Manda Mew Journal Thread

[6ixSpd]

Avoid the Sleeve Over kit if you want to preserve your car's handling characteristics.

How many miles are on your shocks?

[Manda Mew]

Originally Posted by the6M3

Avoid the Sleeve Over kit if you want to preserve your car's handling characteristics.

How many miles are on your shocks?

Sleeve over kit will make things worse? I have edc and have 40k miles.

[okusa]

Originally Posted by the6M3

Avoid the Sleeve Over kit if you want to preserve your car's handling characteristics.

How many miles are on your shocks?

Um, no. Throw on a JRZ RS-Pro and the street ride will be fantastic. For the track you can't do much better.

[aus]

First congrats on getting on BMW FB's page. Car looks great.
Definitely post the real story!


Not sure I've ever seen a VRT tune. Make sure they're reputable since you really don't make any power with a tune until you remove the primary cats with test pipes or an X-pipe. My point is, it may not be worth the tune, and if you do get rid of the primary cats, you'll need a tune specifically for that. Evolve and ESS even have tunes specifically for the Akra Evo exhaust system.

For the suspension, you're going to have to decide how much you love the EDC function. If you must keep it, the sleeve over kit or springs with shaved strut hats up front are the best bet, but you'll never get that Porsche tight feeling using the EDC struts, IMO.
There are a few used sets of coil overs on the for sale area that maybe worth looking into if you're willing to part with EDC. You'll need to code out EDC if you go that route. Have you done coding yet?? It's a MUST DO.
You'll feel a dramatic improvement in handling if you do coilovers with camber plates. BUT you'll have to start to look into spring type and spring rates since that'll affect how stiff the suspension feels. A progressive spring, like the KW V2/V3's have a softer part in the spring for better comfort over small bumps and then a stiffer part of the spring for handling. It's a trade off because there's a transition portion in the spring that may affect handling if you're a really good driver. A linear spring has the same compression rate throughout the spring and is more predictable throughout it's compression. More serious, track oriented coilovers will have linear springs. Most coilovers will have some adjustability for the control of the bounce of the spring. This will affect the stiffness to some degree, but it's really to control how quickly or slowly the spring is controlled when it's uncompressed so the car isn't bouncing up and down after it's compressed.

Also keep in mind that suspension alignment plays a HUGE part in how a car feels. My female friend with an M3 (stock EDC) drove my car and was shocked how different it drove. I have coilovers with linear springs and camber plates running -2 camber up front and -1.5 camber in back. The inside of my tires get eaten up but the car handles great. I just flip the tires on the wheel after 15,000 miles.

In the past, BMW struts were usually done at 40-50,000 miles, but I don't know if that's the case with EDC struts/shocks. My wife even noticed her 335 was bouncing up and down a little after bumps at 50,000 miles.

On to your seats. This is a big topic and you can get more info on the track section. A stock car's interior is part of your safety SYSTEM. It's not just the crumple zones front and back and the airbag in the wheel or A-pillar. The stock seat is made to deform and keep you from submarining under the dash with the front of the seat moving up a little in an impact and you're butt moving down. The seat back is made to bend to absorb energy from an impact. The seat belts are made to tighten with explosives to keep you in that seat. If you change that seat, you just messed with your safety system in a big way. Newer cars after 2008 also have active head rests that move up to essentially catch your head in a rear end accident or bad front end accident.
BMW dose have the Performance seats that should keep your safety system intact and they're suppose to be Recaro seats. Recaro's been doing seats for many OEM manufacturers for decades. Status... no idea, thought a couple of their fixed back seem to be FIA approved. You should be fine with the Spa seat, but just know what's involved with changing out a seat. If you ever wanted to install half a cage and a harness, that' a whole new conversation.

If you're interested in gong to the track, the BMWCCA is by far the BEST and cheapest way to do it. They're the safest organization, which is great when you're starting out and get pretty fast. When people get really fast, they don't need the instruction as much and move on to other organizations. It's best to go stock for a couple events before doing more upgrades. It's a TON of fun for many, but some can't wrap their heads around the speed, but at least they tried it.

Keep posting your upgrades. Some have posted build threads in the picture section or track section, but this thread is so huge it's probably best to just keep posting here.

[PandaM3]

I think the best compromise for street and track would be the Bilstein B16 damptronic coilovers paired with ground control camber plates.

This gets you the best of both worlds.
- it's EDC compatible
- the bilstein monotube shocks will plug into the edc system
- so you can keep it soft for the streets/ active for the canyons/ or full stiff for the tracks
- since it's a coilover you can dial in the ride height and get it corner balanced for the track

[mmbv1000]

Originally Posted by PandaM3

I think the best compromise for street and track would be the Bilstein B16 damptronic coilovers paired with ground control camber plates.

This gets you the best of both worlds.
- it's EDC compatible
- the bilstein monotube shocks will plug into the edc system
- so you can keep it soft for the streets/ active for the canyons/ or full stiff for the tracks
- since it's a coilover you can dial in the ride height and get it corner balanced for the track

Having these installed this week. I'm surprised more people don't have them for the same reasons you list above. I only plan to track a couple times a year and wanted to retain OE EDC. Bilstein has a great rep and I know several members here are very impressed with some combination of B6 shock with lowering springs so I'm hoping these will be good

[ase2dais]

Great Writeup

[DrFerry]

Agreed.

[DrFerry]

Originally Posted by Manda Mew

Please skip to thread revival on page 26 to skip a bunch of silly bantering
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...9#post20602229

Well, I just recently ticked off a long awaited box on my bucket list.
I have been obsessed with the M3 for an extremely long amount of time... Ever since it first came out actually. I remember seeing it as some sort of exotic, constantly taking pictures of ones I found sitting in the parking lot. It wasn't until 7 years later that I actually drove my first one! Well long story short I fell in love and my soon to be husband (RoshDawg, also a member on here) and I purchased a kick ass E92 M3 with DCT in AW.

But here's the long story!

The Hunt
I first test drove a high mileage E90 without EDC (which I feel is a must on crappy CA roads), and I was very intimidated. It was like driving a lion that I had to try hard to tame, and that made it extremely exciting. I felt as if it would be too exciting for a DD that will be gaining a lot of miles, and expanded my search to the following cars (ranked from best to worst): M235i, GLA 45, Macan S, C400, S4, Golf R, STi, Mustang GT. I did not drive the C400 or Golf R, but I'll make another post about my full comparison review on all those other cars at another time, including a comparison between my M3 and RoshDawg's 991 C2S (which seems to be the car most people here are jumping to). Although I initially dismissed the M3, it was the only car that I thought about after I had driven it. All those other cars seem to fade away as their sole purpose was to get you from point A to point B without any drama (except for the M235i, GLA and STi). But I'm a girl so obviously I like a little drama.
I went back and test drove a ZCP 6MT E92 and I knew I would never stop thinking about the M3, regardless of what vehicle I purchased. So I started a three month long search for the perfect M3 for my needs: DCT (for LA / OC traffic), ZCP (for the drop, EDC and wheels), coupe (no kids yet!), fox read or any two tone grey / black interior, 2011.75+ and >30,000 miles. Ideally I would have wanted a blue (any shade of blue) with cf top, but they were so far and few in between, not to mention their added prices, so I opened up my search and found an under warranty AW 2012 M3 with all the options at 24K miles for a ridiculously low price that I couldn't pass up on. The car was in insanely good condition and was owned by another girl judging by the paired phone's name (baby doll). No it doesn't have the cf roof, but it does have the M performance exhaust which I love hearing through my cracked moon roof!

The Prep
I noticed the car had some scuffs and chips in the front bumper, and I put it in the contract that the front bumper would have to be fully sanded and repainted. They did an excellent job and I promptly put a clear bra on it after repaint (+tint). The car has an extended service plan, and I noticed through the service records (which I carefully read in full before buying the car) that the car was due for a yearly oil change and full inspection). After oil change and inspection, they told me that the front brake pads were still the originals that came on the car with plenty of life, indicating that most of the miles were all highway! I then put in a techron (actually a few bottles in a row) and it runs, well exactly the same.

Making her new again
FYI some pics are indeed staged!
Although the paint quality and leather were in very good condition, I wanted to give it a very thorough detail. I decided I was going to do a full paint correction and opti coat. I'll probably give a full review on the products I use in the detailing section since this post is already getting really long. RoshDawg insisted on documenting the whole process (he's quite into photography) so at his request this post will be pic heavy!
The Wash
I used my foam gun with some run of the mill mothers gold car wash soap, and its not that great. I have since then switched to Chemical Guys soaps (different kinds for different situations) and its much better.

As you can see, not that foamy. CG is wayyy more foamy and slippery on the surface.


The Clay
I clay barred the entire car with Meguiars clay bar kit, and it SUCKED! Hardly removed anything. Rush ordered some medium strength clay bar from Chemical Guys and that definitely did the trick. Its definitely sticky on the fingers so you have to spray the side you touch with your detailer spray frequently. I do like Meguiars quick detailer spray though.


Paint Correction
I did a dawn dish soap wash to get off all the wax on the car prior to paint correction. Then I started off with V36 cutting polish from Chemical Guys and an orange pad on my Porter Cable DA, but I feel it did not have enough cutting power. If I had been more patient I would have ordered a true compound like CG V34, but I used some Meguiars ultimate compound instead and that mostly did the trick. Then I followed up with CG V38 on a white pad to get rid of the slight marring I saw and finish up any swirls I missed.



Opti Coat
After an IPA wash (the car was getting seriously clean at this point), I was ready for my Opti Coat 2.0. They discontinued this product since it was taking away from the professional only Opti Coat Pro services, but I managed to get a hold of a tube right before they stopped producing. This stuff is a permanent coating that adds onto the clear coat and locks in whatever is underneath (which was swirl free naked paint!). They say its not for someone who enjoys waxing and always putting stuff on their car since nothing can bond to it (wax or glaze comes off after a couple washes). Well good thing I'm okay with re-glazing and waxing my car after every wash!
I tried to be creative and used a bathing suit liner from one of my huge DD bikini tops () to not absorb too much of the product. It did decent and I covered the whole car, but I was skeptical on my coverage and did a second coat the next day with the supplied pad (should've just ordered a different, more expensive foam pad). Trick is to not be stingy at all with application. They said a couple drops per panel, hell I was squirting streams of that stuff on my applicator. Just had to make sure there was no high spots with a micro fiber and a flashlight.



Glaze and Wax
After letting the car cure in the garage for 10 days straight (went on vacation), I put Chemical Guys Blacklight on with my DA and a black finishing pad. This smoothed out the Opti-Coat (without actually removing it) and added an awesome shine. Then I put Optimum Car Wax (spray) as a coating over the Blacklight


The car is just beaming clean, and after driving for awhile, it still looks so damn clean. Every time I walk up to the car it looks like I just had it washed! If you guys have any questions on any of these processes or products let me know! I've gotten pretty obsessed with car detailing lately.

Manda, did you end up selling your car yet?