[Liquidpaper]

Okay, so I've been hanging out on these forums for close to a year and very slowly (read:quickly) become a bit of a track rat. So, I've modified my car to suit. However, she (Brunhilde) has never had a proper photo shoot. Mods are as follows:

Show:

MP Black Kidneys
BMW Stainless Pedals
MP Exhaust

Go:

Ground Control camber plates (2.25 x 4, 3/32 rear toe in, 0 toe front)
H&R Sport Springs
APEX ARC-8 x 4; Dunlop Direzza II 255/35/18 x 4
Challenge Stainless Brake Lines
Porterfield R4-S pads (kind of slim pickings so far with regard to brakes, but these turned out to be pretty damn good)
ATE 200 Brake Fluid (probably switch to Motul 660 next time, but this does just fine)
Schroth 6 pt. Profi-II detachable
P3 Vent Gauge (for temps on track)

Forthcoming:

Diffsonline Custom Rear End (3.46 ratio, lockup % to be determined, 35/60 ramps, 95 ft/lb preload)

I've taken some nice exterior shots, as well as some of my newly installed Schroth 6 point detachable harness, as well as the anchor points, if anyone is similarly interested.

Basically I had my mechanic (who builds BMW race cars) find anchor points in the car for the harness. The ASM is anchored to the brace for the seat (which is anchored to the frame/subframe); the lap belts are anchored to the (i) seat belt carrier and the (ii) transmission tunnel; the shoulder straps are anchored to the sub frame right behind the rear seats. It's not an easy job, but it can be done, and done well. If I take the belts out, its completely stealth -- no one knows except me. A full cage or bar would be better (of course), but I still DD this car, so not going that direction (yet...).

If anyone has any questions, feel free to PM me or leave it in the comments.

[mike@tpc]

nice!

[i8ur911]

Awesome stuff. Love the harness set up.

[1ChrisRuck]

Freakin Awesome! looks great, really cool pics

[W///]

Now that is one cool car. How are you liking it on the track so far?

[Liquidpaper]

Originally Posted by W///

Now that is one cool car. How are you liking it on the track so far?

It's really great. Haven't had a chance to try out the harness or springs yet on the track, but I will on Saturday (Willow Springs). I'll post a review.

The one thing I am really excited for is the custom rear end. It's doing to make the car more...violent? I think one of the reasons why some people think this car is not M enough is that the gearing isn't quite right. Needs to be shorter. This will fix that problem AND give me a high quality clutch type limited slip. Super excited to see how that effects the car on street and track.

The diff should be ready in 2 or 3 weeks, which is perfect, because I have a whole weekend at Chuckwalla Raceway the first weekend of May to try it out. I'll post a review of that too.

[kd0t]

Looking good! Loving the harness.

Where in SoCal are you located?

[Liquidpaper]

Originally Posted by kd0t

Looking good! Loving the harness.

Where in SoCal are you located?

West LA -- Mar Vista/Culver City area.

[Anderw]

Good stuff! Car looks great , harness design is very cool, Have fun out there on the track!

[Iceman51sn]

Fantastic!!! Looking forward to seeing your build this weekend!

[VMRWheels]

Solid build! Keep it up

[Rus.K]

Thats pretty awesome! Love the color scheme

[Alpine F31]

Excellent! I want to go with you to Willow but I only have 400 miles on the car. I want to get to at least 1000 before I take it to the track. The ARC 8's look awesome! I'm glad I kept my set from my F30. Your set up is the bomb. Cant wait to hear about your track day.

[Liquidpaper]

Originally Posted by Alpine F31

Excellent! I want to go with you to Willow but I only have 400 miles on the car. I want to get to at least 1000 before I take it to the track. The ARC 8's look awesome! I'm glad I kept my set from my F30. Your set up is the bomb. Cant wait to hear about your track day.

Yeah, a grenaded motor is no bueno. This will be my . . . I think 11th track day with this car. I'm excited to see how the harness helps on those high-g turns. What I am really excited for is my new rear end, but I'm going to have to wait a few weeks for it to be fabricated.

Also, yeah, the ARC-8's are sick. For the price, they are an amazingly good deal. I guess you could go spend like $8,000 on forged wheels, but if you are doing track duty, they're just going to get messed up anyway, so why bother? I don't think you're going to find a better combination of strength and weight in a wheel (especially for the price). I think mine weigh 18.5 lbs a piece (no tire)? I think it's about 6 or 7 lbs lighter than stock per wheel. They also look pretty cool, while still retaining that pseudo OEM+ look. I dig them.

[Alpine F31]

Originally Posted by Liquidpaper

Also, yeah, the ARC-8's are sick. For the price, they are an amazingly good deal. I guess you could go spend like $8,000 on forged wheels, but if you are doing track duty, they're just going to get messed up anyway, so why bother? I don't think you're going to find a better combination of strength and weight in a wheel (especially for the price). I think mine weigh 18.5 lbs a piece (no tire)? I think it's about 6 or 7 lbs lighter than stock per wheel. They also look pretty cool, while still retaining that pseudo OEM+ look. I dig them.

Here's one of mine on a scale. You're right, for the money this wheel is incredible!

[PARTS@STBMW]

Awesome! Looks great!

[BMFn_F22]

Awesome set up man.. I was just at Streets of Willow for the first time in my car last Sunday. This car can definitely hold its own.
Are you on Big willow or Streets this weekend?

[mike@tpc]

Originally Posted by Liquidpaper

This will be my . . . I think 11th track day with this car. I'm excited to see how the harness helps on those high-g turns.

I'm guessing it will help a lot. Going from harnesses in my dedicated track car to regular seatbelts in this the one time I took it out, I felt like I was all over the place in the seat.

[Liquidpaper]

Originally Posted by BMFn_F22

Awesome set up man.. I was just at Streets of Willow for the first time in my car last Sunday. This car can definitely hold its own.
Are you on Big willow or Streets this weekend?

Big Willow this weekend. Although, to be honest, I like Streets more. It's more technical.

Originally Posted by mike@tpc

I'm guessing it will help a lot. Going from harnesses in my dedicated track car to regular seatbelts in this the one time I took it out, I felt like I was all over the place in the seat.

Yeah, I'm thinking the same. Turns 2 and 8 at Big Willow are pretty high-g turns. With my setup, I (think) my car probably holds close to 1 lateral g, so you get tossed around pretty bad on those turns with a 3-point belt.

[eboosted]

Thanks for sharing.

I've been reading a lot about the Porterfields R4-S, they seem to be great at the street and light Racing applications, however I see you race them and you seem pretty happy with them, have you got any fading issues on the track after 3-4 hot laps? Are you harsh on the brakes or feather them easily? After 11 track events are you getting vibration when braking from 100 to 30?

Sorry for so many questions but you are the only one around racing your m235i on R4-Ss

[eboosted]

I forgot to ask.

How do you feel the ride quality on bumpy roads after the H&R springs? Is it very similar than stock?, harsher but bearable? Uncomfortable only on bumpy roads?

Was there an improvement in laptimes over stock Springs or not at all?

[Liquidpaper]

Originally Posted by eboosted

Thanks for sharing.

I've been reading a lot about the Porterfields R4-S, they seem to be great at the street and light Racing applications, however I see you race them and you seem pretty happy with them, have you got any fading issues on the track after 3-4 hot laps? Are you harsh on the brakes or feather them easily? After 11 track events are you getting vibration when braking from 100 to 30?

Sorry for so many questions but you are the only one around racing your m235i on R4-Ss

I've only had the R4-Ss on for three track days (the other 8 were on stock M-Sport pads, which were pretty good), but I like them. I've experienced very little, if any, fade, and I am generally hard (too hard) on the brakes. Note, I also am running ATE 200 brake fluid and stainless brake lines. I've been out on Streets of Willow for an hour at a time (a very brake-intensive track) and experienced no fade.

If you were really determined to make your brakes fade, could you? Yeah, probably; but then you probably aren't doing it right. Generally, they're pretty decent pads on the track, the dust isn't THAT bad, and they aren't that noisy on the street. I'm a fan.

Originally Posted by eboosted

I forgot to ask.

How do you feel the ride quality on bumpy roads after the H&R springs? Is it very similar than stock?, harsher but bearable? Uncomfortable only on bumpy roads?

Was there an improvement in laptimes over stock Springs or not at all?

In comfort, ride is similar to stock. Better composure over bumps (fewer secondary motions I think). Not sure about sport. I haven't taken the springs on track, so I can't say anything about lap times. I doubt they'll make THAT much difference, but to be fair, car looks really cool with the springs on, so I guess have that going for them. Generally, I'm happy with them so far -- the stock ride quality is very good (imho) so I didn't want to ruin it, just provide a little more body control.