Spec E46 Test Day Ends Early @ CMP

Posted on 2015/09/21 by Chad

Note: This event originally occurred on 12 July 2015, I’m a bit behind in my posts.

Following my first full race weekend, which was a mad dash to ready the car, I knew I had a few bugs to work out. Chief among those issues was a persistently warm running engine. Of course this was in the heat of the South Carolina summertime, but I wanted to get my temps a little lower.

To that end; I installed a larger CSF all aluminum radiator specifically for the E46 non-M chassis. Unfortunately the mounting points weren’t ideally designed to interface with the factory plastic mounts. I did my best to modify the mounts to work, installed it, and off I went to Carolina Motorsports Park for a day of testing.

I went out on my first lap and found that the temps were much lower. Prior to the new radiator I was averaging ~212-215F in the heat of the day. Now I was sitting at around 202F, much more reasonable. I pushed on harder for the next couple laps, besting my previous times by more that 2 seconds. Then on the third or so lap I got a warning light briefly for engine temps. It went away as I looked down at the dash to decipher what the problem was. Then a few seconds later it reappeared. By now I was paying closer attention to the numbers, and I watched as the water temp spiked to over 250F then back down.

I immediately let off the throttle, short shifted, and brought it in to the paddock as quickly as possible using as little engine as possible, coasting the last hundred feet or so with the engine off. Hopping out I could see steam rising from the engine compartment. A peek under the car showed hot water dripping to the ground. This certainly wasn’t any good. Popping the hood confirmed my concerns about the mounting of the CSF radiator. It had slipped from its mounts and shifted rearward where the expansion tank made contact with the serpentine belt. The belt made quick work of the plastic tank, sawing right through it.

My day had come to an early end with a destroyed expansion tank, a radiator that wouldn’t sit securely, and possible engine damage. Later on, after everything had cooled, I also discovered that high temps had destroyed the expansion tank cap. The lower portion that retains the sealing o-ring was completely missing.

The good news: CSF was quick to help rectify the situation. They sent me one of their OEM+ radiators, covered the cost of the expansion tank, and promised to redesign their all-aluminum radiator. Hopefully they get it corrected soon, because other than the mounting problems, it’s a solid piece.

And finally a short video of my one hot lap before the radiator mounting failed:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DuvY_UuF9I

Spec E46 Race @ Carolina Motorsports Park

Posted on 2015/09/21 by Chad

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.

I 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.

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.

I 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.

I 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.

(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.

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

Road Atlanta Track Day with CCA

Posted on 2015/04/01 by Chad

Earlier last month I revisited Road Atlanta for the Spring DE with the Peachtree Chapter of the BMW CCA. This was my second time out with this group at Road Atlanta, last fall being my introduction to this amazing track.

The weather really cooperated for this weekend, with cool temps and sunny skies. The track surface seemed pretty decent, though I couldn’t seem to break my previous best of 1:47 in the ’98 M3. I seemed to plateau in the 1:48s, but not for lack of trying. I’m sure there’s a second to be found, but it would take a near perfect lap. I’m at the limits of grip at several points on the course. I could use a little more front grip as well, I forgot to try playing with the front sway bar (not even sure what stiffness it’s at now.)

I also linked up with another track junkie from Texas who I had run many tracks with. It was great catching up, though there was no catching up with him on track. I also got to put a few of my Christmas presents to use. We set up the 12’x12′ canopy to grant a little shade and grilled out for lunch both days on the portable propane grill. All in all another enjoyable time at Road Atlanta and no blown power steering lines to boot!

I didn’t grab a whole lot of video and a few times the GoPros failed me, but here’s a full session from Sunday, 8 March 2015 in the A Group:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdOOQ5rK1UQ

Chin Motorsports @ RDATL 30NOV14

Posted on 2014/12/12 by Chad

My last trip to Road Atlanta was my first time at the Braselton, GA track, and it instantly became my favorite course. The combination of flowing rhythmic sections, coupled with big elevation changes, and just the right amount of fast sections make it a great track for even street oriented cars like my E36 M3.

I signed up at the last minute, literally the day before the event began, but was fortunate to get a spot on Sunday. I just wanted one day, something Chin usually does for solo’d drivers. Since I haven’t run with Chin east of the Mississippi, I was given provisional solo status, which would mean a check out ride with an instructor in the morning.

I ran the track during the morning warm-up by myself, just to make sure I remembered the track and the car was alright. Then for the first session I had an instructor for the first session. Strange that I had been grouped into “Blue” on all previous Chin events, but now I was running in Green/Yellow. I suppose they are a bit more picky given that they are actually selling out their groups at these more established tracks than the newer ones they were just starting to run in Texas.

The local Nissan GTR club must have organized a group run, as there were tons in attendance. Plenty of novices too, which made things a bit interesting given their speed capabilities. Fortunately everyone played nice, though we were limited to passing on the straights, which hadn’t been the case when I ran in September with the CCA. So some of the higher powered cars had to be a bit judicious with their throttle application and allowing slower cars like my 16 year old BMW around.

The weather was perfect for the weekend, nice and cool, not cold and no rain. The track was as grippy as I remembered it from last time, and the car ran well. The power steering lines even managed to stay connected!

My lap times also improved a bit, managing to break into the 1:47’s from my previous best of 1:50:58. Actually that’s quite a bit of an improvement, and I think I probably did a bit better. I had purchased a new phone after my last track day and forgot to pair it to my external Bluetooth GPS receiver, so all the times were based off a 1hz refresh rate. So essentially the exact points where I crossed the Start/Finish may be skewed. Either way it was fun to get back out on the track, especially one as rewarding as Road Atlanta.

My cousin even came down from Upstate SC to spectate, taking his E46 M3 out for the parade laps. I even convinced him to take a ride with me during a session, something my father continues to refuse after his life altering experience around Texas World Speedway in a very fast S52 M Coupe.

And of course I recorded some video, though the data is a bit off due to the previously mentioned issues with my GPS receiver.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7H0dKLJQ4c

Road Atlanta Bonus Material

Posted on 2014/09/28 by Chad

Since I’ve written an already too long post on my first experiences at Road Atlanta, here’s a little overflow post with just photos and videos.

Let’s start with some videos. First up a little bit of a close one. Going down into T6, I give a heads up to the E36 behind me that I’ll give him a pass. We had been back and forth a few times before, our speeds closely matched. Passing in our run group was open, and I was getting bored with all the straight-line passing.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEapOyc6Z-g

After the session and pulling into the pits, the driver who spun flagged me down; “Tell me you got that on video!” Good to see he was in good spirits. From my rear-view mirror perspective, I could swear he smacked the inside wall with his rear. Fortunately it only popped his trunk and he escaped without any damage. We both got a little lucky here. He told me that he had downshifted to second and just gunned it, overwhelming the rears and then entered a bit of a tank-slapper.

Let this next video serve as a cautionary tale of why you should always make sure all loose items are out of your car. I had a small paper track map stuffed into the cubby below the radio, where it had been for all the previous sessions. But down the back straight it decided to take flight and bounce around the cabin. I grabbed it and balled it up, trying to think of a place to stuff it. I made the decision to eject it rather than chance it tumbling around again. I know, I know, littering is bad but not as bad as being detracted by a piece of trash going through T11. And yes, I did check my mirrors and there wasn’t anyone close behind.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0fdTfB2044

And here’s some longer clips of the sessions on Sunday. This is the first session:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Ss8U1DUQ8

This is the second session, I played around with Adobe Premiere to add the title images.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDQY0YpOLOk

Finally the last session of the weekend.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jesryecE-M

Check out some of the great shots provided by AWOLPhoto.