Bernooo's E92 M3 Clubsport Build

[Redd]

I almost spit out my morning coffee when I read the first para...

Great update and congrats on getting the car back better than before.

[tsk94]

Cleanest build on this forum - just love it!

[derbo]

Nice update berns!

You make me want to get 4.10s..again.

[slcook54]

Awesome update, Alex. Get up to Laguna. And I told you, I'm copying your aero. 😉

[///Mobbin]

Awesome update man, thank you for the enjoyable read! Following your lead and trying the RT660's next, will be using them for the first time at COTA at the end of January.

So I was thinking blower next but now you have me thinking front aero and Florian diff need to take priority, hmmm, the struggles of a mod addict! Added a Schirmer rear wing last year and nothing up front presently, think it needs some balance.

[berns]

Originally Posted by ///Mobbin

Awesome update man, thank you for the enjoyable read! Following your lead and trying the RT660's next, will be using them for the first time at COTA at the end of January.

So I was thinking blower next but now you have me thinking front aero and Florian diff need to take priority, hmmm, the struggles of a mod addict! Added a Schirmer rear wing last year and nothing up front presently, think it needs some balance.

COTA is a big boy track. I think 660s are rated to 165mph. Just make sure whichever tire you go with that you’re considering the speeds. Can’t go wrong with these upgrades either way, we are all different drivers. I’ve done the big power thing, this build started from a different approach is all. Thanks for the good words!

[dogbone]

Great seeing you out there berns! Glad to see the car is ready to go. And nice write up!

A few notes:
-Let's look at the AIM data provided for a moment. From the two laps shown in the picture, you gained all your time from the exit of Sunrise to the apex of Riverside. After that, you were basically even with your old lap. One could argue that Buttonwillow is more technical in the first half of the lap----Off-Ramp, Cotton Corners and Bus Stop are all very challenging sections. And it appears you were taking time in all those sections, so that's a good sign that you and the car are working well together on the technical stuff. Once you passed the apex of Riverside, you didn't really pick up much more time, except for just a little bit after the final corner.

You had higher minimum speeds in the corners in the first half of the track, but you had the same or lower minimum speeds in the corners on the second half of the track.

Your high speed approaching Bus Stop was a nice bump up from your old lap, and your take on Bus Stop on this latest PB was significantly better than the old lap. However, while you were maintaining a higher speed for longer on Riverside up to the apex, you seemed to have to back off a bit after the apex which killed off the momentum a bit up to Phil Hill and then you over braked. So, I would say the exit of Riverside to Phil Hill is a section to work on in terms of maintaining speed.

You lost time on the exit of Sweeper going into the Esses compared to the old lap. That decreasing radius turn is very tough to go fast, but it is super important because it's the beginning of the Esses and you wanna launch up those. Also, interesting to see on the last shift before Sunset that the current car continues accelerating much better than the old setup. And while you braked later and carried more speed longer into Sunset, you seemed to over slow a bit before getting back to gas. You did pick up a tad bit more time after the exit of Sunset, but I would argue that comes from the different gearing versus how you drove it.

-On the AIM setup, you should change the max/min speed limits of the GPS Speed chart. This would allow your speed trace to be much taller and more useful. Right now your limits are something like minus-70mph to 360 mph......not very useful---most of the vertical area of the speed chart is empty space. I would recommend changing the limits of the chart to like 20 mph to 170 mph. You'll be able to see a lot more detail in the chart, even when zoomed all the way out. To change it: On the list of parameters that allows you to choose what's shown on the charts, right-click on GPS Speed and you can adjust the min and max speeds that are shown on the chart.

-Your AIM data is showing 23 sectors for calculating a virtual best. The more you split up a track, the faster your virtual best gets. If you split the track into 50 sectors, it would get even faster. In my experience of dealing with the AIM, I usually max out at 5 sectors for the whole track, and I try to put the split points middle-to-end of a straight if possible, before a braking zone. 5 sectors allows you to connect several features into a segment, which is much more realistic when trying to find what your maximum pace really is.

-You wrote on Lap 3 at Bimmer Challenge you did a 1:51 with a pass in Cotton Corners. I'm assuming that was not correct.

Anyway, glad to see you back out there. And congrats on your new PBs!

[maaicher]

One of my favorite builds in a long time! V2 is pretty much perfect. Glad to see it back out on the track again.

Interesting comments on the 285/30 vs 275/35. I recently had to make that switch due to tire availability with the CR-1's. The benefits of the wider tire seemed to be outweighed by having more sidewall for me. Was able to get more consistent lap times due to the better feel of the taller sidewall.

On a side note....glad all the fast guys are being forced out of B3 to make room for the rest of us hahaha.

[berns]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Great seeing you out there berns! Glad to see the car is ready to go. And nice write up!

A few notes:
-Let's look at the AIM data provided for a moment. From the two laps shown in the picture, you gained all your time from the exit of Sunrise to the apex of Riverside. After that, you were basically even with your old lap. One could argue that Buttonwillow is more technical in the first half of the lap----Off-Ramp, Cotton Corners and Bus Stop are all very challenging sections. And it appears you were taking time in all those sections, so that's a good sign that you and the car are working well together on the technical stuff. Once you passed the apex of Riverside, you didn't really pick up much more time, except for just a little bit after the final corner.

You had higher minimum speeds in the corners in the first half of the track, but you had the same or lower minimum speeds in the corners on the second half of the track.

Your high speed approaching Bus Stop was a nice bump up from your old lap, and your take on Bus Stop on this latest PB was significantly better than the old lap. However, while you were maintaining a higher speed for longer on Riverside up to the apex, you seemed to have to back off a bit after the apex which killed off the momentum a bit up to Phil Hill and then you over braked. So, I would say the exit of Riverside to Phil Hill is a section to work on in terms of maintaining speed.

You lost time on the exit of Sweeper going into the Esses compared to the old lap. That decreasing radius turn is very tough to go fast, but it is super important because it's the beginning of the Esses and you wanna launch up those. Also, interesting to see on the last shift before Sunset that the current car continues accelerating much better than the old setup. And while you braked later and carried more speed longer into Sunset, you seemed to over slow a bit before getting back to gas. You did pick up a tad bit more time after the exit of Sunset, but I would argue that comes from the different gearing versus how you drove it.

-On the AIM setup, you should change the max/min speed limits of the GPS Speed chart. This would allow your speed trace to be much taller and more useful. Right now your limits are something like minus-70mph to 360 mph......not very useful---most of the vertical area of the speed chart is empty space. I would recommend changing the limits of the chart to like 20 mph to 170 mph. You'll be able to see a lot more detail in the chart, even when zoomed all the way out. To change it: On the list of parameters that allows you to choose what's shown on the charts, right-click on GPS Speed and you can adjust the min and max speeds that are shown on the chart.

-Your AIM data is showing 23 sectors for calculating a virtual best. The more you split up a track, the faster your virtual best gets. If you split the track into 50 sectors, it would get even faster. In my experience of dealing with the AIM, I usually max out at 5 sectors for the whole track, and I try to put the split points middle-to-end of a straight if possible, before a braking zone. 5 sectors allows you to connect several features into a segment, which is much more realistic when trying to find what your maximum pace really is.

-You wrote on Lap 3 at Bimmer Challenge you did a 1:51 with a pass in Cotton Corners. I'm assuming that was not correct.

Anyway, glad to see you back out there. And congrats on your new PBs!

Thanks Gabe! Honored to have you dive into this stuff with me. I’m a data newb and could certainly use some help there. Happy to make some changes and share the new charts.

Definitely quite a bit of work to do to trim away at the lap times. But makes me happy to see so much room for improvement still, which just means the car is awesome and the driver needs work, ha.

Bus stop should be faster and more composed. Leading up to bus stop has always been a problem area for me because of how unsettled the car gets, and all I’m thinking about it having knockback and a flat pedal seconds later. Riverside I think I need to turn in a little later and get on full power sooner, and I improved this throughout the day. Wish I didn’t accidentally delete the footage from the 53.08 lap. Happy to send you data! Phil Hill is an easy psych out for me. I’m going to try just leaving it in 4th there to focus on late braking and more speed. I got caught up at sweeper both days. Used to love that turn but it’s the one spot I just felt rusty and couldn’t pull it together. Sunset, well… i have a history of ruining every good lap there. I was super conservative to make sure I just banked some solid laps. Overall, the car just feels SO much more composed now, which is the big takeaway comparing this in-car to all the priors. It’s easier to be tidy and consistent.

Yes, that was an error when I said I had a 51! I wish.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by berns

Definitely quite a bit of work to do to trim away at the lap times. But makes me happy to see so much room for improvement still, which just means the car is awesome and the driver needs work, ha.

Bus stop should be faster and more composed. Leading up to bus stop has always been a problem area for me because of how unsettled the car gets, and all I’m thinking about it having knockback and a flat pedal seconds later. Riverside I think I need to turn in a little later and get on full power sooner, and I improved this throughout the day. Wish I didn’t accidentally delete the footage from the 53.08 lap. Happy to send you data! Phil Hill is an easy psych out for me. I’m going to try just leaving it in 4th there to focus on late braking and more speed. I got caught up at sweeper both days. Used to love that turn but it’s the one spot I just felt rusty and couldn’t pull it together. Sunset, well… i have a history of ruining every good lap there. I was super conservative to make sure I just banked some solid laps. Overall, the car just feels SO much more composed now, which is the big takeaway comparing this in-car to all the priors. It’s easier to be tidy and consistent.

Yes, that was an error when I said I had a 51! I wish.

Every driver can improve. No such thing as total perfection. I have always been at peace with that part of the journey---knowing that I can and do constantly improve as a driver.

The approach to Bus Stop is tricky for everyone. As you approach the rounding left, the front right of the car loads up weirdly, and the rear end realllllllly wants to come around. You just have to be real smooth there. You do anything herky-jerky there, you're in trouble. Aero really helps there a lot.

For knockback, I know of guys who gently left-foot brake as they approach Bus Stop to reset the brake system. It's something that has to be learned, but I think it can be valuable if the brake system suffers too much knockback.

You know, Sweeper got funky for me too after a year away from it. In November, I found myself carrying too much speed into the Sweeper exit, and I went 4-off there. And almost went 4-off several other times. For some reason, my mental approach is just wrong there right now. I was just starting to get it back on Saturday, but with so many other problems, I wasn't really concentrating on it.

And as far as Sunset, I know it's just a 90º turn, but it's sneaky and tricky. And after rain, you CANNOT go on the outside berm at the exit on the straight. Serhan was out there on the berm on Saturday and lost traction and almost crashed his car into the wall---did a full tank slapper and luckily caught it. That berm is a NO FLY ZONE for several days after it rains----I've been told that the berm concrete holds moisture differently than the track surface and it makes the berm paint very slippery for days after it rains. So, banking a solid lap is not a bad idea on that final turn. I've done that many times.

[DirtyM3]

Awesome read. Read the entire comments. Glad to see you're up and on the tracks and getting better times. Love the TE's!!

[//steve\\]

Great update! Your car has always been something very similar to my end goal. I don't really ever want a full on track only car but something that can do it all and still be enjoyed on the street.

I know my experience behind the wheel is wayyy behind yours as well so if something is working well for you, I'm going to assume it will be more than sufficient for me.

Also the car looks absolutely killer!

[berns]

UPDATE TIME!

It's hard to keep this thread updated sometimes... but I'm making a point of getting it done today.

The car has been amazing, really. I honestly can't get over how it feels as a whole package. After my first double-header weekend at Buttonwillow, where I PB'd on my first session after a 6-month hiatus, I went on to run Streets of Willow with Club Racer Events on Jan 29th. I haven't been back to Streets since September 2019 with my old 135i. Since then, it's been repaved and has apparently gotten much faster, and more fun. I wanted to get there before the weather gets too warm, and figured I might as well see how the car did on 3-day old Falken's. This track loves to force understeer. There is a ton of grip everywhere, and it doesn't favor heavy cars by any means, so getting the car to rotate and move through the technical course isn't easy. Somehow, I pulled off my Sub-20 goal with a 1:19.47, and set the fastest time of the day to boot. Love this car! Fresh tires and an alignment and I think we could pull a 1:17 off there. I might go out to compete in Gridlife time attack at the end of March, so maybe we'll find out!

In between the two events, though, my carbon door cards arrived from Fiber Lab Latvia. I requested a matte finish to these, as I'm not into glossy carbon interior bits. The Schirmer or M24 equivalents are easily 4x the cost, and not an option for me, but these were just about $700 shipped and I love the shape of them. I realize on all my long drives that I 100% utilize the arm rest for my left arm, and the thought of having a flat door panel with no support didn't sound fun. Blow away with the quality of these. They are 3.2 lbs each, after the minimal hardware, the door handle and pull, they provide 20lb weight savings! Pretty insane, honestly. The stock door cards are heavy.





Cutting, measuring, drilling, mounting... not my forte at all, but I decided to go for it. I ordered some rubber well nuts from Amazon, and some black low-profile m5 allen bolts. I planned to do 10 per side, but after adding 4, I realized there was no need. So, we have 6 total. The well nuts are interesting... Apparently they help with vibration because they're rubber, and, you don't need a rivnut tool to press them into the metal. You drill the hole, insert them, and they expand and pull back on the back side as they're tightened. I spent 4 nights working on this project, a couple hours at a time.

I also picked up the door pull kit from Condor Speed Shop, because I like the little cover they come with. Felt OEM to me, rather than just slicing the door card and threading the strap through. I didn't think it would look clean. I don't LOVE my placement of these, but once you cut...

Speaking of cutting -- I didn't add the window switch to the pass side, because I don't even have a seat over there and the master control on the drivers side can handle both. Cutting for the big switch was miserable. I never, ever want to do this again.

















I'll take some better pictures soon. Overall, I'm super happy with these and happy to trim weight while looking good. Few more things planned for the interior still, but it's coming along.

I reached out to KMP to see if they'd be down to make me a wheel to my spec. After driving TJ's car StripclubDJ , I knew I needed a 330mm wheel. It makes this big car feel so light and agile in turns and transitions. I wanted a grey alcantera that would match the OEM 9002 alcantera I used on my shifter and handbrake, and plan to use on my dash trim. They offered tri-color stitching, too, and I wanted to laser etch the BMW hertiage motorsport logo on the center, with only two buttons: traction control (in case i remove the console and button later..) and the horn, since I still street drive and I'm a New Yorker at heart. Topped it off with their quick release and this thing is killer.







I got the wheel in in time for Socal Drivers Club at Buttonwillow on Feb 4th. Also got an alignment down at Chewerks, where Rob said "you ran a 1:19 like this at Streets?" Seems a few things were pretty out of spec from some off-roading at Buttonwillow the first time. Last up was a set of new 275/35 RT660's and I was on the road to BW.



It was cold when I got up there, and typically, I run my fastest lap on lap 3-4 of the 1st session. I always wish I could warm myself up more, but this is how it goes. After reviewing my data from last time, where I ran a 1:53.0 and a handful of low 53's over two days, I found my theoretical bet to be in the mid 1:51 range. I didn't think this would be possible, so I went with the intention of just running a 52. Somehow, I ran a 1:51.87 on lap 3, despite the track feeling dirty and the car feeling a bit unsettled. I couldn't believe it. For the rest of the day, people were going off a lot and it warmed up quite a bit, so I couldn't get back to the 51's, but I do know with some more refining, we can run a 50 on these tires. Un.Be.Lievable. Really didn't think this car, at this weight, with mild aero, on Falken street rubber... could set times like this. Couldn't be happier!



Here's the lap, and a video from my buddy James Paick of my approach to on-ramp. More soon. -AB

[omgzirra_exe]

am i ever going to see you at BW. haha going 2/27 with the boiz club racer.

side note... will be attending chuckwalla bimmerchallenge also.

other side note: you give me courage to just send it.

[Redd]

Great update Berns! Love the door cards.

[admranger]

Sweet door cards. Your install looks great. Comfort while commuting to/from the track is important, as we get fatigued after a long track weekend and you don't want to add to that fatigue.

Cutting carbon fiber sucks ass. Dulls tools in a NY minute and creates nasty slivers/cuttings. When I worked aerospace my machinists hated cutting all my test coupons that came out of the autoclave. I can't tell you how many slivers I pulled out of myself just being around the stuff while the skilled folks did their work. I made it a point to always wear long sleeves when I was going to the lab or the shop.

[slcook54]

Door cards savings were 20lbs per side? Or total?

[berns]

Originally Posted by slcook54

Door cards savings were 20lbs per side? Or total?

Total.

[k_mann]

That KMP looks sweet, don't see those much on manual cars. Was the DTC plug and play? Any reason for not adding the power button too?

[berns]

Originally Posted by k_mann

That KMP looks sweet, don't see those much on manual cars. Was the DTC plug and play? Any reason for not adding the power button too?

I thought about adding the power button but they comes as sets of two. I didn't have a need for a 4th button and honestly, the Power button is a novelty I'd happily leave permanently deactivated. I don't use it on the track anymore, but do find it more fun for street driving.

I haven't wired the DTC button yet, but it's just a single long wire that will pin into the existing harness on backside of the button in the console. Easy enough.

The KMP guys were seriously cool to work with, and they care about the details. I thought about assembling my own setup with the slinky conduit and quick release and a Sparco 330mm button wheel to keep the horn working, but the cost wasn't that much better, and I'd have to do some wiring of my own. The KMP setup feels special and I'm happy to add it to the build.

[k_mann]

That's great to know! I was curious how those controls would have been wired. I'm thinking when I get to that point I'll do 4 buttons and have the 4th for high beams or an aim dash!

[berns]

Overdue update time. Sorry for anyone that cares -- it's hard to keep this thing updated sometimes.

Dirty white TE's have my heart.


SO, since the 51.8 at Buttonwillow, I've run Chuckwalla CCW, Streets of Willow CW & CCW (19.4 & 19.7), and went back to Buttonwillow to play around one more on old tires and worn brakes (which wasn't great... you'll see why).

The car has been insanely reliable and fun to drive, and I really haven't changed anything. But, with the summer heat coming in, the itch is back, and with all the data and driving time I've had with this setup, in the name of science and a sub-50 Buttonwillow goal without slick or completely gutting this thing, I'm going to make two changes.

Before I get to those, wanted to give some love to the custom spec'd KMP Drivetrain wheel I ordered. Hard to believe a steering wheel can change the whole car, but man... the E92 was meant for a 330mm wheel. The car feels amazing on track now, and I love the look of this thing. Went with their grey alcantera, tri-stitch, and I worked with them on an inverted classic BMW logo. So cool. The horn has been useful, and having traction control up there is just a nice easy bonus, especially if I remove the console later and want to hide that big button by the shifter.







I also managed to find another 17.7lbs in the car that I wasn't using, thanks to the rear door cards, bench carpet and passengers 3-point seatbelt assembly. I needed an alignment before Bimmer Challenge anyway, so went to Chewerks and hopped on the scales with half a tank of gas just to see where we're at. New goal achieved, we are under 3200lbs!





Sometime in June, I'm going to send my trusty MCS 1WNR's to MCS in Georgia to be upgraded to their 3-way remote setup. My goal with this car was to see just how far an NA E92 could go on 200tw tires with 1way adjustable dampers. While it would have been cool, and it's definitely possible to extract some more from the current setup, the data and the videos show the car could be handling curbs and bumps with some more composure. The remote reservoirs will really help there. Will they instantly make me faster? Time will tell.



Next up -- aero. I've enjoyed my 8-month honeymoon with the beautiful carbon GT4 MkII wing. I do love the look of it, and it's proved itself to be functional without a doubt. But sometimes I see a photo from the rear and I just feel like it's just too cute. Top that off with the fact that I really have to work for my fast laps. And while this quality is part of what makes the M3 fun, I'm curious if a more substantial rear wing could be run without adding a ton of drag and understeer.





Again, I don't know if this will make me faster, but I feel like I'm at a point in my driving, and the car is at point where any change is felt and seen instantly, that now's the time to try something else out. We don't see a lot of BimmerWorld Ultralight wings out there. It's not the prettiest from some angles, or the most economical, but it's light AF (I'll weigh it soon) and mocked up on the car, I am SOLD. It just looks right.











The stock steel trunk has some nice holes from the GT4 wing, and I really have been wanting a carbon trunk but haven't felt the desire to spend $2500+ to get one, plus paint... So, I posted up on Instagram to see if anyone had one they weren't using and low and behold, my buddy James Paick had an oldschool Challenge OEM-style carbon/kevlar trunk collecting dust in his garage. One of the holes for the hinge is stripped and there's some holes from different wings, which made it a perfect candidate to be restored for my M3. So thankful for awesome friends in this community.

Stock trunk is 29lbs, the Challenge trunk is 7.5! And with the wide mounting feet on the BimmerWorld wing, I think we'll be in good shape mounting to this.



The car will go back down to Kings Autobody for some cleanup and paint and then to EAS for some suspension work where the dampers will be pulled and sent out to MCS.

As far as Bimmer Challenge goes, this new setup will be maxed out in B2 class, which should be pretty interesting moving forward as Bailey in his 2400-ish lb e36 on A7's is an incredible driver and opponent. I haven't showed up enough this year for it to matter in the series, but 2023 should be fun.

Planning to run GTA Street Class at Buttonwillow Finals at the end of the year. Likely going to get destroyed by Mk5 Supra's, but hopefully can put on a good show for the NA BMW crowd.

19.47 at SOW CW for the first time in years, on 3-day old RT660's.

Did a 1:56.1 at CVR CCW in dust and heat. Was disappointed with my pace there, but I tossed the keys to legendary time attack driver Jackie Ding, and he only ran .1 quicker with a 56.0, so at least I know it wasn't me! Just a slow day... I'll have to go back. Jackie should be posting his lap in my car soon, since my GoPro decided not to cooperate. Was pretty cool that he was in love with the E92 and said it felt better balanced than his Supra

1:53.7 @ Buttonwillow on worn tires, catching up to a Cayman GT4 in a terrible spot.

1:19.7 @ SOW CCW for Bimmer Challenge R5. Got 2nd place. Might have been a first place finish if I didn't hit traffic on this lap. Needed an 18.6... Would have been close!

Bonus lap in a friends S54 E30 on 3-year old NT01's, no ABS and a wonky diff. This car has mega potential and hopefully Rob will take my advice on some changes! What a blast.

Thanks for following along, etc... I'll try to be better at this!