peter's Touring project

[slater]

The solid mounts are fine... better than poly as the transfer load better.

Liking the clutch so far - feels OEM, but without the worn-DMF cacophony!!


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[slater]

tiny update:

CLUTCH
we had company over christmas, but i was able to finish the clutch break-in. i had read that the pedal would feel soft at first, but get progressively stiffer; i can confirm that this is indeed the case and the clutch pedal feels a normal firmness now. engagement is great, and the SMF is, to my ears, totally silent. i hear trans gear whine, but everything else is quiet as can be. and since the SMF is the same weight as the stock DMF, it doesn't feel 'aftermarket' - i'm pleased with it. i would love it if this kit came with, say, an 18lb flywheel (quicker revs), but for the price you cannot beat it.


NOISE
the BMW Performance muffler is a lot bassier than the stock muffler and, on my car at least, is very 'growly' - it does not sound like a normal ZHP at all. also, the basically-solid-mounted RTD shifter is soooo nice to shift with, but it does transmit engine/trans noise that is maybe not that pleasant. the shifter itself has a very mechanical 'snick-snick' kind of sound when shifting, and coupled with growly noises, it reminds me a little of a Eleanor from gone in 60 seconds (the remake with nicholas cage). it's not what i was expecting, but it's certainly entertaining.


SUSPENSION
all of my ZHPs' goodies, but new TRW ZHP front control arms, new lemfoerder tie rods, 26/20mm sway bars, ZHP springs, with koni yellows up front and adjustable bilstein PSS9 inverted rear dampers - it feels very, very good. it absorbs bumps, stays flat both in straight line undulations and also in turns, and is QUIET - it feels so composed and 'expensive,' for lack of a better term. it also is sitting lower than a stock ZHP sedan would - i think my ZHP springs might be from a coupe (i bought them used). overall, i am very pleased. i still want to try out the linear-spring-converted bilstein PSS set that i am building, but these are really good....


ETC
i am really enjoying the car. the ZHP rack is great and it's been handling well in the snow, despite me wanting to keep it sideways. i have no idea how to measure the additional stiffness/rigidity/"plantedness" of the VinceBits in the rear of the car, but let me just say that is feels confident and secure. much moreso than my ZHP sedan did with basically the same setup.

i do have an issue that i need to sort out. i had the car aligned last thursday and the alignment guy said he had to bring one of the rear toe adjusters (RTAB) almost all the way out to get it to spec.... and the car now wants to wander slightly to the left, as well as pull left a little on hard acceleration. my gut feeling is that this means i have either a bad RTAB or a bent rear trailing arm. i don't think that one of the bimmerworld spherical RTABs is bad, as they're quiet and did not exhibit any play off the car, but i am sort of remembering that my ZHP sedan did this before i dismantled it.... so clearly i brought the issue over with me. now i need to figure out how to measure the trailing arms to see if i can figure out if one is tweaked...... but in the meantime, the issue is minor is not really curbing my use of the car. and it's going to be -20ºC for the next 10 days, so i'm not going to dig into it for a bit.

merry christmas and happy new year, everyone!

[slater]

Winter apparel.

You can see the BMW Performance exhaust here. I'll post more pics later. We got about 2' of snow from the 23rd til the 25th.




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[Sockethead]

Great updates Peter...

Clutch: good to hear about the stock feel. That's what I'm looking for as well. My car has some gear whine too. It went away for quite a while after my last gearbox oil change but it's back. Also, my UUC shifter makes that same mechanical sound when shifting.

Your rear end issue: I'm going through the exact same issue on my car. The alignment showed a bent rear trailing arm but I haven't done anything to have caused that. The only thing I've done to the rear suspension is M3 RTAB and limiters and RE RSM. Nothing else has been apart and I haven't hit anything that would cause that. My car pulls to the right under acceleration and pulls to left under deceleration. Very frustrating. I thought it mat be because I have the newer version of the Hankooks on the rear and the old version on the front but now reading your post, it looks like there is something else going on back there.
I'm not going to have time to really get into it until the end of February so I'll be watching your progress.

[slater]

Great updates Peter...

Clutch: good to hear about the stock feel. That's what I'm looking for as well. My car has some gear whine too. It went away for quite a while after my last gearbox oil change but it's back. Also, my UUC shifter makes that same mechanical sound when shifting.

Your rear end issue: I'm going through the exact same issue on my car. The alignment showed a bent rear trailing arm but I haven't done anything to have caused that. The only thing I've done to the rear suspension is M3 RTAB and limiters and RE RSM. Nothing else has been apart and I haven't hit anything that would cause that. My car pulls to the right under acceleration and pulls to left under deceleration. Very frustrating. I thought it mat be because I have the newer version of the Hankooks on the rear and the old version on the front but now reading your post, it looks like there is something else going on back there.
I'm not going to have time to really get into it until the end of February so I'll be watching your progress.

wow, rob... so weird!! i am really hoping it's NOT a bent trailing arm, but a bad RTAB... because that is a lot easier to replace. replacing the trailing arm is a major PITA - dealing with handbrake cables, wheel bearings, etc... not in the mood for that right now.

my gear whine is from the poly rear diff bushings, and i totally like it! it has a bit of that 'rally car' vibe.

[johnrando]

Good stuff yet again!

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[slater]

wife drove the Touring for the first time today, since it was 'done.' my son was in the car with her, and when he got home he told me she said: "why is it so loud?"

it is really growly. makes me think of this (i am in awe of this car, btw):

Your rear end issue: I'm going through the exact same issue on my car. The alignment showed a bent rear trailing arm but I haven't done anything to have caused that. The only thing I've done to the rear suspension is M3 RTAB and limiters and RE RSM. Nothing else has been apart and I haven't hit anything that would cause that. My car pulls to the right under acceleration and pulls to left under deceleration. Very frustrating. I thought it mat be because I have the newer version of the Hankooks on the rear and the old version on the front but now reading your post, it looks like there is something else going on back there.
I'm not going to have time to really get into it until the end of February so I'll be watching your progress.

so, rob.... i have been doing some reading. most folks say "RTABs" for this issue, but one UK fellow had the same issue and it turned out to be a sticking front caliper. seems odd, right? i would assume that would exhibit some vibration in the steering wheel, and i don't have any of that. but perhaps it's a sticking rear caliper? hmmmm..... i need to check the heat situation next time i'm out for a drive.

i really hope it's a bad RTAB though. easiest scenario.

Good stuff yet again!

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thanks john! merry christmas!

[anandoc]

A sticky caliper is easy to diagnose. When my front driver's side caliper was sticking, I could feel the heat by just standing next to the wheel. Also, you can find a spot with a slight incline and put the car in neutral and see if it starts to roll or not. Hopefully it is something trivial like a sticky caliper for you...

[Sockethead]

I don't know how it could be a bad RTAB bushing in my case, I only have a few thousand miles on the car since I did them and I properly preloaded the bushings before tightening.
I definitely gotta check the calipers though.... I can't remember the last time I changed the fluid... been several years I bet. I used to keep really good records but that all went out the window afterhaving kids...

[slater]

A sticky caliper is easy to diagnose. When my front driver's side caliper was sticking, I could feel the heat by just standing next to the wheel. Also, you can find a spot with a slight incline and put the car in neutral and see if it starts to roll or not. Hopefully it is something trivial like a sticky caliper for you...

yeah, i don't feel anything like that when driving. also, it only does this under acceleration.... which makes me think it's not a sticking caliper. but - stranger things have happened!

I don't know how it could be a bad RTAB bushing in my case, I only have a few thousand miles on the car since I did them and I properly preloaded the bushings before tightening.
I definitely gotta check the calipers though.... I can't remember the last time I changed the fluid... been several years I bet. I used to keep really good records but that all went out the window afterhaving kids...

haha, agreed! i keep an excel spreadsheet of maintenance with dates and mileage... that's it. and i haven't put in the stuff i just did over the last 5 weeks yet.

re: the RTAB... yes, it does seem illogical given that they're new. mine are only about 15K miles old.

one other thing i found was.... tires! what are you running on the back for tires, and how is their tread depth relative to each other? do you have another set of wheels you can mount? i'm going to swap my tires front to back and see what happens.