Kyoo's E92 M3 Build for Solo
Jul 24, 2018, 02:37 PM
#1
Kyoo's E92 M3 Build for Solo
Thought I'd throw this out here since I've still got my Evo and am expecting to do a lot of back-to-back testing with both cars. This has been a dream car of mine for a while, as it is the last naturally aspirated, high revving, and decent looking M3. I didn't search for very long to find one with the specs I was looking for - 2011+ Alpine White, Coupe, CF roof, with the ZCP package and otherwise as close to stripper as I could get it. I wanted the cloth interior but that is a bit of a unicorn, so I settled for grey leather. No heated seats, no idrive, no nothing here. 26k miles on the clock, so still pretty young. Bearings will need to be done but I bought myself some time. The car is in great shape, and I have been prepping it for autox in Solo FS.
Seems like a lot of former Evo guys hop into these cars, which is interesting. It's a solid car, great engine, and a very balanced chassis. I've only autoxed it once now, and the biggest difference between this car vs my Mini and my Evo is that I can't hammer the throttle like I did in the past. It is going to take some seat time to get used to throttle control. I'd say the Evo is around 1s quicker on any given 50s course, and much more confident and stable through corners and fast transitions. The Evo is also just plain more nimble (300lbs lighter) more raw, visceral, and gives a better impression of speed and what the car is doing. The M3 is physically large, and has this feel like it's going to go away from me in fast transitions, but I will get used to it. I'm also posting here because the M3 forums are relatively dead or not very helpful. Not a lot of DIYers and fixers on there for the most part, mostly filled with BMW is amazing and they know what they were doing kind of discussions. Hoping this will also keep me active on these forums! My Evo build is still ongoing but the updates are pretty much on the blog only. Looking forward to racing these cars back to back!
Seems like a lot of former Evo guys hop into these cars, which is interesting. It's a solid car, great engine, and a very balanced chassis. I've only autoxed it once now, and the biggest difference between this car vs my Mini and my Evo is that I can't hammer the throttle like I did in the past. It is going to take some seat time to get used to throttle control. I'd say the Evo is around 1s quicker on any given 50s course, and much more confident and stable through corners and fast transitions. The Evo is also just plain more nimble (300lbs lighter) more raw, visceral, and gives a better impression of speed and what the car is doing. The M3 is physically large, and has this feel like it's going to go away from me in fast transitions, but I will get used to it. I'm also posting here because the M3 forums are relatively dead or not very helpful. Not a lot of DIYers and fixers on there for the most part, mostly filled with BMW is amazing and they know what they were doing kind of discussions. Hoping this will also keep me active on these forums! My Evo build is still ongoing but the updates are pretty much on the blog only. Looking forward to racing these cars back to back!
Jul 24, 2018, 03:24 PM
#2
EvoM Guru
iTrader: (1)
What tires are on it now? I know those cars get a lot faster with suspension and tire upgrades. Especially if it has factory Michelins on it, an upgrade to something in the 200tw category is a big bump in performance.
Jul 24, 2018, 08:24 PM
#4
I was telling Eric, I swapped in new pads (Ferodo DS2500s) and without changing anything else, the brake pedal is softer. I bedded and bled, still soft. On a whim, I swapped back to OEM pads, and lo and behold the pedal was stiffer again. It's a bizarre thing but for some reason this set up is just strange. No shims or anything to speak of here, they match in size and shape and they clip in correctly. I am noticing a good amount of caliper flex however. It twists and moves about 1-2mm, which is just bizarre.
I'm not used to single piston floating caliper designs on performance cars, but this design of this one seems particularly strange. One retaining clip on the outside, and 2 slider pins that double as bolts to hold the caliper onto the carrier. Even on my lowly corolla, the bolts that hold the caliper onto the carrier are separate from the sliders. i THINK this is the cause of my soft pedal, but it doesn't explain why the OEM pads give a stiffer pedal. Maybe there's too much material for the caliper to effectively grab on with the new pads? Any input would be welcome here... things are much more straightforward on our fixed brembos
Jul 25, 2018, 08:16 AM
#7
Sam once again new car looks awesome! Great purchase but don't forget about your evo 
And remember I called dibs when you jump ship!
I still don't understand what is going on with your brakes. How thin were the old pads compared to the new ones? I mean in general the more material the higher likelihood of more "squish" yes technical term. But even so DS2500s should not feel compressible at all.
You know me I always attribute soft pedal to air and in your case user error but I guess given that you swapped back old pads and it was stiff again then I guess that rules it out and points the blame on the new pads. Can you post a picture of the two pads side by side? I wonder if theyre cut differently and its hanging up or something? You always have the strangest issues, lol! Common denominator = you but in this case it might not actually be you haha!
And remember I called dibs when you jump ship!I still don't understand what is going on with your brakes. How thin were the old pads compared to the new ones? I mean in general the more material the higher likelihood of more "squish" yes technical term. But even so DS2500s should not feel compressible at all.
You know me I always attribute soft pedal to air and in your case user error but I guess given that you swapped back old pads and it was stiff again then I guess that rules it out and points the blame on the new pads. Can you post a picture of the two pads side by side? I wonder if theyre cut differently and its hanging up or something? You always have the strangest issues, lol! Common denominator = you but in this case it might not actually be you haha!
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Jul 25, 2018, 08:29 AM
#8
Sam once again new car looks awesome! Great purchase but don't forget about your evo And remember I called dibs when you jump ship!
I still don't understand what is going on with your brakes. How thin were the old pads compared to the new ones? I mean in general the more material the higher likelihood of more "squish" yes technical term. But even so DS2500s should not feel compressible at all.
You know me I always attribute soft pedal to air and in your case user error but I guess given that you swapped back old pads and it was stiff again then I guess that rules it out and points the blame on the new pads. Can you post a picture of the two pads side by side? I wonder if theyre cut differently and its hanging up or something? You always have the strangest issues, lol! Common denominator = you but in this case it might not actually be you haha!
And remember I called dibs when you jump ship!I still don't understand what is going on with your brakes. How thin were the old pads compared to the new ones? I mean in general the more material the higher likelihood of more "squish" yes technical term. But even so DS2500s should not feel compressible at all.
You know me I always attribute soft pedal to air and in your case user error but I guess given that you swapped back old pads and it was stiff again then I guess that rules it out and points the blame on the new pads. Can you post a picture of the two pads side by side? I wonder if theyre cut differently and its hanging up or something? You always have the strangest issues, lol! Common denominator = you but in this case it might not actually be you haha!
there was a decent amount of life on them. swapped more because the braking force wasn't good. pedal feel, excellent. the oem pads have tapered edges but i dont think that would impact feel much.. though i guess it could, if different parts of the pad are seeing the braking force.. though that's tapered where etc. the oem pads didn't see any taper.
Jul 25, 2018, 09:12 AM
#9
I'd think if anything tapered pads would have more compression than non tapered. Maybe its just me but looking at that first picture you posted it appears as though the new pads are longer than the OEM pads. I wonder if that has something to do with it?
Jul 25, 2018, 09:14 AM
#10
EvoM Guru
iTrader: (1)
The tapered edges are for noise reduction. They don't effect performance.
The drastically different pedal stiffness with a pad change is odd. I've never had that before.
The drastically different pedal stiffness with a pad change is odd. I've never had that before.
Jul 25, 2018, 09:19 AM
#11
think it's just shadows, it's about the same. i'm actually starting to wonder if those nubs on the backing plate are making contact with anything. i don't think they are but i don't have a good enough picture here to tell. they prob aren't there's enough clearance from the back of the pad to the piston "housing," i'm reaching for answers here.
Jul 25, 2018, 09:21 AM
#12
Yeah agreed. I was just saying from a theoretical perspective you'd think the taperd pads would have more compression. And its funny maybe its just my luck but I know the tapers are to reduce noise but I always managed to have a rock or some crap end up getting lodged right in that taper which would emit a nice screeching sound. Quite ironic lol!
Jul 25, 2018, 07:46 PM
#14
EvoM Guru
iTrader: (1)
BMW brakes are pretty good.
