Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #91
    Join Date
    May 2020
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    SF Bay, CA
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    Quote Originally Posted by sillieidiot View Post
    can't see that picture you just posted.
    Should be good now!

    Also, Hmm... Looking at that pic, I need to not be lazy and see if I can fiddle with the alignment of the door. Looks a bit off where the door molding meets the front fender
    2004 BMW 330CI ZHP (well, technically ZAM)


  2. #92
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    SF Bay, CA
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    1,266
    Took my car to the dealer for the 2nd passenger's side airbag recall. I've tried everything to contact and set up an appointment at the dealer by my house, but I guess since recall work doesn't pay the bills, they don't care. I sent a recall request to the dealer that did all the rust repair work on my car, and within 15 minutes someone called me and we set up an appointment.

    I had to drive ~50 mins to get to that dealer, but I didn't mind as they have A+ customer service. I brought my own "do not wash" sign, but I guess they encounter enough fussy customers, so they were familiar with that and had their own signs ready. Only caveat was that they disconnected my dash cam so I have no footage at all, aside from when I pulled into the service entrance. It's a bit suspicious however I do trust that they didn't do anything to the car, as the mileage was unchanged when I got the car back.

    I did feel a bit proud of my car during this visit though - the moment I pulled into the service entrance, a few guys came over and oggled the car. We had a small chat, one of them also had an E46. Turns out many of them are enthusiasts like us, and love the older models







    A week later I headed to PITL with some friends, got some nice shots there:







    3 weeks after that I picked up a set of Ground Control Double Adjustable coilovers. The set had popped up on kijiji (moose version of craigslist) for a very good price back in June, but at the time I talked myself out of it. But lately it's been on my mind, so I figured what the heck, and sent the seller a message. We talked for a bit and was able to pre-negotiate a great deal pending close inspection of the parts. Met up with the guy today and the kit was as clean as described - all the spring perches turn without issue, nothing is seized, etc.

    So, even though I'd already bought RS4s and Ground Control Street camber plates (man, my wallet hates me...), I came home with these. Just gonna include them in next year's car budget, and given I'll be busy with school in the fall and there's only 2 months left of nice weather I think I'll also hold off on installing them until next spring as well. I'm really in no rush to get these installed, as I also want to see what sort of times I can put down with the stock setup before getting these on.

    Also, I need to buy springs - the kit came with 440/550 lbs F/R which means the rear ride frequencies are lower than the front, so I'll have to bump the rear spring rate up quite a bit.









    However, there is one potential issue with the kit – the rear dampers are a mystery, as they are labelled TCKline, which does not match the GC build sheet, and the TCK dampers only support up to 700 lbs springs. However, the seller was a totally stand-up guy and said those came with the kit, and the below pic from when they were new seems to support that:





    I’m kind of hoping they were somehow revalved to accommodate much higher spring rates, because the GC rear dampers can support ~1100 lbs and I want to run closer to that. I say this because there are what appear to be plug welds above the compression adjusters, that I don’t see on these dampers in any other online pic. Perhaps that’s part of the revalve process?



    Regardless the pricing of the kit was such that even if these rear shocks are original TCK it was still well worth it. I’ll still run with the 550 lbs rear springs as a baseline, but I guess when I do bump up rear spring rate, I’ll max out the adjusters and feel if the rear is underdamped.

    Anyways, I also ordered an M3 fuel pump baffle a few days before, that arrived so I put it in:





    Which was just in time for my next track day. I managed to hit my PB there, even though it was very hot – got down to a 1:29.1, over a second faster than last time with no changes with the car and similar ambient conditions. Two primary reasons:


    • I got more comfortable with heel-toe. It’s still not perfect as it still takes a bit of my concentration away from braking, but it’s now at a point where the advantage of having extra thrust on corner exit outweighs the small amount of time lost under braking
    • I only found out within the last ~20 minutes of the day, but it’s better to turn everything (aside from ABS) off. Previously I pressed DSC, so traction was off but stability was on, because I had assumed that the 1-wheel braking a.k.a. “poor man’s LSD” would help put some power down on corner exit. But I thought what the heck and turned it off, immediately I could feel the inside rear wheel spin up occasionally but the car felt a lot more nimble, and overall felt more “raw” and I could feel the car out more. And this was also the primary reason my times dropped, I was consistently within 5/10ths within 5 laps and averaging about a second faster than my average with keeping stability on.


    I reckon the car with the current setup can do a low to mid 1:28, but it needs new brake pads to do so – the HPS definitely lose a bit of stopping power as it reaches end of life.

    Thanks to one of my friends for taking some pics that day:



    Oh and also, it started to rain halfway through so nobody felt it was worth it to try going for times. So we all (at least all of us with RWDs) started trying to drift. Me being the n00b I am combined with the open diff went off, thank god I don’t really care too much about my front bumper:





    Also, lol spoke too soon:



    I stupidly hosed my car off at the track to get rid of the mud, but their water was really hard. Uuuuuurgh water spots galore but oh well, at least my paint already needed a correction:





    Then, a few days later I replaced the front pads, as they were done. Thank god for FCP warranty:

    2004 BMW 330CI ZHP (well, technically ZAM)


  3. #93
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    3,130
    Oh hell yeah boi. DSC off gives you so much more control with what these cars are doing - especially with using the throttle to adjust your line mid-turn.

    Also 1100lb seems crazy for the rear, no? Is that what you would need for a flat-ride setup?

  4. #94
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Portland, OR
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    10,243
    Those spins just make me think of good ol' Clarkson:


  5. #95
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Posts
    879
    If you're looking for a "poor man's LSD," you could give this a shot: https://www.ebay.com/itm/RacingDiffs...-/264498963829

    It just "bolts" into your stock diff. I've been meaning to give it a shot for quite some time now but I've just had other priorities and I rarely need it with my driving style. According to the German forums, the lockup is about 15% and it works just like you'd expect. Most people over there use it for snow driving but it should do well in a motorsports setting too. You might want to get the Z4 finned plate though.
    330i Base | Mysticblau | Slicktop | 6MT

  6. #96
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    May 2020
    Location
    SF Bay, CA
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    Quote Originally Posted by ZHPizza View Post
    Oh hell yeah boi. DSC off gives you so much more control with what these cars are doing - especially with using the throttle to adjust your line mid-turn.

    Also 1100lb seems crazy for the rear, no? Is that what you would need for a flat-ride setup?
    It does sound insanely high, but with the rear spring being inboard the motion ratio is something like 0.5-0.6. I was thinking of running 900-1000 lbs so the wheel rate would be more like 500-600 lbs. Front MR is something like 0.95 so wheel rate is pretty much identical to spring rate.

    I'm so thankful that Fat Cat Motorsports has made their ride harmonizer spreadsheet public, I've been playing around with some numbers there to settle on what rates I can run. Just crossing my fingers that my rear dampers can accommodate!

    Quote Originally Posted by BMWCurves View Post
    Those spins just make me think of good ol' Clarkson:

    Hahahaha I headed out with a friend in a BRZ, 255 wide RS4s with AST coilovers, a very quick car around that track. Yet in the wet that thing still wants to break away so easily, and man those cars look so easy to slide around. Still spun out a few times though

    Quote Originally Posted by Galapolis View Post
    If you're looking for a "poor man's LSD," you could give this a shot: https://www.ebay.com/itm/RacingDiffs...-/264498963829

    It just "bolts" into your stock diff. I've been meaning to give it a shot for quite some time now but I've just had other priorities and I rarely need it with my driving style. According to the German forums, the lockup is about 15% and it works just like you'd expect. Most people over there use it for snow driving but it should do well in a motorsports setting too. You might want to get the Z4 finned plate though.
    Hmmmmm I did glance over that a few times seeing some ads but am a bit skeptical about it, primarily about how consistent it is, and how long the clutches last. Might be a good option if there are decent track reviews with good feedback, and they've been installed on the car for a decent amount of mileage.


    Oh and on another note I should mention the M3 fuel pump baffle is well worth it, I was able to run the tank down to 1/8th and still had no starvation. Previously, I'd start starving around 1/2 tank, at which point I'd curse myself then have to drive to the local gas station to fill up
    2004 BMW 330CI ZHP (well, technically ZAM)


  7. #97
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Southern California
    Posts
    18,064
    Nice updates!

    Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
    Randeaux/Rando/John/jr - '06 Cic ZHP; Southern California
    "ZHP or not, I still like you"


    ZHP Performance Package, Cold Weather Package, Leather, Jet Black/Black/BlackCube, NAV, Anthracite Black "my individual" interior trim
    ESS Stage 1 Twin Screw Supercharger, Sprint Booster, BMW Perf Intake, Magnaflow Exhaust, Dinan TB & STEP S/W, UCC Sway Bars, Apex EC-7 18x8.5 ET38
    Suspension: AST 44100 dampers, Bimmerworld front adjustable end links, Swift springs (8K front, 10K rear), Vorshlag camber plates
    Dynavin D99+, Hardwire V1 (w/V1 Connection), BSW Stage 1 Speakers, Kicker Amp/Subwoofer
    BMW Performance Strut Brace, Orion V2 Angel Eyes, No-holes License Plate, SMG Paddle Shift Mod, Besian VANOS, Gold DISA, Fan Delete, M3 Side Mirrors
    Note: Actual car no longer resembles signature picture

  8. #98
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Irvine, CA
    Posts
    818
    Nice score on the suspension. Looks like a fun day at the track, too. Looking forward to see what you go with for springs, ride-height, compression damping (clicks), etc.

  9. #99
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Location
    SF Bay, CA
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    Quote Originally Posted by johnrando View Post
    Nice updates!

    Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
    Thanks JR!

    Quote Originally Posted by Will View Post
    Nice score on the suspension. Looks like a fun day at the track, too. Looking forward to see what you go with for springs, ride-height, compression damping (clicks), etc.
    I actually have this entire week off from my Master's, we've decided to take a break before starting back up Sept. 8th, so I'm really tempted to throw the coilovers on the car. Not worried about corner balancing, as stock it was within 1% cross weight which was surprising, so as long as I get the front and rear adjusters as close as I can with calipers it should be fine. I just need to check my alignment and make sure my DIY string method can reproduce readings similar to what I got at the shop. If I can do that, then I'm comfortable with any small adjustments necessary, I just have to ensure I make the same adjustments left and right.

    Gosh, all that needs to be researched. For now I'll throw the 440/550 lbs setup on the car, but short of a shock dyno it'll be hard to tell what the rears can handle other than buying rear springs, and testing it out (lol if someone has 800-1000 lbs 2.5" ID 6" springs, happy to take it off your hands). Ride height... aesthetically speaking I do want the front lower, right now it looks like a truck lol. I'll have to check what angle relative to the horizontal the FCA is as it stands, I don't want to lower it to the point where the FCA is angled upwards and I'm loosing significant camber under compression. Hard to really dictate without a full kinematics analysis but obtaining all the pickup points is tons of work. Won't be dumping it on the ground though, to start I'm thinking of keeping rear similar and the front going down 10-15 mm.

    Damping, well that's just gonna require a ton of tuning and seat time, especially since I have 2 knobs to play with (rebound + compression). I have my work cut out for me to research all this
    2004 BMW 330CI ZHP (well, technically ZAM)


  10. #100
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Posts
    879
    Man I thought I was obsessed with suspension but I looked at that chart you posted and noped out in 5 seconds.

    Also those spring rates sound bonkers. I think the Pro-Kit is in the 150/375-750 (progressive) range. Also I would love for my front to be higher again lol. Alpina B3 stance ftw.

    If you needed beefier rear shocks after all, what would your options be? Also, I would highly recommend Eibach sway bars. Our cars benefit the most from soft springs + stiff sway bars.
    330i Base | Mysticblau | Slicktop | 6MT

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