Tag Archives: SE46

CMP Test Day

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Note:  This event took place on 30 July 2015, just getting caught back up with posts.

Setup in the shade at CMPMy last test day at Carolina Motorsports Park ended prematurely when my radiator popped off its mount and the belt cut into the coolant expansion tank.  With the car back home I pulled the plugs to check the compression since it saw temperature spikes over 250F.  Fortunately the numbers came back good, actually matching the numbers I had taken when I first installed the engine.

I put the car back together, this time with a new CSF OEM+ radiator and a cooler 80C thermostat while ditching the stock fan, and headed back to CMP to get some testing in.  I knew the car needed some chassis tuning after its first race post-crash.

Adjusting the front barIt was a low turn out at the track, so we were able to double up on track time.  That’s 8 full 30 minute sessions.  That’s a lot of driving in a single day, so I cut a few sessions short and skipped the last one.  What I did discover was that I needed a little more rear end grip.  The week prior I had done some ride height adjustments and corner balanced the car at a friend’s house.  The first couple sessions were a mess, I either spun or got into some serious tail out action.

I brought the car in and decided to stiffen the front bar one notch.  This had an immediate positive impact, the car was much more neutral, at least as much as I could get it on CMP’s slick surface.  Either way it felt much better and gave me more confidence going into my upcoming NASA race at Road Atlanta.

As for the engine temps; the car ran much cooler.  I was seeing a high temp of around 202F, albeit in completely clean air.  Looks like removing the stock fan and shroud allowed for better flow through the radiator.  I also had done a little work with foam rubber insulation to force air through the radiator rather than around it.

 

Spec E46 Race @ Carolina Motorsports Park

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Note: This Event originally took place on 27-28 June 2015, sorry for the delay in posting.

Having finished the requirements for my provisional racing license, I was looking forward to the next opportunity to race my Spec E46.  The upcoming NASA-SE event at Carolina Motorsports Park (CMP) looked very promising, with a possibility of five other SE46’s in attendance.  One slight hiccup; my car was still in pieces.  Several delays in parts shipping meant I was way behind my anticipated competition date.

Rob's 609 Spec E46I had already committed to this race, having already cancelled the previous Road Atlanta event due to the crash, and I really didn’t want to miss another opportunity to get some much needed track time.  The week leading up to the event became a mad thrash.  I was working until the wee hours of the morning right up to the day before the race.  The good news: CMP is only an hour away from home, so at least the few hours of sleep I did get were in my own bed.

I also needed an annual tech inspection the morning of the event, so everything had to be just right.  I escaped with a few minor discrepancies which were easily corrected and was able to make the race.  I had barely got the car off the alignment rack the night before, so there was zero time to shake down the car, much less tune the chassis.  I’d run what I brung as the saying goes.

My setup in the grass Fellow SE46s in the paddock

I missed the first practice, fiddling with a few last minute things, but was able to go out in one of the HPDE sessions to get a feel.  I knew the track was slick from my previous test day, but having an untested car made it much more of a challenge.  My goal was to just keep the car on track and avoid any contact, speed was way down my list of things I was worrying with.

View of the Spec E46 groupI qualified at the back of the SE46s, as expected given the all-star veteran competition I was up against.  No big deal, I was here to learn.  We, as a class, decided to start at the back of the Thunder run group in our own separate start rather than gridding on pure time.  The first race started off cleanly, but I was out of it both mentally and physically.  The lack of sleep had caught up with me big time, and I couldn’t maintain my concentration and felt like garbage, my times were reflecting my condition.

I continued to press on, just looking to finish when a red warning light illuminated on my AiM MXL digital dash, water temps.  I was at 230F and it looked as though it would keep climbing.  I had pressed my luck enough already, so I pulled off that lap and putted back to the paddock area.  I couldn’t find any obvious issues with the cooling system, all signs pointed to trapped air bubbles.  This is the price you pay when rushing to get a car ready at the last minute.

Sandro's Spec E46I decided to pack up for the day, let the car sit and cool overnight and get some rest.  Another SE46 driver had already had worse luck when one of his rear shock mounts failed, resulting in a destroyed MCS shock.  I left early to get caught back up on sleep and hopefully have better luck on Sunday.

The next day I jacked up the front of the car and bled the cooling system thoroughly.  It looked like my suspicions were correct and the engine had some significant amount of air trapped in it.  Feeling recharged from a long night of sleep I headed back on track, this time in a much better frame of mind.  The car still wasn’t working as well as I had hoped, oversteering terribly on exit and pushing on entry, but it would have to do.

Saturday's Race(Note how I was still missing the trim under the headlights and decals from the new fender)

Again I started at the back of the SE46 pack, where we started as group behind the rest of the Thunder field.  This time I felt a little more confident making passes and tried my best to hang on to the back of the SE46 in front of me.  I certainly wasn’t pushing for overtakes, rather waiting for the safest opportunity to get by slower traffic.  Towards the end of the race I could see I was closing back up to the next SE46 up the road, but every time I tried to push, the car would just lose traction on exit.  I was at opposite lock over and over, watching the Mustang and other SE46 in front grow the gap.

My Spec E46 at CMP

Despite the headaches and lack of a good setup, I still had a blast driving with other SE46s and finally getting a chance to mix it up in traffic in an actual race.  This was, after all, the first race where I got beyond the first lap.  It was great to meet and hangout with other racers in the paddock, gleaning knowledge wherever I could.

Finally a little video from the weekend.  Due to my zombie-like state on Saturday, I neglected to bring the memory card for the camera.  I made sure to get it for the Sunday race.  Here’s the race in its entirety:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFrz5KTHV20

SpecE46 Wreck Repair

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After the Spec E46’s debut at Barber Motorsports Park, I was left with a crumpled and undriveable car.  The initial visual inspection at the track showed that I’d be in need of the following:

  1. HoodBashed front left SE46
  2. Left Fender
  3. Bumper
  4. Left and Right headlights
  5. Left control arm
  6. left tie rod
  7. Airbox
  8. Left aluminum engine mount
  9. Apex Wheel
  10. Radiator core support

Once I had the car home, I immediately unloaded it directly from the trailer into the shop and up on jack stands.  From there I started to dismantle the front end.  With the hood, fender, and bumper off, I got a much better look at what lay ahead.  I then found the following would need replaced:

  1. Front left wheel housingGutted Front Car
  2. Front subframe
  3. Left and right engine mounts
  4. Steering rack
  5. Power steering pump pulley
  6. Radiator
  7. Front bumper crash bar

The whole left front had been pushed to the right and rear, forcing the wheel well up into where the DME box and brake master cylinder/ABS/booster are located.  Several welds had pulled apart, and I don’t think a simple frame pull would get it back to where it needed to be.  So I opted to order brand new OEM sheet metal.  BMW offers the entire wheel housing and frame horn as a replacement part, though it’s certainly a special order item.

Bent Y-PipeThe engine came out, which was in surprisingly good order, other than the torn Bimmerworld engine mounts and cracked aluminum mounts.  I got lucky in that none of the bolts pulled from the block.  The crash did manage to put a ding in the Y-pipe, but I decided to leave it alone.

The engine subframe was twisted at the engine mounts, so it went in the trash.  I sourced one from a junk yard, as well as a used core support and crash bar.  The subframe was cleaned up and a set of Turner reinforcements were welded on.

I completely cut away the original wheel well by drilling out all the factory spot welds, leaving the front left firewall completely bare.  The new housing was squeezed into place, and leveled using tape measures and a plumb bob.  I welded it back on using the factory spot weld locations.  The interior of the transmission tunnel needed a patch plate where some original metal tore during removal.

The left control arm bushing had stripped the threads from the frame, so I ended up drilling it up a size and inserting a helicoil.

Primered Front Wheel HousingWith the new metal final welded into place, I gave everything a good scuff with a 3M pad, followed by cleaning, then a coat of automotive primer.  I then sealed up the gaps with some plain seam sealer before painting everything a matched 300 Alpine White and a coat of catalyzed clear.

Everything went back together as it did the first time.  I did find that both frame horns slightly shifted (~1/8″) to the right when checking the frame for squareness.  A little extra effort on panel gaps brought everything within factory spec and the car aligned properly as well.  I’ll let the photos do the rest of the talking.

Note: While everything was apart, I took the opportunity to replace the brake master cylinder and booster.  These weren’t damaged in the wreck but were original to the car (~220k miles).

[foogallery id=”7886″]

 

First SpecE46 Race: Barber Motorsports Park

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The time had finally come to put the Spec E46 race car to the test in wheel to wheel competition.  I signed up for the May 2015 BMW CCA Club Racing event at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, AL.  I had never driven the track, so there would certainly be a lot to take in.SpecE46 at Barber

If you haven’t been to Barber, you should really make a trip to visit it.  It has to be the nicest race tracks in North America, with finely landscaped grounds, excellent facilities, and perhaps the greatest motorsports museums for the motorcycle and Lotus car enthusiast.

Two SpecE46 at Barber

This event was put on by the BMW Car Club of America, so there were multiple run groups of DE in addition to the race sessions.  The schedule called for three races, two on Saturday and one on Sunday.  Two other SE46s were in attendance, so at least I would have some company in the class.  The majority of the cars were I-prepared, with a smaller mix of Modified, SE36, and KP cars.

Getting in the Spec E46

The car ran well during practice and qualifying, though I really didn’t have a good grasp of the track or the handling of the car.  I had a few mental mistakes at various points, just not remembering where the track was going.  Though it’s only 2.38 miles, the course has 15 turns, with a great variety to make things interesting.

Saturday Qualifying
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaxRQwBPFL4

I only ran three laps in qualifying.  I had no idea what a good time was, or even really how to operate the lap timer on my MXL, so I figured no point in running more time off the tires.  My time was a good bit off Damion Moses’, but enough to qualify second in class and 14/24 overall.  BMWCCA club events don’t group cars by class, but by outright qualifying time.  So I was sandwiched between a Super Modified and I-Prepared car.

The first race started well enough, the first few turns were without drama and I didn’t lose any positions.  Then coming onto the front straight the cars pretty much went single file and relatively slow to make it through the hairpin-like turn 5.  Right as I was about to hit the apex I caught a glimpse of something moving very quickly out of my left peripheral.  I had nothing but grass and curbing to my left, so I knew something was wrong.  It happened too fast to avoid, and I got hit hard in the front left.

The impact spun me off into the outside adjacent gravel trap.  The car was still running, so I shut it down.  After sitting for a bit, I cranked it again and attempted to get moving, but I was sunk up to the frame in gravel.  I also had steam coming out of the engine, so better to just wait.  The rest of the pack continued around for about three more laps under a full course caution (turns out another car crashed on the first lap.)  They eventually black flagged the race and I was stuck waiting on the roll-back, who was tending to the other wreck.  The car that hit me was able to be towed out and continued back to the pits under its own power.

Saturday Race Crash

(note: first perspective is from a car behind me, followed by my in-car)

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7vyRInVU5o

With the EMS personnel on scene, I got out to check over the damage.  The hood was buckled, the fender crushed, the bumper knocked off, both headlights destroyed, the wheel cracked in several places, and after trying to turn the steering wheel I discovered that the left tie rod was also sheered.

Eventually we got the car loaded on the roll back and back to the paddock.  There I discovered the damage was a bit worse than I initially thought.  The engine mount arms were both cracked and separated, the lower control arm was twisted, the steering rack was shattered, the airbox was cracked, the power steering pump pulley cracked, and the core support was twisted.  It was certainly nothing that could be repaired in the paddock, even if I had all the parts on hand.

SpecE46 Crash Damage Crash Damage

Thankfully I had recently installed a winch on the trailer, so getting the damaged car loaded wasn’t too difficult.  I stayed the night rather than driving back home in a bad mood and sore from the impact.  The group of racers were all very considerate and sympathetic to my situation.  And eventually the driver who hit me came over to apologize.  I have to say he was very humble and sincere, and I know that this could have happened to any of us.  I was lucky that he hit me where he did, rather then in the door, which could have been much more dangerous and damaging.  Unfortunately his car didn’t fare so well.  The whole right side was crushed in, pushing the door bars, main hoop, and rocker panel inward.

It was an unfortunate experience, made worse that it was my very first race in a recently completed car, but everyone walked away without any injuries, so I can be thankful for that.

 

Spec E46 Build Part X: Safety & Interior

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Much of the safety aspects of this Spec E46 race car build were covered in Part VII Roll Cage, so I’ll just be covering the final touches and refinements.  I intended for the car to be legal in both NASA and BMW CCA Club Racing, so a few additions such as a center net system were necessary.  For the most part, safety equipment legality is pretty universal as long as you are running approved (FIA or SFI) gear.

Racetech 4119For a seat I wanted a head restraint (halo) style bucket.  I went with the Racetech 4119 based on the good reviews and the nice addition of a backside cooling air port.  It’s also available in tall/wide, nice for my 6’2″ 200lbs frame.

For floor mounts I used VAC Motorsports matrix style aluminum mounts, which are fairly standard among this level of racing.  For side mounts I went with Motion Motorsport’s innovate competition seat brackets.  These brackets allow for infinitely adjustment and are asymmetrical left and right to allow close mounting to the transmission tunnel.

I opted for Schroth Profi II 6-point HANS belts for my harness.  These belts have 2″ lap webbing for better fit and can be set as pull-up or pull-down operation.  I tried both ways and decided pull-down was easier to get a tight fit when in the seat.

Teamtech Net and Joes Racing MountThe window and center (right side) nets are both Teamtech mesh nets, which were easy enough to install.  Fortunately my window net doesn’t interfere with seeing the side mirror, and the even if it did, the mesh is certainly easier to see through than grid webbing.  The window net is mounted using a Joe’s Racing kit, which uses nice billet aluminum parts.  The center net is secured to the dash bar, running through a small slit in the dash and held from sliding on the bar by a 1-3/4″ aluminum split collar.

MOMO Mod 78 350mm wheelThe steering wheel is a MOMO Mod 78 350mm race wheel, mounted using an NRG adapter, NRG short quick release, and NRG 1/2″ spacer.  The NRG products are hard to beat for the money, using all aluminum parts and anodized matte black.  The quick release uses spring loaded ball bearings in a unique pattern that only allows the wheel to go on one way and has a much tighter fit than I’ve seen with spline style releases.

CAE Ultra ShifterShifter action is taken care of by a CAE Ultra Shifter.  This is a very impressive piece, made in Germany from quality aluminum and stainless parts.  The shifter has a self-centering action and adjustable stops to keep from pushing the shifter further than the transmission forks can go.  It also has a lock-out for reverse, making it impossible to accidentally shift into reverse.  The shift selector rod is also from CAE and can be adjusted in length and rotation.  The setup requires a bit of tuning, but once setup properly it is absolutely the best H-pattern shifting action I have experienced.

The pedals remain stock, though I did remove the rubber covers.  For grip I added some textured grip tape to the brake, clutch, and dead pedal.  I also replaced the split plastic bushings on the clutch and brake pedals with Delrin units from Rogue Engineering.  These bushings fit much tighter, necessitating a little sanding for the right amount of friction.  The result is much less side to side play.  To keep the clutch from overextending and cut down shift times, a BimmerWorld mini hockey puck clutch stop was installed.  The OE stop is very small and the plastic clutch pedal can inadvertently go beyond it.

SPA AFFF 4L BottleFinally the fire system was installed.  I got lucky and found an unused SPA 4L AFFF system, which just needed re-certified to use.  The system is fairly simple, using push on connectors and tubing with an aluminum wall, so bending it shape is very easy.  I mounted the bottle behind where the passenger seat would be.  Because the cage main hoop foot plate was interfering, I mounted the bottle up on two pieces of 1/2″ square aluminum tubing.  The plastic tank cradle is riveted to the square tube, which in turn is riveted through the floor.

SpecE46_IMAG2661

The fire suppression system lines run from the tank forward along the transmission tunnel, split between cockpit and engine bay nozzles.  There are three nozzles in the cockpit, one on the tunnel facing forward, one pointed at the footwell, and one in the dash pointed at the driver’s torso.  The engine bay line splits, one to the left which has a nozzle pointed at the fuel rail and one to the right pointed over the headers towards the front.  I will probably add an additional one to point down into the engine towards where the headers are, just as a precaution against an oil fueled fire.

Kill Switch and Fire Pull HandleI used two 12′ T-handle pulls for the fire system.  The handles terminate at the corners of the dash, so they are easily accessible from either inside or outside the car by a corner worker.  They are also located next to the emergency kill switch for easy activation of both in a crash.