Whalen Alloy Hood Release

Posted on 2015/01/17 by Chad

The hood release handle on the E36 (and E36/7/8) cars are flimsy, weak, plastic levers that really don’t convey the look and feel of a quality part. They’re known to snap, leaving you to get creative when trying to pop the hood. Fortunately there is an excellent and affordable solution.

Doug Whalen, the creator of the “Whalen Shift Machine” line of weighted shift knobs, also offers a hood release lever. Like his shift knobs, these shift levers are CNC machined from solid metal, aluminum in this case. He also offers them in either bare aluminum finish or a more stock-like black anodized coating.

I have one of these pieces already installed on my M Coupe, so why not upgrade the ’98 M3 Sedan as well.

The lever is simple to remove and install, just held on with a phillips head screw. The back of the lever is machined to match up to the stock mechanism.

Be sure to check out Whalen’s website for these and other cool parts. Like his Z3 Delrin seat bushings, which my M Coupe also has.

http://www.whalenshiftmachine.com/

M Coupe ///M Emblem Replacement

Posted on 2014/11/07 by Chad

My M Coupe returned from the body shop after its hail damage repairs with a number of issues. One of which was the missing ///M emblem from the rear hatch. The shop ordered me up a new one, and I decided I’d be better off installing it myself. Now, if you’re like me, you are a stickler for the details and simply eye-balling the badge just won’t cut it. BMW, like most manufacturers, have very specific dimensions for their badge placement. Off I went to Google to see if I could find the official measurements. Fortunately I found numerous references to exactly where and how to install the badge.

Parts: There are two different badges depending on what model M Coupe you have. The first generation (1998-2000) S50/S52 powered M Coupes use a flat badge with a higher placement. The 2001-02 S54 M Coupe uses a curved badge placed lower.

RealOEM Reference:
51142250811 Letter “M” Rear (Flat) for 1998-2000 M Coupe
51142694404 Emblem, Adhered (Curved) for 2001-02 M Coupe

To make sure I had the emblem properly aligned, I used Power Point to print rectangles at 23mm width (also added 65mm for any S52 guys) on some card stock paper. I cleaned the paint with some wax & tar remover to ensure a good bond, then cut these rectangles out and taped them in place, parallel to the edge of the hatch next to the right brake light.

Click the image to the left to open an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file of the emblem placement instructions. Print off the document, preferably on card stock, and carefully cut out the spacer templates you need. Then using some masking tape, you place the cut-outs parallel to the edge of the hatch to properly align your emblem.

NOTE: Make sure to uncheck “Fit to Page” option on the print dialog. There may also be an option to print “Actual Size” rather than scaled. You must print it to its original size.

With the paper templates in place, I double checked to make sure everything looked correct. Take a step back and ensure your lower line is parallel to the road surface, which pretty much follows the gentle horizontal sheet-metal crease running across the hatch.

Then remove the wax paper backing from the emblem and lightly place it above the lower template and aligned right to the vertical template. I emphasize placing the emblem only lightly at first, just in case you need to readjust it. I took another look from a distance to ensure everything looked right before pressing the emblem firmly in place.

Remove your template and admire your work.

BONUS: Just in case you happened upon this page in search of emblem placement for your Z4 M Roadster (E85) or Z4 M Coupe (E86), here you go…

Cars and Coffee of the Upstate – June ’14

Posted on 2014/06/28 by Chad

I’ve only been back in the great state of South Carolina a week, but I’m hitting the car-nut trail fast and hard. I decided to head up to Greenville for the M Coupe’s maiden voyage out from hail damage repair. I think I drove for about 30 minutes before I remembered I have a 6th gear! The weather looked unpromising yet all the forecasts called for the rain to hold until later in the day, so my father and I ventured on.

I’m ashamed to admit this was my first Cars & Coffee event, still kicking myself for not making it to the renown Austin event held at the Oasis while I had the chance. I suppose there’s a difference between track-day folks like myself and car show folks. My weekends were usually spent turning laps or turning wrenches in preparation for them.

My parents, on the other hand, have settled into BMW ownership once more with their 328i wagon and have already attended this event twice. Held monthly at the Michelin North American Headquarter’s parking lot, it has rapidly grown to the point of regularly seeing well over 500 cars in attendance.

For the uninitiated, Cars & Coffee is a back-to-basics approach to car owner socialization. Held across the country in most large cities (I suppose Greenville is large where SC is concerned), it’s simply an early morning parking lot meeting of like-minded automotive enthusiasts. There aren’t any judges or prizes to be won, so put away the detail spray, just park your car and take a look at what shows up.

For more info check the Upstate (Greenville) Facebook page here: facebook.com/CarsCoffeeUpstate

There are some nation-wide organizations that promote these events, but most seem to be very local and unofficial in nature. Your best bet is a Google search or look to Facebook, as most have their own page or event postings.

While I normally take photos of everything imaginable, I spent most of my time this morning just walking around and talking to other participants. There was a healthy contingent of BMWs in attendance, though I was the only M Coupe (or M Roadster… or Z3) there today. Notables included an E24 M6, a clean 2002 roundie, and an E36M3 with a Vorshlag LS swap.

Many of the owners had grouped themselves with other cars of the same marque and model (a Mustang row, BRZ/FRS twins, Corvette commune, etc.) I found a decent E21 and 2002 to park next to, though the majority of the Roundels were at the rear of the lot. There were quite a few odd-balls as well, such as an original Mini sporting an RX-8’s rear drive powertrain.

The event runs from 0800 to 1100, so you don’t even lose a whole day attending, and it fit perfectly with the expected afternoon showers and sweltering heat. A very enjoyable and low-key event, I’ll be back. Heck you might see me at Cars & Coffee Charlotte next week and in Savannah the week after that. I suppose I need to update the blog calender to reflect all these Southeast events!

BMW CCA Texas Trifecta ’14 at COTA

Posted on 2014/04/20 by Chad

I finally made it onto the Circuit of the Americas, after several events of just spectating (ALMS/WEC, Grand-Am, Trifecta ’13). The track still has that new smell, and its popularity garners some pretty high prices and long waiting lists to get in. Fortunately the three Texas chapters of the BMW CCA came together again for their second “Texas Trifecta” driving event, and they kept the costs to somewhat less stratospheric level than other organizations.

In order to stand a chance of getting in, I had to ensure I was a “tier 1” applicant, which meant participating in a Texas chapter event in the preceding year. Good thing I attended the Fall DE at MSR-Cresson with the Lone Star Chapter. You also had to be a solo qualified driver, which narrowed the pool down further, but the event was still sure to sell out fast. I registered as soon as I could, knowing this would probably be my last opportunity to drive the track.

Much of the hype surrounding COTA is just that, pure hype. I haven’t been to any other purpose-built F1 tracks, but from what I’ve seen on TV and in photos, COTA isn’t anything remarkable. That’s purely from a landscape and amenities perspective, not the track design. I’ve attended two pro-race weekends there, and I wasn’t exactly blown away. I left feeling like it was lacking a bit, but as I mentioned, it was still very new at the time. Over the past year they’ve made some improvements, like adding camping accommodations on the back straight area, near turn 11. But this post isn’t really about the facilities, it’s about driving the actual track. That too has been hyped up for quite some time, as you’d expect given how new the place is and that it’s brought F1 back to the States. I tried to keep my expectations in check, and treated it as if I were going to any other track.

The Texas Trifecta was spread over three days, Friday through Sunday. I, taking the cost into consideration, only signed up for Saturday and Sunday. Due to scheduling of both HPDE and races, there would only be three thirty minute sessions per day, down from the standard four. Sacrifices must be made right? The run groups were also fairly large, though they tapered off on Sunday, and the track is pretty big at 3.41 miles.

NOTE: Clicking on the Turn # links will take you to a Google Streetview of the associated corner (great tool for learning the track.)

For the first three sessions I was paired with an instructor to help learn the track. As you might expect, it’s not the easiest to learn with 20 turns. The pit-out puts you right out at the end of the front straight, leading up the hill to T1. T1, like T11, T12, and T20 is a very low speed, tight radius turn. It calls for down shifting to second gear. With my stock staggered street tires, I will understeer pretty badly without really coming in slowly. Pitting out presents a bit of a problem if you have traffic coming down the straight at speed, as the blend line carries you all the way to nearly the turn, which puts you far too inside of where you need to be. T1 through T2 is a flowing downhill bend, accelerating the entire way to the bridge just before the essess. Not much braking (none if you are braver than me, maybe a slight lift) into T3, slight brake before T4. It’s essentially a tightening set of essess. The great thing about this track is that the pavement is ultra smooth and incredibly grippy. There is also very generous run off room, most of it paved.

You have to look out for the larger orange pyramid-like concrete bumps that are placed at the apexes, which serve to keep racers from cutting the course by too much. These stick up enough to do some serious damage to a car’s under-belly and suspension. I tried to cut the curbing as close as I dare without hitting those orange bumps. T6–8 provides for a little bit of playing around with the line, I tried a few different approaches. T7 is tighter than the previous section, and I was continuously flirty with the astro-turf on track out. T8 is almost like a mini carousal, I don’t think I could double apex it, maybe lengthen out the braking then bend it around for a late apex and shot into T9. Coming out of T8, I practically just straighten the wheel and clip over the cubing. There’s really no need to bring it back to the right and then turn in, as you are practically hugging the inside of T8.

Between T9 and T10 is a strip of grey concrete on the right side of the track, providing a good cue for turn-in to T10. This was great, because if you could see the apex of T10, you were already too late. The terrain is falling away at this point, so you really just turn in at that grey strip and you clip the smooth painted apex at T10. The track straightens up just a bit, then it’s hard on the brakes for T11. T11 is a tight left hand hair pin, leading onto the back straight. It’s a bit frustrating, as you really want to carry speed onto a straight. Here it’s practically a drag race from ~35mph coming out of T11. Cars begin to stack up there, and then some of the first passing finally takes place. The straight between T11 and T12 isn’t entirely straight either, slightly bowing the right. Having started at such a slow speed, you really don’t hit anything astronomical, even for such a long straight. My logs showed I topped out at 138mph before braking for T12, that’s really no faster than the speeds I’ve hit at TWS, even going CCW.

After the boredom of the back straight you have another heavy braking zone, the hardest given your speed. T12 is another very slow corner. You’re going from fifth down to second, similar to the T1. You’ve got a short straight leading to T13, which I followed to the very outside edge before turning in. I had a very difficult time trying to figure out T13, getting it to where I wouldn’t just plow horribly. You can almost carry a constant arc through it and 14, but I still never felt like I had it down. Turn 15 was strange in that it’s really wide leading into the corner, which made it difficult to choose where exactly to place the car. In traffic I saw other cars taking multiple lines in. I tended to brake to the outside edge, then sharp turn towards the apex. It’s not as wide coming out as going in, so you have to be mindful. Fortunately you can easily see this on approach, as you are essentially doubling back.

Turn 16-18 is essentially a carousal, where you try to maintain a set steering input, then just use the throttle to carry it around the track-out. When you do it correctly, the car follows the same arc and the apex of T17 and T18 just come over to you. This is a pretty high speed corner, lots of fun. I had difficulty really laying on the power, as it would just lighten the front end and I would begin understeering away from the corner. You really have to use maintenance throttle to get it just right. I never was quite brave/fast/or have enough grip to push it all the way out the the track out rumble strips. That’s probably not such a bad thing (other than giving up time), as you have to move back to the right side of the track for T19. I found (and apparently several others as well) T19 to be deceiving. At first it looks like any other slow corner, but in fact, you really can carry quite a bit of speed through it. The orange pylon at the apex is very low and runs in the same direction as the track, so you can actually clip the corner safely. I spun twice in this corner, my own fault from making abrupt throttle adjustments while turning. I mentioned it was deceiving, I found myself either going too slow or (on the occasions I spun) too fast. My parking spot in the paddock was right next to T19, so I witnessed quite a few other cars struggling here as well. Fortunately there is a lot of paved run off and if you do have an off, pit-in is right there, saving you the embarrassment of getting black flagged.

Finally the last turn, T20. Like turns 1, 11, and 12, this is a very slow corner. Back down to second gear and on to the front straight. I found this corner to be the most power-oversteer prone on the track, perhaps because it leads on to the front straight and I’m just trying to wring as much speed out as possible. It also is a bit more narrow than you might expect, I was consistently running the outside edge on the astro turf, wishing I had more pavement. The front straight runs right through the grand stands, starting very flat then quickly rising to turn 1. You really must use the last bit of that uphill for braking, as the car unloads a bit at the top and you’ll quickly blow past turn in. That’s it, rinse and repeat.

I found COTA extremely hard on brakes compared to all the other tracks I’ve run. The numerous slow speed corners following straights require very heavy braking, and it showed with pad fade by the fourth lap or so. Of course my car doesn’t have true brake ducts, is full weight, and is using all stock brake parts aside from pads and fluid. If I were to continue to run it in the M Coupe, I’d want to add ducting and perhaps change to PFC 01 pads if necessary. The PFC 08’s worked extremely well up until about lap 5 where they faded slightly. Nothing reaching dangerous levels, I just had to compensate by braking sooner (which of course doesn’t help the heat issue.) I had also added Bimmerworld titanium backing plates, which I will highly recommend. After the weekend I removed the PFC 08’s and plates, which were completely scorched blue and purple from the heat. As designed, the plates had prevented the heat from transferring to the caliper, its dust boots looking fresh and untouched. Likewise, the brake fluid never showed a hint of fading, I’ll give an endorsement to the Brembo LCF as well.

So what are my thoughts of the track now that I’ve finally run it? It is definitely a great facility, a nice change of pace from running old and bumpy places like TWS. The pavement is glass smooth, grippy, and easy to drive. If I were to break the track down into sectors, I could say there are some I really disliked and others I really enjoyed. You can probably guess that I wasn’t much of a fan of the very slow corners following and starting straights. Sure they require a fair amount of skill as you try to judge your braking zone, there’s definitely time to be made up there, but I prefer a track that has a bit more flow. The layout makes it difficult to setup and execute passes on nearly everything but the straights, and those are painful too as everyone is starting from the same slow corner. Places like MSR-Cresson allow for anticipating and setting yourself up for a pass through several different corners, not so much with COTA. Since there is a wide spread of cars and drivers at HPDEs, it can make passing even more challenging on tracks with several long straights or high speed sections. Corvettes and Ferraris will just walk away from me, but then I’ll pull a Miata and be back on them. Of course the right thing to do is to let the car pass when they catch up with you, but then you wind up sandbagging as to not pass on the next straight.

Another issue I hadn’t even anticipated was the difficulty in seeing the flag stations. Most amateur race tracks aren’t surrounded by high catch fences to protect spectators, so you can easily see every corner worker from a good distance off. COTA’s corner stations are behind these fences, which have small openings for the workers to wave the flags. What this means is that you really don’t see the stations unless a flag is sticking out, unlike most other tracks where you can actually see the workers’ mannerisms and anticipate what may be happening. It’s not a huge issue, just something to get used to.

Despite these issues, as a whole COTA is a very enjoyable track. It’s challenging to learn given the size, but not so much as to be daunting or scary. There aren’t any “oh-sh!t” type corners, where things get out of whack even when doing it correctly. Smooth on-camber corners with generous run-off and open sight lines definitely add to the enjoyment. I’d love to run the track again, but not at the prices most organizers are asking. I’d recommend it as a track you should at least drive once if the opportunity presents itself, but to me it’s not worth the $900-1300 that most are asking. Hopefully the prices will come down and availability go up as the “newness” wears off and more organizers get involved.

As always, I brought along a couple GoPro cameras to record my laps. I used my Android phone again to pull data from a Bluetooth GPS taped to the dash, then used the output as an overlay. Unfortunately I didn’t get all the sessions due to my GoPro Hero3 Black Edition failing on me, but was able to get some interesting footage with the two remaining cameras (White and Silver 3+) The video below uses the standard mounting position behind my left shoulder so that you get a view of what the steering wheel is doing.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O39odqxtUjU

And this video has the main camera mounted on the roof. This was a pretty fun session, with a little back and fourth with an E46 M3. I couldn’t hang right with him, as he had more tire than me, but fun nonetheless (despite fouling up a few downshifts.)

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDKiRgHobXU

Driving the Big Easy at NOLA Motorsports Park

Posted on 2014/03/30 by Chad

I’m a bit late in posting this, playing catch up with posts. On 15 and 16 February I attended a Chin Motorsports track day at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, LA, just a few miles south of New Orleans. This was Chin’s first foray into tracks west (just barely in this case) of the Mississippi, and was the perfect opportunity to check out this practically new track. I had joined Chin (just a $50 annual fee) as soon as I heard they were coming out west, with planned track dates at TWS, MSR, NOLA, Hallet, and others in the area. I did this in anticipation of a future move back east, and figured I better become a known quantity with their organization so I could run places like Barber, VIR, and Road Atlanta.

This being their inaugural track weekend in the west, the turn-out was pretty small. Not a huge deal, as it just provided for lots of track time that wasn’t too congested. Chin prides themselves on keeping the run groups reasonably small, with maximum track time. They run a little different format than what most others do, with a morning “warm up” session for about 30 minutes, followed by four 30 minute sessions, then finally a “happy hour” free to any participants to run (no specific groups.) I had originally intended to take the MR2 Spyder, but it was laid up with a case of blown engine, so I brought the trusty old M Coupe. Fortunately there is a Naval Reserve Base right down the road, so I was able to get nice accommodations at a decent price and avoid most of the New Orleans area (not exactly the nicest place to visit IMHO.)

The track, on the other hand, is a beautiful facility. It opened in 2011, so it still has that new feel, and they are still in the process of nearly doubling the size of the road course. Currently there is a 2.75 mile road course, a large kart track, and a big skid pad for autocross or drifting. Being lower Louisiana, the terrain is very flat, so no elevation changes. Fortunately the track designer did a very good job of incorporating nearly all the other features you’d want in a race track. Nearly all the turns have generous run-off areas, except for the front straight that parallels a wall. Of course you’d have to be doing something very wrong to end up hitting that. All the corner worker stations are elevated platforms, which make it extremely easy to see far in advance of any trouble that may lay ahead. There’s also a nice gift shop, with a diner located above it. Unfortunately the diner wasn’t quite up to speed with the rest of the facility, I recommend you bring your own snacks or head out to the town for food. Closer to the entrance of the park are enclosed garages for members, and there is even a convention center separating the road track from the autocross lot. The cold pits were covered, but that is the extent of covered space for visiting drivers.

The image below shows the eventual layout of the entire park, with a future south course joining the existing northern section to form a 5.37 mile full course!

Since I had never run NOLA or with Chin Motorsports, I was placed in with the novices, but given a solo pass. I was fine with that, considering I would be learning the course by trial and error. I didn’t get an instructor the whole weekend, though I did request one. I think Chin might have been short on instructors, and there were a few they had that I was a bit concerned with. I say that because even with instructors in the novice cars, I saw some pretty odd behaviors, like coming to a full stop at corner stations under a full-track black flag. Other oddities: no flags displayed with rescue vehicles on track. I came up on tow trucks several times at full speed, with workers out on foot, and no flag in sight. Some of this may be just growing pains, but it didn’t instill a lot of confidence in the marshals. There were also a few other concerns, like a car that continued to pour out smoke so thick you couldn’t see the course, yet was allowed to continue to run. Fortunately they got that car sorted for the second day, but most other organizers would have pulled it.

Despite a few hiccups, I still enjoyed the track immensely. The layout provides for plenty of passing opportunities, and the corners flow very well from one to another. Turns 8 through 12 are particularly fun, becoming a high speed rhythm section. I found I could enter without braking, but it required precise turn-in points or the M Coupe would plow (check my video to see how that turned out!) I was able to learn the course pretty quickly, especially considering I was alone and unafraid, hell I was the first car out on Saturday and had no one to even follow. By Sunday afternoon I was working on bringing my times down, eventually taking a second per lap off to the point I reached a 2.01 by the closing checkered.

The car held up fairly well, though I was really eating through the tread on my RE-11’s, which were damn near slicks. I was also getting quite a bit of brake judder, which upon further inspection I discovered was caused by my front rotors cracking. They were micro fractures, not quite all the way through the rotors, but enough to bother me. I made some calls around and found a set of blanks up the road at Autozone. I wouldn’t normally advocate using Chinese parts store rotors, but given the choice, they would do. I quickly swapped them out in the paddock, did some high speed bedding in the large open paddock pavement and let them sit Saturday night. Sunday morning all was well, no more pulsing from the brakes. The PFC 08 pads really are a huge improvement over the PFC Z (street performance) I was previously using, as long as you can stand the squealing.

As always, I captured video of the event with my GoPro cameras. Unfortunately both micro-SD cards became corrupted when I tried to review the video on my Android tablet. Lesson learned to not do that, or at least have extra cards on hand. So I didn’t record any video from Sunday, when I was putting down my best times. Below is the video from Saturday’s fourth session. Note the unholy understeer I mentioned previously leading into the fast esses.

And if you are wondering what I was staring at over my left shoulder during the first green lap, it was the huge cloud of oil smoke the red Focus left, which you can see pitting shortly thereafter. Apparently it was sucking oil directly into the intake, making for some spectacular smoke screens.

Despite being a relatively small turn out, there were still some impressive rides in the paddock. There were even a couple Ferrari Challenge F430s running, and man are those things loud (in a good way.)