bit to soon for that joke. Sorry berns

Not soon enough imo

[derbo]

berns what was the cost of the diff? ballpark?

[StripclubDJ]

If any one needs more race car ideas like this

Just pm me
Happy to help

[StripclubDJ]

Cutting skill

10/10

[DRLane]

Originally Posted by StripclubDJ

Cutting skill

10/10

It's no Malek… Barely a Roastbeef.

[StripclubDJ]

I prefer the zip tip method tbh

[roastbeef]

what did you use, a router or something?

[berns]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

what did you use, a router or something?

He told me he just used a box cutter! skillz.

[StripclubDJ]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

what did you use, a router or something?

.

[roastbeef]

Oh you just sand your way to a clean cut. Nice.

[gtenedio]

@berns how did the green wrap hold up on the track?

[berns]

I guess it's time for an update. After much deliberation, I've decided to sell the car...
Kidding, this thing is fucking amazing!



So, the ordeal from the ACS incident is finally over. European Auto Source installed new knuckles on the passengers side, all 4 hubs and wheel bearings were replaced and upgraded with the Core4 press-in setup, the CSF radiator, oil cooler and power steering cooler were installed, a few major bolts and SPL arms were replaced, and I begged TJ StripclubDJ to install my aero-catch for me on the poorly fitting M24 hood. There's zero chance I'd have done even close to a nice job and I wasn't too keen to dig into a hood that's just about irreplaceable considering costs of a new one plus shipping and prep. TJ also went through every inch of the car as if it was his own -- grateful for this dude, and of course EAS, and everyone that's helped get this thing back on the road!

Once everything was installed, the car went to Mike Essa to be strung up and measured, side to side, front to back, etc... I really wanted solid measurements to ensure the car was in-fact straight and had correct geometry. Mike called with the good news... the rear subframe only favors the drivers side by 1mm -- Essa said he's seen worse on stock cars that have never hit anything, and that this is WELL within spec. WOO!

Once he'd confirmed this, he worked with Turner, the engineer at SPL, to dial in some suspension tricks with the rear arms. We have the car gaining 1.5mm of toe at 1" compression and then it stays the same for the next 1" of travel. I am not a chassis engineer, or an alignment specialist -- I like to drive. I can tell you that this, paired with the rest of the upgrades, has completely transformed the car from an inconsistent handful to a mega consistent monster.





On the scales with 3/4 tank and the heavier 18x10/18x11 275/315 wheel & tire package, the car tipped in at 3270lbs. As much as I love the Fikse wheels, I really don't like the staggered setup as I confirmed earlier in the year, and my Titan7's from the incident, while usable, took a big hit and I've retired them. So, while I wait for my new Titan7's to arrive, I needed a temp set of 18x10.5 square wheels. I found a new set of TE's locally and they were available immediately, and with only a week to prep for a double-header track day, I went for it. These are 18x10.5 +20 SL's. Almost a perfect match for the brakes!



I was previously running the RT660 in 285/30, but they are SUPER short. The gearing advantage was fun with the stock gearing, but with the 4.10, I thought it would be a bit much. The 660's also run wide, and I had a feeling the 275 would fit perfectly on the 10.5 since they seemed almost too wide on my other 10's. Turns out, I was right, and the 275s with a tiny bit of stretch feel incredible on the car. Would I be faster on the 285 square? Not sure. Maybe... But I'd need to shift to 5th at the back straight, and the car would sit lower, which would probably end in me smashing my lovely front aero... So I'm sticking with these until I can try some 295/30's.

I'm running no spacers, front or rear, and did need to add some camber from my initial alignment with Essa, in order to fit perfectly. I went back to my buddy Rob from Chewerks for a quick change. I'm at -3.7 front, -2.5 rear.

My stack of 275s showed up 3 days before the Friday 12/17 day with Socal Drivers Club. If you're in SoCal, and haven't driven with these dudes... you're missing out. Slightly higher cost, but the track is open all day -- no run groups. Low car count in the 30s, lunch and photos included. It's a killer, killer day, that feels like the track day equivalent of a lazy boy. So chill. No traffic. Good hangs. Being my first day back in the car since ACS, and first day back on track in over 6 months, this was the perfect toe dip back in. I was expecting to warm up slowly and very much anticipating being way off my old pace, but hey, it felt good to drive again.



My previous PB at Buttonwillow was almost a fluke to me. I ran a 1:54.69 on a cold SDC day around the same time of year just about a year ago. The track was damp, I had brake issues, no half cage in yet, and was on brand new 285/30 RT660's. So, the car was probably closer 2200 lbs at that time. After that day, I never got into the 54's again, and while the car ripped, and I was very much in the lead for Bimmer Challenge, every time I went back to Buttonwillow I'd work hard for a 55, but my laps would be a bit all over the place, and everyone got used to seeing me sideways, everywhere. I struggled to put power down, and the cars balance just wasn't right. Turn in was kind of meh, but the rotate-on-command vibe was still a ton of fun and definitely faster than pushing. Understeer is the devil.

Fast forward to now... I went out in my first 'session' and PB'd by lap 4. Ran a 1:54.201! Ok, the car was working right out of the box. I felt the tires lose a bit of grip and assumed it was time to come in and adjust pressures. Yep, started at 29 cold and the rears were at 41psi by the time I got to the garage.



I hung around for about 2 hours and went back out with no changes other than lowering pressures to 34 hot. Bam -- lap 4, rand a 1:53.033. Holy shit. The car felt so good. Still suffering some knockback going into Bus Stop, which really eats up a lot of time on approach and on exit since I end up braking late, overslowing, and landing sideways. Determined to fix this setup, otherwise I'm jumping to an AP kit.



At this point, I felt like I could run a 52, no question. Of course, this got in my head, and I promised I wouldn't show up to this day chasing times, but you can't take the time attack attitude away, it seems. I went out again and clocked off a 1:53.378 on lap 5 after doing too many warm ups and needing to pass someone at the exit of Riverside (not ideal).

One last push after some time to cool down and eat lunch. Had to pass someone on the inside of Sweeper (really, really not ideal). I lost about 2 tenths when I noticed them at Phil Hill, and the rest at the exit of Sweeper. That was a 1:52.5 lap, that quickly became a 1:53.08! I'll take it -- the E92 was consistent and I was feeling good.

All in all, an awesome first day back in the car and it didn't skip a beat. Not lights, no clunks or clicks, nothing. Absolutely flawless. With all the good vibes, and permission from the wife (As long as I made it home to watch the baby so she could have a girls night out..) I planned to go back to LA and drive back out to Buttonwillow in the morning. Should would have been nice to have a trailer and taken the Diesel Cayenne instead, but there's something to be said about a true street car, and I'm stoked the M3 does both well still. Gas mileage with the 4.10's and the wing have definitely taken a hit, though. I used to be able to average about 21mpg on long track drives at a steady 90mph, but we're down around 17 now. Oh well.

Yawn.


Up early the next morning, I hit the road again. I was a zombie. Straight off the freeway, I lowered pressures and went out for session 1 at 8am. The pressure of the Speed Ventures / Bimmer Challenge format of competing in a tight grid with lots of cars on track was definitely a different vibe from the day before. I wasn't totally feeling it, but went for it anyway. Lap 3 was a 1:53.329 with a pass at Cotton Corners. The track felt way different from the day before, too. Front grip was gone, rear was sliding, it just felt dirty. We'd all hoped it got better as the day went on, but it wasn't the case. Worse than that -- my transponder was dead, so my time didn't count. Ended up not mattering, because the Studio RSR G80 M3 on Supercar 3r's ran a 1:53.09. My 2nd sessions was a 1:53.478, which still kept me in 2nd place for the day, so no big deal. I really wasn't aiming to compete, but just wanted to see everyone again. So landing on the podium was a nice bonus, and somehow, after missing half the year, I still placed 4th in B3 for the season, out of 21+ drivers. Imagine if I didn't hit that wall...



So, my findings:

There has been a lot of debate as to whether the E92 GT4-replica wing would make a substantial impact over stock. I can say, paired with the BimmerWorld front splitter & canards, the car is definitely producing noticeable downforce and very little drag. There are a few sections at Buttonwillow specifically that are pretty unsettling for heavy cars, but where it's crucial to keep your speed up. Examples of this are Grapevine to Club Corner, to Bus Stop, and then of course Truck Stop -> Riverside -> Phil Hill. All in all, the aero is working for sure, but not in a giant way that makes the car seem easy to drive at any speed. It's exactly what I wanted, truthfully. Looks cool, subtle change, and kept the dance-y character of the car alive, just with a little help.



The diff. My god, the diff. This car was made for 4.10 gearing with the manual. It's perfection. Power and response in every gear is just heightened. Even 6th gear passing on the freeway, at least at this weight, and the car is just a bullet. With the Epic tune and Macht Schnell bolt-ons, I'm doing 130mph and pegging the 8600rpm limiter into the final corner. For reference, my 530whp 1M-bodied, full aero time attack build was doing 136mph here. And on that note, the M3 just ran a faster time on street tires than that car (by a few tenths of a second.) Wild.

The Drexler unit itself, assembled and tuned by Florian driftflo, is a work of art for this car. Braking, turn-in and grip on-power is mind blowing. I can't believe how this car moves around now. Pricey upgrade, yes... but better money spent than on a blower or countless other parts that do less. It completes the package for sure, and it's safe to say the car is in new territory with a lot left on the table.

Discounting my warm ups, out laps and cool downs, I ran 7 sessions over the course of two days. My best laps from each session are below. Grabbing the 4 quickest, my theoretical best lap combining the best sectors, is a 1:51.68. That's insane for 395whp and 3260 lbs, in my opinion at least. And there we have it -- my new goal. PB weather won't be here that long, but I'll aim for a 52 and hope for a 51 in 2022, on 275/35 RT660's with no other big changes to the car.




And here's a look at the delta from my old 1:54.6 to the new setup and 1:53.08 lap. Just look at that... and remember, the car is heavier, on less rubber now than it was before.



The in-car shows the dampers seem pretty stiff, and could be more forgiving. I'm at 8 clicks all around on the MCS 1WNR's, out of 16. I'll dial it down to 5 or 6 next time I'm out and see if it's improved, but if I want more tuning ability and better blow-off in the rough stuff, I'll need to upgrade these to 2 or 3way remotes. Bimmer Challenge is bumping the top B3 finishers into B2 for next year anyway, so I'll need to use my extra points somehow to be competitive. We'll see...

This was a longwinded one for sure, so, if you made it this far, thanks for reading.

PS -- these are on the way here from Latvia... Last bit of weight reduction for now. Carpet and headliner just make me too happy on the street. They'll match my radio delete nicely.