The life of Ryan's 2003 ZHP

[rkneeshaw]

I suppose I should start a project thread.

I'll keep this first post up to date with the current state of the car.

Performance Modifications:

ESS Tuning Twin Screw Stage 2+ (TS2+) Supercharger
Schrick 248/256 cams
BMW Performance Intake
BMW Performance short throw shifter
Ceramic coated BimmerBrakes Gen3 cat-less headers
Borla cat-back exhaust
Stewart high performance water pump
ATI Super Damper
Power Pulley Kit by Turner Motorsports
INA Overrun Alternator Pulley
VANOS high performance o-rings and seals by Dr Vanos
M56 Valve Cover with integrated CCV
Bosch 42lb/hr "green giant" fuel injectors
M3 fuel pump
M3 fuel baffle fixture
Sachs Performance organic clutch
Brass clutch fork pivot pin by ECS Tuning
Wavetrac Limited Slip Differential
BMW high performance finned differential cover
M3 transmission mounts
M3 motor mounts
Hawk Performance Ceramic pads for street
Hawk Street Race pads for track days
StopTech stainless brake lines
MCS coilovers and rear shocks
Hyperco springs (550 front, 650 rear)
Adjustable rear spring perches by Vorshlag
Spherical adjustable camber/caster plates by Vorshlag
Spherical rear shock mounts by Vorshlag
M3 front sway bar
Adjustable front sway bar links by Turner Motorsports
Reinforced rear subframe by Turner Motorsports
Reinforced rear sway bar mounts by Turner Motorsports
Reinforced rear shock tower mounts by Turner Motorsports
Reinforced front shock tower mounts by BMW
Powerflex rear subframe bushings
Powerflex rear trailing arm bushings
Powerflex front control arm bushings
M3 rear lower control arm outer bushings (ball-joint style)
M3 front strut tower brace
75mm bull nose wheel studs by Turner Motorsports
Alzor Style 040 18x8.5/18x9 wheels with staggered Michelin Pilot Sport 4s for street
Apex Arc8 wheels with Hankook RS4 255/40/17 square for track days


Other Modifications:

BMW Performance black kidney grills
OEM ZKW projector lenses
OEM e90 rear view mirror with compass and homelink
Sylvania Osram 66240 CBB HID bulbs
Umnitza Orion Predator V4 angel eyes
Nokya yellow fog light bulbs with Lamin-X tint
LED reverse and license plate lights
Re-coded MK60 DSC module (upgraded to M3 values)
LCM v4.5 with triple flash blinker
Homemade clutch stop
Black aluminum pedals and footrest by Turner Motorsports
Schroth Quickfit Pro Racing harness seatbelt


https://i.ibb.co/N6zzbZs/IMG-20181013-1124089.jpg (https://ibb.co/nsSStzb)

[rkneeshaw]

I've owned the car for 7 years, so, for starters, lets take a trip down memory lane

2008

Purchase date Nov 18, 33k miles
Reinforced rear subframe and rear sway bar mounts at Turner Motorsport
Reinforced rear shock tower mounts
Black grills
Aurora 2 angel eyes

2009

K&N Intake kit
H&R 10mm rear and 5mm front spacers
M3 strut tower bar
ESS tune
Headers, ebay, jet hot ceramic coated

https://preview.ibb.co/mZvC3Q/IMG_20110522_00025.jpg (https://ibb.co/jjA1xk)

https://preview.ibb.co/bv2s3Q/IMG_20110522_00027.jpg (https://ibb.co/m5bwV5)

2010

Drove it, baby!

2011

Magnaflow 16533 cat back

https://preview.ibb.co/ckiMxk/IMG_20110816_00113.jpg (https://ibb.co/h9oock)

2012

Stoptech stainless braided brake lines and street performance pads
Stewert water pump
Turner underdrive pulley kit
Replaced the K&N intake with BMW Performance

https://preview.ibb.co/dgSWxk/IMG_20130117_00142.jpg (https://ibb.co/i5Xyck)

Modified the magnaflow catback to make it a little quieter, smoother

https://preview.ibb.co/gd0eiQ/IMG_20120727_00014.jpg (https://ibb.co/e5P5OQ)

2013

BMW Performance short shift kit
Did vanos from Mr Vanos

https://preview.ibb.co/dq1PHk/IMG_20130224_00172.jpg (https://ibb.co/j0Pdck)

2014

Removed Aurora 2 angel eyes and went with yellow fogs

https://preview.ibb.co/iB5Mf5/WP_20140522_12_37_14_Pro.jpg (https://ibb.co/e4AXnk)

Bushing maintenance

https://preview.ibb.co/jVZsnk/WP_20140510_14_49_06_Pro.jpg (https://ibb.co/cvK3tQ)

https://image.ibb.co/bAnZ05/WP_20140510_14_39_25_Pro.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)

2015

Now stuff really starts happening

PowerFlex rear subframe bushings
New PowerFlex poly FCABs

https://preview.ibb.co/dbHLq5/temporary_1_1.jpg (https://ibb.co/hzd4Hk)

Wavetrac LSD installed with finned diff cover

https://preview.ibb.co/kEc9iQ/IMG_20130223_00169.jpg (https://ibb.co/nmDh3Q)

https://preview.ibb.co/iCwGDQ/WP_20150511_08_33_41_Pro.jpg (https://ibb.co/hvndSk)

Party time

https://preview.ibb.co/bAxmV5/temporary_2_1.jpg (https://ibb.co/e7QvOQ)

https://preview.ibb.co/mfwNnk/temporary_13.jpg (https://ibb.co/dCPWf5)

https://preview.ibb.co/jcYJSk/temporary_8_4.jpg (https://ibb.co/nMKE05)

https://preview.ibb.co/c77OtQ/temporary_8_5.jpg (https://ibb.co/kaeE05)

https://preview.ibb.co/gtugf5/temporary_5_13.jpg (https://ibb.co/m1XCnk)

Then some detailing love, full meguiars treatment with DA polisher

https://preview.ibb.co/dPusnk/temporary_5_10.jpg (https://ibb.co/jfFMf5)

https://preview.ibb.co/jh2pYQ/temporary_7_7.jpg (https://ibb.co/nnDwDQ)

Hi

https://preview.ibb.co/ewc6DQ/temporary_13_2.jpg (https://ibb.co/fTDeYQ)

Moved to full 10mm spacers all around, and I like it much more better-er

https://preview.ibb.co/jWi7L5/temporary_7_10.jpg (https://ibb.co/c3BGDQ)

https://preview.ibb.co/mnLMf5/temporary_9_2.jpg (https://ibb.co/dC5Xnk)

And today she was in race mode

https://preview.ibb.co/nyPBxk/temporary_3_15.jpg (https://ibb.co/fYb23Q)

https://preview.ibb.co/jQKWf5/temporary_22.jpg (https://ibb.co/cq5hnk)

https://preview.ibb.co/kydMxk/temporary_6_10.jpg (https://ibb.co/cNOX3Q)

I love this car.

[Vas]

Nice list.

Current Mileage ?

[NorCal-Dimitri]

Performance Modifications:

ESS Tuning Twin Screw Stage 2 (TS2) Supercharger
BMW Performance Intake
BMW Performance short throw shifter
Ceramic coated cat-less headers
Magnaflow cat-back exhaust
Stewart high performance water pump
Rebuilt VANOS with high performance o-rings and seals by Dr Vanos
StopTech Street Performance pads
StopTech stainless brake lines
Wavetrac Limited Slip Differential
Finned differential cover
Reinforced rear subframe by Turner Motorsports
Reinforced rear sway bar mounts by Turner Motorsports
Reinforced rear shock tower mounts by Turner Motorsports
Powerflex rear subframe bushings
Powerflex rear trailing arm bushings
Powerflex front control arm bushings
Upgraded JTD909 rear shock mounts by JT Designs
M3 rear lower control arm outer bushings (ball-joint style)
M3 front strut tower brace
Turner wheel spacers (10mm front, 10mm rear)


Other Modifications:

Sapphire Black kidney grills
5000k Sylvania 66240 CBI HID bulbs
Nokya yellow fog light bulbs with Lamin-X tint
LED reverse and license plate lights
Valentine One radar/laser locator (hardwired)
One-touch DSC off (re-coded MK60 module)
Homemade clutch stop


What're your opinions thus far on the supercharger?

[rkneeshaw]

Current Mileage ?

Thanks Vas, just a few ticks over 109k glorious miles


What're your opinions thus far on the supercharger?

Man, that's a great question. I absolutely love it. And then I don't. Only because I still have a few bugs to work out with ESS. The first issues were due to some QA failures, which ESS has completely fixed and was very responsive and helpful throughout that process. The remaining issue is that occasionally I'll get a dip in power as I go through the RPMs, and we are at the stage now of logging data to get to the bottom of the issue and we're making progress.

When the car is running right, this kit is freaking amazing. Power all day long. Torque is immediate and there early, I mean like 2200 RPM early. The install is stealthy. No permanent modifications are required to the car. The components are all very high quality. And the RPM's just FLY by. So much fun.

[BMWCurves]

Really nice list of modifications. Jealous of that ESS supercharger! How has it affected MPG?

[rkneeshaw]

I was averaging about 23.8 mpg over the last few years, according to Fuelly. And now it seems every fill-up I make, no matter how hard I am on the car, is like literally 20.9mpg, lol.

One somewhat related interesting tidbit, the only sacrifice with this kit is your OBC MPG calculations. For some reason, with the MS45.1 found in our ZHP, they can't correct the OBC for the larger injector size. Fuelly gives me the most accurate measurement anyway.

[johnrando]

:like

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[az3579]

One somewhat related interesting tidbit, the only sacrifice with this kit is your OBC MPG calculations. For some reason, with the MS45.1 found in our ZHP, they can't correct the OBC for the larger injector size. Fuelly gives me the most accurate measurement anyway.

Yeah I had this issue when I had my E30 after the S50 swap. I was ecstatic when I saw I was doing 35mpg on the highway (in the rare instances I behaved lol), then reality set in after my first fill up. :(

I'm sure there's a way to code it... there has to be a way to code it to read correctly. Has to...

Either way, it's probably not worth having the MPG gauge there anyway with a supercharger. Perhaps this is a good time to swap in an M3 cluster and do what's necessary to get a working oil temp gauge? :)

[rkneeshaw]

Its funny but I never noticed the MPG gauge is replaced by an oil temp gauge on the M3 clusters until now. Thanks a lot BP, now I have another mod to research :) :)

Most of the other bmw clusters have an injector size adjustment you can make right in the cluster (OBC), similar to the method you use to reset your oil change messages. But for some reason our e46 does not. Its all passed in from the DME. So theoretically, there should be a way to code it out correctly using a DME tune. But from what I've read, AJ at ESS tried a few things and it caused some undesirable effects in the tune, and he abandoned efforts. I dont know the details. I might try to ask him about it.

I've discovered my O2 sensor is going bad, and as a result I'm getting deviation between my bank 1 and bank 2 o2 sensor voltages, so my AFR might not be hammered out yet, and that might impact my mileage a bit. I'm replacing both O2 sensors today and I'll see if that changes the mileage at all.

[Alikessu]

NIce Post, thanks for sharing

[rkneeshaw]

I'm not used to having a project thread, I've forgotten to update it!

I recoded the MK60 DSC module to M3 specs for LSD, oversteer, and gear torque control settings. WAY better! More detail here: http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?12548-Programming-the-DSC-MK60-for-LSD&p=452730#post452730

And I replaced my O2 sensors, the bank 2 sensor was clearly fouled, it looked aweful. Now my O2 voltages are consistent between banks.

http://preview.ibb.co/d8c1f5/temporary_4_17.jpg (http://ibb.co/hVyk7k)

Also, my fuel pump was getting tired and wasn't keeping up with the TS2 kit so I upgraded to the M3 fuel pump, and installed the baffle fixture while I was in there too

https://preview.ibb.co/cL59YQ/WP_20151001_14_30_43_Pro.jpg (https://ibb.co/fAqMf5)

https://preview.ibb.co/iUvnL5/WP_20151001_14_30_09_Pro_1.jpg (https://ibb.co/mvW57k)

[Vas]

Awesome

[rkneeshaw]

Tie rod day. Took me like 30 minutes to do both. Nice easy job. Alignment is scheduled for wednesday.

http://preview.ibb.co/e9twDQ/WP_20151010_14_31_40_Pro.jpg (http://ibb.co/cD8UYQ)

I didn't think the old tie rods were that bad, but the steering feels a lot more stable.

So this year, at about 110k, I've completed the following refresher/maintenance items:
Fuel pump
Fuel filter
Tie rods
O2 sensors
Oil filter housing gasket
Belt tensioner
FCABs
Front and rear diff bushings
Rear subframe bushings
Upper inner rear control arm bushings
Valve cover gasket

Did the RTABs, outer rear control arm bushings, vanos, and spark plugs last year.

Only thing left to do is front control arms, sways, and shocks/struts and then I'll let my bank account heal. Maybe :)

[ELCID86]

^nicw work. Good plan.


Thumbs, iPhone, TaT.

[Vas]

How's the quality of those rods?

[rkneeshaw]

How's the quality of those rods?

Top notch. All the threads came protected with plastic caps, all joints are real nice and tight and pre-greased. I think Lemforder supplies the OEM units, my stock rods had the same red ring around the rubber boot on the rod end (its just dirty in the picture).

[Vas]

Nice.

[derbo]

I'm not used to having a project thread, I've forgotten to update it!

I recoded the MK60 DSC module to M3 specs for LSD, oversteer, and gear torque control settings. WAY better! More detail here: http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?12548-Programming-the-DSC-MK60-for-LSD&p=452730#post452730

And I replaced my O2 sensors, the bank 2 sensor was clearly fouled, it looked aweful. Now my O2 voltages are consistent between banks.

[IMG]http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k513/rkneeshaw/2003%20BMW%20330i%20ZHP/temporary_4_17.jpg/IMG] (http://s1113.photobucket.com/user/rkneeshaw/media/2003%20BMW%20330i%20ZHP/temporary_4_17.jpg.html)

Also, my fuel pump was getting tired and wasn't keeping up with the TS2 kit so I upgraded to the M3 fuel pump, and installed the baffle fixture while I was in there too

[IMG]http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k513/rkneeshaw/2003%20BMW%20330i%20ZHP/WP_20151001_14_30_43_Pro.jpg/IMG] (http://s1113.photobucket.com/user/rkneeshaw/media/2003%20BMW%20330i%20ZHP/WP_20151001_14_30_43_Pro.jpg.html)

[IMG]http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k513/rkneeshaw/2003%20BMW%20330i%20ZHP/WP_20151001_14_30_09_Pro%201.jpg/IMG] (http://s1113.photobucket.com/user/rkneeshaw/media/2003%20BMW%20330i%20ZHP/WP_20151001_14_30_09_Pro%201.jpg.html)


I thought the M3 pump used clip in fuel connectors not banjo bolts?

[rkneeshaw]

I thought the M3 pump used clip in fuel connectors not banjo bolts?

The M3 fuel line uses a clip on the end of it, but the hose barb on the fuel pump does not. In fact, the top of the M3 fuel pump looks EXACTLY like our stock fuel pump in every way, except its blue rather than white. The hose barbs are exactly the same.

[rkneeshaw]

derbo, here's a comparison, the stock pump is white, the M3 is blue, and the nipple that slides inside the hose is the same length, plug and play:

http://preview.ibb.co/hvYwDQ/WP_20151001_14_14_33_Pro.jpg (http://ibb.co/ng2Z05)

http://preview.ibb.co/bvDRV5/20151021_011555184_i_OS.jpg (http://ibb.co/iVTFOQ)

[rkneeshaw]

Had some fun the other day, I love this time of year

https://preview.ibb.co/mRPpiQ/20151019_213317119_i_OS.jpg (https://ibb.co/gQTFOQ)

[derbo]

The M3 fuel line uses a clip on the end of it, but the hose barb on the fuel pump does not. In fact, the top of the M3 fuel pump looks EXACTLY like our stock fuel pump in every way, except its blue rather than white. The hose barbs are exactly the same.

Roger. I was thinking of the hard fuel lines that were different when Kalim did his S54 swap. It's been awhile since I was looking at that so thanks for the clarification.

[rkneeshaw]

No problem, glad to help :hi

Replaced spark plugs and coils today, want to be in tip top shape for my dyno appointment on Saturday. These are the latest updated design just out this year, they no longer "pop" on or off, they just slide onto the plugs real smoothly

https://preview.ibb.co/gyhaOQ/20151021_182319759_i_OS.jpg (https://ibb.co/n0Mrxk)

Also been diagnosing some brake judder. Its always found a way to come back with my StopTech Street Performance pads and a few sets of rotors. Turns out that these pads need a proper bedding in and I haven't done that before. Did two bedding procedures, and need to probably do one more. You can see the pad material is starting to transfer nicely but its still not full coverage yet.

https://preview.ibb.co/iVhyck/20151020_210056948_i_OS.jpg (https://ibb.co/b2A6V5)

I've also removed the spacers and thoroughly cleaned the rotor and wheel mating surfaces. The judder is probably 90% gone now, but I'm still getting a little nibble when stopping somewhat aggressively from 80 mph or so.

[Vas]

Part number on those coils?

[derbo]

Hopefully you resolve that brake judder Ryan. I alway bed in my pads regardless of brand or type LOL. Thats just me though..

[rkneeshaw]

Part number on those coils?

Bosch 00044

Best price I found was eEuroparts.com: http://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/32941/Ignition-Coil-Updated-Version-12137594937/


Hopefully you resolve that brake judder Ryan. I alway bed in my pads regardless of brand or type LOL. Thats just me though..

I've learned a lot in the last few days. Most important thing to me has been learning what that rotor should look like when the pads are bedded properly. I just never knew what to look for before. I'll be bedding pads properly from here forward... Brake judder is so annoying.

[derbo]

Bosch 00044

Best price I found was eEuroparts.com: http://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/32941/Ignition-Coil-Updated-Version-12137594937/



I've learned a lot in the last few days. Most important thing to me has been learning what that rotor should look like when the pads are bedded properly. I just never knew what to look for before. I'll be bedding pads properly from here forward... Brake judder is so annoying.

Yup. I gone through a ton of rotors when I was learning my car at the track back in 2010.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Vas]

Bosch 00044

Best price I found was eEuroparts.com: http://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/32941/Ignition-Coil-Updated-Version-12137594937/



I've learned a lot in the last few days. Most important thing to me has been learning what that rotor should look like when the pads are bedded properly. I just never knew what to look for before. I'll be bedding pads properly from here forward... Brake judder is so annoying.
$27 each. Man that's cheap

[ELCID86]

$27 each. Man that's cheap

Good price. And the new version.


Thumbs, iPhone, TaT.

[bcleaver]

sweet ride! So you noticed a difference by switching out the tie rods? I wouldn't have guess that would create that much play, so that's pretty interesting. Also, m3 fuel baffle FTW. That would be on my 'top 5' best bang for the buck mod for these cars.

[rkneeshaw]

Na, the tie rods probably didn't make that big of a difference, turns out my alignment was off, so that helped the most :) That fuel baffle was super easy. Someone said if you ask your self "was it really that easy?", yes, yes it is.

Dyno appointment didn't happen. Frustrating experience. Drove 2 out of the 3 hours to get there just to find out the guy went into the hospital with back pain the day before, and nobody called me. I'll have to reschedule, but I dont know if that will happen before it snows and this thing goes into winter hibernation

[rkneeshaw]

I finally got a dyno completed, but I knew it wasn't going to be right because I already knew I was running extremely rich during WOT (about 9:1 AFR). Apparently the TS2 tune lengthens the injector pulse widths to compensate for what I think is a tapering off of fuel pressure at WOT with the stock fuel pump. That is how they keep the AFR right even though the stock pump is fully taxed. When I installed the M3 fuel pump I went very rich at WOT because, well, the m3 pump can keep up properly and the injector pulse widths need to be adjusted accordingly. That's my theory anyway. Here are the results on the stock ESS tune, but with the M3 fuel pump, you can see how how rich it gets and how the power is off.

https://preview.ibb.co/ftxLq5/20151104_171653054_i_OS.jpg (https://ibb.co/dT5jHk)

https://preview.ibb.co/j5feiQ/Dyno_Graph20151104.jpg (https://ibb.co/bUQqq5)

AJ at ESS has been working with me on an updated tune and the car is really feeling a lot stronger! So now I need to schedule another dyno, but it's about to snow so that probably won't happen until the spring.

In other news it looks like my balancer has slipped.

https://preview.ibb.co/hmJFOQ/20151029_162022346_i_OS.jpg (https://ibb.co/fyHmV5)

I'm not sure what I'll replace it with. The ATI damper is like $1000 which is crazy, and a stock part will just fail again eventually. I've got some inquiries into BHJ to see if they could make a balancer and sell it at an affordable price point. I guess we'll see. I'll probably end up with another stock damper if that doesn't pan out.

And because you can never have enough power I upgraded from the 85mm TS2 pulley to the 83mm pulley that ESS originally included in the TS2 kits. Requires I run 93 AKI gasoline instead of 91, and should net me about 10hp according to AJ

https://preview.ibb.co/f64N3Q/20151110_181810967_i_OS.jpg (https://ibb.co/gWxyck)

:pimp

[slater]

look at that torque curve! dang!! (not much of a curve ;) )

i would love a ride in your car.

[johnrando]

Sweet

[BMWCurves]

look at that torque curve! dang!! (not much of a curve ;) )

i would love a ride in your car.

Seriously flat. That's impressive. The want for the ESS kit is strong :drool

Sorry to hear about the balancer slipping/failing. This part, specifically: 11237513862?

[Vas]

Man that A/F Ratio drops soo quickly.

Do you what the duty cycle of the injectors? Maxing out a pump is not a good idea either way.

[rkneeshaw]

Thanks guys, the torque is yummy. I'm eager to see what the dyno graph looks like with a healthier tune. :rockon


Sorry to hear about the balancer slipping/failing. This part, specifically: 11237513862?

Yep, that's the OEM part number. You can get a Febi or Gates brand replacement for like $160, but they maintain the stock design and materials. A BMW branded part is like $400. I'm also looking at a Dayco that runs about $270, and while it is the same exact design, Dayco claims they use OEM+ type materials, not sure exactly what that means though.


Man that A/F Ratio drops soo quickly.

Do you what the duty cycle of the injectors? Maxing out a pump is not a good idea either way.

Yeah it dropped off fast and was basically bottoming out the lower limits of the O2 sensors range through the whole RPM range. I believe we have 24lb/hr injectors in our cars from the factory, and the ESS TS2 kit comes with red bosch injectors that I think are 30lb/hr. Fuel pressure at WOT should be about 60psi at the rail based on my calculations (Our FPR runs 50psi at atmosphere plus the 10psi boost). I'm having a hard time finding any specs on our stock fuel pump or the M3 fuel pump for that matter, so I'm not sure how they compare, except that I know in stock form our fuel pump only needs to feed about 50psi or so while the M3 pump feeds something like 70psi for the S54 motors. So the M3 pump should be more than up to the task now.

AJ made a comment once that the AFR at higher RPM's is limited by fuel on these kits. That kind of makes me think the extra fuel requirements push the stock pump to its limits.

[rkneeshaw]

Its Spring, and the car is filthy, and its still too cold to do too much work out in the garage, but I've got some plans. However, I spent a few minutes and fixed the annoying HK tweeter rattle I've had for a while now. It sounded like the tweeter was blown and was driving me nuts.

Note to self: next time you reinstall the door cards make sure you have all of these installed, along with the round black rubber insulator, and that none are broken
https://preview.ibb.co/mgeN3Q/IMG_20160401_1737359.jpg (https://ibb.co/nDFvOQ)

[BMWCurves]

Yup, I just purchased a bunch of those that have foam washers and a handful with rubber washers to try and eliminate some door rattle. Did they solve your tweeter rattle?

[derbo]

Those rubber insulators are also seals for water leaks too! :)

[ELCID86]

EBay can be a good source for them.


---
"ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - anonymous

[rkneeshaw]

Yup, I just purchased a bunch of those that have foam washers and a handful with rubber washers to try and eliminate some door rattle. Did they solve your tweeter rattle?

Yep, crystal clear now! The commute is so much more pleasant. its the little things that count

[ZacharyMikel]

I love your car! Sooooo jealous of your supercharger setup.

[rkneeshaw]

I love your car! Sooooo jealous of your supercharger setup.

Thanks dude, I love the wheels on your car, looks real good

[rkneeshaw]

I had Michelin Pilot Super Sports installed, and I LOVE em.

Also, had the car dyno'd again now that I've got the ESS tune sorted out (mostly)

https://preview.ibb.co/mfQ1xk/Dyno_Graph20160514.jpg (https://ibb.co/dDtAq5)

The AFR here is about .5 too lean, because its measured from the tailpipe. My data logs measured from the header read about .5 richer.

[Vas]

Nice numbers

[rkneeshaw]

Nice numbers

Thanks dude, car is running strong. But can't stop thinking about phase 2.... FI cams, smaller pulley, methenol injection....

[rkneeshaw]

M56 valve cover with integrated CCV. Good bye oil catch can, you won't be missed.

I can't decide if I like it semi-naked, or with the full M56 covers on.

http://preview.ibb.co/hL7yck/IMG_20160520_1956106.jpg (http://ibb.co/kY123Q)

http://preview.ibb.co/mJXWxk/IMG_20160520_1956039.jpg (http://ibb.co/fk1PHk)

http://preview.ibb.co/bwrPHk/IMG_20160520_2004172.jpg (http://ibb.co/m5QUiQ)

http://preview.ibb.co/k3vUiQ/IMG_20160520_2004079.jpg (http://ibb.co/hDAJck)

[slater]

awesome! i was wondering if you'd gotten that done or not!

first things first - where does the line off the valve cover go to? right to the intake manifold, right?

next, i like the covers on. :)

[Vas]

Covers on.

[Sockethead]

I like it covered...without it, it looks unfinished/incomplete for some reason...
I'm not familiar with this mod, I read the whole thread on e46f... very interesting. What did you end up doing with the integrated check valve in the ESS unit?

[BMWCurves]

+1 for covers on. That's really cool. Keep us updated on that M56 cover solution, seems like a good one long term.

[rkneeshaw]

awesome! i was wondering if you'd gotten that done or not!

first things first - where does the line off the valve cover go to? right to the intake manifold, right?

next, i like the covers on. :)

Yep, right to the manifold for vacuum.


I like it covered...without it, it looks unfinished/incomplete for some reason...
I'm not familiar with this mod, I read the whole thread on e46f... very interesting. What did you end up doing with the integrated check valve in the ESS unit?

I ended up keeping it, so I technically have two PCV/CCV's now, lol. I can't really see a way to remove the PCV that ESS bolts to the top of the twin screw manifold, so I left it. Both the PCV and the CCV's valve serve the same exact function, to regulate the vacuum being applied to the crankcase. When one opens, the other does too, so it works, and with the M56 valve covers design I can get the condensed oil/gas vapor draining back into the head rather than pissing down my twin screws and intake runners.


+1 for covers on. That's really cool. Keep us updated on that M56 cover solution, seems like a good one long term.

Its working out great so far. I've left the catch can in the loop for now just to see how much less junk it picks up. I'll check it in a few days and see if its still dry. But the car is running real good so far.

[rkneeshaw]

I've never had rub using 10mm spacers at all four corners when I ran the Continental ExtremeContact DW's, but now that I'm running Michelin Pilot Super Sports I get a little rub in the rear. So, fender roll time

https://preview.ibb.co/nbGPHk/1_BB12_DFA_8_ECE_49_F5_8_BB8_F427_B2_BF5_F04.jpg (https://ibb.co/isVUiQ)

The fender has a U shape to it, but the one leg of the U is bent inward so the tire was rubbing it. Used the fender roller to push that out a but so the lip is more like a true U, and that gave me the 2mm or so I needed to clear.

[Sockethead]

I see you're still running the stock springs... 3 stripes. I've run 3 different brands of tires, all the same "size" but they were all different widths. The fattest were at least an inch wider than the skinniest... go figure

[rkneeshaw]

I see you're still running the stock springs... 3 stripes. I've run 3 different brands of tires, all the same "size" but they were all different widths. The fattest were at least an inch wider than the skinniest... go figure

That's a big difference! Yep, still on stock suspension (other than the bushings), stock wheels, stock tire sizes, and 10mm spacers.

[rkneeshaw]

Installed an overrun alternator pulley today (see this thread here: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=806821). Its slightly larger than the stock pulley so there's a slight underdrive effect too.

https://preview.ibb.co/fxMDA5/7_A10642_E_06_BC_4_F0_E_A5_F9_CBB274_AD774_D.jpg (https://ibb.co/ieORV5)

And, reinstalled the Turner power pulley kit too (the waterpump and power steering pulleys). With the TS2 kit this required a Gates K060760 or 6PK1928 belt.

[rkneeshaw]

Its working out great so far. I've left the catch can in the loop for now just to see how much less junk it picks up. I'll check it in a few days and see if its still dry. But the car is running real good so far.

Update on the M56 with built in oil seperating CCV, its working great. I checked the catch can after a week and its empty. Normally the can would be almost full by now. Shwing!

[Sockethead]

awesome! Time for me to start checking junkyards :)

[BMWCurves]

Update on the M56 with built in oil seperating CCV, its working great. I checked the catch can after a week and its empty. Normally the can would be almost full by now. Shwing!

Great! So what parts were needed for this conversion apart from the M56 valve cover? You should post a quick how-to if it's not too involved (or maybe you should if it is very involved :p)

[rkneeshaw]

awesome! Time for me to start checking junkyards :)

Thats the way to go. And ask them to take a picture too. They rarely know the difference. I bet some 325i "valve covers" are actually M56 valve covers. I found mine for about $170 shipped.


Great! So what parts were needed for this conversion apart from the M56 valve cover? You should post a quick how-to if it's not too involved (or maybe you should if it is very involved :p)

Check out this thread here, it has part numbers and more detail for an installation on a NA car: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1066308

[rkneeshaw]

Car is running so good. Such a beautiful day for a drive too


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VokFFl9qndI

[BMWCurves]

Car is running so good. Such a beautiful day for a drive too


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VokFFl9qndI

Sounds so good :drool

[slater]

that's awesome, ryan! nice work!

[rkneeshaw]

Developed a small vacuum leak that was causing some rough cold starts and occasional hunting idle. Found it:

https://image.ibb.co/cuoFOQ/IMG_20160724_1803357.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)

Re-seated the ESS supercharger's bypass valve hose and straightened the hose clamps:

https://image.ibb.co/eMBrxk/IMG_20160724_1824015.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)

Runs flawlessly again.

I love driving this car.

Beauty shot from work the other day:

https://preview.ibb.co/j3jN3Q/IMG_20160622_1703467.jpg (https://ibb.co/emOtA5)

[ZacharyMikel]

Just watched your vid. That noise makes me wanna go spend $7k on a supercharger setup......

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[danewilson77]

Looks so good.

S7 Edge, out

[rkneeshaw]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

I painted the front lower grille, can't believe how grey it had gotten.

And, while I was in there, I removed a section of plastic that was blocking off probably 30% of the intercooler. She should get some real good air now.

Next up is a car wash lol

https://preview.ibb.co/i6i4Hk/IMG_20160806_2015525.jpg (https://ibb.co/kdKdck)

[rkneeshaw]

I developed another small leak in the fuel pressure regulator vacuum line, the rubber ends had deteriated enough that they cracked open. Symptoms were rough cold starts, a slightly shaky idle, poor gas mileage (19mpg vs the normal 21mpg), and car felt down on power. I think I accelerated the problem when I pulled that line to do a vacuum test a week or two ago. Its definitely a newer issue. I replaced the hose and car runs strong and smooth again.

Also, this arrived today

https://preview.ibb.co/fYwPHk/IMG_20160824_1911451.jpg (https://ibb.co/e84piQ)

:happyspidey

[rkneeshaw]

ATI Super Damper installed

https://preview.ibb.co/mkXyck/IMG_20160905_1305527.jpg (https://ibb.co/m9grxk)

Ready for road racing!

[Sockethead]

How much did that set you back? That should help with the common oil pump issue too

[rkneeshaw]

Too much, I still struggle with spending this much money on a damper. I got in on VAC's 10% off sale, but still cost me over $800. Ouch, it hurts to say it.

[Sockethead]

It sucks that the ATI is the only aftermarket performance dampener for m54b30...
You mentioned that your OEM damper spun on you. Did you notice any difference with this? Engine any smoother?

[johnrando]

Interested as well

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[ELCID86]

Too much, I still struggle with spending this much money on a damper. I got in on VAC's 10% off sale, but still cost me over $800. Ouch, it hurts to say it.

Ouch is right. Wow.

[rkneeshaw]

You mentioned that your OEM damper spun on you.

So I need to correct this


In other news it looks like my balancer has slipped.

https://preview.ibb.co/hmJFOQ/20151029_162022346_i_OS.jpg (https://ibb.co/fyHmV5)


I found a thread on e46f that shows that even new balancers/dampers look like this. So at this point I don't know how to tell if your stock damper is good or not. But given the age of my car and mileage, and because I want to track the car, I think the ATI damper was the right move.


Did you notice any difference with this? Engine any smoother?

The engine is noticeably smoother above 6k RPM, thats about all I've noticed so far. And my oil pump nut still hasn't come off yet lol

[Sockethead]

It would be nice to know how to tell if it's spun. If we knew that, then we could paint mark the balancer. That way we would know it'd it has spun or not in the future

[rkneeshaw]

Well I think one way it can fail is if it spins, and of course thats a problem. A more subtle way it might fail is if the rubber is aged and the damper isn't absorbing vibrations as well as it used to, and that I don't know how you would know.

[rkneeshaw]

Finally got the notice that the drivers side airbag recall parts were available. Called the local dealer and they had the part the next day and my recall was done in just a couple hours. Comes with a nice new roundel in the middle of the steering wheel

https://preview.ibb.co/egSWxk/IMG_20160909_1711215.jpg (https://ibb.co/fE34Hk)

And then today I tackled a little lighting project.

I always felt the AL headlights created a blurry cutoff, so I swapped in a set of OEM ZKW projector lenses using this DIY (http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=801408), and it turned out great

https://preview.ibb.co/fPA1xk/IMG_20160911_1550544.jpg (https://ibb.co/hxkZHk)

https://preview.ibb.co/ePzuHk/IMG_20160911_1551106.jpg (https://ibb.co/dz6KiQ)

Hard to capture the look in photos, but in person the Osram CBI's look like diamonds. Very sexy looking, and the cutoff is super crisp.

[Vas]

Did your car come with AL headlights ?

The front end looks crisp

[johnrando]

Good stuff

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[rkneeshaw]

Did your car come with AL headlights ?

The front end looks crisp

Thanks! The low light hides all the rock chips in the paint :( Going to have to get a respray someday soon.

Yeah my car came with AL headlights, I guess it sounds like I was lucky so I didn't have the burnt bowl issue. The bowls in the AL headlights are metal.

[GreatFrog]

Hey Ryan, regarding the new driver's side airbag, do you feel the quality is any inferior to the original unit? I am talking about the textured surface and the roundel. Do you notice any nuance difference between the new one and the original one? I am planning to get the recall done, but am afraid of quality going down these days.


Finally got the notice that the drivers side airbag recall parts were available. Called the local dealer and they had the part the next day and my recall was done in just a couple hours. Comes with a nice new roundel in the middle of the steering wheel

.

[rkneeshaw]

Hey Ryan, regarding the new driver's side airbag, do you feel the quality is any inferior to the original unit? I am talking about the textured surface and the roundel. Do you notice any nuance difference between the new one and the original one? I am planning to get the recall done, but am afraid of quality going down these days.

Honestly, no, I can't tell any quality difference, other than the surface texture feels and looks fresh and new again. Roundel looks great. My stock parts were 13 years old with 120k miles on them. I couldn't be happier, and I'm quite picky about that kind of thing. I would have been pissed if I had the slightest thought that it wasn't top notch.

[GreatFrog]

Got the airbag recall done at Austin dealer. The airbag turned out really nice, the fresh matte finish matches the steering wheel trim really well. However they somehow managed to scuff my lower trim. So I was really happy while extremely pissed off. Airbag in the first pic. Scuffs in 2nd. What do you guys think?

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161001/c4ed2d77727742b3fd866eff16a0ce2b.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161001/a26aa16336b7268bfc4163eef086d5f0.jpg

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[fredo]

It will bother me. Did you mention to them ?

[GreatFrog]

It will bother me. Did you mention to them ?

Yeah. I talked to Chris Brice, my service advisor, immediately after I noticed the scratches. Chris is a super cool guy, he first offered refinishing the piece for me, but later agreed to replace it with a new one after I insisted (upon manager's approval though). I thought the technicians would pay extra attention when they service a nice clean vintage car, but I was wrong... I almost felt guilty that I forgot to ask for extra care beforehand, thinking most BMW owners won't be as picky as I am.

[johnrando]

Glad you stuck to your guns and they did right by you.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[Whammy]

Hey Ryan,

I saw your MF Exhaust install thread on E46F and I have a few questions.

INSTALL NOTES
* The clamps included with the kit seem like good quality and the instructions call for 65 ft-lbs. I would STRONGLY recommend only torquing to 50 ft-lbs, after my experience and some research I did on the Accu-Seal clamps themselves. Trying to torque to 65 ft-lbs caused one of the clamps to de-thread, and I had to take it to a shop to have it removed and replaced with a free clamp sent from Magnaflow (good customer service!). I did get some rasp while I waited for a good clamp to arrive due to what must have been a slight leak even though the clamp was torqued to probably 35 ft-lbs before it broke. I also learned you want to install the clamps as close to the end of the overlapping pipe as possible, this will help it seal better.


Given that you had issues with the clamps, would you tell people just to weld the exhaust outright and not deal with the clamps? I saw in later posts you had the exhaust welded. Just trying to figure out the better approach.



* Yes I had this issue. The bracket off the transmission that holds on to the two exhaust pipes just a few inches behind the headers will not work with the magnaflow exhaust without bending the brackets a bit to accommodate the larger piping. It is very important to re-install this brace as it helps with clearance below the rear transmission mount. Also, it will keep the exhaust noise in the cabin down near stock levels and prevents drone. Bend this brace and get it installed, its important IMO.

* Like others I had to modify the isolators that connect to the tabs at about the half-way point, right in front of the x-pipe. Just a quick shave and they sit real nice. I also added a washer between the tabs and the isolators to help give a slight bit more of clearance between the bottom of the pipes and the crossbrace itself. More info with pics here: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpost.php?p=10752154&postcount=289

* I struggled slightly with connecting the x-pipe section to the forward section. The x-pipe section's pipes where about 1/4" too close together to slide on to the forward section flawlessly, so I had to use a hammer to beat the flanges out a bit and muscle it on there. Nothing an exhaust shop would flinch about I'm sure they deal with that all the time.


Just wanted to confirm this. Given the pictures here: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpost.php?p=13489980&postcount=26, there are two support/braces which attach the exhaust and the car. Both need to be modified slightly in order to fix and/or reduce noise.



* My car required about 3/8" to 1/2" worth of spacers/washers between the second crossbrace (the one with the rubber isolators that connects to the exhaust) and the car to prevent a loud rattling/vibration. Without these spacers the exhaust piping just in front of the forward resonator/muffler rests against the transmission mount/support and makes the entire car vibrate like a mofo. I did use longer bolts too, they were M8 1.25 pitch if I remember right, about 1/2" longer than stock.


Were longer bolts required? Or did you add the washers because you used longer bolts?

[rkneeshaw]

Given that you had issues with the clamps, would you tell people just to weld the exhaust outright and not deal with the clamps? I saw in later posts you had the exhaust welded. Just trying to figure out the better approach.

Honestly I still have clamps holding on the rear section, but I had the front sections welded. I think welding is much better, but, if you ever plan to sell the exhaust the future then it basically means you'll never be able to ship it. I happen to have a great welding shop nearby that can properly weld stainless steel and he did an amazing job. To do it again, I'd probably have him weld the rear section too.


Just wanted to confirm this. Given the pictures here: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpost.php?p=13489980&postcount=26, there are two support/braces which attach the exhaust and the car. Both need to be modified slightly in order to fix and/or reduce noise.

Only the rearward brace needs spacers and has mounts. The front one is just a plate and it did not need spacers.


Were longer bolts required? Or did you add the washers because you used longer bolts?

I used longer bolts because I needed to use spacers for clearance. So for 3/8" worth of spacers I used a 3/8" longer bolt. You might be able to re-use the stock bolts with some spacer, I can't remember though.

[Whammy]

Honestly I still have clamps holding on the rear section, but I had the front sections welded. I think welding is much better, but, if you ever plan to sell the exhaust the future then it basically means you'll never be able to ship it. I happen to have a great welding shop nearby that can properly weld stainless steel and he did an amazing job. To do it again, I'd probably have him weld the rear section too.


Ok, thanks for the info. I'll talk with my shop to see what approach they want to do.



Only the rearward brace needs spacers and has mounts. The front one is just a plate and it did not need spacers.


Ok, but did both supports need to be modified? It sounds like the rear support needs a grinder wheel taken to the mount points, and the transmission brace needs to be bent. Is that correct?



I used longer bolts because I needed to use spacers for clearance. So for 3/8" worth of spacers I used a 3/8" longer bolt. You might be able to re-use the stock bolts with some spacer, I can't remember though.


Ok, I'll stop by a hardware store and grab stuff for the install.

[rkneeshaw]

Ok, but did both supports need to be modified? It sounds like the rear support needs a grinder wheel taken to the mount points, and the transmission brace needs to be bent. Is that correct?

Well to be more clear, there are two cross braces near the middle of the car. Of those two, only the rearward one needs to have the mounds modified and spacers installed. Then there is the transmission brace, that needs to be bent a bit to fit around the larger pipes that the magnaflow system has.

[rkneeshaw]

Made another trip to the dyno today.

First I wanted to see if the underdrive pulleys and ATI super damper made any difference.

https://preview.ibb.co/hEKGV5/Dyno_Graph_20161022_underdrivepullies.jpg (https://ibb.co/ghjiA5)

Nice little improvement above 5k RPM.

Then I wanted to test the difference between the 83mm pulley and a 79mm pulley. My tune has conservative ignition timing and is a bit rich with the 83mm pulley, so that gives me some headroom that allows me to run the 79mm pulley without a change to my tune.

https://preview.ibb.co/jL1wV5/Dyno_Graph_20161022_79vs83mmpulley.jpg (https://ibb.co/ckm8ck)

The 83mm pulley creates 10psi of peak boost, and the 79mm pulley makes about 11.5psi peak boost. Both measured before the intercooler cores, which means actual boost is approximately 1-2psi less than that.

Here's an updated NA vs TS2 dyno

https://preview.ibb.co/nPeTck/Dyno_Graph_20161022.jpg (https://ibb.co/kTv1xk)

Car pulls so strong in the cooler fall air. I love this time of year.

[Sockethead]

Your NA number is really good. Was that with the headers and a tune?
My car was about 30 hp lower NA so I'll probably never see numbers as high as yours with the TS2.
What gear. Are you using for your pulls?

It's interesting see where your DISA was opening on the NA run. Since the whole manifold is pulled with the TS2, there is no drop at all. This seems to support my theory that the 4K dip is just the DISA opening and disrupting the manifold volume and flow for a split second

[rkneeshaw]

The NA dyno was done with headers, exhaust, bmw performance intake, turner underdrive pulleys, and ESS tune.

Both those pulls were in 4th gear. They should have been in 5th gear, that is the 1:1 gear.

But in the dyno sheet above comparing before and after the underdrive pulleys, one pull was in 5th (the before) and the other was in 4th (after). I didn't know that he used a different gear or I would have said something. I'll be sure to check that next time I dyno to ensure apples to apples comparisons.

[Sockethead]

I wonder how much 4th gear skews the results....

[rkneeshaw]

Welcome to 2017!

Today I completed my first HPDE track day in the 330i, and I LOVED it! Here are some of my notes.

Car details for the day:
Stock ZHP suspension with some poly bushings
Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, stock wheels, stock staggered sizes
StopTech Street Performance pads, braided brake lines, ATE Type 200 fluid, otherwise stock brakes
ESS TS2, ATI Super Damper, Turner power pulleys, headers, Magnaflow cat-back
Wavetrac LSD, stock drive ratio
Partly cloudy, 72 degrees F

https://preview.ibb.co/mEbxnk/DSC_0491.jpg (https://ibb.co/njTotQ)

First a note on the pads. I think the stoptech pads are an aggressive street pad, meaning, through normal street driving you will wear off the transferred pad material on the rotor surface that you should have from your first bedding procedure. And, that means you get good cold temp bite from the pads. But, on your first lap or two on track, you'll feel brake fade, but, it will go away. Once you re-transfer the pad material back to the rotor surface after a couple hot laps the pads will really start to work well. I had no more brake fade the entire rest of the day after the first lap or two. On the flip side, after the rotors have a nice transfer of pad material after the day of laps, that cold temp bite suffers again, at least until that transferred pad material gradually wears off. Oh, and even after a track day, I have very little dust on the wheels. I'm quite pleased with these pads.

Second, a note on the tires. I have heard it said in racing all the time that you need to get heat into the tires before they grip well, and I didn't realize how much that applied to a street tire like the Pilot Super Sports too. On the first lap out I can get the rear real loose in 3rd gear, but once I had a lap under the belt I was able to get right into the throttle coming out of turns in 3rd gear and the rear would just squat and plant and off I went. I was very happy with how well the PSS held up too. After a few sessions I had some nice scrub on the shoulder blocks but no chunking or anything ugly.

https://preview.ibb.co/njsQOQ/IMG_20170527_1137260.jpg (https://ibb.co/cDtAq5)

Which brings me to this e46 chassis, I really think its sweet spot is 300whp or so. With a summer street tire in the stock sizes and LSD, its just the right amount of power. The car is able to put it down quite nicely. I also think this chassis is very well balanced. I did not have any problem turning in at all (I employed trailbraking, which means the front of the car was loaded upon turn-in and it worked really well), I never felt like the front end was plowing at all, it turned in very well, went neutral mid-turn, and then rolling onto the throttle caused the weight to shift and the rear end to bite down and power out. I REALLY liked the way the car felt today.

I'm also happy to report that I didn't notice any heatsoak with the TS2 at all, and I ran her HARD today. It was a pleasure overtaking mustangs, C6 corvettes, and really everything I came across. I'm sure there were quite a few surprised drivers to see an almost 15-year old little 330i pressing in their rear view :)

I did however have challenges with my tune from ESS. I've had an issue where the car will buck if I ease off full throttle above 4k RPMs. And, on the track, this is downright scary and dangerous. So I'll be taking this up with ESS and demanding they address it.

At the end of the day I'm very happy with the car overall, and I can't wait until the next track day!

[ELCID86]

Happy new year [emoji312]! Great report. Sounds like a fun time. Hope you get the 4K dip sorted out.


---
"ZHP is a garbage option anyway- just some cosmetic upgrades with a different cam and diff to claw back some of the performance lost fitting those hideous and heavy wheels. Any 330 with a 3.46 diff will smoke a ZHP every time. The whole Mafia thing reeks of childish behavior." - anonymous E46 fanatic

[Sockethead]

Glad you had a great day in your car. Sounds like you have it dialed in pretty well. About the bucking, mine does something similar if I cycle the throttle too fast. I think it's the mechanical bypass valve. That's the first place I would look

[rkneeshaw]

It happens when I go full throttle and then start to ease off of throttle approaching redline. Or, it is also happening if I try to hold the RPM's at about 5k or so and lightly modulate the throttle. Very annoying, and a bit dangerous when I was in the long sweeping turns 8 and 9.

Video is up from one of the earlier sessiosn that day:


https://youtu.be/79K8W73SZ24

[Vas]

It happens when I go full throttle and then start to ease off of throttle approaching redline. Or, it is also happening if I try to hold the RPM's at about 5k or so and lightly modulate the throttle. Very annoying, and a bit dangerous when I was in the long sweeping turns 8 and 9.

Video is up from one of the earlier sessiosn that day:


https://youtu.be/79K8W73SZ24

Looks like a good time. Thanks for sharing.

[Sockethead]

Yes

[slater]

Which brings me to this e46 chassis, I really think its sweet spot is 300whp or so. With a summer street tire in the stock sizes and LSD, its just the right amount of power. The car is able to put it down quite nicely. I also think this chassis is very well balanced. I did not have any problem turning in at all (I employed trailbraking, which means the front of the car was loaded upon turn-in and it worked really well), I never felt like the front end was plowing at all, it turned in very well, went neutral mid-turn, and then rolling onto the throttle caused the weight to shift and the rear end to bite down and power out. I REALLY liked the way the car felt today.

I'm also happy to report that I didn't notice any heatsoak with the TS2 at all, and I ran her HARD today. It was a pleasure overtaking mustangs, C6 corvettes, and really everything I came across. I'm sure there were quite a few surprised drivers to see an almost 15-year old little 330i pressing in their rear view :)

I did however have challenges with my tune from ESS. I've had an issue where the car will buck if I ease off full throttle above 4k RPMs. And, on the track, this is downright scary and dangerous. So I'll be taking this up with ESS and demanding they address it.

that is great news about the lack of heatsoak... and WOW did the speed build quickly above 70MPH in your video! :)

re: the chassis - now that you've done a track day with all of that rubber in the rear suspension, imagine how well you'll get the power down with some tweaks. :) spherical RTABs and lock down the rear subframe and diff and you'll be amazed at not only more grip, but how smooth it will be.



It happens when I go full throttle and then start to ease off of throttle approaching redline. Or, it is also happening if I try to hold the RPM's at about 5k or so and lightly modulate the throttle. Very annoying, and a bit dangerous when I was in the long sweeping turns 8 and 9.

Video is up from one of the earlier sessiosn that day:


https://youtu.be/79K8W73SZ24

thanks for the video! i love the semi-muted bits.... i can appreciate your frustration. :)

[rkneeshaw]

that is great news about the lack of heatsoak... and WOW did the speed build quickly above 70MPH in your video! :)

re: the chassis - now that you've done a track day with all of that rubber in the rear suspension, imagine how well you'll get the power down with some tweaks. :) spherical RTABs and lock down the rear subframe and diff and you'll be amazed at not only more grip, but how smooth it will be.




thanks for the video! i love the semi-muted bits.... i can appreciate your frustration. :)

lol! You nailed me! I couldn't let everyone hear my potty mouth lol! There was a miata out there that day that I swear drove 30mph around every corner, it was brutal.

Funny you mention the spherical RTABs, I was just researching those last night. I'm trying to find reports whether NVH is increased with them or if its not noticable. I was thinking Bimmerworld but synchro design works look super sexy and are sealed. I'm not sure how either compare to Turner's monoball RTAB either though, so I have more researching to do. I also think its time I get adjustable rear control arms so I can finally get the camber setting correct back there.

And look at that, I did what I said I woudln't do and am already finding more mods to make :)

I need to get a OBD dongle too, that speed in the video is GPS based so sometimes it bounces around a bit. With a OBD dongle I'll be able to get the actual car's speedo speed overlayed on the video along with RPM and throttle inputs too.

[slater]

lol! You nailed me! I couldn't let everyone hear my potty mouth lol! There was a miata out there that day that I swear drove 30mph around every corner, it was brutal.

Funny you mention the spherical RTABs, I was just researching those last night. I'm trying to find reports whether NVH is increased with them or if its not noticable. I was thinking Bimmerworld but synchro design works look super sexy and are sealed. I'm not sure how either compare to Turner's monoball RTAB either though, so I have more researching to do. I also think its time I get adjustable rear control arms so I can finally get the camber setting correct back there.

the syncro design works' ones have a sleeker aluminum casing compared to the BW ones, but inside they appear to be using the same bearing - a sealed OEM bearing. either would be a good choice!

i run the BW ones (the syncro ones weren't available at that time), and i can happily report no increase in NVH. the feel of the rear end, especially under power, is so much different.

i would also recommend replacing both outer control arm bushings with OE M3 units - you'll get better wheel/hub articulation too.

re: the control arms - i elected to keep the factory ones, but i boxed them in for strength. the adjustable ones are nice, just expensive for me when i don't need more camber adjustment than the stock eccentric bolts provide (i replace the bolts - mine were corroded so badly!).

:cheers

[rkneeshaw]

the syncro design works' ones have a sleeker aluminum casing compared to the BW ones, but inside they appear to be using the same bearing - a sealed OEM bearing. either would be a good choice!

i run the BW ones (the syncro ones weren't available at that time), and i can happily report no increase in NVH. the feel of the rear end, especially under power, is so much different.

That's great to hear that kind of feedback!


i would also recommend replacing both outer control arm bushings with OE M3 units - you'll get better wheel/hub articulation too.

Already done, did that when I did some rear bushing maintenance a while ago. I just noticed poweflex have come out with the rear control arm inner upper and inner lower poly bushings, those might be a nice upgrade too.


re: the control arms - i elected to keep the factory ones, but i boxed them in for strength. the adjustable ones are nice, just expensive for me when i don't need more camber adjustment than the stock eccentric bolts provide (i replace the bolts - mine were corroded so badly!).


Nice, my car for some reason can't be brought into spec with the stock bolts. One side is good at -2, the other can only get to -1.7. I wonder if when the subframe was reinforced and reinstalled if it was just ever so slightly aligned to one side of the car more than the other. Oh well.

I told myself after the track day event that the only upgrade I need to be thinking about is me and my skills. But I'm having a very hard time resisting the temptation to dip the toe into the water here... and then I hope I don't fall in and go full racecar :)

[rkneeshaw]

My sway bar bushings are factory originals and almost 15 years and almost 130k miles old. So today I installed PowerFlex front and rear sway bar bushings. Car is really responsive now. I'm not sure it will cut down on the body roll too drastically on track, but on the street the car feels really great.

http://preview.ibb.co/iG28xv/IMG_20170703_1909031.jpg (http://ibb.co/hzsVAF)

Also, I installed a used Borla cat-back.

http://preview.ibb.co/bSNgxk/IMG_20170624_1310274.jpg (http://ibb.co/bLeiA5)

The sound is definitely different than the Magnaflow. I really do like the Borla, it sounds very German and almost makes me think of Porsche. Also, it is quieter, especially in the lower RPM's, so mission accomplished! I have some before audio from the Magnaflow captured on the GoPro so I'm going to capture the same video with the Borla and hopefully we will have a good comparison.

And, based on my butt dyno I don't think I've lost any power. Dyno is scheduled for Aug 12 so then we shall see.

[BMWCurves]

Look forward to an audio comparison of the two exhausts.

[704sw]

All the Borla videos I've seen sound really nice, but +1 on wanting to hear a comparison. I'm leaning towards "TSE3 is too loud," which leaves the Magnaflow and Borla as the top contenders.

[rkneeshaw]

Got out to take some video of the exhaust today. Take a listen and tell me what you think.


https://youtu.be/yVQ0lKMzif4

I think the Magnaflow sounds more raw and at WOT it is just amazing. But the Borla is more tame and sounds more refined.

[BMWCurves]

Nice, that's a lot of different comparison points! I think I like the Borla more. The Magnaflow I think lets you hear the headers much more at the lower end of the rev range, and I've never been a huge fan of that raspier sound in our cars, but it does sound nice at the top end.

[webster]

Love the sound of that Borla. I agree that the Magnaflow is louder and more raspy. I prefer the more civilized but still very aggressive sound of the Borla.

[slater]

thanks ryan, that was a lot of work to put that together. both sound great at WOT, but overall i like the borla better. more refined, less boomy. looks great too! :cheers

[Whammy]

Ryan, why did you switch exhausts? Wanted something quieter?

[rkneeshaw]

Ryan, why did you switch exhausts? Wanted something quieter?

Thats pretty much it. I loved the way the Magnaflow sounds at WOT, but for daily driving I wasn't at WOT a lot and I wanted something more tame. I decided to try out the Borla since the clips I've heard sounded good, and I had a theory the 2" dual pipes (compared to the 2.5" dual pipes the Magnaflow uses) would be a little less rowdy.

[rkneeshaw]

Dyno results!

Here's a comparison of the dyno I ran last time with the Magnaflow 16533 cat-back and now with the Borla 140084 cat-back. There were no other modifications done between these runs other than the cat-back exhaust swap. Its also worth noting the dyno for the magnaflow was done on a cooler day (60 degrees intake temp vs 80 degrees intake temp). I did some research and this math seems pretty sound:


Assuming the pressure stays the same...
Correction factor (Cf)
Temperute in Celsius(Tc)

Cf=1.18((Tc+273/298)^0.5)-0.18

So at 25 degrees C, the CF is 1 (STP or around room temp)
http://wahiduddin.net/calc/cf.htm

So its ~1.11% hp per 10degrees F temp change (no humidity or pressure changes)

That means from the start I should notice at least 7.3whp/6.6wtq difference just based on conditions.

http://preview.ibb.co/hB9o6a/Dyno_Graph_20170812_Exhaust_Comparo.jpg (http://ibb.co/gdYFma)

So net difference is about 21whp and 2wtq, more than I expected. That Magnaflow truly flows that much better than the Borla. However, I'm ok with this. The Magnaflow with catless headers was louder while cruising on the interstate and I wanted to blow my brains out after driving for a few hours. The Borla is quieter on the highway and even after driving a few hours I can still get out of the car with a smile on my face. So it was worth the trade-off to me.

Also its worth noting, only because I"m not sure if it makes a difference, but the Borla cat-back I'm running had to be cut up and welded back together, and the welding work isn't pretty. The welder had to build up a lot of material on the pipes to fix a few cracks as well as fill some slight gaps. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some metal build-up or something on the inside of the pipes from the welding process that could be causing some turbulence. Whether a little bit of a brief restriction at two sections of the pipe would be enough to change things on the dyno or not is debatable.

I also took this opportunity to compare dyno runs in 4th or 5th gear. In my car 5th gear is 1:1 ratio which is what you want on the dyno, but you don't want to get the car over 160mph on the dyno so this means most dyno operators will run the cars in 4th gear. I was always curious how much lower the power readings are in 4th gear compared to 5th, and here's the answer:

http://preview.ibb.co/d3TgRa/Dyno_Graph_20170812_5th_Gearvs4th_Gear.jpg (http://ibb.co/m9ZMRa)

These were back-to-back runs within minutes of each other. So that's about what I was expecting, maybe even on the high side. So FYI, if you want a big power pull try to get the dyno operator to dyno in 5th for you.

In other news AJ at ESS has been working with me to address a drivability issue I had in my old tune. its not finished yet but I'm really excited about the progress so far. I did a run with the new tune just for comparisons and its interesting how a pinch of timing and slightly leaner fuel mixture (without being dangerous) can make such a nice difference in output. I wont share the graph yet but I've got my power back from the exhaust swap so far, so at the end of the day I'm a happy camper.

[johnrando]

Interesting info.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[rkneeshaw]

Ok so time for a big update! I've been having a lot of fun with the car, and a lot of frustration too. Lets get into it.

Not long after going to Gingerman back in May I felt I needed more support in my seat so I added a Schroth QuickFit Pro harness. This thing really works well (not quite as well as a full race seat and 5/6 point) for my dual purpose daily driver and occasional track car. It's 30 seconds to get them in and out of the car for race mode vs daily mode, and they make a real difference on track. Really holds you in place well so you can focus more on driving than holding on!

http://preview.ibb.co/jNf4Yw/IMG_20170914_2021319.jpg (http://ibb.co/k8yrDw)

So with the new harness I was off to Gratton Raceway in Belding, MI back in September for a BMW CCA motor city chapter event that was a total blast and was very well organized. There was some great instruction and in-car instructors provided too. This was my first time at this track and it was so much fun. Its got some great elevation changes, some blind corners, off-camber turns, etc.

I had the GoPro but this was my first time using Harry's Laptimer and I thought it was triggering the gopro to record automatically. But I found out after I got home that the GoPro hadn't recorded at all :( So when I returned to Gratton at the beginning of October I made sure to manually start the GoPro and I got video from almost all my sessions. This time the event was organized by 3Balls racing and it was much more loosely coordinated, but I liked it, this time I was ready to face Gratton solo.


https://youtu.be/B-fTOt9qfXw

You'll notice the speedometer and RPM's jump around a lot. I'm using an OBDLink LX bluetooth OBDII device to feed that data to Harry's Laptimer (HLT) and what I'm finding is that the DME in our cars is not updating data over OBDII frequently enough to get good smooth data in the video overlays. I've added some tweaks to HLT that filters out all the OBDII PID's except for Speed and RPM and it helped quite a bit, but still isn't perfect. Oh well, its better than nothing I suppose.

Gratton has some real interesting turns and dips and even a section called "the jump". I'm running 10mm spacers on all four corners and stock suspension, and turns out a dip in turn 11-12 was enough to give me some rub up in the front, but it wasn't where I expected. The suspension was compressing so much that the tire sidewall was actually rubbing the plastic fender liner up inside the wheel well!

http://preview.ibb.co/kUxZYw/IMG_20170916_1755224.jpg (http://ibb.co/duimfb)

The car felt pretty good at Gratton but I think I'm advancing as a driver and I'm noticing more and more that the car is understeering quite a bit. I'm still using completely stock suspension other than PowerFlex bushings and stock staggered tires with 225's up front and 255's in the rear.

So I had to do something about the rubbing and the understeer and several folks recommended camber plates first over sway bars or a 255 square tire setup. The camber plates will allow me to get up to about -2.5 degrees of camber in the front, and not only will that help reduce the understeer but will allow the tire to clear the fender liner under heavy compression too. In went the Vorshlag camber plates

http://preview.ibb.co/hBHwfb/IMG_20171014_1316393.jpg (http://ibb.co/erftRG)

http://preview.ibb.co/kh8rDw/IMG_20171014_1239491.jpg (http://ibb.co/fLn7mG)

These things are really well built and they are super easy to change the camber between street and track mode. I can have the camber adjusted back and forth in literally about 2 minutes flat. And at first I was worried about them changing ride height but they are exactly the same height as the stock coil spring hats:

http://preview.ibb.co/kt1dtw/IMG_20171014_1025053.jpg (http://ibb.co/d44bfb)

Meanwhile, I'm still trying to sort out this tuning issue that causes the car to buck and jerk when going on and off heavy throttle. Frustratingly AJ @ ESS has been trying to fix this for a while and decided he wanted to fix my cold starts instead. He felt I needed to upgrade my injectors but sent me injectors that wouldn't fit. In a rush to get the car back together for a track day, and after doing some calculations for the flow capabilities I need from my injectors given my current power output, I impulse bought some Bosch 42lb "green giants"

http://preview.ibb.co/is1uYw/IMG_20170927_1228490.jpg (http://ibb.co/cx5cmG)

It turns out these are the injectors apparently that ESS includes in their Stage 3 Twin Screw kits. My calculations show that I was using probably 95% of the 30lb red bosch injectors I had so these 42lbers will give me a little more headroom to grow :devilish

After more than a year trying to get ESS to fix my tune issue I've moved on to another tuner and he had my fueling updated for the new injectors within a day or two ahead of the next track day, and has the fueling dialed in better than I've seen since installing the kit. There's so much more to share about the tuning drama I've been through but I'll save that for another time.

The other thing I learned while at Gratton is that my the O-ring on the cap of my power steering reservoir must finally have given up the ghost. I was getting some drops of power steering fluid splattering in my engine bay during the last track day at Gratton, so I ordered a new O-ring and now it stays nice and dry in there again. So FYI, those little rubber O-rings can and do get flat and need to be replaced in time.

So next event was a return to Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI. I feel like this is my home track because its where I first ever did an open track day. Its a fun track that offers some very technical turns. You can probably find 5-10 different racing lines around a few of these turns and there's always ways to improve. This time the car was ready with camber dialed in, although there wasn't time to get the throttle tuning issue fixed. So while the car was difficult to drive because of the throttle issue, it would have much less understeer and should wear the tires better

http://preview.ibb.co/jQSpVm/IMG_20171021_0932064.jpg (http://ibb.co/mibSGR)

All was going pretty well until I blew through turn 10 during the second session out. The car just didn't seem to stop as well and I knew I wasn't going to make the turn so I took it straight into the grass. Got into the pits and took at closer look at my brakes and found I had practically no pad left!

http://preview.ibb.co/fTZsi6/IMG_20171021_1326392.jpg (http://ibb.co/depgbR)

Thankfully my buddy Jason happened to have a spare set of pads he brought with them. They were OEM formulation but that got me back on the track

http://preview.ibb.co/cDabAm/Gingerman_20171021.jpg (http://ibb.co/diRSGR)

I've since been driving on these Pagid OEM-style pads and they are really nice on the street. For a track day, they aren't too terrible as long as you're doing your heavy hard braking under 100-110mph. You get over that and you'll fade them and overheat them. But they do great on the street, so smooth and quiet.

I had the StopTech Street Performance pads for about 50k miles and what I noticed with them is that if you don't bed them regularly they will give you a vibration in the steering wheel while braking. After a good track day they were perfectly smooth, for a week or two of street driving before they started acting up again. Basically its an aggressive enough pad that it starts to clear its own bedding off the rotors during normal relatively cool daily street driving. So you have to constantly re-bed these for them to be pleasant on the street. And, they are better on the track than the Pagid OEM pads, but they aren't a LOT better.

I drove Jason's car at Gingerman with a set of Hawk performance pads and I was highly impressed, they can haul down some speed from over 100+ mph without breaking a sweat! Except they squeak like crazy on the street. So I'm convinced a dual-purpose pad like the StopTech's can be used for both daily street driving and track days but isn't really good at either, its just mediocre at both. So I'm of the mind now that its best to keep two sets of pads in this case (an OEM pad for street and a performance pad for track) and just swap them out between track events and daily driving. I like the super smooth quiet Pagid's for street, so now I'll find something better for track.

Thats probably it for 2017, the weather is turning cold and I've probably only got another couple weeks before the car goes back into hibernation for the winter. It's been a fun eventful summer for sure!

[704sw]

Great update. I wish there were more tracks near me (I don’t know of a single road course in NC), because I’m *almost* ready to HPDE this car.

Do you have the top hats marked between track/street positions, or have a camber gauge you use for the quick adjustments?

[Sockethead]

Great updates Ryan, good to see you getting on the track. I have the Hawk pads and like you noted, they do squeak a lot on every day driving. The initial bite isn't that great either when compared to an OEM style pad.
I need camber plates as well.... good to know that the Vorshlag don't change ride height. I'm also going to be switching to adjustable control arms in the rear. I'll probably go with something basic and inexpensive like the SPCs

As always, I follow your progress closely since our cars are setup pretty much the same. Interesting about swapping the injectors... I wonder if that has something to do with the M3 fuel pump you're running. You are also running what? 81mm pulley?

I want to change out my ZHP exhaust, mainly to get more HP out of the motor but your observations have me perplexed on which way to go. I want to try the Magnaflow due to the 20 HP gain you got from that but I'm not big on highway noise at cruising speed...one reason I liked the Corsa.

Interestingly, I found no difference whatsoever when I ran back to back dyno runs in 4th and 5th.

I still need to do a lot of maintenance and testing before I can move on to tuning again. I'm still trying to track down a replacement VANOS. As always with my life with little ones, there is just no time.

[danewilson77]

Excellent news

Sent from my S8+

[rkneeshaw]

Do you have the top hats marked between track/street positions, or have a camber gauge you use for the quick adjustments?

Nope, I wanted up to even -3 degrees camber, so I have them set so that full out is street mode (and is about -1 degree) and full in is track mode which gives me -2.5 or so. I worked with the local alignment shop and verified that toe in is .13 degrees when camber is in street mode (-1) and in track mode the toe goes to out .25 degrees. Apparently slight toe out on the track is highly desirable so I am not changing my toe at the track, just the camber plates. But, if you didn't want to go to extremes, these camber plates do have has marks so you can be more precise at setting it up if you wanted to.



As always, I follow your progress closely since our cars are setup pretty much the same. Interesting about swapping the injectors... I wonder if that has something to do with the M3 fuel pump you're running. You are also running what? 81mm pulley?

I want to change out my ZHP exhaust, mainly to get more HP out of the motor but your observations have me perplexed on which way to go. I want to try the Magnaflow due to the 20 HP gain you got from that but I'm not big on highway noise at cruising speed...one reason I liked the Corsa.

Interestingly, I found no difference whatsoever when I ran back to back dyno runs in 4th and 5th.


I used an online injector sizing calculator i found online (https://fuelinjectorclinic.com/flow-calculator) and for the power I am currently putting out (385 @ crank), if I want to use only 90% duty cycle, it recommends a 39lb/hr injector. The red bosch injectors ESS sends with the ESS TS2 kits are only 30lb/hr injectors. So it stands to reason that for good measure I should be running larger injectors so I went with the 42lb/hr green giants. I don't ever want fueling to be an issue when tuning the car, so between the M3 fuel pump and these injectors, my fuel system should be plenty sufficient now.

I'm currently running a 79mm pulley, I need to get cams so I can officially be at TS2+ stage. My M56 valve cover gasket started slightly leaking on me so I guess thats' a good time to do cams right? :) :)

When it comes to exhaust, ask what you want from the car. If you want bleeding edge performance get the Magnaflow. But if you still want the car to be a pleasant driver then give up the few extra ponies and get the Borla. What I hated was driving the car for 3 hours with the Magnaflow and feeling like I just wanted to get OUT OF THE CAR because the sound had wore on me so much, and for a car I love so much I really hated that feeling. That's when I realized the relatively little extra power from the magnaflow wasn't worth ruining my driving experience. Hope that helps :)

[Sockethead]

Yea that helps with the exhaust... thanks!
I am so jealous of your HP numbers :)

[danewilson77]

I thought the stock camber (with stock strut hats and pins installed was ~ -2.5° camber?

Sent from my S8+

[rkneeshaw]

Nope, stock strut hats/mounts with alignment pin still in place will give you about -.7 to -1 degree camber. If you pop off the alignment pin on the top of the stock hats you might get another -.25 degree or so.

If your car is setup right you might be able to even get -3 out of these camber plates, but my car is wierd or something, the drivers side is -.7 for street and like -2.5 if I max it out, but the passenger side is -1 for street and maxes out at -2.9. I think it depends maybe on your front subframe and how it is bolted up in relation to the rest of the chassis.

[rkneeshaw]

Finally recovered my track day footage. Tried to use some freeware tools to join the gopro chaptered clips and they totally ruined my files. I was finally able to get things stitched together right using ffmpeg. Here's some video from the first session of the day at Gingerman this past weekend

https://youtu.be/6dY0QQVXRV4

[Sockethead]

Your car sounds amazing with that exhaust! You passed quite a few people too, looks like your car has the power and you have the skills ;)

[rkneeshaw]

Your car sounds amazing with that exhaust! You passed quite a few people too, looks like your car has the power and you have the skills ;)

Thanks dude! Still working on the skills part :) I love track days though, I'm addicted!

[rkneeshaw]

The weather has been clearing up quite nicely around here, so I've been thinking about the car a lot more again.

I've been coveting the look of the black aluminum pedals from Turner and finally pulled the trigger

https://preview.ibb.co/mD93sx/IMG_20180321_1844086.jpg (https://ibb.co/jHQbCx)

And, these babies showed up:

https://preview.ibb.co/koanKc/IMG_20180309_1901444.jpg (https://ibb.co/kfspXx)

Hankook RS4's are backordered for a few more weeks :eeps

Hawk Street Race pads are ready to go on for the next track day, counting down the days!

[704sw]

Those TMS pedals are gorgeous. You and Botond talking about the RS4s have put my mind at ease. I know they’re good tires, I’ve just never had Hankook before. What size Arc-8s did you get ?

[Sockethead]

Glad to see you out of hibernation! Lots of good stuff!

[bimmerteknik]

https://preview.ibb.co/mD93sx/IMG_20180321_1844086.jpg (https://ibb.co/jHQbCx)


I have to say those look pretty nice. The one issue I have with the m performance pedals was at my last event. It was raining and I was terrified my damp shoe / pedal would cause me to slip off the brake when rev matching at the end of a straight.

Those look very grippy!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[az3579]

The weather has been clearing up quite nicely around here, so I've been thinking about the car a lot more again.

I've been coveting the look of the black aluminum pedals from Turner and finally pulled the trigger

https://preview.ibb.co/mD93sx/IMG_20180321_1844086.jpg (https://ibb.co/jHQbCx)

And, these babies showed up:

https://preview.ibb.co/koanKc/IMG_20180309_1901444.jpg (https://ibb.co/kfspXx)

Hankook RS4's are backordered for a few more weeks :eeps

Hawk Street Race pads are ready to go on for the next track day, counting down the days!


Those pedal look sweet when new. But, if you drive a lot, that black finish will wear off.

I've had mine since 2011 or 2012 and they're absolutely trashed. If I had to do it again, I'd get the same pedals but in silver so the coating doesn't wear off.

[johnrando]

Great looking pedals and wheels.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[ZHPizza]

Those pedal look sweet when new. But, if you drive a lot, that black finish will wear off.

I've had mine since 2011 or 2012 and they're absolutely trashed. If I had to do it again, I'd get the same pedals but in silver so the coating doesn't wear off.I was thinking the same thing. Those black ones look great when new though.

I'm still waiting on Turner to run a sale on these so I can say they forced my hand. They're the only pedals I've been able to find for this car that would work with wet shoes and also has a smooth gas pedal instead of grippy.

I guess they've been good for you if they're showing wear in your perfect interior!


Edit: typing that out made me think of the OMP pedals in my other car that work great so I googled around to see if someone had tried them in an e46....jackpot

http://m3.madrussian.net/review_omp_pedals.shtml

[rkneeshaw]

Those TMS pedals are gorgeous. You and Botond talking about the RS4s have put my mind at ease. I know they’re good tires, I’ve just never had Hankook before. What size Arc-8s did you get ?

I went with 17x9 square. I've heard good things about the RS4's for track tires. They grip as well as any other and everyone reports probably 3x as many track days out of a set compared to other 200tw tires.


Those pedal look sweet when new. But, if you drive a lot, that black finish will wear off.

I've had mine since 2011 or 2012 and they're absolutely trashed. If I had to do it again, I'd get the same pedals but in silver so the coating doesn't wear off.

Ah bummer, I kind of wondered about that, how well that black finish will hold up. I do like how they made the clutch and brake super grippy, and throttle smooth, great for heal-toe.

[BerDz3nA]

What a car, looking forward to the pictures and updates :)

[rkneeshaw]

Swapped in the e90 mirror with homelink. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get a good pic

https://preview.ibb.co/i5SLh7/IMG_20180322_1655219.jpg (https://ibb.co/iUbD27)

Found a good place for the track wheels and tires

https://preview.ibb.co/kZNHHd/IMG_20180409_1708441.jpg (https://ibb.co/n7yrcd)

Track mode, engaged:

https://preview.ibb.co/f7DeVy/IMG_20180525_1559546.jpg (https://ibb.co/eac6Ay)

Apex Arc8's, Hankook RS-4 255/40R17 square, and Hawk Street Race (DTC30) pads

Track day at Gingerman over memorial day weekend

https://preview.ibb.co/ew4gcd/IMG_20180526_0916319.jpg (https://ibb.co/fUeExd)

https://preview.ibb.co/kejsiJ/IMG_20180526_1108136.jpg (https://ibb.co/kQ2dOJ)

Tons of fun. I love these tires and brake pads. The Hankooks easily have as much grip if not more than the pilot super sports, were very consistent lap after lap, and at the end of the 2 day weekend showed hardly any wear. At $150/tire, its a very economical setup that performs very well. The brake pads also were super impressive. They are squeaky and dusty as hell, but have great bite when cold and they haul down so much speed on the track. I was really impressed. But because of the noise and dust they are NOT a good street pad, so I will switch back to the OEM forumated pads for street.

Still working on my throttle issue in my tune. Getting closer but not quite there yet.

It was super hot on Sunday, 90 degrees. After about 4-5 laps the car got warm, but if I backed off for a couple turns it cooled back down. Hard not to expect it to get a little hot on track on a 90 degree day with boost. Fortunately 90 degree days are rare in Michigan, so I'm not really concerned enough about it to do anything. I know FI cams would drop PSI slightly, I could go back to a non-underdrive waterpump pulley, or I could go with methenol injection if I had to deal with it more frequently.

On Sunday they reversed direction on the track, this was a first for me, going "backwards" on Gingerman. It was surprisingly a lot of fun! Its a totally different track in reverse. I really liked it!


https://youtu.be/ajIvQgItphc

[Sockethead]

Nice tire rack! So it was your engine temp not your boost temp that was rising? Unfortunately, it will be in the 90s for the next 5 months here...

[Whammy]

Swapped in the e90 mirror with homelink. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get a good pic

https://preview.ibb.co/i5SLh7/IMG_20180322_1655219.jpg (https://ibb.co/iUbD27)

Found a good place for the track wheels and tires

https://preview.ibb.co/kZNHHd/IMG_20180409_1708441.jpg (https://ibb.co/n7yrcd)

Track mode, engaged:

https://preview.ibb.co/f7DeVy/IMG_20180525_1559546.jpg (https://ibb.co/eac6Ay)

Apex Arc8's, Hankook RS-4 255/40R17 square, and Hawk Street Race (DTC30) pads

Track day at Gingerman over memorial day weekend

https://preview.ibb.co/ew4gcd/IMG_20180526_0916319.jpg (https://ibb.co/fUeExd)

https://preview.ibb.co/kejsiJ/IMG_20180526_1108136.jpg (https://ibb.co/kQ2dOJ)

Tons of fun. I love these tires and brake pads. They hankooks easily have as much grip if not more than the pilot super sports, were very consistent lap after lap, and at the end of the 2 day weekend showed hardly any wear. At $150/tire, its a very economical setup that performs very well. The brake pads also were super impressive. They are squeaky and dusty as hell, but have great bite when cold and they haul down so much speed on the track. I was really impressed. But because of the noise and dust they are NOT a good street pad, so I will switch back to the OEM forumated pads for street.

Still working on my throttle issue in my tune. Getting closer but not quite there yet.

It was super hot on Sunday, 90 degrees. After about 4-5 laps the car got warm, but if I backed off for a couple turns it cooled back down. Hard not to expect it to get a little hot on track on a 90 degree day with boost. Fortunately 90 degree days are rare in Michigan, so I'm not really concerned enough about it to do anything. I know FI cams would drop PSI slightly, I could go back to a non-underdrive waterpump pulley, or I could go with methenol injection if I had to deal with it more frequently.

On Sunday they reversed direction on the track, this was a first for me, going "backwards" on Gingerman. It was surprisingly a lot of fun! Its a totally different track in reverse. I really liked it!


https://youtu.be/ajIvQgItphc

Track day looks like fun!

[704sw]

This post got me excited about my upcoming events! It’ll be well into the 90s for mine, so I’m curious to see how the car does (I don’t have WP underdrive or FI so I’m hoping it holds up).

Two quick questions:
(1.) how’d the RS4s hold up to the heat? Did they ever get greasy and slide around, or hold their own? I have the same tires, but it never got above ~72° my first time with them.

(2.) do you have a link to that tire rack? That’s exactly what I need for my Arc-8s/RS4s.

[johnrando]

Good stuff! And +1 on the tire rack.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[rkneeshaw]

So it was your engine temp not your boost temp that was rising? It was my coolant temp gauge in the stock gauge cluster. I have it reprogrammed to be a bit more sensitive too, so consider that. It was 90 degrees, super humid, hot track, probably 10-11psi of boost, and an underdriven water pump pulley, so that all added up to it getting just slightly warm. As soon as I backed off full throttle for a turn or two, it was back to normal.


This post got me excited about my upcoming events! It’ll be well into the 90s for mine, so I’m curious to see how the car does (I don’t have WP underdrive or FI so I’m hoping it holds up).

Two quick questions:
(1.) how’d the RS4s hold up to the heat? Did they ever get greasy and slide around, or hold their own? I have the same tires, but it never got above ~72° my first time with them.

(2.) do you have a link to that tire rack? That’s exactly what I need for my Arc-8s/RS4s.

Yep, you'll be fine. The only reason my car got warm was because on top of the full on track beating I'm running 10 or so psi of boost so that creates even more heat. You should be fine, I dont think you'll have an issue at all.

The RS4's held up great! Even with it being such a hot day they didn't get greasy at all. Super consistent all day long. I'm very happy with them.

Here's the link to the tire rack, $40 on amazon baby:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058BMNVU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[704sw]

Yep, you'll be fine. The only reason my car got warm was because on top of the full on track beating I'm running 10 or so psi of boost so that creates even more heat. You should be fine, I dont think you'll have an issue at all.

The RS4's held up great! Even with it being such a hot day they didn't get greasy at all. Super consistent all day long. I'm very happy with them.

Here's the link to the tire rack, $40 on amazon baby:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058BMNVU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks, Ryan! Just added that rack to my Amazon cart.

Great to hear about the tires. I’m still new to this, so I know I won’t be pushing nearly as hard as you. Although I think I’ll have a lot more confidence next time.

[slater]

Thanks, Ryan! Just added that rack to my Amazon cart.

you'll probably end up with a second. ;)

they are good quality racks - i have two of them in my garage, they fit nicely above the overhead door (which is a good use of wasted space).

[rkneeshaw]

FINALLY. SOLVED IT.

Here's how my throttle worked before, using the tune asbjorn @ ESS gave me:

https://preview.ibb.co/jSevkQ/throttle_issue.jpg (https://ibb.co/kTOczk)

They couldn't fix it.

Now, with support and tooling from Frank Smith and Hassmachine, I have a proper tune for the MS45.1

https://preview.ibb.co/bE5Hsp/throttle_issue2.jpg (https://ibb.co/iobOXp)

Car is sooo nice and smooth now. Idles are OEM perfect. Fueling is spot on all through the RPMs. Timing is good. Driving around town is a ton of fun. And "spirited" driving is controllable, predictable, and a true pleasure.

I can't wait for the next track day on October

HUGE thanks to Frank Smith and Hassmachine for all their time and support to get this tuned "the right way".

[Sockethead]

That's good news Ryan... gives all of us others with TS2s hope for our shitty ESS tunes.

Did they get it right on the first try or did you have to go through a couple of tunes first?

[rkneeshaw]

Did they get it right on the first try or did you have to go through a couple of tunes first?

I spent many hours and weeks and months on this issue, over 200 tunes, I've logged every change with every tune. It was real slow progress in the beginning because there were hardly any parameters mapped out for the MS45.1 and how the different functions interacted with the parameters wasn't well understood. But over the last few months we've made tremendous progress and now I am confident I have made the "proper" changes to get the car running properly. No hacks, no workarounds, no patch jobs. Just editing the right tables so the DME properly knows it's working with a lot more air and larger injectors with different characteristics than the stock injectors (and no cats, no SAP, no speed limiter, etc)

Also, here were my cold starts with ESS' tune:


https://youtu.be/wPQDRj79j1A

And here are my cold starts now that the car is tuned properly:


https://youtu.be/89nSp3VmAJs

[Sockethead]

My cold starts are much worse than that... along with the drivability issues in the first couple of minutes.
Damn, you've put a lot of time and effort into that, so glad that the end result is so good!

[rkneeshaw]

Replaced wheel bearings today. Figured it was time at 140,xxx miles.

https://preview.ibb.co/i1wC1p/IMG_20180926_1941241.jpg (https://ibb.co/fBB1u9)

Car is running so good. Cool air is coming in, the twin screws LOVE the cooler air


My cold starts are much worse than that... along with the drivability issues in the first couple of minutes.
Damn, you've put a lot of time and effort into that, so glad that the end result is so good!

Man its been a long ride, but the car drives SO nicely now. I have been dealing with this so long I even "learned" to drive the car differently, so its like I"m learning how to drive it all over again now that I can properly modulate the throttle. Its really great. I'm just waiting on a log from a NA 330i to compare some data to, and I'll package up the tune and get it published for everyone.

[Avetiso]

My wheel bearings were an absolute mess at 160k. Makes me wonder what made them fail so badly.

[Sockethead]

Car is running so good. Cool air is coming in, the twin screws LOVE the cooler air
Man its been a long ride, but the car drives SO nicely now. I have been dealing with this so long I even "learned" to drive the car differently, so its like I"m learning how to drive it all over again now that I can properly modulate the throttle. Its really great. I'm just waiting on a log from a NA 330i to compare some data to, and I'll package up the tune and get it published for everyone.

I can't thank you enough for all you help and encouragement. Without it, I would of sold the TS2 a long time ago. I'm very excited to get the the new green giant injectors and Walbro fuel pump in so I can try out your tune. Now if I can just find the time to do it all...




My wheel bearings were an absolute mess at 160k. Makes me wonder what made them fail so badly.

The bearing are "permanently lubed" there is no way to re-pack them with grease like you would do on traditional old school wheel bearings. After a while, that lube dries up and the bearing fails...

[az3579]

The bearing are "permanently lubed" there is no way to re-pack them with grease like you would do on traditional old school wheel bearings. After a while, that lube dries up and the bearing fails...

I'm surprised I've only ever had to do one bearing. The other 3 have 309k miles on 'em!

[rkneeshaw]

A couple weeks ago I noticed my clutch was starting to slip on cold days in 3rd, 4th, and 5th gear. Crap. With the Gingerman HPDE coming up, I didn't want that ruining the weekend I've been waiting all summer for! So I got busy right away ordering parts and working logistics.

I chose to stick with the dual mass flywheel because I dont want clutch chatter at idle. I put a lightweight flywheel in my previous car and it was embarrassing at idle, and the BMW is too refined for that. That meant I had literally 3 options for clutches. Stock, Sachs Performance, or Spec. I daily drive this car, so I need good drivability, I just need it to hold more power. I chose to give the Sachs Performance clutch a try, in the organic flavor.

https://preview.ibb.co/eXMrBz/IMG-20181003-1802447.jpg (https://ibb.co/iPqjWz)

Also, I've been dealing with 2nd gear popping out of gear occasionally for quite a while now, so with the trans coming out for the clutch job, I chose to get that replaced too. I found a used unit with 112k on the clock from LKQ. When we drained the fluid it was golden yellow, so I think I got lucky and got a really good trans to replace my 140k unit.

And then, "while I'm in there...", I ordered guibo flex disc, center support bearing, rear main seal, and throw-out bearing. Plus, installed M3 transmission mounts, completely rebuilt the shifter linkage and bushings with Turner's upgraded polyurethane shifter arm bushing kit, and installed the ECS Tuning brass clutch fork pivot pin

Lined up a shop in Southfield, great guys, and they got to work this last week.

Out came the old clutch and flywheel and pressure plate.

https://preview.ibb.co/h3wYB9/received-244744396214084-1.jpg (https://ibb.co/jry24U)

https://preview.ibb.co/jtMYB9/received-2065547883755541-1.jpg (https://ibb.co/jGVRW9)

https://preview.ibb.co/nvX6W9/received-2109781839066468-1.jpg (https://ibb.co/gkAtB9)

I was surprised, with 140k on the clock the clutch had what appears to be a lot of life left. I think it probably wasn't all that worn, but just couldn't handle the power I'm creating. The dual-mass flywheel I think was definitely done, because now that I have the new dual mass installed I no longer have any "jerk" or "bounce" when cruising steadily with slight on off throttle in 1st and 2nd gear.

Fresh bushings and linkages for the shifter, including Turner polyurethane shifter arm bushing:

https://preview.ibb.co/hCMN4U/received-2114833621863001.jpg (https://ibb.co/gfmpjU)

The Sachs Performance clutch kit definitely has a heavier pedal feel. It took me a bit to get used to it. But the clutch engagement is very much like stock, you can slip it easily during engagement for smooth takeoff, but if you need to drop it, it will grab very nicely.

The shifter is OMG. Click, click, click into gears. Its awesome. So precise. No slop. I even replaced the shifter bushing, the white plastic peice, the usual suspect for sloppy shifters, back when I installed the BMW Performance short throw shifter about 50k miles ago, so I thought it would still be good. I think its a combination of all the shifter linkage components included in the "rebuild kit" from Turner, plus the poly shifter arm bushing, that results in such a great shifting experience.

The M3 trans mounts do seem to introduce a slight touch more NVH that I slightly notice at lower RPM's (around 1500 or so).

Overall I'm very pleased. I wish the pedal was a little lighter, but I'm not complaining, I think its just the nature of the beast. If you need more clamping force, you're going to get a heavier pedal. The engagement, shifting, driving, is just so nice. And 2nd gear doesn't pop out on me anymore either :) Mission accomplished, I'm ready for gingerman!

But that's not all.

If you've been following then you know that last year I bought a used Borla cat-back to test out and see if it quieted down the car some on long highway cruises. I loved the Magnaflow cat-back, it sounded awesome under full throttle, but was a little loud for me while cruising. So I bought a used Borla cat-back and had it welded up, but, the weld job was ugly. I lost a lot more power than I expected, and ever since then I've been wondering of those welds were boogered up inside the pipe causing excess restrictions. And since I fell in love with the sound of the Borla, I decided to buy a new one. And yesterday, I installed it

https://preview.ibb.co/cE3DB9/IMG-20181013-0810429.jpg (https://ibb.co/foNUjU)

https://preview.ibb.co/bYKmW9/IMG-20181013-0810471.jpg (https://ibb.co/j1rddp)

https://preview.ibb.co/ga4s4U/IMG-20181013-0855224.jpg (https://ibb.co/hsDVr9)

And I'm off to the dyno on Friday to get a fresh baseline. Hopefully I gained a few HP back. At least it looks pretty.

And then lastly, I scored a good deal on a set of Alzor style 040's. I had them wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4s tires.

https://preview.ibb.co/b8vAr9/IMG-20181013-1124405.jpg (https://ibb.co/jiAzjU)

These have a nice offset to them so I wont' have to be installing/uninstalling the wheel spacers each time I swap on the track wheels/tires. And they are a few pounds lighter than the stock style 135's too. I really like the look

https://preview.ibb.co/hZt24U/IMG-20181013-1124571.jpg (https://ibb.co/eMzydp)

https://preview.ibb.co/j8rTdp/IMG-20181013-1124089.jpg (https://ibb.co/bYcejU)

The Michelin PS4s do not disappoint. They are every bit as good as the old PSS they replaced, and they grip noticeably better in the wet too. I cannot come up with a single criticism, these tires are awesome.

Between the wheel bearings, the new wheels and tires, the trans, shifter, and clutch job, the car feels AMAZING to drive.

[Sockethead]

Wow! Lots of good stuff going on with your car. It just keeps getting better and better.

You're right: Better clamping force = heavier pedal... no way around that really other than more surface area like a twin disk setup but then that's not even close to stock by that point. the Sachs performance clutch is probably the direction I'll be taking too since our cars are pretty close performance wise. I'd hate to replace with a stock clutch only to find out it doesn't have enough clamping force. That would suck.
The original clutch does look to be in excellent shape. I don't see any burning on any of the surfaces...

Looks like the old exhaust has seen too many winters... that must be 409 stainless.... I don't think 304 stainless rusts like that.

Wheels look great. Seeing all that you've accomplished makes me want to get my car done!

[sillieidiot]

Nice updates. lol the daily struggles of the "while I'm there" mantra. makes me wallet sad.

[rkneeshaw]

Seeing all that you've accomplished makes me want to get my car done!

I've got to get this pulley back to you ASAP! :) :) And then we're going to get your car a nice tune and you're going to have a blast

[Sockethead]

I'm so looking forward to it! No rush on the pulley... my car is still on the jack stands. I'm still trying to find the time to get the new heat exchanger sorted out

[johnrando]

Good stuff.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[rkneeshaw]

Well, this happened

https://preview.ibb.co/cEeMtA/IMG-20181027-1147557.jpg (https://ibb.co/kpuAmV)

I guess track day just wasn't in the cards. Overcame hell and high water, but with 2 days to go, and after the clutch job, I had a misfire occurring above 6k RPM on heavy load. And there wasn't time to fix it before the event. So instead of racing, I tore down the car.

At first I felt it was my intercooler leaking at the manifold, because the #6 spark plug looked white, as if it was possibly coolant. And, when I first received this supercharger kit from ESS it leaked at that exact spot and caused similar symptoms.

So I pulled the manifold (ugg!!), and was about to pull it all apart when I did a pressure test to confirm there was a leak to begin with.

https://preview.ibb.co/k6ZMtA/IMG-20181024-1524141.jpg (https://ibb.co/fanwRV)

It held 11psi for several hours, zero leaks.

So now my theory is a bad fuel injector, or it could have been as simple as a loose electrical connection at the injector connector. Both of which could have happened due to movement during the clutch job, and both of which could have been solved without pulling the manifold. Oh well, such is life.

While I've been in here, and while I wait for a fresh manifold gasket to arrive from overseas, I swapped out the intake manifold studs for something that I think is stronger, and 10mm shorter (trust me, you want every millimeter you can get of clearance when removing or installing this manifold!).

https://preview.ibb.co/hjJEDA/IMG-20181025-1827371.jpg (https://ibb.co/fCigtA)

Car is ready to go back together as soon as the gasket arrives for the manifold

https://preview.ibb.co/b7DEDA/IMG-20181027-1147027.jpg (https://ibb.co/mudQLq)

And here she sits, all dressed up for the race, but with no place to go :(

https://preview.ibb.co/fexwRV/IMG-20181019-1113164.jpg (https://ibb.co/d6MO6V)

[Sockethead]

I dread ever having to pull that thing out of my car.... how the hell are you doing that by yourself?

I'd do a compression test while everything is apart just to make sure you don't have a leaking head gasket.

Now would be a good time to touch up that rusty VANOS solenoid :)

Where you get those studs?

[ZHPizza]

Also a good time to replace those pesky coolant lines
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum%2Ee46fanatics%2E com%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D1241903&share_tid=1241903&share_fid=113940&share_type=t

[johnrando]

Hope it works out!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[rkneeshaw]

I dread ever having to pull that thing out of my car.... how the hell are you doing that by yourself?

I'd do a compression test while everything is apart just to make sure you don't have a leaking head gasket.

Now would be a good time to touch up that rusty VANOS solenoid :)

Where you get those studs?

ha, yeah, I installed it one time by myself, NOT doing that again! lol! I had a friend help me lift it out.

These new studs should help ease installation quite a bit. They are BMW part number 07129908199.

Not sure why my VANOS solenoids look like that. I replaced the VANOS a while ago with a pre-built Dr Vanos unit. The car doesnt see winters, I'm not sure why they look that way. Its ugly and it bugs me.

[rkneeshaw]

Also a good time to replace those pesky coolant lines
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum%2Ee46fanatics%2E com%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D1241903&share_tid=1241903&share_fid=113940&share_type=t

Shoot why did you have to show me that? lol

[sillieidiot]

ha, yeah, I installed it one time by myself, NOT doing that again! lol! I had a friend help me lift it out.

These new studs should help ease installation quite a bit. They are BMW part number 07129908199.

Not sure why my VANOS solenoids look like that. I replaced the VANOS a while ago with a pre-built Dr Vanos unit. The car doesnt see winters, I'm not sure why they look that way. Its ugly and it bugs me.

It's because Dr. Vanos sand blasts and cleans the cores that get returned so now they rust easier cause the protective coating isn't there anymore to stop the rust.

[ELCID86]

It's because Dr. Vanos sand blasts and cleans the cores that get returned so now they rust easier cause the protective coating isn't there anymore to stop the rust.

Yep. Rob suggested to spray the solenoids with clear lacquer, which is what I did.

[Sockethead]

My were so rusty that I had to sand them then use some silver wheel paint on them...my car doesn't see winters either Dr Vanos unit too

[holyc0w]

Also a good time to replace those pesky coolant lines
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum%2Ee46fanatics%2E com%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D1241903&share_tid=1241903&share_fid=113940&share_type=t

Frig, I hope those don't go bust. What happens when they crap out? Engine bricked?

[rkneeshaw]

ok, got it squared away. This was the culprit:

https://i.ibb.co/rm0Q0J6/IMG-20181216-160656.jpg (https://ibb.co/mGTRT7q)

Crankshaft position sensor.

I'm back in business. Just in time for the car to hibernate for the winter :( Sometimes that's how it goes.

While I was in there, I swapped in some M3 motor mounts too.

https://i.ibb.co/ft8Xy5d/IMG-20181108-0852199.jpg (https://ibb.co/82zmfpg)

[derbo]

Glad you found the issue!

I'm living my old ZHP dream through your shoes buddy! :)

[johnrando]

Glad you got er fixed.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[slater]

ok, got it squared away. This was the culprit:

https://i.ibb.co/rm0Q0J6/IMG-20181216-160656.jpg (https://ibb.co/mGTRT7q)

Crankshaft position sensor.

I'm back in business. Just in time for the car to hibernate for the winter :( Sometimes that's how it goes.

yeah... i just went through a similar (read: painful) job on my 335i when the resolution was entirely different... and simple.

it sucked to realize the time and cost loss, but in the end - hey, problem solved. gotta move on. :)

glad you got it resolved!!

[Sockethead]

Ha! just what you thought it would be! Happy that you didn't have to go any further....

[rkneeshaw]

Thanks guys, feels good to get this one resolved.


I'm living my old ZHP dream through your shoes buddy! :)

Ha, she kind of looks like your old car with the arc8's doesnt she? I'm going to try the M3 front sway bar at the track in the spring, hoping to flatten her out a bit.

[derbo]

Thanks guys, feels good to get this one resolved.



Ha, she kind of looks like your old car with the arc8's doesnt she? I'm going to try the M3 front sway bar at the track in the spring, hoping to flatten her out a bit.

It does! I had a 30mm Hotchkiss on medium settings and it felt great on the mid to high speed corners. Understeer was more prominent in low speed hairpins but overall was a better stability.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[704sw]

It does! I had a 30mm Hotchkiss on medium settings and it felt great on the mid to high speed corners. Understeer was more prominent in low speed hairpins but overall was a better stability.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Damn, 30mm seems like a lot on these cars.

[sillieidiot]

Damn, 30mm seems like a lot on these cars.

yeah but I think those are hollow bars. so it would be similar to like a 27mm solid bar or so.

[rkneeshaw]

Bad news. I thought the misfire was fixed, but it was not. So disappointing, and I'm really at my wits end. I really have no idea what could possibly be causing it. I've created a thread for soliciting troubleshooting advice and to discuss possible culprits: https://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1242691

Meanwhile, I came to realize its been almost 10 years since I installed my ebay headers, and over 100k miles ago. The JetHot coating looked great but was starting to flake, and I had developed a slight exhaust leak on cylinder 6 (spoiler alert: it was not the cause of my #6 cyl misfire). So I decided to "upgrade" to the bimmerbrakes gen 3's.

https://i.ibb.co/K97XkhV/IMG-20190413-145840.jpg (https://ibb.co/cNt1H32)

I cleaned up the exhaust ports and used all new hardware

https://i.ibb.co/pQV7Vqm/IMG-20190413-154023.jpg (https://ibb.co/cwfBfqm)

This job was NOT easy. The ebay headers came out like cake, no problems at all. All the bolts were easily accessible. But the Gen 3's? Totally different story.

https://i.ibb.co/YRwPYV9/IMG-20190413-183756.jpg (https://ibb.co/1vj7h4V)

See the nuts in there? No not really? well there's 16 of them in there. I had to contort my fingers and hands in ways I never thought possible, and literally a micro fraction of a turn of the nuts at a time, and a lot of cuss words, and about 7 hours (start to finish), I got it done with OEM gaskets with heatshields.

Sound wise, they sound pretty much the same as the ebay headers. I'm not sure if there's a power difference until I can get this misfire issue fixed and get to the dyno, but I most certainly will.

[BMWCurves]

Nice work getting it in there and sorry about the misfire issue. Headers sound like a nightmare to me, but I do envy those who go that route.

[sillieidiot]

nice. yeah I still have mines sitting in a shed. i'll get to it eventually. have to swaintech coat it first.

[rkneeshaw]

My misfire isn't fixed, but I've mitigated it by tuning the DME to NOT shut down cylinders when a misfire is detected. So now I only get a quick SES flash at about 6250 RPM when it does occasionally misfire and its very non intrusive. I really can't feel it happening, the only reason I know something happened is the quick flash of the SES light when it does.

In other news, I installed an M3 front sway bar. Here's the M3 bar (26mm) compared to the stock ZHP front bar (23.5mm):

https://i.ibb.co/bbdjryd/IMG-20190427-105419.jpg (https://ibb.co/phX63sX)

Notice the ends of the bar have a slightly different angle to them. The M3 bar bolts in fine, but the end link is a little tweaked:

https://i.ibb.co/8Bf3ykg/IMG-20190427-162932.jpg (https://ibb.co/vBT5N94)

https://i.ibb.co/JRMNqqQ/IMG-20190427-110530.jpg (https://ibb.co/hRtkccf)

I don't think it will be a problem, worse case they probably wear out faster, but I might install a set of adjustable end links from Turner anyway at some point.

Turn-in is much improved, the car feels so nimble. And its flatter in the corners, obviously. But what surprised me is how much the car feels like it wants to "dig in" through corners now, its quite fun! I'm very much looking forward to memorial day weekend at Gingerman raceway.

Also gave her a spring cleaning. Clay and sealant.

https://i.ibb.co/k3phCWq/IMG-20190427-153937.jpg (https://ibb.co/GsXVSbC)

[704sw]

Those wheels look really good.

I paired my 26mmM3 front sway with E36 M3 end links. They’re a little shorter (I’m lowered slightly) felt stronger to me, and seem to have taken the sharp angle out of the lower ball joint. I just didn’t want to futz around with adjustable links, and ~20months later have no indication of them being an issue.

[rkneeshaw]

Its been a boring winter, so not much has changed around here, except I'm really getting pumped about this upcoming track season, and I'll tell you why.

Back in October, I finally, at long last, got the car out on the track for the first time after fixing my issues with the ESS tune that caused the throttle to be unpredictable and non-linear on track. And it was glorious! I can't believe how much easier the car is to drive! I shaved 6 seconds of my previous times at Gingerman, from 1:53.x to nearly breaking through 1:47.x. I really had a great time, the car performed great.

https://i.ibb.co/m9BTk1J/FB-IMG-1570674014653.jpg (https://ibb.co/dPcMF1B)

But just look at that body roll. This is turn 3 at Gingerman and you can see that the M3 front sway bar is still no match for a car with full interior, 200tw Hankook RS4's, and factory original springs and dampers (with 145k miles!). With the car making power the way I want, its time to focus on suspension.

My current plans are to pay homage to the Spec E46 class with regard to suspension and rolling hardware. So that means 255/40/17 on 17x9 wheels (check), stock rotors and calipers with pads and lines of choice (check), poly control arm bushings (check), steel sway bars with size of choice, and MCS single adjustable non-remote reservoir shocks. This is a tried and true track setup and I can build it in a way that allows it to evolve with me as I get more experience as a driver or if I decide to start stepping up to slicks for track days.

Based on some research I've decided to try to use a "more bar, less spring" strategy in order to combat the body roll on track. So I ordered up the Turner Spec E46 sway bar set with 30mm front and 21mm rear bar

https://i.ibb.co/d7RZc6d/IMG-20200305-172457.jpg (https://ibb.co/DLZdbkx)

The true Spec E46 specifications calls for 750/850# springs front/rear, but this is where I'm going to break with the spec for now. I still daily this car in the summer. From everything I hear, the MCS dampers do a phenomenal job with higher rate springs, allowing the car to be very compliant on the street despite higher spring rates. The other nice thing about MCS is that they are very friendly to spring rate changes, meaning I can make changes there without necessarily needing a re-valve. Given this freedom, and feeling conservative, I'm going to go a little softer with a 550/650# spring for now. And if its still too soft, its an easy and fairly inexpensive swap to bump up to the 750/850s. Another thing to consider after talking to Wyatt at MCS (who is also a ZHP owner, very cool!) is that in full street trim my car is heavier than a true Spec E46 racer (about 3300# compared to the spec limit 2850#) which means that on my car, those stiffer spring rates probably wouldn't' feel as stiff since there is more weight for them to support. So I'll keep that in mind after I get a few hundred miles or so on the new spring/damper setup, and if I want to ratchet things up, I can.

Until then, I've got to wait for my favorite brown truck to show up, and I'll have some wrenching to do :devilish:devilish

[sillieidiot]

Can't wait to hear your review on your suspension set up. I ran the same 550/650 (although with AST 4100) and the turner bars. Honestly, on perfectly flat roads with minor bumps here and there, it was perfect. But if I'm in areas with a lot more rough roads, it was too stiff. Since I don't track at all anymore, I dropped my spring rate down even more since then. But I still wanna do MCS doubles down the line. I just felt like I didn't have enough adjustments at times with singles. Maybe I should keep those springs I listed for sale to try on the MCS before selling it.

[johnrando]

GL, keep us posted!

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[rkneeshaw]

Despite more time on my hands due to stay-at-home orders and time off from work, I've struggled to get motivated to work out in the garage. Partly due to the lack of good whether; its been cold. But having these show up has helped:

https://i.ibb.co/SvhkJ63/IMG-20200331-164240.jpg (https://ibb.co/BsXhwfC)

https://i.ibb.co/r748L27/IMG-20200401-181729.jpg (https://ibb.co/2ngVL3n)

Overall the installation was quite straightforward. Started with the fronts.

https://i.ibb.co/xqSHLmp/IMG-20200420-092216.jpg (https://ibb.co/TMBL2KV)

https://i.ibb.co/Ky5gg84/IMG-20200420-105326.jpg (https://ibb.co/ThwGGNj)

https://i.ibb.co/dWRM7qL/IMG-20200421-110117.jpg (https://ibb.co/smZRtG6)

And then tackled the rears

https://i.ibb.co/DbSx1PB/IMG-20200421-100640.jpg (https://ibb.co/VNP7L0F)

https://i.ibb.co/1J3h7ts/IMG-20200421-100722.jpg (https://ibb.co/TqZpYxK)

https://i.ibb.co/QkZqGHb/IMG-20200421-092929.jpg (https://ibb.co/G9X1jMx)

With the turner rear shock reinforcement plates

https://i.ibb.co/VMm5Rsy/IMG-20200421-092610.jpg (https://ibb.co/HGd36jv)

Things worth noting: The sway bar mounts on the MCS coilovers are about 1.5" lower than the stock struts

https://i.ibb.co/LgWMbQv/IMG-20200420-092335.jpg (https://ibb.co/FYM9Nsn)

So shorter sway bar end links are required. I installed a set from Turner that are about 1.2" shorter than stock, and everything fits nicely, the sway bar is nice and level.

There's a ton of adjustability with the MCS coilovers. This is how high I have the front springs on the coilover body and can't imagine going much lower:

https://i.ibb.co/C6dsdvs/IMG-20200421-111012.jpg (https://ibb.co/G9w3wk3)

I would love to report on how it rides and drives, but we had snow last night so I'll have to wait until the roads clear again, ugg.

On another topic, the rugged look of my cupholder and center console has been bugging me. The original coating from the factory has gotten scratched over the years and is flaking off. I attempted to do this the cheap way by ordering up the alleged matched paint from SEM. This is how the cupholder turned out:

https://i.ibb.co/FXR0vxX/IMG-20200309-090654.jpg (https://ibb.co/2SGs2nS)

it took a lot of prep work, and sanding, and even then there's still some scratches I can see. Also if you look closely the black color is a slight shade darker than the stock coating. So, I consider that a fail, and I sucked it up and ordered up new console and cupholder. These have gotten expensive recently, but its the only thing keeping my interior from looking flawlessly brand new.

I held off installing the Turner sway bars for now. I wanted to see how the car drove after changing only the springs and dampers. So the sway swill go on next, along with the Turner monoball RTABs.

[Whammy]

Nice updates!!!

[sillieidiot]

Damn, I've been waiting on your review of the suspension lol At least it's on now. I guess once you put on the sways, it'll be a more comparable review since I have the same sways. I have the same camber plates as well, but I'm planning to sell that to go with turner's street plates. Making my car more street compliant I guess.

[johnrando]

Nice updates!!!+1

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[ApexHitter]

Yes - I also want to hear how the MCS suspension turns out!

[rkneeshaw]

I am really impressed. I took a couple spirited drives around here on a good mix of smooth and rough roads, and I have to say, this is a great setup.

99% of the time it doesn't feel any more "harsh" than the stock ZHP suspension. But it is for sure more planted, has much less body roll, and you get really great road feel in the turns. It is very controlled over the road surfaces. The biggest thing I notice is how supple the transitions are between high-speed turns. The car no longer flops over from one loaded side to the other, it just.... shifts. It just gracefully transfers over. It's such a confident feeling. The car feels amazing in the turns.

My biggest concern was putting a system on the car that was too firm, that jarred your teeth over every bump. And that is NOT the case with this setup. The only negative experience I have with this setup is that if you traverse a bump or hole that I would say is 2" deep or more, then you'll get a hit that sounds harsh in the rear, but doesn't necessarily feel harsh, if you know what I mean. And I think this might be more likely due to the spherical rear shock mounts I installed with this kit since I dont get the same feeling from the front. The car stays controlled, it just sounds like a harsh thud, sounds harder than it would have when I had stock suspension.

But this is a small price to pay for all the upsides. With the dampers on their 8-click setting the car travels over normal road imperfections and pothole patchwork without a fuss. I don't encounter the larger hits often at all in my area. For example there's an occasional manhole cover that sits extra low in the road that I already avoided with the stock suspension that I still watch out for now. Now if you live in Detroit and have to hit those giant craters and grand canyon expansion joints every 100 yards every day, then this setup isn't for you, but then no performance setup is for you either, you need to stay stock and keep all the rubber bushings you can.

I'm super happy with this MCS suspension. I haven't even installed the Turner sways yet. I'll probably put a couple hundred more miles on before I install those, I'm really loving where the car is at right now. The sways will be more important for the HPDE on May 23/24 at Gingerman.

Dirty car pic (too busy suspensioning instead of cleaning):
https://i.ibb.co/VCvLbLG/IMG-20200423-094131.jpg (https://ibb.co/fNCXZXW)


Damn, I've been waiting on your review of the suspension lol At least it's on now. I guess once you put on the sways, it'll be a more comparable review since I have the same sways. I have the same camber plates as well, but I'm planning to sell that to go with turner's street plates. Making my car more street compliant I guess.

I honestly didn't notice the car ride any worse with the vorshlag camber plates. Some warned that I might, but I didnt notice it. But, like I said above, I think the vorshlag sphericals in the rear have a more noticeable impact on noise, at least for the harder hits. Smaller more common bumps, no issue at all, can't tell they are there.

I even told Vorshlag to send me the 600/750# springs, instead of refunding me for the 550/650's that were backordered (thanks again for the springs sillieidiot!)

[johnrando]

Good stuff

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[Will]

Awesome, thanks for updating with your initial impressions!

[sillieidiot]

I am really impressed. I took a couple spirited drives around here on a good mix of smooth and rough roads, and I have to say, this is a great setup.

99% of the time it doesn't feel any more "harsh" than the stock ZHP suspension. But it is for sure more planted, has much less body roll, and you get really great road feel in the turns. It is very controlled over the road surfaces. The biggest thing I notice is how supple the transitions are between high-speed turns. The car no longer flops over from one loaded side to the other, it just.... shifts. It just gracefully transfers over. It's such a confident feeling. The car feels amazing in the turns.

My biggest concern was putting a system on the car that was too firm, that jarred your teeth over every bump. And that is NOT the case with this setup. The only negative experience I have with this setup is that if you traverse a bump or hole that I would say is 2" deep or more, then you'll get a hit that sounds harsh in the rear, but doesn't necessarily feel harsh, if you know what I mean. And I think this might be more likely due to the spherical rear shock mounts I installed with this kit since I dont get the same feeling from the front. The car stays controlled, it just sounds like a harsh thud, sounds harder than it would have when I had stock suspension.

But this is a small price to pay for all the upsides. With the dampers on their 8-click setting the car travels over normal road imperfections and pothole patchwork without a fuss. I don't encounter the larger hits often at all in my area. For example there's an occasional manhole cover that sits extra low in the road that I already avoided with the stock suspension that I still watch out for now. Now if you live in Detroit and have to hit those giant craters and grand canyon expansion joints every 100 yards every day, then this setup isn't for you, but then no performance setup is for you either, you need to stay stock and keep all the rubber bushings you can.

I'm super happy with this MCS suspension. I haven't even installed the Turner sways yet. I'll probably put a couple hundred more miles on before I install those, I'm really loving where the car is at right now. The sways will be more important for the HPDE on May 23/24 at Gingerman.

Dirty car pic (too busy suspensioning instead of cleaning):
https://i.ibb.co/VCvLbLG/IMG-20200423-094131.jpg (https://ibb.co/fNCXZXW)



I honestly didn't notice the car ride any worse with the vorshlag camber plates. Some warned that I might, but I didnt notice it. But, like I said above, I think the vorshlag sphericals in the rear have a more noticeable impact on noise, at least for the harder hits. Smaller more common bumps, no issue at all, can't tell they are there.

I even told Vorshlag to send me the 600/750# springs, instead of refunding me for the 550/650's that were backordered (thanks again for the springs sillieidiot!)

Nice, it sounds like my ASTs when I first put them on from the review. Yeah the Vorshlag camber plates aren't that harsh, at least from what you feel in the car; however, my strut towers started to mushroom a little. I have since put the reinforcement plates in.

I would probably hold off on the sways a little longer though. After I added the sways, the ride got noticeably worst. It makes sense cause adding sways is adding like adding more spring rate. But it feels worst because it's connected to the other side, so when I hit one of those 2" bumps, it feels even worst than it did before. Pretty much why I decided to drop the spring rate. But it feels great on the track or any place where the roads are perfectly smooth.

But yeah, I don't think you can go any lower than 550/650 for HPDE. I think it would be too soft. My ASTs only have 12 clicks, and when I went w/o sways, I was max at like 11/12. With sways, I only dropped it 1-2 clicks. MCS has like 18, so I'm sure you have more adjustments.

[rkneeshaw]

Got the sway bars installed just in time for HPDE weekend at Gingerman raceway. Along with adjustable end links all around.

https://i.ibb.co/rZbq4KY/IMG-20200519-132106.jpg (https://ibb.co/y8hKWmt)

https://i.ibb.co/FYdmSc3/IMG-20200519-134205.jpg (https://ibb.co/s1Xb0cR)

https://i.ibb.co/5kTFF8v/IMG-20200519-134153.jpg (https://ibb.co/w7yssWC)

https://i.ibb.co/6023WQW/IMG-20200522-143910.jpg (https://ibb.co/4Rc6VkV)

https://i.ibb.co/jhnqmXC/IMG-20200522-153734.jpg (https://ibb.co/F6Rc2TQ)

https://i.ibb.co/r5DLQ4D/IMG-20200522-153807.jpg (https://ibb.co/VMfhL2f)

I installed both front and rear bars at the "middle" setting. Looks like middle on the 30mm front bar will be slightly stiffer than the 26mm M3 bar I had before. This still leaves me a little room for adjustment if I want to make either the front or rear a little stiffer.

I also finished trimming out the access holes I created in the trunk to adjust the rear damper rebound:

https://i.ibb.co/jJ9Yk8q/IMG-20200525-154822.jpg (https://ibb.co/xFKbq2w)

https://i.ibb.co/fGJr6Gm/IMG-20200525-154803.jpg (https://ibb.co/sJ7sxJL)

https://i.ibb.co/H2Mwzpf/IMG-20200525-154836.jpg (https://ibb.co/W3d8yp4)

https://i.ibb.co/d0VFDWn/IMG-20200525-154754.jpg (https://ibb.co/N6J5KVw)

I used some edge trim to make it nice and neat:

https://i.ibb.co/NVhTgsV/IMG-20200525-155003.jpg (https://ibb.co/kHnmVxH)

I also made another change to my rear shock mounts. The Vorshlag spherical rear shock mounts just seemed a little too harsh (which I was warned about). On harder bumps I for sure noticed more harshness from the rear of the car. So I opted to install a set of the PowerFlex rear shock mounts and its helped a lot, the car now has more of a dull "thump" over some of these harder hits rather than more of a metallic thud.

https://i.ibb.co/ynHBWW9/IMG-20200525-152043.jpg (https://ibb.co/SXF7RRj)

https://i.ibb.co/Sm0MNNX/IMG-20200525-160200.jpg (https://ibb.co/n1fYrrs)

Put on the racing shoes and got her ready for the track

https://i.ibb.co/cxsrsdf/IMG-20200522-161225.jpg (https://ibb.co/M9JCJLw)

The car is driving great, it is so much fun to drive. I've settled on 7-clicks as my street setting for these dampers. its the right amount of comfort and sport for me. The car LOVES turns, it just digs into the corners. The dampers springs and sways have got to be one of the best upgrades I've made to this car, second to the twin screw kit, I'm loving it

[rkneeshaw]

Attended the 11th annual memorial day track weekend at Gingerman Raceway this last weekend and had so much fun with the car

https://i.ibb.co/0q7VS7D/IMG-20200523-084202.jpg (https://ibb.co/sjfJGfm)

https://i.ibb.co/yPBr3QG/IMG-20200524-150310.jpg (https://ibb.co/2hYTbkm)

I didn't really test different damper settings though, I notched the dampers up to 10-clicks and it felt good so I left it. Gingerman is a smooth track anyway. The springs and sways really felt great, the car was so controlled through the turns and S's, and I found it to be super forgiving. I found that the car tended to push a little as I was trail braking into turns, but as I applied throttle it seemed to increase my cornering grip. It was awesome. The harder I pushed out of turns the more grip the car had, it just grabbed harder. I found it really easy to modulate steering and throttle inputs to fine tune the driving line too. I may try increasing the rear sway stiffness and see how that effects things next time only on the account that the rear seemed like it could rotate a slight bit more. Overall, a super fun time, and I'm super happy with this setup. I should have some action pics from the event once they get uploaded in the next couple days.

[johnrando]

:thumbsup

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[sillieidiot]

Nice work. Damn you make me miss my car more. I thought you added a cupholder in the trunk for some reason LOL But yeah, that looks pretty good with the trim. I took a different approach. What I did was just cut on 3 sides of a rectangle. So I just pull it down to adjust, and push it back into place so you can't even tell I made cuts.

[Thatguy_JZ]

Car looks great! I like the little touches with the edging trim around the cutouts.

I may have missed this but how are you securing the seat belts? Do you have a harness bar?

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[foolio]

I agree… That trim around those adjustment holes, which by the way is a really clever idea, looks great.

Looks to me like he’s running Schroth quick fits. Those attach/bolt to the rear seatbelt receptacle/mounts.

[johnrando]

Def like the trunk access and how clean it looks.

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