Cloudbase's M Coupe Time Trial Build and Progress Thread

[Cloudbase]

It's been a few years in the making, but it's finally time for me to post a build and racing thread. This isn't a monster build thread like some of the awesome cars on here. Everything I've done has been the result of meticulous research, trial and error, and experience in the art of going faster while retaining the stock "spirit" of the M Coupe AND always being able to return it exactly to stock form.

I will continue to update this thread with quick links to my progress posts here:
Initial Build, May BMW CCA TT, July NASA TT: Post 1

The M Coupe was always my dream car. I fantasized about many cars, but the M Coupe was the only one I lusted after. When my dream finally came true I was tortured with whether to keep it as pristine as possible or to use is it was meant to be used. There must be some way to do both, no? Then I read an article in Excellence (the Porsche Club magazine) about a guy who drove and tracked a 1973 Carrera RS (actually it was an S that he made into an RS), either one more collectable than my M Coupe. The car had been tracked hard for over two decades and 200,000 miles, but still looked relatively stock and like new. Those two decades has certainly inflicted major wear and tear, but it had been maintained exceptionally, far better than many street cars and it showed. I decided I could follow that model to have my cake and eat it too.

The M Coupe has something else in common with that old 911. I believe Automobile Magazine said that the M Coupe was more 911 than a 911 (comparing it to a contemporary 996). In other words -- It wants to kill you! No really it does!! Ask anyone who has been the unfortunate recipient of my dramatic, lengthy, track-side monologues about how it wants to kill me. I've noticed people run for the fly-infested sanctity of overheated plywood port-O-johns the minute the topic comes up. I'll spare you the drama and use dogs as an analogy. An E36 M3 is like a yellow lab. It's obedient, happy to please, does exactly what you ask of it. An M Coupe is like an abused healer. It's rather unique, demands your attention, and will bite your hand off if you pet it wrong. As a result, driver or driver, mod for mod, the E36 M3 will be faster because it requires less effort to drive, but I believe this makes driving the M Coupe more rewarding. In reality, the M Coupe isn't that hard to drive, it just requires more attention and finesse to push it near the limit.

Goal: To be competitive in NASA and BMW Club Time Trials, even considering the inherent disadvantages of the E36/8 M Coupe

Rules:
1. Have fun!
2. No mods that cannot be put back to stock. All stock items will be retained, hermetically sealed, and stored.
3. Only modify as necessary to improve the M Coupe's balance and drivability in order to use my skill to be faster.
4. Comply with NASA TTF-B (stock class) Rules.
5. Do all work myself when possible.

A little history is in order. I bought my 2002 M Coupe in 2007 with 25,000 miles. It just broke 50,000 last week. In 2012 I was looking for a car that I use in both BMW CCA Club Racing and NASA GTS. I bought a semi-prepped 2000 M Roadster because it was more "shuntable" than the M Coupe. Then I realized there was no way I could afford either type of racing. I would stick to racing karts and Chump Cars and Time Trial the M Roady. I spent the year learning the car and going through the steps to get my NASA TT license. The M Roadster was an invaluable learning tool, but I always longed to be in the M Coupe. Last fall, I sold it and began the M Coupe's evolution.

Both Z3's





The M Roadster in Action



Me "Learning" - fast forward to 1:45
(tip - disconnect the rear sway bar)



The M Coupe Last November



2002 Imola Red / Imola Red & Black M Coupe (Jan '02 Build, #533 of 673)
Stock except for for:

• KW V3 Coilover Suspension
• Ireland Engineering (green) Subframe Bushings
• BMW Motorsport Floating Front Brake Rotors
• Stainless Steel Brake Lines and CDV Delete Clutch Line
• 330 mm Steering Wheel
• Factory Sport Mode Enabled
• Motion Motorsport ACS Rep Front Splitters
• Projector ZII Headlights

Super Sprint Exhaust Install

Replacing the stock exhaust was the first order of business. I opted for the Super Sprint for several reasons. The first was a pre-Thanksgiving Turner Motorsports sale that I happened to know about. The second was that Super Sprint is one of the few exhausts that actually improves the performance of the S54. The third was that the rear bumper required no cutting to fit the 83mm exhaust pipes.









Suspension and Balance

Factory oversteer would be corrected into a more neutral setup through suspension, wheels, and tires.

• KW V3 Coilovers Out / TC Kline Double Adjustable Coilovers In (this is so I can fit bigger tires up front)
• TC Kline Caster / Camber Plates
• 550lb Front / 700lb Rear Springs
• Disconnected Rear Sway Bar
• 30mm Front Sway Bar (I have yet to source one)
• 17" x 9" Gloss Black Apex Arc-8 Wheels w/ BF Goodrich R1 245/40 Tires (track)
• 17" x 9.5" Hyper Silver Apex Arc-8 Wheels w/ Dunlop Dizzera ZII 255/40 Tires (street)
• Ducted Brake Dust Covers









The Mud Flap Dilema

The front tires still stuck out uncomfortably far. To protect my paint I installed 3M clear bra over my rear fender arches and a set of WRX racer boy Rally Armor mud flaps. They look like pit stains on a super model and attract much unwanted attention from hipsters, but my paint is more important than my pride! I have to say the guys at Rally Armor were great and really every car in Colorado should have these, but they were a bit too WRX for an M Coupe.




Photo courtesy of Steve Clark.

An informal poll at the track, public opinion was overwhelmingly against the mud flaps. A few thumbs ups from Stance Works kiddies with cursive lifestyle stickers "tramp-stamped" on their windshields was enough. The mud flaps had to go. OEM BMW mud flaps have long been NLA in the BMW dealership circle. I remembered visiting a shared Ford / BMW dealer in WV and got a creative thought. Perhaps other shared dealerships might have a set in stock. I found what I believe to be the last set at a Toyota dealer in Ohio.



Cockpit and Driving Position

Shifting has always been a weak spot of mine, specifically throttle blipping while heal-toe shifting. My ankle just isn't that flexible. The big stock steering wheel combined with the height of the stock seat made my knee hit the wheel when I put my leg in the position it needs to be to blip correctly. I've always thought the two-tone stock seats were works of art, but found myself slipping and sliding around corners on the track in them. I was also pathologically paranoid about damaging my side bolster. To prevent this on entry and exit I would hang myself off the steering wheel like I was pooping in the woods. Not the greatest way to make an entrance! I removed, cleaned, and leather conditioned my stock seats, then sealed them in plastic in a climate controlled spot in the basement. Here's the cockpit build:

• Sparco Evo II US Seats (Brand new from a local NASA member)
• Motion Motorsports Seat Brackets
• VAC Floor Mounts with Anti-Submarine Straps
• Schroth Profii 6 Point Harness
• HMS M Coupe Harness Bar
• NRG 320 mm Steering Wheel
• Contour Derlin Weighted Shift Knob
• Convex 14" Mirror mounted with Go Pro Suction Cups

I had to hack 3" off the outside wings of the seats and another 2" off this inside of the seat trays to make them fit. Hacking into new seats was super stressful, but it worked. The harness bar was another life saver. I sourced a bar that bolted in to the floor, but drilling and cutting holes would violate my rules. I managed to source a rare HMS M Coupe harness bar from a member on here that bolts into the B-pillars and rear tie down points.























The last order of business was fixing a nagging oil leak that had be plaguing me for the last two years. Here's a thread I started about it: S54 Oil Leak. After lots of trouble shooting, it looked like it was the head gasket. In the process of pulling the head, my local shop found a loose timing chain guide bolt. It probably was the source, but I opted to go ahead with the head gasket replacement because of the labor involved to put it back together at that point.

Oil Leak / Head Gasket Replacement







Likely Culprit



Item #10 in Both Diagrams





On the Track

My first track weekend would be with the BMW Club on Memorial Day at High Plains Raceway. I spent two days instructing then ran the first BMW Club Time Trial. It was a test to see if the club could gain enough interest to start a TT program under the Club Racing umbrella. Several other local M Coupe guys came out for their first track weekends. In our paddock we had three M Coupes in attendance, along with an S50B32 swapped E30 M3, an E28 M Tech 535, and a slew of E36 M3's. Seven of us crashed out in an RV where our time was spent marinating in horrible gas (mostly mine) and avoiding the inevitable "man-touching" that results from such close quarters. The M Coupe was quite a bit different than the M Roadster. The S54 power difference was noticeable, along with the lack of functional aerodynamics. I adapted quickly (while serenading everyone with tales about how it wants to kill me) and with some suspension dampening was able to set a new PR during the TT of 2:07.773. I think there is a 2:05, perhaps a 2:03 in the car -- more on that later.

Paddock Photo Shoot


Photo Courtesy of Steve Clark















At Our Secret Car Wash Every Night





New PR During the BMW Club TT (2:07.773)



NASA TT

NASA TT was the next event after the BMW Club. I still needed run provisionally (unscored) one day with the TT group and class my car. NASA TT has two different basic class groups. Stock classes (TTF-TTB) and power to weight classes (TT3-TTU). Vehicles are assigned to stock classes by make and model, then assessed mod-points that bump them up to higher classes based on the mods. It's a points game. The S54 powered M Coupe falls in TTC, but has 14 initial assessment points (added to mod points) right off the bat. Another way to look at it is the stock S54 M Coupe is TTC & 3/4. For comparison the S52 M Coupe only has 7 initial assessment points, so it's really TTC & 1/2. With my mods I ended up being only 1 point away from the top of TTB. This is bad news for me, but one good thing is that I can up my R1 tire size to 255/40's in TTB. Other TTB stock vehicles for comparison are: BMW E90 M3, Porsche 996 911 Turbo S, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X MR, Chevy Camaro SS (the new one) -- all power cars. In the real world most of these vehicles would be bumped up to the TT3-U groups with a few mods. My competition in TTB consisted of a BMW E46 M3, Honda S2000's Lotus Elise, and a WRX STI (all modded). Then there are the fast guys in TTC, a good portion of which run equal or faster times in E36 M3's and Honda S2000's. I would have my work cut out for me! With my car classed, it was time for stickers.

Decals

Plastering the required decals on my M Coupe was painful, but a necessary requirement. I used high quality non-marring automotive vinyl and got to work.



Door or Rear Hatch Glass? I went with the rear hatch glass to highlight the unique lines of the M Coupe.

















Provisional Run

Since it was my provisional run day and I had a passenger I didn't try to set any records in TT. I just opted for clean runs and to finish the last step of my TT license. My best time was a 2:08.594.

Empty Weight w/ 3/4 Tank of Gas









Video from Hsun following me in an S2000



I'm hoping for a test and tune next week, followed by a weekend at Hastings, NE in August.

[MrDangles]

I love imola reds. Coupe is BA.

Do you have a picture of how you installed your front top hats? I feel like mine are on wrong. I tried adjusting every different way and the passenger wheel is still hugging the front bumper. I think my hats are swapped from left to right or something.

[e24kronus]

That last video is a super clean lap. Nice driving!

[Cloudbase]

^Thanks!

Do you have a picture of how you installed your front top hats?

Here is my driver's side hat. Does this help?

[MrDangles]

Thank you, sir.

[BenFenner]

Cool thread. Looking forward to following along.

Also see.

[MartyBtoo]

Judging by the picture of your scale output, you might try seeing if it supports a cross-weight function. If it does, do whatever it takes to get it to 50%. It seems counter-intuitive when you see the individual wheels weights that result, but what it does is make the car respond the same to left and right-hand turns, which is much more confidence-inspiring. Once the driver gets used to it I've seen up to a second and a half improvement in roadrace lap times with no other changes.

Marty

[Eson535]

Definitely subscribed to this one! Awesome so far Alex! Keep bugging Chris to join the boards..

[Cloudbase]

^ Thanks man. I saw your car yesterday it looked great. Chris might come to the fall driving school.

Marty, the corner weights were skewed to the left with me in the car.

They were

LF: 851 RF: 776
LR: 785 RR: 793

[MartyBtoo]

^ Thanks man. I saw your car yesterday it looked great. Chris might come to the fall driving school.

Marty, the corner weights were skewed to the left with me in the car.

They were

LF: 851 RF: 776
LR: 785 RR: 793

If you look at the left side weights, they are more towards the front, while the rights are more towards the rear. So turning to the right and loading the left tires you are more likely to oversteer, while turning to the left with right side loading you are more inclined to understeer. To correct this you would lower the left front/right rear spring adjusters, and raise the right front/left rear adjusters. This should be done with sway bars disconnected and the driver in the car. When done right the ride height stays the same, but the front-to-rear ratio of weights will be roughly the same for both sides of the car, even though the actual numbers won't match each other at all. The last step, with the driver still in the car, is to adjust the sway bar links so that they can be attached without adding any preload to the wheel weights.

If you have a cross-weight function on your scales then you don't even worry about the numbers, as it does all of the calculations; you just need to move the spring mounts until you get the right ride height all of the way around while achieving an 50% cross-weight reading. On the sports racers that I worked on it could be done in about an hour; I would think it would take considerably longer on a door slammer do to difficulties in accessing the spring perchs.

Marty

[Bcar]

awesome build/thread! thanks for sharing.

[KBH22102]

Really awesome thread and an obviously meticulous build with great results. Was the M Roady also an S54? Would that have affected your decision to sell it?

[Cloudbase]

Update: I added a video of my buddy chasing me at NASA to the bottom of the first post.

Got it Marty. Thanks for the info, I'll take everything I can get. That makes a lot of sense. What you are describing is basically a corner balance no? I'm waiting on TC Kline rear spring adjusters to show up (right now they are on plywood spacers), then I'll have it in for one (hopefully before Hastings).

Was the M Roady also an S54? Would that have affected your decision to sell it?

I actually liked that the Roady was an S52. The shifting was telepathic, no throttle by wire delay (which sport mode in the S54 actually helps, even though it reduces the window of throttle input). I think an M50 manifold and tune would have been more cost effective than an S54. It was super painful to sell the Roady. I loved that car. It was more fighter cockpit than the M Coupe with the hard top. Learning to drive with a little bit of aero was soooo much fun. You could just dive into the high speed turns at HPR and know that it would stick. The M Coupe does a bit of a dance up Turn 7 (an 80 mph turn), where the Roady was just planted. I ended up selling it because I thought I was going to be changing jobs last winter and it was a good time to sell the car (season was over, people were looking, etc). When the job change didn't happen, the M Coupe mission creeped from just an exhaust into a full build. With the mods I had on the M roady, I would have been in TTB or TT3 and it was still 2 seconds slower than the M Coupe.

[Frank@AchillesMotorsports]

coupe looks killer. Something about red on BMW's that makes me love em.
Good luck with the build!


PS. i was really diggin that Roady with the hardtop and wing, looks sweet!