Space Fox e92 M3 ZCP

[Space Fox]

Originally Posted by Rino924

I was anxiously awaiting you to post your update. I sent a screen shot to a buddy of the MLT car after I was ordering my undertray from them using the AMG setup.

Def on my radar to piece some things together but still unsure of direction to take it. This is going to look awesome, can't wait to see them installed.

Haha thanks man sorry to keep you waiting! Has been a process. Very happy with how the kit came out and after all my homework I do think either this or the Alpha fronts are the best way to go for a retrofit kit. A little worried about peddle feel/modulation with the larger piston size but MLT has done a number of these kits and ran them hard and everyone has great feedback. Will see this week!

[Space Fox]

Got some new Chemical Guys leather cleaner and leather conditioner. Decided to try it out. The leather cleaner seemed to work great. Removed any shine from the seats and steering wheel leaving nice and clean matte finish. I followed up with the leather conditioner and it left everything a bit too greasy for my liking even after wiping dry. Going to stop messing around and just go with Swissvax kit.

[Space Fox]

Today is the day! Just dropped the car off this morning for BBK install and new tires. Few more shots of the kit before install.

[bake]

Those looks amazing! Can't wait to see them installed.

[Space Fox]

Thanks gents!!

So close but yet so far. Brake kit is installed, tires mounted. Unfortunately the shop found a gash in one of the new front tires. Had to get with Tire Rack to have them try and overnight a new one so I can get the car back tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

[nsogiba]

The silver calipers on Space Grey are going to be exquisite.

[aqh5003]

Great choice of parts and spec, beautiful

[Space Fox]

Big Update!
Got the BBK all squared away. Not without some drama!









Got a phone call from my install shop on Friday that they were having some issues bleeding one of the front calipers. Couldn't get fluid to pass through to the back side of the caliper. Had to disassemble to troubleshoot. Come to find out that the feed tube was clogged solid with what appeared to be sand. Our best guess is that the finishing company failed to completely seal the caliper before sand blasting the old finish off. Caked up the tube as well as the inside of the caliper. Took quite a bit of time and flushing to clear the line and the caliper itself.
Luckily all was solved and MLT Engineering is taking care of the bill for the additional labor so all's well that ends well! MLT have been stand up guys this entire time. They even sent the calipers back for a respray after the initial paint finish wasn't to our liking (too dull, color was off). Very impressed with their customer service and communication. Product is excellent as well outside of the one mishap which is more on the finisher than MLT themselves.

Very happy with the look. Need to get some better pictures of the entire car in some decent lighting but so far achieved the subtle OEM+ look I was going for.
As far as performance goes I haven't had nearly enough seat time to formulate an opinion but initial thoughts from the ride back from the shop - the thing stops like a freight train. I feel much more confident in this set up, its stopping power and ability to keep on stopping. The pedal may feel a tad softer than previously given the small increase in piston size but I'm still deciding if that is placebo or not. Need some more time behind the wheel.
Lastly, pad sweep. You can see from some of the pictures with the flash on the small ring of unswept rotor towards the center. We're not talking much, maybe half an inch, but not perfect. I will likely end up doing some more research and trying a couple of different pad sizes to see if I can find a perfect match.

All in all thrilled to have this kit all sorted and installed. Need to book a couple of track days now and really get a feel for it!

Also had the shop install some new rubber (P2S 255/275) after the car proceeded to eat what was left of my back wheels.

Finally, had the oil leak addressed. It was in fact the timesert/drain plug. Time sert was not torqued down enough so when I changed the oil the entire sert came out. I did not have the appropriate crush washer so it never sealed properly when I re-installed. The sert is now torqed to spec so that the drain plug should back out freely upon my next oil change.

Before



After


Fitment is dialed in - 12mm spacers up front w/ 255 and 10mm spacers back w/ 275. Only issue is wheel gap in the front... When I have spacers up front it seems to accentuate what wheel gap I do have. Back sits pretty damn flush. Here we are again at the lowering crossroads...

[Space Fox]

Cars and Coffee this past Saturday morning. Decent turnout. Some great cars.






This Noble comes out quite a bit. The G82 looked MASSIVE next to it:


These wheels are a bit much for me but I still think the R8 is one of the best cars out there:


Ferrari vs Lamborghini




Signed up for a PCA Autocross event this Sunday. Should be the perfect opportunity to break in the brakes and get a better feel for them before hitting an actual track day later in the summer.

[Jayvong]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread from beginning to end, love it so far!

I am over in St.Pete area, whenever you decide to cruise Tampa again let me know! I'd love to join.

[Space Fox]

Originally Posted by Jayvong

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread from beginning to end, love it so far!

I am over in St.Pete area, whenever you decide to cruise Tampa again let me know! I'd love to join.

I truly appreciate you taking the time to look through it! Been a fun journey thus far. And thank you for the kind words.

I'll be heading to the Porsche's on Central event in Downtown St Pete (Intermezzo) on Saturday morning as well as the PCA autocross event in St Pete Sunday morning.

[Jayvong]

Originally Posted by Space Fox

I truly appreciate you taking the time to look through it! Been a fun journey thus far. And thank you for the kind words.

I'll be heading to the Porsche's on Central event in Downtown St Pete (Intermezzo) on Saturday morning as well as the PCA autocross event in St Pete Sunday morning.

Ah did not know about DTSP event, I saw the PCA auto-x a week or so ago and didn't know it was open for vehicles that are not Porsche. I will have to check it out sometime. Would also like to make it to the FIRM or Sebring eventually.

[Space Fox]

Originally Posted by Jayvong

Ah did not know about DTSP event, I saw the PCA auto-x a week or so ago and didn't know it was open for vehicles that are not Porsche. I will have to check it out sometime. Would also like to make it to the FIRM or Sebring eventually.

Yep I've done a PCA Sebring day in the past. Was great. They are hosting a few this summer. I am planning on making it down for one.

Drive Florida is planning two FIRM track days I am planning on going to the one in October. The FIRM is a great track to dip your toes in if you don't have a ton of track time. Less intimidating and much more forgiving.

[Space Fox]

Was able to get the car out for a PCA Suncoast Autocross day yesterday. Great time, good people. Everyone appreciated the M and loved the sound it makes lol. Track was pretty tight, even the Cayman guys were complaining about it so the M showed its girth. Those Caymans are quick and the new 4 cylinder turbos have a surprising amount of grunt. I hung in there and ended up near the top quarter of the times for the day. Car ran great. Can't say much about the brakes as the track did not require much from them. Will need to get out for a real track day a la Sebring to really put them through their paces.










MVP of the day was the guy in the Alpine - Renault. Thing weighed 1,700lbs with an inline 4 aft the rear axle. Said it was like if a Porsche and a go kart had a baby and fed it nothing but meth

[nsogiba]

I have the same issue with the front wheel gap, but the rear sitting fine. Picked up a KW Height Adjustable Suspension kit, haven't installed it yet.

Car looks great! Glad you had fun on the autocross.

[Space Fox]

Originally Posted by nsogiba

I have the same issue with the front wheel gap, but the rear sitting fine. Picked up a KW Height Adjustable Suspension kit, haven't installed it yet.

Car looks great! Glad you had fun on the autocross.

I appreciate it. I've heard the KW HAS kit is a great way to go to adjust ride height while retaining factory EDC. Let me know how it goes, I might just do the same.

[Space Fox]

Car turned 10 last Thursday! Have been out of town so didn't really get a chance to celebrate. Very happy with the ole girl.

[Space Fox]

Been a bit frustrating as of late chasing down an electrical gremlin. Good news is I've eliminated some potential causes. Bad news is I'm not much closer to finding and resolving it!

Have had a battery drain going on for quite some time. I replaced the battery and alternator starting with the obvious. Battery continues to drain and has gotten worse as of late. I have noticed that the car cycles 'awake' constantly with the 'P' on the dash lighting up, the Start/Stop button, and the DCT shift knob. This appears to be the cause of the battery drain. The trouble is troubleshooting it.. I read up on some common issues - the EDC module being a common point of failure/drain. I went ahead and ordered a used unit off of eBay and replaced the module. While having the old module out the battery drain and awake cycle seemed to stop. Unfortunately after buttoning everything up with the replacement in, it returned.. I went ahead and programmed the new batter, EDC module, and reset the CAS system to no avail. I also removed the DWE (alarm) module, also no luck. The car still reads numerous K-CAN, CAN, Bus faults leading me to believe there is crimped or shorted wire somewhere in the system. Lord only knows where. I'm trying to avoid starting to chase down a lone wiring issue in what is probably miles of line in this car. May try the IBS cable just for the hell of it, pulling some fuses, etc. Not my area of expertise..



Good news is mechanically everything else is functioning beautifully. No issues outside of the drain. Practically speaking the new battery tender keeps it from dying. Just afraid to park the car anywhere for too long without it. Will battle through this one. In the meantime I gave the car a much needed wash which reminded how much I love it despite it's faults!

[Space Fox]

Some good news - the battery drain seems to have subsided. The bad news is I'm not entirely sure what fixed it. I had Alex w/ Alpine perform some coding after I installed the replacement EDC module. He reset the CAS, VIN matched the EDC module, and registered the new battery. It now seems that the car only remains 'awake' when hooked up to the battery tender. I have left it off the tender for a couple of weeks now and it does eventually go and stay asleep. The battery has maintained its charge with no increased discharge warnings. For now I'm just happy to have a fix! Saves me the trouble of going through every module and troubleshooting one by one.

Celebrated by signing up for a nice Saturday morning drive with Florida Suncoast BMW CCA. My buddy tagged along with his new F90 M5 - thing is an absolute monster. He recently installed Eventuri intakes and the sound they make is nuts. Fun drive through the Dade City back roads ending at a brewery in Wesley Chapel. The car was so good. Perfect mix of engine, cornering, and good braking with the new kit. It really feels so dialed right now. Great to be back out enjoying the hell out of this platform. Crossed over the 54k mile threshold on the way back from the drive.





I've always got to stop and take some shots when the sun hits the Space Grey just right.

[Space Fox]

Today officially marks 3 years of ownership. I figured I'd take some time to put together some comparison photos to show how far the car has come since I picked it up 3 years ago.



























Have loved every second of it! Very pleased with where the car currently sits. Planning on giving it a nice wash today followed by a coolant flush before the Sebring track day I have scheduled for Oct 2.

[Rino924]

Would you mind sharing your all in cost on the brake set up (excluding install)? You can PM me too if you don't feel like posting.

Almost pulled the trigger on some AMG calipers on ebay the other day. I see MLT has the bracket on their site (sold out at the moment). Was just thinking about if it was more cost effective to piece together separately or if they weren't too much more for the whole thing.

Thanks!

[Space Fox]

Originally Posted by Rino924

Would you mind sharing your all in cost on the brake set up (excluding install)? You can PM me too if you don't feel like posting.

PM'd