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Originally Posted by capt_and
Very extensive work! You took a completely different route than I did. I am on an as needed basis, and you went all the way! How do you like the tune? Are you turning it off on the track? Lots of horror stories about blown engines.
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Yea, like you, I was not going this far, at first lol. I ended up hoarding the coilovers and sway bars all last year, due to the install timeline. It was then I decided to do the rest of bushings since I'd have it all apart, anyways. I figured if I'm going to have full damping control, then I'd be best to get the car as stiff as possible, prior to installing them. Then I read about the rear alignment getting out of spec with the "lowered" suspension geometry, which is why I went for the adjustable 4 link. Could have just done the toe arms, but they were a reasonable price so I went ahead and did all 8.. Only thing stock on the rear end is the rear LCA's, which are not heavy or an issue, aside from the soft OEM bushing (which I've dealt with).
I also plan to corner balance the car sometime in May, will be curious to see how close to factory (or better) we can get the car set up. The reduced weight of the BBK's is surprising, never thought the 380mm two piece rotor would be lighter than the oem 340mm rotor, and the calipers are at least 20-30% lighter, even though they're larger.. Would love to have the car under 3400lbs, full tank, for now. Just have to wait and see how it all pans out.
As far as the engine goes, It's been super strong. I have no blow by that's concerning, much less than what I'm used to with my VW's. The plugs looked pretty good for the 35k kms they saw, most of which was tuned and on meth. Gap was only out by a couple thou on the factory plugs. The JB4 is pretty safe, and has many safety features built into it, so never a concern for engine destruction, there, lol.. If I went with a flash tune, it was be an "off shelf" 91 oct back-end flash, and would run the JB4 to control meth and my favourite feature "boost-by-gear" which is ideal at the track, especially in 2nd/3rd on the MT. Running meth also keeps things safe, with regard to ping'ing or detonation concerns, also keeps the engine burning clean and the temps, "cool". What I've seen, more recently, is oil starvation concerns, and appears the M2 oil pickup tube is the fix, for that. A few hundred bucks and you're running the same setup as the m235iR, which I'd like to do in this coming winter while the car is in storage..
Quote:
Originally Posted by skinnyroots
Thanks for the post. Currently driving an MK7 Golf but I've been lusting after the 2 series for a while now. Seems like a nice, natural progression.
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Nice, and welcome to the dark side! I feel there's a strong connection between these German cars, working on the BMW so far has been delightful, to be honest. It's not much different than the VAG cars.. I think you'd find yourself very happy with any of the 2 series offerings. What were you hoping to get into, if anything?