How to prepare 135 for track (30 minute session)

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted by Frampton

Thats good to know about the square setup! That's the direction I'm going to go. I never tried pulling the pins with the stock sport suspension. What are your alignment specs right now?

have you run with the new brake setup? I'm curious im due for a bmw brake service in 2K miles according to the idrive...

Front -.77* camber
toe in 1/32 per side
caster i forgot but wil go look for it but it really doesnt matter

Rear camber all the way negative to the limit while barely staying in the green as per factory sport suspension specs

Rear toe and caster i forgot.. i posted from memory as i dont have it here with me. It is in another thread but go search alignment and see what you get...LOL


Yes I have run summit and Lime rock with the New BMW BBK with the stock pads..( 135 pads) my time bettered by 3 seconds at lime rock as compared to last year. I say due to BBK / e93FSB / i got more comfy with the car. Remember, my car is about 200+ lbs lighter than a 135..

The Front pads are worn down to 6mm already.. they start at 11 ish mm so the 2 track days and the auto-x's took there toll. my counter say 6k before front pads are due, and the car only has 9 k on it, and it had 4 k on it when i did the upgrade. I suspect ill get down to the trigger point ( which is 3mm) if i keep them on for one more track day, but i want to put the cool carbons on.

[Frampton]

i agree, set em and forget em. i'm at -2.4/-2.7 up front and -2.2 in the rear and drive it daily. no uneven tire wear yet but then again im at the track every other week.

[Frampton]

drivehard are you toe in in the front or toe out?

i'm 1/16" toe out on each side up front. i mistakenly thought mine was toe in but that is not a proper set up from what I've learned.

sorry for hijacking the thread!

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted by Frampton

drivehard are you toe in in the front or toe out?

i'm 1/16" toe out on each side up front. i mistakenly thought mine was toe in but that is not a proper set up from what I've learned.

sorry for hijacking the thread!

Toe in.. I like the feeling and stability at high speeds, i also like that under hard braking the fronts dont plant them selves and end up being toed out too much. its 1/32" each side 1/16" total toe in its barely there but that is where its at.

this is where the compromise is.. 520 track miles in 10 months,, 9000 highway miles in same time frame..... How would you set up your daily driver ???? There are tons of thing i could do to make it better at the track with the services i have available too me BUT i still need to come to work every day and sit in traffic, and even have my girlfriend drive the car without having her complain about her boobs bouncing, or her kidney jumping out of her body LOL !!!!!

[Frampton]

i hear you, everythings a compromise.

mines my daily driver and i've put 10K miles since January. I still can have a girl or my mom drive my car and have no clue theres any work done to it. well until they mash on the throttle! even with full coilovers, camber plates, and a relatively competitive car for autox and the track its as smooth as keith stone!

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted by Frampton

i hear you, everythings a compromise.

mines my daily driver and i've put 10K miles since January. I still can have a girl or my mom drive my car and have no clue theres any work done to it. well until they mash on the throttle! even with full coilovers, camber plates, and a relatively competitive car for autox and the track its as smooth as keith stone!

Keith Stone LOL.... thats funny..

I think difference is NY ( long island ) roads vs Texas.... bone jarring.... one of the main reasons that although i picked sport suspension i stuck with 17's...18's get beat way too much around here.. just not worth the pain even with tire / wheel insurance.

[Frampton]

i kind of wish I had 17's, 18's have almost no rubber on this car...

i don't miss the roads up there in any way! smooth sailing down here

[pixelblue]

Toe in won't help with the under steering. I prefer sharper steering response over high speed stability.

@ frampton, you are one lucky guy to have that track for play every other week. Best form of meditation in my book

[Lubo]

Originally Posted by aus

The stock fluid is Ate.


Lubo, you need some plates badly.

those were last year pictures. I am running camber plates now with 255s all around now

[IGoFast1589]

Originally Posted by pixelblue

Toe in won't help with the under steering. I prefer sharper steering response over high speed stability.

@ frampton, you are one lucky guy to have that track for play every other week. Best form of meditation in my book

I agree, I also prefer the car being more willing to turn over stability.

For added input into this conversation, my car is 100% stock performance wise (M Sport suspension) and I wear the outside edges of the tires enough so on the street and autoxing that I am concerned I am going to kill my new tires within another 5k miles and I only put 1k on them! The car just desperately needs camber if you want to drive it even mildly fast. I won't put any HPDE's under my belt with my 1 until I can AT LEAST replace the brake fluid and get some negative camber.

In regards to tire wear, I have run -2.5 degrees of camber on my last daily driven car and and still wore the outside edges on the street. Really though it depends on how aggressive you drive and how much roll resistance you have. Being an aggressive driver with stock suspension as of right now I need as much as I can possibly get!

[Focusedintntions]

M3 control arms and remove the pins and push in the shock towers....plenty of negative camber that way haha.

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted by pixelblue

Toe in won't help with the under steering. I prefer sharper steering response over high speed stability.

@ frampton, you are one lucky guy to have that track for play every other week. Best form of meditation in my book

Yeah i know... but like i said before its a compromise.. I drive at high rates of speed all day long ( please no need to get into that discussion) I track 5 times a year for fun.. Its not like im going for the world championship or anything.

Odly enough, with my square set up / bigger tire up front / and sway bar, my understeering is alot less then stock... On the street, i can put this car ANYWHERE i want, on the track i just hve to remember not to overdrive my cars abilities that honestly i havent even reached yet. I still need more seat time..

[Focusedintntions]

We all need more seat time on a track haha

[e82n54]

Just finished my first HPDE in this car yesterday. The biggest problem was camber as expected. I took the advice of some of the previous posts and drove on the stock suspension. Bad idea. I understand the theory, but now I have cracks all around the outer edges of my fairly new front tires. Luckily they're the run flat tires that came on the car, so I don't mind ditching them. Maybe I can rotate them, but that might not be a good idea. I don't know how deep the cracks go. So right from the beginning of the first session I could hear a terrible sound (not squealing) every time I turned the car around a corner. It was kind of worrying. Sounded like something was about to break. It was constant through the turns and gone on the straights. Since it was my first event I just went with the recommended tire pressure by the door (38psi in front and 42psi in rear). Rear tire wear was minimal. So, if the tires aren't ruined yet they will be if I go out again without adjusting something. Seems very clear that I need the vorshlag camber plates. I just wonder if that will be sufficient. I just wish they were cheaper. $500 just for the camber plates, then install and alignment will be a lot. Bummer.

FYI - I upgraded the brake fluid, but kept stock pads. I didn't notice any fade. (4 - 25 minute sessions and outside temperature was 101F!!)

[wildcat767676]

Have any of you guys had oil temperature issues? I keep getting the boost reduced after about 3-4 laps and notice my oil temps are 3/4 of the way up the factory gauge! What can be done??

Second question: If I already have coilovers with camber plates, do I still need larger front sway bar or M3 control arms?

[GaryS]

Originally Posted by wildcat767676

Have any of you guys had oil temperature issues? I keep getting the boost reduced after about 3-4 laps and notice my oil temps are 3/4 of the way up the factory gauge! What can be done??

Here is a huge thread at e90post: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=412156

I've only read parts of it. It seems to be mostly cars with AT that are overheating. Last I saw they were recommending pure water plus Water Wetter for coolant.

adding: Limp mode starts at 300F oil temp or 245F water temp.

[wildcat767676]

Yep, I've got the AT for sure too.

Thanks!!

[IGoFast1589]

Originally Posted by wildcat767676

Have any of you guys had oil temperature issues? I keep getting the boost reduced after about 3-4 laps and notice my oil temps are 3/4 of the way up the factory gauge! What can be done??

Second question: If I already have coilovers with camber plates, do I still need larger front sway bar or M3 control arms?

You live in AZ, it's hot as hell out there! What'd you expect? Lol

Do you need those things? No. Will they help? Sure they will. I guess the answer really depends on whether or not YOU need them. Do you have a strong enough feel for the car and do you drive it hard enough to warrant buying more performance parts? Is it worth the money to you? Those are questions you need to answer for yourself. More performance focused parts won't cover up bad driving, but maybe you will benefit from additional things. I've never sat in your passenger seat with you so I can't really say yes or no to you.

To build on the above, you do not want to be the dude that has every aftermarket part available for his car and can't drive for his life. Personally, I think it's awesome when you see people kicking some serious ass with less.

[wildcat767676]

Yeah, it was 109 yesterday! Ugh!!!! I'll post again this winter though when it's 75 in December and I'm at the pool. ;P

I just thought it was weird my buddy's '09 135i AT didn't have any heat issues(he has Code 3 IC, same tuner) following each other on track....

[IGoFast1589]

Originally Posted by wildcat767676

Yeah, it was 109 yesterday! Ugh!!!! I'll post again this winter though when it's 75 in December and I'm at the pool. ;P

I just thought it was weird my buddy's '09 135i AT didn't have any heat issues(he has Code 3 IC, same tuner) following each other on track....

Intercooler makes a big difference man... I'd invest if I lived out near you and tracked frequently. Poor little stock IC has it's work cut out for it. Haha

[wildcat767676]

I want to, just heard they cause a little more turbo lag down low, which I hate...

[IGoFast1589]

Originally Posted by wildcat767676

I want to, just heard they cause a little more turbo lag down low, which I hate...

I don't think it would be really that significant. The gains would easily outweigh the cost of a little lag. We are probably talking about only a few hundred RPM difference here. I mean, if your driving your car fast your staying in the upper RPM range anyway so you won't notice it and if you're just cruising around then you are in the lower RPM range and you aren't looking to move quickly anyways so it's not a huge deal. Just my $.02.