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      08-05-2015, 12:46 AM   #1
dogbone
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Drives: '09 E90 M3 - IB
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: 93 million miles from the Sun

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2009 BMW E92 M3  [0.00]
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My E90 M3 Dedicated Track build (with pix!)









As my E90 M3 was turning 6 years old in May 2015, I was trying to decide the future of the car. The first three years of the car's life, it was a street-only car. The second three years, it was mixed-use street and track. It saw almost 80 track days in those three years. I debated what to do…..In CA, when a car turns 6, it needs to start undergoing smog and visual tests for registration. Given the mods on the car, it wouldn't pass any of that stuff. And I had been wanting to add safety to the car. But the kind of modifications I wanted to implement---full cage and full gutting---were hard (impossible) to accomplish on a street legal car. So I decided to make the car a dedicated track car. (Why do something like this to this car? This particular unit was a good candidate for track conversion because it had been involved in a minor fender bender which bent the upper frame rail by 1-2mm….I figured if I tried to sell it, I would get hammered on the price as a result of that, along with the E9x dropping in value significantly now that it's the previous gen.) I have never built a caged track car before, so I was excited to embark on a totally new adventure.

After a number of conversations with various cage builders/race shops, I decided to work with Casey at Racewerkz Engineering. I had run into him at the track many times in the past. I knew of several builds and projects he had done. People were fast in his builds. I liked that I was talking to the person who would be doing the work; he, himself, was the fabricator, having all equipment in-house. His combination of price and scope of work included in that price was attractive.

The question was: when do we start? We were talking in early May, and I had a 3 day track weekend in NorCal in early June. Originally, I figured I needed to do those track days and then turn the car over to him. He claimed that he could fully gut the car and have a custom cage built in (but not painted) and be ready to drive in less than a month, in time for the 3 day NorCal trip (paint would come after the trip). hehe…..I have to say, I had my doubts that so much work could get done in that amount of time. And if it wasn't done, I would be throwing away three track day reservations that I already booked and paid for. Well, I decided to go for it. The idea of having a lighter, fully caged M3 at Thunderhill, Sonoma Raceway and Laguna Seca was very tantalizing! So, I gave him the car a couple days later, and then the clock started to tick.

Here's what I wanted out of my build:
-I wanted the car to be safer, so I wanted a full cage.
-I wanted a full gutting, including Heat and A/C, doors gutted, sound deadening removed from all surfaces including doors, cutting extra bits off, etc.
-I wanted to keep the stock dash and center console.
-I wanted the stock steering wheel with functional M button if I wanted MDM mode.
-I wanted to keep the main electronics and all wiring because I have heard of many stories of chasing wiring gremlins. With a blower in the car, I just wanted the car to work from a computer/electronic standpoint. I didn't want to start out by chasing electrical problems. I could do that later.
-I didn't want the first time I'm driving the car on track to be up in NorCal on a three track day trip. I wanted to drive the car on-track locally prior to my NorCal trip to shake it down, so we could deal with potential issues.

I will tell you my journey in motorsport over the last 4 years has been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Along the way, I have encountered many vendors and manufacturers, and everyone loves to promise this or that. I have found myself on the short end of the stick many times. Over the last couple years, I have narrowed down the shops I work with to EAS and minicorsa. Not only do I trust both of those shops to modify/work on my car, but they're just nice guys. I can go hang out at either shop and feel welcome and comfortable. I am happy to say that I can add one more trusted vendor to my list----Racewerkz Engineering. I'm fast-forwarding a bit here, but everything that Casey promised he would do----he did. And he promised a lot. In fact, he added things to the job that he wanted to do, and he still did them within the agreed price. (I'd like to note that I'm just a regular paying customer. And I was not asked to post this thread. I'm just excited about this build and want to share the experience with everyone.)

First of all, this was no generic project----this was not just slamming a cookie-cutter cage into a coupe. Lots of people have done that. Full E90 cages are not so common. We chatted quite a bit about what I wanted. I wanted door bars in the style of Nascar bars. We talked about plinth boxes. We talked about how much bracing would be in the main hoop. All sorts of things were discussed. As this was my first time out, I asked a LOT of questions. And I got what seemed like reasonable answers.

We decided to put a full X in the main hoop, along with the harness bars. We decided to make two-tube parallel door bars that would go out to the skin of the car. They would have three vertical ties supporting them. He demanded using plinth boxes on the main hoop, but we decided to not use them in the foot-well area. We decided to put gussets to the A-pillar. We decided it would be a 6-point cage.

As the work progressed, I received pictures of the progress, along with pics of the tubes being designed in a 3D CAD program. I have to say I learned quite a lot during this build.

Around three weeks in, the car was gutted and the initial work for fabricating the cage was done. It was an initial test assembly of the car. The point was to put the car completely back together and see what worked and what didn't. (I needed to leave for NorCal in 5 days.) So, I arrived at RWE, picked up the car and went straight to Willow Springs with it.

It was important to shake the car down at Willow Springs. As expected, the car had a few bugs and things to address. But on the whole, it was in really good shape. (Boy, did it feel different!) So, I immediately returned the car to RWE and the race was on to finalize the build and address the bugs.

Casey worked through all the bugs and fully completed the car. I was able to pick it up the evening before I was leaving for NorCal. I did the NorCal trip and the car ran flawlessly. No build or car tech issues whatsoever. I returned the car to RWE so that the cage could be painted and have a few more things addressed----things that you would only really know you'd want after driving the car on the track for awhile. All the painting is now done, and I have the final product of the car sitting in my garage. I've been able to drive the car at Buttonwillow, which I consider to be my home track. I really am enjoying this new phase of the car's life! I have to learn how to drive the car again. It's quite different, but I love it!

Impressions/Results/Notes:
-the Nascar style door bars were definitely the way to go and probably my favorite visual aspect of the build. First of all, they look freaking awesome. They're a surprise because you don't see anything until you open the door and then BOOM, they pop out and it's like, ohhh, damn that's some serious shit---especially when they see how extensively the doors have been gutted. But the biggest benefit is that since they push outward so much, you have a ton of room when sitting in the driver seat. Not only that: getting in and out is MUCH easier because you have more room. I don't have a removable steering wheel, and I don't have rail sliders for the seat. Without the Nascar-style bars, it would be very very difficult to get in and out.

-The car lost a net 440 lbs (before the wing was installed). It weighs 3235 lbs, no driver, no fuel. The weight change is drastic, and I don't know how to take advantage of it yet. In NorCal, I did not add any aero and the rear of the car was wanting to dance all over the place. A friend drove my car at Laguna and the first thing he said when he came back into the pits was "This car feels great, BUT YOU NEED A WING!!" He was absolutely right. And now the car has a wing, which settled the rear and is quite a welcome addition. With the old suspension setup in the lighter car, the vehicle sat 1/2" higher in the rear because it was so much lighter. Of course, the car's been re-setup.

-Regarding the wing----the car's balance is now 54.5/45.5. I have been hoping I could run a wing with a mild angle of attack and not need a front splitter right away since the rear is so light. In my opinion, front splitters come with a lot of baggage. I can't even drive up my driveway with a splitter…..I would need some kind of custom built ramp. And splitters are famous for not lasting very long when you go off track. And when they break during an off track excursion, they usually take out other stuff like fluid lines with them, so it gets quite expensive when they break…..Anyway, my initial driving at Buttonwillow is telling me that I think it's going to be ok without a front splitter for awhile. I'm not sensing much understeer---even on Riverside. My car has a lot of front grip with 295 TD's so that's probably helping. Thinking about it, I could probably reduce the settings on the front sway bar now that the car is lighter. That would probably give me a bit more front turning grip too. And I can still reduce the AOA further if I need to. So, for now, I think I'll avoid the splitter.

-RWE made the front doors quick release, meaning you can just lift the doors off the hinges and remove them. This is an EXCELLENT feature for dealing with an enclosed trailer. Getting in and out of the car inside the trailer is a snap without the door installed. It's very difficult if the door is on the car.

-During the shakedown at Big Willow, I decided I needed an official spot for my left foot. (I have DCT). Casey fabricated a dead pedal which turned out great. It was further modified after I returned from NorCal to have an up-angled extension on the left edge so my foot wouldn't drift off the left side. I love the dead pedal now. It's extremely natural and holds my left foot in the perfect spot---just away from the A-pillar tube.

-During the shakedown at Big Willow, I decided I was sitting too low in the car. Casey wanted me to sit as low as possible. With a Recaro SPG and the Recaro SPG side mount, and no rail sliders and using VAC lap belt mounts and anti sub mounts, the seating position was LLLLOOOOWWWW. I'm 5'10" and I could barely reach out the window and give a point-by on the right above my roof. Hell, I could barely see out the bottom of the windshield. I was right at the border of the black edging on the windshield. The glass distorts down there and I was having to look through it. For me, it was too low. So we got in some Macht Schnell side mounts and raised me up a couple inches. Perfect. I love my seat height now. It's definitely lower than stock, but you can see everything you want to see.

-During the cage build, I decided to pull my JRZ suspension and have it rebuilt since it had 30k on it. Casey not only helped me pull it and re-install it, but he included a corner balance and alignment in the whole deal.

-The car still has a stock rear exhaust on it. Laguna Seca was part of that NorCal trip and they had a 90db sound limit, so I decided not to do anything about the exhaust before the trip. I can lose another 25-30 lbs by taking that off. I just haven't decided exactly how to proceed with the exhaust yet. My current thinking is to buy some resonators and tips and have an exhaust shop make something simple. I don't want to run straight pipes…..that will be too loud for my taste. I have an Akrapovic X-pipe on there now, and I plan on leaving that.

-All 4 door windows were removed. I am considering putting Makrolon plastic on the rear door windows to smooth the air around the car. I'm also considering Makrolon for the rear window as well. There's a little bit of weight savings for the rear glass---maybe 10-12 lbs.

-No surprises here: the interior of the car is significantly louder than it used to be. Anything that was sound deadening is gone. All that sound deadening stuff that was adhered to the metal was painstakingly removed. I have to say it's a welcome change! I used to feel that the car was too quiet inside on track. hehe not anymore! Now the car is speaking to you all the time! It doesn't matter how loud the rest of the environment around you is, you know when it's time to shift.

-I'm considering a simple aluminum panel to cover the hole to the trunk area to reduce/eliminate the parachute effect in the trunk. Haven't committed to that yet.

-I decided to clear coat the metal of the cage. I couldn't decide on a color. I drove it in NorCal with no paint on it, and the one thing I really liked was that I simply did not see or notice the cage AT ALL while driving. I was worried that a bright funky color would be cool in the pits, but distracting while driving. So, I decided to do a clear coat. Ironically, it was the most expensive option…..I also had the paint shop smooth out the paint on the inside of the car so it's all a dark blue. When RWE removed all the sound deadening material, there were large gray areas left exposed. All that's smoothed out now.

-As you would anticipate, the vehicle is stiffer, but not in a bad way. I am finding the weight transitioning from left to right to be quite different. It feels more agile. I am going to have to learn how to use this efficiency to my advantage.

-Braking is QUITE different now. I don't have a clue on my braking zones yet. All I can say is I spent last weekend at Buttonwillow braking too early almost every time before major braking zones. That's going to take some time to sort out. ugh, looking at my brake presses on the AIM Solo last weekend is embarrassing----these horrible jagged profiles. haha! Press the brake, then no that was too early and let go, and then whoops now we really to brake, oops too much, wait no I need a bit more…..awww geez man…..get your shit together!

Even with that silly braking, and driving the wing for the first time ever, and trying to get used to the car overall, I was within .7 seconds of my best time at Buttonwillow and it was 95 degrees out there. A bit more seat time and some cooler weather and things should get really interesting out there.

The bottom line is: I am very happy with the results of this very major alteration to the car. It looks great, drives great, sounds great and feels great, and it's going to take awhile to learn how to take advantage of the less weight, less body roll, later brake zones, wing-settled rear, launching out of corners and I need to re-tune all my suspension settings. There's so much to adapt to my head is spinning, but in a good way!

Here's the breakdown on the current setup of my car along with some pix: Enjoy!

(Edit: I've decided to keep this list updated with the current state of the car. This will conflict with statements above regarding things like the front splitter, exhaust etc., but I think it's best to make this list accurate with the car's current state. Latest update: 2/2022)

-2009 E90 M3, DCT, Interlagos Blue
-RWE Custom full 6 point cage
-RWE Fully gutted interior - Heater, A/C cores removed, sound deadening removed, etc.
-Cage paint. Color: Clear.
-VF Engineering VF620. Supercharger front end has been modified to use an ESS blower bracket and intake because the ESS design allows a wider wheel setup.
-DTM FiberWerkz carbon fiber doors with Macralon rear door windows.
-AP Racing BBK - Front: Essex Radi-CAL 9668 25mm pad kit. Rear: Essex Radi-CAL 9449 kit.
-Cobalt Friction XR1 front brake pads (AP19 pad shape) & XR2 rear brake pads (AP13 pad shape)
-MCS 3-way full coilovers with Remote reservoirs - 850 lbs front/570 lbs rear springs
-SSP Spec-S clutches
-Vorshlag Camber Plates
-Zebulon chassis-mounted front splitter with front edge 6" from the nose of the car
-Zebulon 71" rear wing with 3D end plates
-AJ Hartmann Canards (4 pieces) with custom made canard straps to add stiffness
-Track Spec Hood Vents
-Front fenders cut both at the top and rear to allow venting
-Bimmerworld carbon fiber headlight blanks. (The carbon has been covered with a self-healing clear bra.)
-Longacre Convex Rearview Mirror
-OS Giken SuperLock differential, Spec-X custom setup to the car's specs
-VoltPhreaks VPR-P6 battery (6lbs) with On/Off button wired to dash
-Akrapovic Evo X-pipe
-Custom rear exhaust with Vibrant straight-through resonators
-Titan 7 - T-R10 18x10.5" ET25 Black square wheels (3 sets)
-Tires: Pirelli DH, Yokohama A005, Hoosier A7
-Hubs: Core4 Motorsports - 14mm hubs with 14mm MSI press-in studs.
-Core4 two-piece 19mm lug nuts
-RD Sport front sway bar
-PowerFlex differential bushings
-Turner solid front tension arm bushings
-OEM Engine mounts (back to the stock ones after the bolts on the Vorshlags failed)
-Rogue Engineering Rear Toe Arms
-Bimmerworld Oil Diverter
-Macht Schnell Solid Aluminum rear subframe bushings
-Recaro Pro Racer Halo Seat
-Sparco 6-point harness
-Macht Schnell base plates and side mounts
-VAC anti-sub mounts, lap belt mounts and fire extinguisher mount
-Fire Extinguisher
-Macht Schnell 5mm wheel spacers for front hubs. The spacer is required to stay away from the supercharger air intake.
-Ultra Chiller cooling shirt system
-EAS-designed misting system sprays five nozzles of water-mist on three coolers (Main radiator, oil, DCT)
-do88 DCT cooler
-CSF coolant radiator
-CSF oil cooler
-CSF power steering cooler
-Slon-Workshop DCT pan with suction spacer/extender
-AeroCatch Hood Latches
-AeroCatch 3 above panel Fender/Bumper Latches
-i/oPort roll bar camera mount
-GoPro4
-Audio Technica AT9901 - Stereo Microphone. Passive (does not need a battery or an on/off switch so you always get audio on your recordings---assuming you plug it into the camera). Sits inside rear bumper
-AIM Solo 2 DL wired into CAN bus and power. RAM mount suction cup

-Sparco Racing Suit (Victory RS-4)
-Sparco Race shoes
-Sparco Race Gloves
-Sparco Balaclava
-Sparco Socks
-Stilo ST5 helmet
-NeckGen Rev 2 Lite neck restraint

Rod bearings replaced at 51000 miles. EAS installed new OEM tin bearings with WPC treatment and ARP bolts.
Engine swapped at 55000 miles after 200+ track days over 9 nine years because head was lifting and allowing hot gases to mix with coolant.

Personal Best lap times (updated 10/2022):

Regularly visited tracks:
Buttonwillow 13CW: 1:47.21
Big Willow Springs: 1:25.58
Laguna Seca: 1:34.33
Auto Club Speedway: 1:43.50
Chuckwalla CW: 1:48.30
Chuckwalla CCW: 1:47.24
High Plains Raceway: 1:48.65
COTA - 2:16.65

Infrequently visited tracks or configs:
VIR - 1:55.43
Watkins Glen - 1:58.22
Road Atlanta - 1:28.76
Spring Mountain - Mansell - 3.4mile: 2:26.58
Sonoma Raceway: 1:47.05
Thunderhill 3-mile w/Bypass: 1:54.74
Inde Motorsport Ranch (Full): 1:51.04
Buttonwillow 1CW: 1:52.94
Buttonwillow 25CW: 1:49.25
Pueblo Motorsport Park: 1:33.61

Since the build thread is getting so long, I have created a Table of Contents that describes in general what you can find on the various pages:

Page 1: Intro to the thread, All mods listed, all latest fastest lap times listed, latest look of the car, pix of the cage transformation.
Page 2: Show the wall mount that holds my door when I remove it.
Page 3: Front aero install, Cooling shirt install, PowerFlex from tension arm bushings, custom carbon blank panels fabricated
Page 4: First full aero trip to Buttonwillow—5 second time gain.
Page 5: Tire talk - different grip levels and how tires relate to learning DSC-off. Scrubs versus new.
Page 5: Intro the topic of carbon doors.
Page 6: Installed OS Giken diff. Halo seat installed. Rear subframe bushings installed. Rogue engineering rear toe arms. Tried a straight-through exhaust. Yuck.
Page 7: Hood latches installed. Blown top mount support cup for rear JRZ damper. Talk about true rear JRZ coilers. Last post talks about reasons behind certain mods.
Page 8: GTS DCT programming. Tire talk.
Page 8: Start of a long 3 part write up on differentials. I went with an OS Giken Superlock and used the AIM to track it's performance by looking at the wheel spins of the rear wheels.
Page 9: Wrap up Differential topic. Won 1st place in a GTA event at Buttonwillow. Stinky helmet advice.
Page 12: Trailer and towing talk.
Page 13: Overcoming fears of Auto Club Speedway and making big improvements.
Page 13: More trailer talk.
Page 15: More trailer talk. Aero versus non-aero time comparison. Canard install.
Page 16: Win at GTA event. Funny champagne spray pic. Also, canard/aero talk.
Page 18: do88 DCT cooler testing write up.
Page 19: Suspension spring rate talk. Picture of fender before fender latches with clip bending.
Page 20: Suspension talk. Braking zones.
Page 21: Rod bearing replacement
Page 22: Laguna Seca 1:34 lap. Broken Vorshlag engine mounts.
Page 24: SuperLap report: 4th place. Fender vents cut.
Page 25: Hood vents installed. Inde Motorsport Ranch. Aero talk.
Page 26-30: Brake talk. Essex AP fronts on the car, thick pads, etc.. (Upgrade from Stillen AP)
Page 28: Convex mirror install
Page 29: Braking performance data analysis.
Page 29: 1:47.2 at Buttonwillow
Page 31: Dirty Laguna Seca
Page 32: Rear Essex AP on the car. Weighed the weight loss.
Page 33: Slon Workshop DCT pan
Page 33-34: Willow Springs talk
Page 34: Write up on traction control / MDM and how it works on the E9x M3 platform. (Most people think the rear brakes, but it's the front and I show AIM data.
Page 35: Move to Titan-7 rims
Page 37: Slon pan results - yay!
Page 37: Start writing about 2018 Bimmer Challenge series (I ultimately went 7 for 7 and won the series.)
Page 38: Driving comparison looking at braking performance.
Page 39: AIM Solo2DL. Nitrogen talk.
Page 41: AIM Solo2DL wireless setup with Mac/Fusion. More AIM. Chuckwalla under water.
Page 42: VoltPhreaks battery
Page 44: Trailer drama. Wheel fell off after trailer axle service. Plus more Bimmer Challenge 2018.
Page 45: Coilovers versus divorced setup.
Page 46-47: Bimmer Challenge 2018 series win
Page 47: Ice driving in Colorado with my pickup truck
Page 48: Bimmerworld oil diverter valve install and other tech work
Page 49: Brand new coolant hose cracks and Willow Springs PB 1:25.8
Page 50: Oil diverter AIM data write up
Page 51: Nitrogen talk
Page 52: More broken studs
Page 53: High Plains Raceway in CO with E92 M3
Page 55: JRZ install on my street E92 M3.
Page 55: Install ESS bracket to make more room for big front tire.
Page 56: High Pains Raceway with E92.
Page 56: Splitter and fender vent pix
Page 57: Moving to 14mm on the front. Stud talk.
Page 57: Spring Mountain first visit.
Page 58: Bimmerworld power steering reservoir.
Page 59: E92 broken engine mounts
Page 60: Power steering reservoir results
Page 61: Pueblo Motorsport park first visit with E92.
Page 62: Matt Farah Smoking tire podcast. The owner of BBI is talking about an E90 that was flying at Willow Springs and was on the ass of his Ultima GTR…….he's talking about me. hahaha
Page 63: JRZ blown shocks. Chuckwalla tech issues—brake booster line got cut.
Page 64: Suspension rebuild with Chewerks, rebuild rotors, prepping for SuperLap. Miata bad track etiquette video.
Page 65-66: SuperLap Battle Buttonwillow 2019 podium in Unlimited
Page 68: Carbon door project.
Page 69: Carbon doors on. New PB at WSIR.
Page 70-73: COTA practice and Bimmerworld carbon headlight blanks.
Page 74: COTA prepping for SuperLap. Initial COTA results. 3rd place.
Page 75: COTA video
Page 76: 4 part write up on COTA experience. COTA video montage using livestream footage.
Page 77: AIM Solo2 DL repaired after being dropped. It forced the car into limp mode after being dropped.
Page 78-79: Driving sims. Dislike of iRacing sim.
Page 79: Core 4 14mm press-in hubs.
Page 79: Oil diverter more info.
Page 85: AeroCatch fender latches.
Page 90-91: Zebulon front aero.
Page 92-94: Nov 2020 CA trip/finally figured out my shifting issues—was the paddle shifters.
Page 95: GTA Buttonwillow.
Page 95-96: MCS 3-way install.
Page 97: Chuckwalla CW/CCW first MCS drive.
Page 98: Calculating spring rates/comparing divorced to coilover rates.
Page 99-100: tsk94 created a Google doc to calculate spring rates, and other suspension discussion.
Page 100-101: E90 first visit to High Plains Raceway.
Page 102: Second HPR visit.
Page 103-104: Installed a MaxJax two-post lift.
Page 105: 3rd visit to HPR. 1:50.5. Removable steering wheel talk.
Page 106: APR front splitter removed. Zebulon chassis-mounted splitter installed.
Page 107-108: Zebulon splitter installation process write-up, and splitter talk.
Page 108: Homemade gurney flap for fender vents.
Page 109: Coolant spewing issues. Replaced coolant reservoir. But the head was lifting. Beginning of engine problems.
Page 109: 3D End fences for Zebulon splitter.
Page 110: Installed a new Warn winch in the trailer and fabricated new air dams for the splitter.
Page 110-111: Motor needs to be swapped.
Page 112: Motor being swapped. Go to COTA for Super Lap Battle, but have steering problems——can’t do any hot laps.
Page 113: COTA write up.
Page 114: Cool COTA pix.
Page 115: The whole rig continues to age and issues are starting to creep up. Some E90 engine rebuild pix.
Page 116-117: Tackling limp modes and power steering problems.
Page 118: New Zebulon wing installed.
Page 119: High Plains Raceway 1:48.6.
Page 120: Pueblo Motorsports Park TT
Page 121: Pueblo Motorsports Park - hating the prepped rubber/analysis
Page 122-123: Brake pedal assembly problems
Page 123: Fender vents cut in
Page 124: Watkins Glen visit
Page 125: VIR visit. Chevy Silverado Diesel truck intro. East Coast talk.
Page 126: Tire talk. Replaced the windshield.
Page 128: TT talk
Page 129: Chuckwalla CCW 1:47.2 PB, Two-piece lug nuts from Core 4, Jump starter battery pack talk.
Page 130-131: Transmission problems
Page 132: Replacing control arms and bushings.
Page 133: Bushing talk
Page 134: Element Fire Extinguisher talk
Page 135: More transmission trouble
Page 136-137: NASA TT Buttonwillow 25CW with A-section
Page 138: Slicks talk. NASA TT result: 1:52.7. Flatspot problem.


Build pix:

Ah-----the car prior to being gutted. She was a beauty!:


This pic was taken when the interior was brand new:


uh, what interior…...


The yellowish patches are where the sound deadening was removed:
















3D CAD!






oooooh-----shiny!






I wanted at least one throwback to the Fox Red interior that was there before. It's very handy storage too!


Ah, it still looks familiar when looking at the dash:


The dead pedal:


This montage illustrates the different driver heights between the stock seat and the new setup. It's noticeably lower now:

Last edited by dogbone; 01-14-2024 at 10:49 AM..
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      08-05-2015, 12:50 AM   #2
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      08-05-2015, 05:46 AM   #3
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Really impressive build. Thanks for sharing!
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      08-05-2015, 01:49 PM   #4
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interior

Did you already sell the interior - seats, door cards, ect?
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      08-05-2015, 02:53 PM   #5
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the clear coat actually looks pretty cool.
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      08-05-2015, 03:59 PM   #6
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Impressive! Love the full cage and dead pedal.
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      08-05-2015, 04:47 PM   #7
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Awesome build and awesome write up!
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      08-06-2015, 03:40 PM   #8
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I saw that car the Thunderhill during the OP NorCal trip. It was incredible. The car had no wing at the time and was a total sleeper until you peeked inside... Wow. Nice work. And it was fast.

And nice chatting with you and your friend from Quebec in the paddock.
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      08-06-2015, 05:06 PM   #9
stefan @ eas
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Nice looking race car. Maybe I'll see you at one of the Socal track days.
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      08-06-2015, 05:09 PM   #10
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Thanks guys!

@FrenchBoy, we enjoyed meeting and chatting with you up at T-Hill. That 5-mile course is crazy! That was my first Hooked on Driving event. I liked how they ran the day.
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      08-06-2015, 11:53 PM   #11
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Good work by Casey and the RWE team The build looks very clean, yet purposeful. Hope to see in action at T-Hill.

- Ryan
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      08-07-2015, 09:49 AM   #12
kerrit
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nice build

original engine with 80 track days and a VF620??
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      08-07-2015, 11:48 AM   #13
dogbone
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kerrit View Post
nice build

original engine with 80 track days and a VF620??
hehe yes, I know it's surprising. Original engine and rod bearings with a VF620 kit and 80 track days. I will say that my experience with VF at the beginning was bumpy. I was (unwittingly) an early customer and had a lot of software problems with the kit. But after some time, they put a tune in there that worked and I've never touched the engine software since. (VF wanted me to upgrade to a new software when the 240 engine software came out, but I refused.)

I get Blackstone reports done, and there's nothing noteworthy in there. In fact, Blackstone remarks about how healthy the engine seems. This was their comment from the last Blackstone I got:

"Nothing new to see here. Your engine just keeps eating up the track days you've been throwing at it, and wear metals are still well below average for this sample. Rock steady wear like we have here is a great sign that all is well for this high performance BMW, and as long as it keeps making wear numbers like this we'll have little to complain about in future reports. The viscosity came in within spec for 10W/60 as well, and no signs of coolant, excess fuel, or moisture are present. Keep enjoying the track days, this engine can take it!"

Here's a few things I've done over these last 4 years to keep the car running as well as I can. I'm not sure if they've helped or not:

-I have never done a Launch Mode with the car. Ever. In my opinion, what is basically a "neutral-drop" is about the most stressful thing you can do to the car. I don't really get off on those kinds of jollies. Road course tracking jollies are my kind of jollies.
-I always let the engine/oil warm up before pushing on track.
-I change engine oil usually after every 2 track days---never ever more than 4 track days goes by without an oil change. minicorsa takes care of this daily type of maintenance for me, and we always laugh because the oil looks brand new coming out. He jokes that he should offer this oil to other customers because it still looks so fresh. (Nik at VF had recommended this change interval as a precautionary measure.)
-On the track, the car has only ever run 100 octane. No 91 octane on track. The software isn't tuned for 100 octane, so the 100 octane is just there for safety. (For those that are new to this stuff, 100 octane is harder to ignite and burns cooler than lower octanes. Lower octane fuel can spontaneously ignite under enough heat and pressure without a spark, which is the last thing you want in any engine, but especially the last thing you want in a supercharged engine.)
-I stay on top of my spark plugs. I don't let them go the stock service interval. I check them much sooner. The heat from the blower system can increase wear and tear on parts like that. And those are the kinds of parts you don't want failing.
-I put a less restrictive X-pipe to allow the exhaust waste to flow a bit easier out of the engine.

Anyway, there's no guarantees with any of this stuff. You just do the best you can. I will probably have the engine taken apart at some point and checked out, and maybe put some higher performance parts in there, but for now, it still seems to be rolling along.
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      08-07-2015, 02:32 PM   #14
Expert@ApexWheels
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Wow, quite the change from when I met you at EAS, Gabe! Your car looks great!
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      08-07-2015, 11:32 PM   #15
Kong Sheng Han
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Oh lawd!

CF roof next?
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      08-08-2015, 12:36 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dogbone View Post
hehe yes, I know it's surprising. Original engine and rod bearings with a VF620 kit and 80 track days. I will say that my experience with VF at the beginning was bumpy. I was (unwittingly) an early customer and had a lot of software problems with the kit. But after some time, they put a tune in there that worked and I've never touched the engine software since. (VF wanted me to upgrade to a new software when the 240 engine software came out, but I refused.)

I get Blackstone reports done, and there's nothing noteworthy in there. In fact, Blackstone remarks about how healthy the engine seems. This was their comment from the last Blackstone I got:

"Nothing new to see here. Your engine just keeps eating up the track days you've been throwing at it, and wear metals are still well below average for this sample. Rock steady wear like we have here is a great sign that all is well for this high performance BMW, and as long as it keeps making wear numbers like this we'll have little to complain about in future reports. The viscosity came in within spec for 10W/60 as well, and no signs of coolant, excess fuel, or moisture are present. Keep enjoying the track days, this engine can take it!"

Here's a few things I've done over these last 4 years to keep the car running as well as I can. I'm not sure if they've helped or not:

-I have never done a Launch Mode with the car. Ever. In my opinion, what is basically a "neutral-drop" is about the most stressful thing you can do to the car. I don't really get off on those kinds of jollies. Road course tracking jollies are my kind of jollies.
-I always let the engine/oil warm up before pushing on track.
-I change engine oil usually after every 2 track days---never ever more than 4 track days goes by without an oil change. minicorsa takes care of this daily type of maintenance for me, and we always laugh because the oil looks brand new coming out. He jokes that he should offer this oil to other customers because it still looks so fresh. (Nik at VF had recommended this change interval as a precautionary measure.)
-On the track, the car has only ever run 100 octane. No 91 octane on track. The software isn't tuned for 100 octane, so the 100 octane is just there for safety. (For those that are new to this stuff, 100 octane is harder to ignite and burns cooler than lower octanes. Lower octane fuel can spontaneously ignite under enough heat and pressure without a spark, which is the last thing you want in any engine, but especially the last thing you want in a supercharged engine.)
-I stay on top of my spark plugs. I don't let them go the stock service interval. I check them much sooner. The heat from the blower system can increase wear and tear on parts like that. And those are the kinds of parts you don't want failing.
-I put a less restrictive X-pipe to allow the exhaust waste to flow a bit easier out of the engine.

Anyway, there's no guarantees with any of this stuff. You just do the best you can. I will probably have the engine taken apart at some point and checked out, and maybe put some higher performance parts in there, but for now, it still seems to be rolling along.
your really screwing up this whole "rod bearings" issue with a report like that.
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      08-08-2015, 08:42 PM   #17
roastbeef
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gabe, you really went for it. congrats!
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      08-08-2015, 11:07 PM   #18
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Caged sedans are the bees knees. Great stuff here!
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      08-09-2015, 12:03 AM   #19
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Nice writeup and build!
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      08-10-2015, 11:17 AM   #20
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Now this is what I'm talking about! Love it and nice to see that you are still on oem internals with a blower and tracking it!! Now I may opt towards a blower just don't like the idea of adding weight to the nose. Wish the plenums were plastic like oem.
Sorry if I didn't catch it but what's the weight of her now? And are you running engine, trans and diff coolers?
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      08-10-2015, 07:01 PM   #21
dogbone
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nicksm3 View Post
Now this is what I'm talking about! Love it and nice to see that you are still on oem internals with a blower and tracking it!! Now I may opt towards a blower just don't like the idea of adding weight to the nose. Wish the plenums were plastic like oem.
Sorry if I didn't catch it but what's the weight of her now? And are you running engine, trans and diff coolers?
Thanks! Weight was 3235lbs before the wing was put on. There's a bunch more weight that we can easily lose, like stock rear exhaust section (25-30lbs), rear glass to Makrolon plastic (10-15lbs), all body panels, doors and roof are still metal so we could lose weight there, and if this was truly a race car, we would lose the blower which would take out around 100lbs. Also, the car has retained virtually all wiring. There's a number of pounds to lose there by stripping some of the wiring out, but I'm not in a hurry to do that.

I do want to do the exhaust soon but I may end up at Laguna Seca again in a couple weeks, so I'm gonna hold off.
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      08-10-2015, 07:08 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dogbone
Quote:
Originally Posted by nicksm3 View Post
Now this is what I'm talking about! Love it and nice to see that you are still on oem internals with a blower and tracking it!! Now I may opt towards a blower just don't like the idea of adding weight to the nose. Wish the plenums were plastic like oem.
Sorry if I didn't catch it but what's the weight of her now? And are you running engine, trans and diff coolers?
Thanks! Weight was 3235lbs before the wing was put on. There's a bunch more weight that we can easily lose, like stock rear exhaust section (25-30lbs), rear glass to Makrolon plastic (10-15lbs), all body panels, doors and roof are still metal so we could lose weight there, and if this was truly a race car, we would lose the blower which would take out around 100lbs. Also, the car has retained virtually all wiring. There's a number of pounds to lose there by stripping some of the wiring out, but I'm not in a hurry to do that.

I do want to do the exhaust soon but I may end up at Laguna Seca again in a couple weeks, so I'm gonna hold off.
Wow that is light!!!!!
Oh yes totally hold off...I run at Limerock so I had to switch to the rear ESS section from my Meistershaft Gt2.
I've been looking myself for complete carbon doors, hood and boot lid on MOTORSPORT24.de
Great site and amazing products but priceyyyyyyyy with the shipping and customs etc.
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