Just dropped a deposit on some M Power - Trackday Project Car

Hi there

Manage to drive the car for the first time in a while in actual dry road conditions, as it seems like the roads have just being wet forever.

In short OMG it is quite literally amazing, you can literally pile into a corner with so much speed and the car is so neutral, a little push, a little oversteer at your command but neither come alarmingly or are over excessive it is just so creamy.

I really can't wait for Donny on the 15th and I've got some Z4M eccentric bushes to get fitted before then as well for a little more caster. :)
 

That is good, a car which gives zero warning of oversteer is a badly setup car and you will be slower. The last thing you want is oversteer with no warning at corner entry, your then trying to correct and very slow or crashing.

E46 chassis is also fastest with the front end set stiff / pushy, hence why so many with track cars fit a thicker front ARB, but leave the rear standard as they can absolutely.

A little push in a correctly setup E46 M3 makes it an incredibly quick car and one you can exploit and drive too and beyond the limits with very progressive handling. Of course if the push is annoying you, then slimply apply a little more lock and throttle and you can do some epic slides.

Its getting the balance right and I can drive a car far quicker and more confidently when I know the first sign of lack of traction comes from the front-end, then I can make the decision of how to deal with it, either grab by scruff of the next and throw into the corner like a FWD car, keep it smooth and neutralise the push or if at corner exit, LOUD pedal and powerslide out. :D
 
Hi there

The wheels I was planning to buy, just bagged a set second hand, not the exact style I wanted, more a CSL style, still look damn good, here is a photoshop to give a general idea.

z6id.jpg



They are 18x9" in ET31, so should be perfect fit and are an inch wider on the front than current setup, so much better for a square setup.

They are also 3kg a wheel less. :)

Next wallet bashing shall be a set of Michelin cups for them me thinks. :D
 
Emailed Michelin today about SuperSports in 265/35/18 being available in USA but not Europe, usual response different regions have different sizes. Right now no plans to bring to Europe or UK unless demand increases.

So everyone please email them! :p

However what they did tell me is the new cup 2 will be available in my size in 2015, WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!! :D :D :D

Also they include the technology from SuperSports for far great wet ability and will last more than twice as long or double the amount of track days compared to older cups. :)
 
Awesome, are they HREs? What tyres will you be running at Donington?

Do you have any details for Donington?

These will go on in March, February is expensive for me, Porsche MOT, service and BMW track day, so these were an un-expected spend.

It's Feb 15th with Javalin, I'm in my M3, it was £169 when I paid but they being putting prices up since.

I shall be running old wheels with federal tyres, hoping for dry weather.

Shall be buying cups for these new wheels, 265/35/18 all round. :D
As soon as cup2 is available shall switch to those.

They are Apex EC-7
http://www.apexraceparts.com/

About 9kg each, so 3kg a wheel lighter and the cups are nearly a kilo lighter too, so around 15kg of unsprung mass removed. :eek:
With CSL boot lid should bring the cars weight down to approx 1320kg, not far now until she is below 1300kg. :)
 
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Hi there

Yesterdays track day was another wet one. :(
Then today its bright, sunny and bone dry, typical!

Still it does mean I was able to compare the car to before which was also wet though not quite as wet or cold.

In short I was certainly faster, simply by comparing previous corner speeds. I remember last time holding around 80mph through craners in the wet, now 90-95mph was possible and when a dry line did develop for a couple of laps I was pushing around 100mph with relative ease, but was being very easy as the old hairpin was like driving on grease.

I was also overtaking cars once got all the little heat I could in the 595 RSR's, I have to say they are really such a terrible tyre, I mean come on its a track day, I was out for 40 minutes and afterwards they were only luke warm. The 911 in such conditions, well even my drive to work gets more heat into them, on track your hand sticks to them.

That was the problem, the Federals give absolutely zero feedback in the wet and to be frank are not much better in the dry, making it not confident inspiring at all to push to the limits.

Also being out in another E46 M3 which is stock, it sounds so much better inside, due to being able to hear the engine and not just exhaust. So I am now looking for a CSL mid-pipe and backbox, so won't sound quite as good from outside but much better inside.

So the car has got faster even when conditions were slightly worse, but its vague and lacking confidence, I know its not a 911 in terms of feedback but it does seem simply down to the tyres.

So jobs to do before next track day:-
Fit Apex wheels and Michelin cup tyres - 4kg per corner lighter.
Fit eccentric bushes to give more caster
Buy and fit CSL exhaust system
Fit CSL Bootlid, should arrive very soon, fingers crossed!
Fit door cards
Get carpet made up for rear just to neaten things up.
Prey for dry weather.

After this then I might shift the focus onto getting 50/50 weight distribution, easier way to achieve that will be to fit a rear cage no doubt.
 
Hi Gibbo - shame it was a wet day. I've never managed to get mine around quickly in the wet, particularly at Donington which seems to be a very slippery track.

Unfortunately, I think it is only dry weather which will make the car drive well - it will be completely different on the 595s in good weather.

Btw - I don't think the CSL backbox is any different to the standard one (apart from a little stamp!). I actually have one as a spare, and after doing a bit of reading up on them, they are identical to the normal ones. Someone on another forum weighed them and they were the same weight as standard. Would like to be proved wrong though!
 
Hi Gibbo - shame it was a wet day. I've never managed to get mine around quickly in the wet, particularly at Donington which seems to be a very slippery track.

Unfortunately, I think it is only dry weather which will make the car drive well - it will be completely different on the 595s in good weather.

Btw - I don't think the CSL backbox is any different to the standard one (apart from a little stamp!). I actually have one as a spare, and after doing a bit of reading up on them, they are identical to the normal ones. Someone on another forum weighed them and they were the same weight as standard. Would like to be proved wrong though!

Your spare backbox, is it in good condition and if so do you want to sell it?

I guess it is just the mid-pipe then that is different on the CSL, a little lighter I think.

Yep my mate was in his stock M3 on Conti's and they definitely had more grip for sure with better feedback, though my M3 did seem to have better corner speeds which is no doubt the suspension work and weight reduction. Saying that even he had a big spin with DSC on. :D

Yes Donnington is extremely slippy and to be honest all the BMW cars were struggling yesterday, even the far less powerful track ones on wets, so in comparison I was not doing bad, but the FWD and RWD Porsches were owning most things. Having driven my 911 at Donny in the wet the 911 is leagues ahead for such conditions.
 
Hah yeah - 911s do a lot better in the wet. I'd be tempted to get a set of OEM 19s and PSS for your car for such days, although you would be looking at £1k just sat around on the off-chance of a raining track day.

My backbox isn't for sale unfortunately - I bought it as an OEM spare. Tbh, you can find OEM ones in good condition for under £100, and even in bad condition, a set of new tips isn't ridiculously expensive.
 
Hah yeah - 911s do a lot better in the wet. I'd be tempted to get a set of OEM 19s and PSS for your car for such days, although you would be looking at £1k just sat around on the off-chance of a raining track day.

My backbox isn't for sale unfortunately - I bought it as an OEM spare. Tbh, you can find OEM ones in good condition for under £100, and even in bad condition, a set of new tips isn't ridiculously expensive.

The cups will be fine in the wet, ran them on the 911 when they were close to worn out at a wet Donnington and the car was superb. Difference with cups is you can get heat into them and they give you plenty of feedback, these 595's do neither......
 
Today I had local garage remove the bushes from front lower wishbones and replaced them for some Z4M bushes. The stock M3 bushes are centred whereas the Z4M ones are eccentric and as such make the front wheels sit slightly more forwards.

I believe turner motorsport do some after market ones as well, but they tend to be quite expensive and your just buying the bush so much harder to fit.

I just got the entire Z4M units from BMW for £100 for the pair.
Part numbers are:-
B31.10.7.836.862
B31.10.7.836.863

They fit fine and the first thing you notice is more weight to the steering with more on centre feel, a welcome addition to the M3's vague on centre steering feel normally. So improved weight and feedback.

I shall get the alignment re-checked and redone tomorrow but these should give more castor so I should be over 7+ now, definitely a worthwhile modification from initial drive and low cost for improved feel and weight to steering, plus they are about 1hr work for a garage to fit.
 
Wow those bushes which have made the car feel so totally awesome, no wonder.

The caster has gone from around 6:45 upto around 7:40ish, for £100 one of the best modifications I have made, really transforms the steering weight and feedback, all owners of E46 should do this, seriously what an improvement. Literally takes 1hr to fit and something you can do yourself.

My new alignment settings:-
allignment.jpg





Very very happy, gonna get the wheels fitted over next week or so and hopefully full CSL exhaust system. :D


P.S. Before measurements are with bushes fitted, you can see fitting them caused 20 minutes of toe-in either side, so only adjustment required was to set toe neutral, so a quick alignment only costing £58 at XJK specialist. :)
 
Hi there

OK its only taken six months, but the bootlid has finally arrived, it weighs absolutely nothing, gotta be circa 5kg, so a good 15kg or so lighter than the stock metal version as this is GRP Plastic/fibe/carbon mix of some kind.

Also starting to get cups fitted to new wheels which I hope to have fitted in next week or so and CSL exhaust system is paid for and will hopefully be here anyday. :)

photo.jpg


photo1.jpg



Bootlid is booked in with bodyshop for March 3rd who will paint, install and blend it all in for £140, same body shop who fitted front bumper and did a great job of painting the car. His details are:-
Car Body Repairs
Wayne Dunning
[email protected]
Unit 11A,
Longport Enterprise Park
Scott Lidgett Road,
Longport
ST6 4NQ

Very impressed with his work and his pricing is very fair. :)
 
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