128i daily with some HPDE. Upgrades?

[SKJSS]

I want to get input from the collective on my car. Here's the brief background. I've got a 2011 128i 6spd. The car is nearly bone stock. The only things I've done to it are Motul brake fluid, Hawk pads and 320TW tires. I have been racing in 24 Hours of Lemons for a really long time and am extremely busy. I did these minor things to the BMW because I wanted to get my wife into HPDE. Of course, when she's running, I would run too... I'm definitely not some professional driver, but I am quick enough to be killing the car in its' current state...even my wife is getting pretty quick. There's not much camber in it, so we're killing the front tires. The 320TWs aren't cutting it anymore, and the pads are chewed up.

My point to saying earlier about being busy is that reality is we won't get time to do more than a handful of HPDE events per year. The car is my daily driver, so I don't want to go so far down the rabbit hole of mods that it's over the top. I'm also 50 years old, so I don't want a car that'll knock my fillings out over every pebble. I want to find a balance.

Here are my thoughts and please tell me what else. 200TW tires are a must. Maybe Azenis, but I'll figure that out. Raybestos ST43 front pads, we use those in Lemons and they're phenomenal. What do I do with the suspension? I'm not a mechanic and don't have time, so I have to pay for labor to do the work...hence I want bolt on stuff. Camber/caster plates? Springs? Sway bar?

Thanks!!

[Gary@simod.net]

Do coilovers, pads lines and SRF fluid,

I actually have a suspension company we have a few kits out on 1 series cars. you can run 10k front 14k rear and it will still ride good with our kits.

I have a customer with a well set up fast 128. Three stage intake conversion makes a huge difference and a LSD, he has a 3.73 gear set in his.

Swaybars are a pain in the back. Do Powerlex black 95A subframe inserts when you do the swaybars. The inserts and bar in back can be done without removing the subframe we do them all the time at my shop.

www.contactsuspensionengineering.com

[konner412]

Originally Posted by Gary@simod.net

Do coilovers, pads lines and SRF fluid,

I actually have a suspension company we have a few kits out on 1 series cars. you can run 10k front 14k rear and it will still ride good with our kits.

I have a customer with a well set up fast 128. Three stage intake conversion makes a huge difference and a LSD, he has a 3.73 gear set in his.

Swaybars are a pain in the back. Do Powerlex black 95A subframe inserts when you do the swaybars. The inserts and bar in back can be done without removing the subframe we do them all the time at my shop.

www.contactsuspensionengineering.com

Originally Posted by Gary@simod.net

Do coilovers, pads lines and SRF fluid,

I actually have a suspension company we have a few kits out on 1 series cars. you can run 10k front 14k rear and it will still ride good with our kits.

I have a customer with a well set up fast 128. Three stage intake conversion makes a huge difference and a LSD, he has a 3.73 gear set in his.

Swaybars are a pain in the back. Do Powerlex black 95A subframe inserts when you do the swaybars. The inserts and bar in back can be done without removing the subframe we do them all the time at my shop.

www.contactsuspensionengineering.com

Do y'all just lower the subframe slightly to fish out the rear bar?

[edycol]

Get oil cooler from N55. Regular thermostat from N54/55 will do it. That will keep your oil temperature in safe zone, especially at low altitudes (forget ambient temperature).
Be careful if going SRF. You need to flush 100% of old fluid, and when I say 100%, I mean it. Regular brake fluid is hygroscopic, SRF is hydrophobic. That means if you have tiny leftover of DOT4, SRF will isolate it, and that is recipe for gas pocket.
If daily, don't go race oils. Go regular oils like Mobil1 0W40, Castrol Edge 0W40, Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5W40 etc. Run 5k intervals.
For track season run 10-15% coolant concentrate.
Like others said, suspension upgrades.

[NorthernDancer]

Check out TTR Tire Ratings Charts. They like Michelin, Continental & Hankook. Many here like Firestone Indy 500. I loved my Michelin PSS; still on car but now too worn for the track.

[dmytro98]

Besides brakes and tires, my favorite changes to the car was a set of ohlins, which gave the car so much more confidence at speed while still being pretty comfortable to drive on the street with 70/120 springs rate. Paring it with a set of camber plates is a must. Sure you could do so much more but just doing these changes will make the car so much more enjoyable on track without ruining the street characteristics

[Olgeezer1]

So you've got the tires and pads you want. Weakest point in your suspension is the Rear Subframe bushings. Inserts will help and cost less to install but replacing with M3 or Poly or Solid is really what you need for your intended purpose. With budget in mind, Dinan fixed camber plates will help. I'm getting about - 1.8 with stock suspension. Square tire setup will help. I left my sport pkg. springs alone, just swapped out shocks / struts for Bilstein B6's. Do sway bars last. You won't have a rear bar if it's not sport pkg. If you do have one it's 12mm. What you do here depends on how it handles after the above upgrades and how you want to adjust oversteer /understeer. I settled on an E93 M3 front bar and a 15mm. rear bar (rear bar only added with LSD install ). This is a street car on square 225/40/18's , might see 1 HPDE day a year and I'm past retirement age.