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06-29-2008, 07:30 PM | #1 |
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The insanity begins.... 3 week build time for a 135i track car
Can you build a track ready car in 2 weeks? We shall see..... (update 07.15.08 - YES! And here's the proof!)
VIDEO FROM ABOVE WEEKEND. According to one of the track officals, we were the fastest times of the day for a street tire car. Buttonwillow Raceway 13CCW 07.12.08 I'm hoping that we can turn out a decent performing Time Attack street class car using mostly off the shelf parts that us mortals can afford... all in a short time frame of 3 weeks. I'm going to document this build for you guys since this is a brand new platform and hopefully it'll pave the way for the rest of the weekend warriors who want to take their cars to the track. We're really short on time, but we'll try and take lots of pictures and show you guys what parts are going on and why. We'll try not to use any exotic or uber rare parts because: 1. We can't afford it! 2. We don't have the time! But we'll see how this ends up, I'm praying that we'll make the race in time! So here's the build list. It's broken down into a MUST have, SHOULD have, and HOPE to have. Time & budget both play a factor in deciding what will go on the car for now. Let's make this a work in progress and get some input from the Bimmer community. We're certainly no strangers to racing, but this 135i is a brand new which doesn't have a clearly defined path to higher performance. MUST HAVE: Coilovers - DONE Camber plates - DONE Wheels/Tires - DONE Race Pads/Fluid -DONE Front sway bar - BACK ORDER TILL AUG. Rear sway bar (can you believe that spaghetti noodle of a sway bar?!) - DONE VERY free flowing exhaust (this is a turbo car remember?) - DONE SHOULD HAVE: Limited slip diff - (should be in the MUST have list, but not enough time & $$ right now) Roll bar & harness bar - DONE Race seats & 5 point harnesses - DONE Short shift kit Larger Intercooler Larger oil cooler Custom ECU flash for 100 octane HOPE to have for the next race: GPS Dataloging system Aero mods (splitter, diffuser, rear wing) Roll center adjusters Bump steer adjusters Adjustable sway bar end links Gauges (boost, water temp, oil pressure) Maybe when we're done we'll have something that looks similar to the ALMS M3 you see in my sig! Wish us luck! YOU TUBE VIDEO FROM BUTTONWILLOW: A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS WHO MAKE THIS 135i BUILD POSSIBLE. |
06-29-2008, 07:40 PM | #2 |
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Forgot to add...
I'm hoping with the help of you guys/gals of the 1addicts community we can expose some of the weaknesses and how to mitigate them. Here are some of the weaknesses I already see on the 1er. 1. Virtually no front camber adjustment! I though I was through working on strut type suspensions, looks like these are still rife with BMW. 2. Virtually ZERO clearance with the wheel/tire to front struts and very high offset wheels. This will make wheel/tire selection harder. I'd like to stuff a 255 up in the front but my wheel/tire selection is limited. 3. Spring choices. It seems like most of the coilver setups south of $2500 are progressive spring/coilover setups. I have no idea what's and optimal starting point for this car. Anyone? I'm already set on using KW V3's but I'd like to change out the progressive springs for standard 60mm linear spring. Custom body kit pictures! V-Fiber Carbon made us this custom kit for the 135i. The prototype you are seeing here is in fiberglass but they will be doing these in full carbon. The kit consists of the front lip, side skirts, & rear valence. I will have more pictures for you guys later. V-fiber sides skirts above, OEM Tii side skirts rear. It looks just like the OEM Tii sides, just a bit more agressive. |
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06-29-2008, 08:35 PM | #3 |
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Great project! Many here will be following it daily, I'm sure. However, it belongs in the Track / Autocross / ... sub-forum, so I'm moving it now.
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06-30-2008, 04:57 PM | #8 |
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Just got off the phone with Terry from Vorshlag. Ordered up some Vorshlag camber plates, Vorshalg extended studs (60mm), wheels, & spacers. They've been very helpful over there and their knowledge of the BMW's will help us dial in the car that much quicker.
The big problem with the BMW 135i front suspension is that there's no adjustment to add neg camber. These Vorshlag camber plates will be just the trick. I ordered up a set of Advan Neova's (255/40/18) which should fit with the additional clearance the camber plates will give me. A 265/35/18 will go in the rear. I'm hoping that I can stuff a 265 up front and run a non staggered setup. But we'll see if the fenders and shock body cooperate. KW V3's will go in tonight. We've used them on our last 2 race cars and have posted some very fast times with them. Very high quality stuff. I've used everything under the sun, and these are definately the finest coilover you can buy in the sub $3000 price range. Will post pics of the install later. KW V3's fresh out of the package |
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06-30-2008, 05:00 PM | #9 | |
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But I do have a spare set of Sparco Pro 2000's and harnesses and enough DOM tubing to make a roll bar or harness bar. Just need the time to build it. |
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06-30-2008, 05:02 PM | #10 |
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06-30-2008, 06:08 PM | #11 |
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Subcribed. Looks like a great project. I can't add any assistance but I'll be watching.
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06-30-2008, 08:26 PM | #12 |
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Berk, I'm assuming those rear shocks are not coilovers, but adjustable shocks, and you have the springs on them just for the pictures.
The reason I ask such a stupid question is because I've seem cheapo coilovers that instruct you to remove the rear stock spring, and use the one mounted on the shock. As I'm sure you already know, the rear upper shock mounts are a stress area as it is, and adding the extra strain of the spring there would very likely break the upper perches in one outing. BTW, congrats on the setup. I'm sure it's going to rock. Good luck getting 265's up there, but I cant see it happening without major rolling. Also, as a tip, there's a screw/metal point inside the wheel well, where the fender attaches to the front bumper plastic. I had to doctor mine quite a bit. You'll see what I mean, if you feel inside there. |
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07-01-2008, 01:57 AM | #13 | |||
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I'm leaving my rear trunk covers off, too much of a pain to get on/off. Especially with the shock changes we'll have to make over the next few months. Quote:
D-Force EmPower 18x8.5 F +40 255/40/18 18x9.5 +43 265/35/18 Advan Neova 255/40/18 265/35/18 Clearance wise it will be: Front & Rear 4mm LESS clearance on the strut side, and the outside edge of the wheel will EXTEND an extra 22mm Compared to your 17x9 + 41 setup (w/ spacer) I should have more fender clearance up front. Your numbers for the front come out to: 6mm LESS clearance on the strut side, and the outside edge of the wheel will EXTEND an extra 32mm If i can get at least -3.5 deg of camber out of the front, I'm hoping and praying that it'll be a plug and play 255 setup. But usually I'm not that lucky and ordered 5mm spacers just in case. A few things I'm worried about. The screw you're talking about in the front, I'm going to have an even tougher time with my taller 255/40/18 vs. your 255/40/17 tire. IF I can clear the strut, do you suspect that I'll have the same fender clearance issues that you experienced? Thanks for your help Larry! |
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07-01-2008, 02:06 AM | #14 | ||
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Quote:
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07-01-2008, 11:05 AM | #15 |
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Did you touch base with the one-lap guys that posted here for a while-- seems like they dealt with a lot your issues in the course of making similar mods.
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...ighlight=queen |
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07-01-2008, 02:44 PM | #16 | |
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That's our AST 4100 "coilover kit" for an E87, and at left you can see the rear spring does go into the stock location. Maybe because a lot of shock kits use a "coilover style" 60mm spring out back is why "coilover" gets so liberally applied? Its one of those "well, you know what I meant" kind of things. :biggrin: Wish the folks at Berk had contacted us sooner - we'd have tried to talk them into ASTs for their 1er. We are just now rolling out the E87 and E90/92 kits on our website now but have had shocks installed on Tester cars for quite a while. AST has been making them for even longer, but we're just behind on marketing them here in the 'States. Shame on us. At least we have the E90/87 camber plates we've made for months finally listed on our 1 series section, and we're glad Berk chose the right plates for their car. :biggrin: Above pictures show some of "true rear coilover shocks", which were threaded body 4200 rear shocks converted to a "true coilover" with a simple upgrade kit we sell, but as you stated you must reinforce the rear shock towers to handle the full suspension load instead of just the shock/dampening loads. Usually folk will tie the cage into the rear shock tower area, reinforced with steel plate like below... That's such a huge fabrication hassle and expense that most folks just stick with a rear shock and the spring in the OEM location... which isn't that bad of a set-up in use. Oh, and that 335i that RRT ran at One Lap with AST 4200s that we talked about offline used 450#/in front springs, 750#/in rear springs. It was the 2nd fastest BMW at the VIR leg, just behind the V10 powered 5 series, I believe. The motion ratio in the rear of the E90/87 is different than the E36/46, hence the large rear spring rate differential. I don't know if the variable rate KW springs are that stiff (or even if KW know's what spring rates they have). Just one more data point. Keep us updated on the progress of the Berk Tech car. :smile: |
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07-02-2008, 06:47 PM | #17 |
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More parts!
H&R Rear sway bar. The front is on backorder until ~August. Boohoo..... And here are the cool squeek free bushings that they have. Looks like it's a woven polyester sleeve then they pour their rubber over it. Very cool! |
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07-02-2008, 07:14 PM | #18 |
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A couple of questions about your sway bars... First, are those a tubular design, and second, where did you order them from?
Also, please relate tour experience with the install, once done. Thanks, Mike |
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07-02-2008, 07:23 PM | #19 |
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They are solid. If they were tubular they'd be a lot thicker. Ordered from Options Auto Salon.
Will post install pics later tonight when things die down here in the office and I get to go play mechanic. Edit. Scratch that. I'm going to have to borrow a tall tranny jack from a neighbor. I'm going to have to drop the rear subframe to get this rear sway on. |
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07-03-2008, 04:11 AM | #20 |
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NEW PICTURES!!
Coilovers are in. Front and rear. I couldn't contain my excitment and just installed them even though everything will have to come out again for the camber plates and the rear subframe drop. I haven't driven the car yet so I can't comment on the ride or the drop. But this is the 3rd set of KW V3's we've had on our company cars in 2 years. As any KW owner will tell you, they KW's ride beautifully on the street, and even better on track! |
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07-03-2008, 06:45 AM | #21 | |
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I hate to say it, but I dremeled the plastic parts of the tab, heated it, and bent it so it's no longer in the way. I don;t know if you can do any legal body modifications in your class. It's totally unnoticeable from the outside. That tab is a very poor design though. I think you might be okay on the strut side, using your calculations, and if you can get away without the spacer (which might be a tall order), all the more better for clearance. I can physically mount my fronts on, and spin the wheel, but it barely rubs the stock strut. I bet it's only my a single mm that it's off, but the 5mm spacer affords me some tire flexing room. |
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07-07-2008, 12:39 PM | #22 |
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H&R rear sway is IN! We didn't have to drop the rear subframe completely. We just lowered the subframe a few inches and that gave us the room to slip the sway bar out of there.
You'll have to remove the rear dampers/springs, unclip the all of the lines, lower the rear subframe about 5". The install wasn't as bad as I thought, but I would not recommend you guys to do this on your own. A competent shop should be able to do this install in ~1.5-2 hours. So don't get raped out there when you go ask for quotes. Judging by the size of the OEM rear sway, this is the one mod I think you should put very high on your list. The OEM rear spaghetti bar. I can EASILY bend this sway bar with my hands. Dropping the rear subframe just a bit to get room to work in there. The new H&R Rear sway installed. BRAKES: The pads came in. These are custom built Hawk pads, HT-10 race compound. These are slightly more aggressive than the Hawk Blues that you guys are used to. Don't even think of using these on the street. HT-10's absolutely destroy rotors when they are cold. These are some ginormous front pads we have. If you look at the edges of the front pads you'll see where they had to shape the backplate of the pad. Nobody makes these pads yet so they had to use a Porsche (944 I think?) front pad and modify it for use on the 1er. |
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