My E90 M3 Dedicated Track build (with pix!)

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by SFCM3

saw your car @ Bimmerfest, looked awesome out there on the track!

Thanks! It was a fun day for sure.

Which car were you in?

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by DreamTime

Lucky passengers who scored a ride in your car over the weekend! Dang.

Wow, that is very exciting news for you and your family! I lived near Telluride for a while and I have family in Denver, I love that state. I’m sure you guys will too! Something tells me you will be missed in CA

Your thread was the very first one I subscribed to after joining this forum, you have really put together something amazing here. I feel like I need to start at the very beginning and make my way through the whole thing. I can only imagine the wealth of info & knowledge buried in there. It is super awesome for someone like me to have access to something like this.

Good luck with the move!

Thanks! We'll be in the Denver area. (My wife is from there, so hopefully we can hit the ground running.)

For anyone that wants to push their car down the path of being a track car, I think this thread definitely illustrates the path of one enthusiast who had to learn everything from scratch. From that standpoint, I think the thread has some good conversations.

In another post, you mentioned something about a BMW newsletter.....and you're in SC.......hang on a sec....my 3 remaining brain synapses are working overtime here......do you work for BMW? Is this thread going to void my warranty???

[DreamTime]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Thanks! We'll be in the Denver area. (My wife is from there, so hopefully we can hit the ground running.)

For anyone that wants to push their car down the path of being a track car, I think this thread definitely illustrates the path of one enthusiast who had to learn everything from scratch. From that standpoint, I think the thread has some good conversations.

In another post, you mentioned something about a BMW newsletter.....and you're in SC.......hang on a sec....my 3 remaining brain synapses are working overtime here......do you work for BMW? Is this thread going to void my warranty???

Oh cool, I bet she is excited to return to her hometown! That is really awesome.

Anytime I take on any new project in life I try to find people who are way smarter than me to learn from, and I try my best to learn from their mistakes, successes, and experiences - although I do still expect to make many mistakes of my own lol. My car will change a lot over the coming years, so threads like this are super helpful for me. Plus it will just be fun to read.

No, I don’t work for BMW lol. But, I know a ton of people who do. Don’t worry though, your massively public secret is safe with me

I’m just an M3 obsessed girl who ended an officer of the BMW CCA Sandlapper Chapter, and I publish our newsletter. I’m preparing for our big regional board meeting this weekend, exciting stuff!

Thanks again for all you have contributed!

[roastbeef]

i'm a little bummed you're leaving. you're one of the heavy hitters at the track and its good to pick your brain about stuff.
obviously, you're surrounded by a ton of great tracks right now. i'll admit i would be selfishly reluctant to leave just because of the tracks. i think it speaks to your good character in leaving this behind for a better quality of life elsewhere.

[mnelson3]

dogbone,

bummed you're leaving ca. I can't say i'm not a little jealous
but it will be fun to hear your thoughts on colorado.

i've meet you at a few track days from chuckwalla to sonoma, but i haven't
seen the car since it was dedicated.

all the best with the move.

WINTER IS COMING!

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

i'm a little bummed you're leaving. you're one of the heavy hitters at the track and its good to pick your brain about stuff.
obviously, you're surrounded by a ton of great tracks right now. i'll admit i would be selfishly reluctant to leave just because of the tracks. i think it speaks to your good character in leaving this behind for a better quality of life elsewhere.

Originally Posted by mnelson3

dogbone,

bummed you're leaving ca. I can't say i'm not a little jealous
but it will be fun to hear your thoughts on colorado.

i've meet you at a few track days from chuckwalla to sonoma, but i haven't
seen the car since it was dedicated.

all the best with the move.

Thanks guys. If I carry out my current plan, I doubt most SoCal track people will even notice that I've moved. My truck, trailer and track car are staying in CA. It's an easy flight.

[dogbone]

A couple weeks ago, the topic of brake inputs came up and I mentioned I would try to put some charts together that compare my current braking behavior to my older braking characteristics. Also over the weekend, after giving several people rides, the topic of braking was the most forefront on peoples’ minds.

I’ve put together 6 charts from 6 tracks to compare my braking behavior from 2014-2016 as a more novice driver with MDM vs. 2017-2018 with MDM off and more experience. I find it interesting to go back and look to see how driving characteristics change over time. It’s a great learning tool.

In 2017, as I progressed to tires with more grip, one of the areas I was focusing on was my braking behavior. There’s no doubt that there’s time to be had in braking zones. So, I experimented with braking later, braking more assertively, and letting off more smoothly than I had in the past.

In the charts below, the Blue laps are my current 2018 DSC-off bests compared to my 2014-2016 MDM times which are the Red laps. In each picture, the top graph is the GPS Speed, the middle graph is Brake Press, the bottom graph is the Time Delta.

I think it's safe to say that I am much more assertive with the brakes at all tracks these days. Observations:

-higher speeds into virtually every braking zone at all tracks.
-larger brake presses - I’m just on that brake pedal way harder than I used to be. (Same brake pads.)
-later braking? Well, sometimes. But I am coming in faster, so braking in the same place at a faster speed is still an improvement.
-generally cleaner brake input profiles - While my brake inputs are by no means perfect, they are cleaner than in the past. The profiles are less jagged.

Seat time deserves most of the credit for braking improvements. Grippier tires and learning to fully trust the brake system also don’t hurt.


Buttonwillow 13CW
DSC-off: 1:47.2 (Pirelli DH slicks) vs. MDM-on: 1:51.2 (BFG R1S)


Big Willow Springs
DSC-off: 1:26.0 (Pirelli DH slicks) vs. MDM-on: 1:27.5. (BFG R1S)


Chuckwalla CW
DSC-off: 1:53.6 (Pirelli DH slicks) vs. MDM-on: 1:55.9 (Hankook TD)


Laguna Seca
DSC-off: 1:34.3 (Yoko slicks) vs. MDM-on: 1:39.2 (Hankook TD)


Auto Club Speedway
DSC-off: 1:43.5 (Pirelli DH slicks) vs. MDM-on: 1:52.5. (Hankook TD)


Sonoma Raceway
DSC-off: 1:47.0 (BFG R1S) vs. MDM-on: 1:51.2 (Hankook TD)

[ricardofors68]

Great info, thank you.

[derbo]

Great info!

Good luck in Colorado! I'll say hello if I ever cross paths with you when you are up at Sonoma or Laguna.

[ricardofors68]

Btw dogbone, saw an Apex video featuring your car, didn't know about your single side exit exhaust, I was going to do a double side exit at the same spot, one on either side of the bumper just for fun, but going to do just turn downs at the diff.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by dogbone

A couple weeks ago, the topic of brake inputs came up and I mentioned I would try to put some charts together that compare my current braking behavior to my older braking characteristics. Also over the weekend, after giving several people rides, the topic of braking was the most forefront on peoples’ minds.

Does your car still have ABS? If so, you should create a math channel to show the time difference between when the brake pedal is applied and when the ABS engages. I recently did this in Pi Toolbox as I assessed different tire setups and brake pads, as well as figuring out how to adjust my braking technique.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by ricardofors68

Btw dogbone, saw an Apex video featuring your car, didn't know about your single side exit exhaust, I was going to do a double side exit at the same spot, one on either side of the bumper just for fun, but going to do just turn downs at the diff.

That could not have been my car, as I don't have a side exhaust. I have an Akrapovic X-pipe, into a pipe with straight-through Vibrant resonators.

The Trinity Autosport car has a side exhaust. Maybe it was theirs?

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by dparm

Does your car still have ABS? If so, you should create a math channel to show the time difference between when the brake pedal is applied and when the ABS engages. I recently did this in Pi Toolbox as I assessed different tire setups and brake pads, as well as figuring out how to adjust my braking technique.

That would be interesting. Although that is something I don't know how to do. Does the AIM log ABS-specific activity on an E9x M3? If so, what is the parameter? The AIM people are helpful with creating formulas. What would I ask them?

[ricardofors68]

Originally Posted by dogbone

That could not have been my car, as I don't have a side exhaust. I have an Akrapovic X-pipe, into a pipe with straight-through Vibrant resonators.

The Trinity Autosport car has a side exhaust. Maybe it was theirs?

My bad, looked a lot like yours, come to think of it, it had number 718 on the doors. Nevermind me then...

[dparm]

Originally Posted by dogbone

That would be interesting. Although that is something I don't know how to do. Does the AIM log ABS-specific activity on an E9x M3? If so, what is the parameter? The AIM people are helpful with creating formulas. What would I ask them?

Not sure. In Pi Toolbox, I have a channel that's just a raw value of 0/1 for ABS. Similar discussion for an E46:
https://rennlist.com/forums/data-acq...-question.html

Otherwise, depending on the data rate of the wheel speed sensors, you could possibly derive how aggressively the ABS is braking each wheel -- which could be more useful. The above thread mentions doing this by creating a math channel to calculate the difference between the wheel speed sensors on the same axle.

I also have math channels to show aggression for braking, steering, and acceleration.

[ThunderMoose]

Originally Posted by dparm

Not sure. In Pi Toolbox, I have a channel that's just a raw value of 0/1 for ABS. Similar discussion for an E46:
https://rennlist.com/forums/data-acq...-question.html

Otherwise, depending on the data rate of the wheel speed sensors, you could possibly derive how aggressively the ABS is braking each wheel -- which could be more useful. The above thread mentions doing this by creating a math channel to calculate the difference between the wheel speed sensors on the same axle.

I also have math channels to show aggression for braking, steering, and acceleration.

LOL. That was me! Turned out I had a loose wire from battery to main fuse panel so under hard braking the car was actually shutting off. Took me 4 months and a replacement DSC module and master cylinder to figure it out. Once I recognized that infamy have bad connection, I was able to look through AiM and see rpms going to zero several times. Once car shuts off it will reset codes so I was never able to see it on track other than DSC kept turning itself back on and then the big lockup at Hallett. Gotta love AiM!

[Properstyle]

looking through your thread I see you use misting system on the car. is there any reason you didn't just install a methanol injection system on the car?

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by Properstyle

looking through your thread I see you use misting system on the car. is there any reason you didn't just install a methanol injection system on the car?

Back when I was looking for ways to help cool the engine years ago, I wanted something passive, simple and cheap, meaning I didn’t want to reprogram/retune for it, I didn’t want the engine to blow up if it ran out, and I didn’t want to be required to run it all the time because it was a street car. Meth seemed like a big commitment at the time.

The misting system is pretty low commitment. Just add distilled water. (If you don’t use distilled, the minerals in regular water will gunk up the nozzles very quickly.) if I run out, no biggie, the engine just heats up faster.

Obviously, meth could be very effective, but at the time, the commitment was larger than I wanted.

[Properstyle]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Back when I was looking for ways to help cool the engine years ago, I wanted something passive, simple and cheap, meaning I didn’t want to reprogram/retune for it, I didn’t want the engine to blow up if it ran out, and I didn’t want to be required to run it all the time because it was a street car. Meth seemed like a big commitment at the time.

The misting system is pretty low commitment. Just add distilled water. (If you don’t use distilled, the minerals in regular water will hunk up the nozzles very quickly.) if I run out, no biggie, the engine just heats up faster.

Obviously, meth could be very effective, but at the time, the commitment was larger than I wanted.

makes sense. I'm looking at adding meth to the car now. but having two tunes. A kill mode if you will that has the added timing that requires meth and then a street tune where the meth is nothing but extra fuelling. I'll be moving to texas next month I'm sure COA is going to show all the cooling weak points of my car right away.

[dogbone]

Went to minicorsa for a round of basic maintenance today. One of the things I was curious about was the Slon-Workshop DCT pan. I wanted to see how it was holding up after the 2 recent tough track days at Buttonwillow and Auto Club Speedway. (There was a short 3rd days at Willow Springs as well.)

So, we removed that silly cover to look and-----I'm happy to report that the pan was totally dry. No seeping, no weeping, no wet-looking spots, no residue....nothing. It was just sitting there dry and happy and quiet.

Very happy about this pan so far.

[roastbeef]

Could you (do you) use the same nitrogen in your dampeners as you could in your tires?

[kyippee]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Went to minicorsa for a round of basic maintenance today. One of the things I was curious about was the Slon-Workshop DCT pan. I wanted to see how it was holding up after the 2 recent tough track days at Buttonwillow and Auto Club Speedway. (There was a short 3rd days at Willow Springs as well.)

So, we removed that silly cover to look and-----I'm happy to report that the pan was totally dry. No seeping, no weeping, no wet-looking spots, no residue....nothing. It was just sitting there dry and happy and quiet.

Very happy about this pan so far.

Awesome to hear the check up was victorious

I've done 2 track days with mine so far. Haven't checked but also a happy experience so far. I've got 2 track days at Laguna Seca coming up, 6/8 and 6/17 and I suspect if I get it looked at after, I'll find a similar result to yours