[Banana Clipper]

Added pics and info for my third trip to the drag strip at Sonoma Raceway. Fun times with my son and Cesar aka Lil' Burbs. We had hoped Darrell from BoostHaus was going to have Daisy come out for the day but they had to pass this time. I want to see Daisy run mid to low 11's in the Gear Jammer category with all the big bad muscle cars and make them go hmmmmm haha its all in good fun!

[mindovaanything]

Originally Posted by Banana Clipper

Added pics and info for my third trip to the drag strip at Sonoma Raceway. Fun times with my son and Cesar aka Lil' Burbs. We had hoped Darrell from BoostHaus was going to have Daisy come out for the day but they had to pass this time. I want to see Daisy run mid to low 11's in the Gear Jammer category with all the big bad muscle cars and make them go hmmmmm haha its all in good fun!

SOOON! I actually had the transmission back in the car tonight but hit a bit of a snag and need to get a part but Daisy will be running in the next few days for sure. Need to get the clutch broken in ASAP but going to try and get out to the drag strip ASAP and have the car totally ready for Thunderhill Sept 24th.

[arod221]

Good read, sounds like you're well on your way. Glad you've left the little kids toys (Hondas) behind lmao....I started with a few Hondas myself .(Prelude, Integre, Civic HB)

[Banana Clipper]

The Wheels

Not a huge update here but I finally got a set of wheels that made sense for my goals. I REALLY like the OEM 287's and hated to get rid of them but they are heavy as all hell and mine are showing their age. Not terrible for a 7 or 8 year old wheel but they are definitely showing all the bumps and bruises they have taken over the years.

After much research and checking with my account, aka wife, I ended up going with the Apex Arc 8's via Expert@ApexRaceParts . Again, nothing ground breaking or innovative here. Just a sensible decision for a multitude of reasons. Cost, weight, size, and goals all considered the Arc 8's made the most sense. I'm shedding close to 30lbs of rotational mass which if you believe in the power of rotational mass, and I do, then this should equal some gains on my ET. I'm not going to speculate what I believe this will be equal to in order to avoid starting a shit storm of arguments but I will have solid numbers to confirm this within the next week or two. Theyre also not the most expensive wheels around which allows me to spend money on other things and they have been proven over and over to be a dependable track setup.

Back on topic - I had several back and forth communications with the folks at Apex and I must say their advice has been spot on. I was suggested the following setup:

Front - 18x9 et30 with a 235/40/18 tire
Rear - 18x9.5 et35 with a 255/35/18 tire

I felt like the tires were a little small so with a few back and forth PM's here Apex made me feel pretty confident that I could run the following setup with no issues but warned that the fitment would be extremely tight due to the car being LCI

Front 18x9 et30 with a 255/35/18 tire (I honestly like the fitment but the tire looks a little tall...)
Rear 18x9.5 et35 with a 26/35/18 tire (looks perfect IMO)

Again, I was warned, that I MAY need to roll the rear fenders and/or run small spacers up front but this has NOT been the case thus far. I've run some logs, cranked the steer wheel as far left and right as it will go and had some fun running the car in circles both in D and R over a very uneven Safeway parking. I've also been coming out of sharp driveways pretty hard and faster than I normally would with no obvious rubbing at this time but I have OEM sport struts so that may change when I put the MFactory coilovers on () but worse case I'm confident I would just have to switch to a 245 up front.

I took the advice of mindovaanything and had the wheels ceramic coated before getting the tires put on and going on the car and its already paid dividens. If you dont know what ceramic coating is you can read about it HERE but the quick and dirty is it makes caring for your wheel a lot easier and keeping them clean a breeze while adding an extra layer of protection that is good for a couple years. I used Josh from Final Stage Mobile Detailer, you can look him up on Yelp or FB, and he was nothing but stand up and knowledgeable.

Aside from the wheels I've just been running disappointing mid to low 12 after mid to low 12 and a couple 13s, OUCH, and having issues with E60 tune having the traction control continuously coming on which Ken was finally able to get rid of after several agonizing tries. I've also had my HPFP replaced by BoostHaus and replaced my coils, AGAIN, and plugs, my 4th or 5th set of each this year... fml

First heat soaked run of the night and I was actually pretty jazzed:



Second run of the night SLOWER? Let the disappointment for the night being:



Third run of the night, I switched lanes and ran my SLOWEST time ever:



Third, 4th, and 5th runs of the night. I FINALLY won an elimination round but that SoB Doug knocked me out for the 5th consecutive time I've been to the track.



I've been trying to spend some time focusing on the wifes car since it needs some love and helping my son with his Civic but I cant stop with this car, its like an addiction for reals, haha. Enough of my banter and racing pics, onto what you picture book readers want to see, go easy on me. I know I'm monster trucking right now and I'm sensitive about it


Picking the car up:



My son checking out the concaveness which is actually hard to see in the pictures:



A little long exposure shot done around 9pm. I hit the car with a LED and walked by to give it a little extra light:



The car is actually REALLY dirty in this pic and covered in pollen but the long exposure helps make it look wet.

Any who, thanks for stopping by. Suspension, brakes, and LSD still to come this year and a GD 11 if I have to strap a rocket to the back this f'n thing.

[Banana Clipper]

Finally made it out to the drag strip with mindovaanything and a couple other guys.

I set some new PR's in every category except 60' which was a bit disappointing since I have the newer lighter wheels but I had never been to the Sac drag strip and I wasnt very confident in my launches and it shows. I nailed a .020 RT on one run and a 117.77 trap speed on my 12.09 run that also included a 92.77mph and 7.91 1/8th mile, all PR's.

I'm actually quite happy and upset at the same. The car was VERY heat soaked and the ambient air temps never really came down, even at 930 at night, and my IAT's were 150+ every run even after spraying down the FMIC. I also had 2 5 gallon jugs with about 7 gallons of E85 in them so it only leads me to debate in my mind if I should've taken the gas jugs out and all the other crap like shoes, umbrellas, blankets, pillows, cameras, purses, etc that were spread throughout my car and how many other ways I could have made up those GD .095 seconds to hit an 11.999 Things move a lot faster at Sacramento than they do at Sonoma and I like the setup a little better. They allow you to chose either bracket racing for money/trophies and/or just timed runs. Sonoma only does bracket racing and when eliminations start, if you lose, youre done. Thats it.

All in all it was a good night. I got to hang with the wifey and some good people. We had 3 E90's and a GEORGOUS F80/M3 that was a factory blue/purple with white/silver seats on on R888's that my wife couldnt stop starring at. She's now on a mission to bug the living hell out of me until I purchase and I keep telling her that its NOT like I dont want one but used F80's are still going for $55k around here. When they drop under $40k and I can find one under 50k miles I'll pick one up but for now I'm still building and loving my Silvia.

On to the pics, I blame my wife for the poor quality of the photos and she swears she took some video but I cant find it. If I do I'll edit this post.

Moments before my 12.09 run and probably the best picture she took all night:




Me vs what I believe was a supercharged 350z, at least it sounded like it was, got him by a full second+


Me vs @1sick335_e_46_slow on IG, guys car is no joke on drag tires. Before I was even making boost he was 2 cars ahead and just kept pulling on me. He ran an 11.7 and I ran a 12.5 this run... its only the second time I've lost a heads up race and every bit of a defeating feeling as you think it would be since we essentially have the same mods but he makes about 50 more whp than me....


Mindovanything and Daisy




My slips for the night


The #QuestFor11's continue, hopefully under cooler conditions and with a better launch I'll be able to hit some consistent 11's and not just 1. Once I nail 11's on street tires I'll pickup a set of Kosei's and drag radials to see what she's really made of and then invest in an LSD.

Thanks to BoostHaus once again for making sure my car was track ready. Wedge Performance for making sure my tune was working properly and making all the PSI's my wifey for the photos, and the BMW gods for nothing breaking/blowing up once again.

[Banana Clipper]

The Belt

Boy, where do I begin... after running a 12.09 at Sacramento with a heat soaked car and IAT's in the 150+ range and the car being weighed down more than normal I was excited to go out to Sonoma and crack that 11sec 1/4 mile, but, before I did that I decided to join the guys from N54 Exclusive on a Sunday Funday Touge run through the Bay Area hills and stop at a 'famous' joint called Alices (I never heard of it and I lived here most my life) for breakfast.

Sunday was like any other day, I woke up at 7am because my body refuses to let me sleep past 7 on any given day, and I was ready to watch my Miami Dolphins lose to a team we should be like usual. When I get out of bed I usually check my messages and text and make sure I didnt miss any calls from someone stranded on the side of the road, thats a joke, and basically just catch up on whatever I missed while sleeping. This particular Sunday I saw that the guys were going up 84, breakfast at Alices, and then finishing the drive up to the coast. Knowing that I have a blown suspension I figured it would be too much for me and resisted going but the group encouraged me they'd "take it easy" and my car could make it.

We meet up in Saratoga and fill up on gas, there are about 6 of us, and then proceed through downtown until we hit the first S curve in the road and everybody is gone. When I looked up in my rear view mirror there is a yellow Ford Focus ST riding my ass. I said to myself I cant have this, proceed to push the car through the corners and finally catch the group who, who my luck, was being slowed down by some family caravan or Sunday driver. I was actuallly quiet amazed by the gracefulness of the ST through the turns but on straightaways it was obvious the ST lacked HP and I would pull away while only 50 to 60% on the throttle.

First section of twistys out of the way, some cock blocking, most of the way, by some family staring at trees at 8am on a Sunday, we pull up to Alice's and stop for a bite to eat. Here I was told I'd see Ferrari's and Lambo's and Porsche's and other exotic car clubs but to my disappointment I only saw a bunch of Bimmers and bikes. The food was good, the service was slow, the times were fun. The group agreed the day couldnt end this way and that we would push on up towards 1 and stop for some others to enjoy... a smoke.... before heading home.

Here is where things get interesting. The roads of this second section were much smoother and in much better condition. There were no hard down hill lefts that swept up and had a dip right in the middle of the transition that would send my car into the other lane. Here, it was long stretches of straightaways and smooth banked corners that allowed us to be more aggressive and come out of the corners going WOT. Needless to say these were fun times. Especially being my first experience with this whole Touge thing.

We make it to the beach, pull over in a nearly empty parking lot, a few of the guys enjoy a quick smoke break while we laugh and talk about good times. There are a few other car clubs there including a Datsun 510 club and a Subi club. One of the guys was actually filming all the different cars with his drone. When all is said and done we decide to head back.

Being a little more careful but still having some fun the drive back is a bit longer. About 2 miles before making it back to Alice's I feel a weird pull from the car, almost like something had broke. I turned off the radio, listened for anything unusual and gave it a little a gas and everything seemed normal so I assumed I had just hit a weird bump I didnt see and that proceeded to turn the radio back up and enjoy the cruise. A few turns later the road opens up and a nice banked left handed corner comes up right after a long straight so I brake in, coast around, and as soon as I hit the gas coming out of the turn the steering wheels snaps the car into a straight line and I knew right away. The belt. The goddamn serpentine belt had broke finally. I pull over to the side of the road and once everyone realizes Im no where to be found they come back to make sure I'm ok. I ended up on a soft should right out of a hard, banked, corner in front of someone's driveway. Not an ideal situation.



I opened the hood to confirm it was the belt and pulled this off the alternator


Not a great way to end my Sunday. Fully expecting to wait and have a long drawn out day of towing the car etc I proceed to find a tow company via Road Side Assistance. To my surprise, and this is something I've never known or even though of, tow truck companies can actually refuse to tow your car. I guess I had always just assumed if they were available why wouldn't they come get you, I mean, that's what they do. But, I guess due to my location finding a tow company willing to take the job was going to be a royal PITA.

After nearly a 4 hour wait and many, many, many phone calls the tow truck driver shows up. Here is where the adventure really begins. I had asked for a flat bed truck and told the tow company they can NOT drag my car. The driver shows up with a Jeep on the flatbed and tells me he's going to pull my car from the rear. I'm already not happy and after hearing this I'm now beginning to get upset. I argue with the driver that there is no way in hell he's going to lift my car from the rear and drag the front. I insist that he put the Jeep down, put my car on the flatbed and drag the Jeep. He calls into his dispatcher and the woman confirms the car cannot be dragged from the rear but says that 'in their book' it can be lifted from the front. Again, I'm NOT happy about this, and I insist that the lift is going to damage the bumper and/or FMIC. Confident the driver says he'll go slowly and prove to me there will be no damage. I watch closely and with a piece of cardboard in between the lift and my bumper there is plenty of clearance. The car goes on the lift, I'm comfortable with how its setup and, to be totally honest, I was broken down and tired of waiting.

We begin our journey down the hill and the tow truck driver appears amused by the constant 'whipping' of my car into the other lanes as we traverse the down hill S curves in a tow truck with a Jeep on back and my baby Silvia being flung around like a rag doll. Every turn my butt cheeks clinched tighter and tighter, I could've made diamonds during this drive. The driver is talking to me about how his job sucks, how his boss is out of town and he is the only driver available and then we get to Alice's. He ask what Alice's is. I proceed to explain its an American style restaurant and the driver pulls over and tells me that he's going to buy a burger.... Im amazed and curious at the same time and tell the guy we need to get going and if he can get the food to go at least. He agrees and 15 minutes later we're back on the road. We continue the journey down the windy road and close call after close call continues to happen so I'm sure at this point the drive is not going to end well.

Eventually we make it to 280 and Im relieved. Thinking "how can anything bad happen now" I relax a bit and start enjoying the conversation with the driver and making jokes and generally just happy that Im less than 30 minutes away from BoostHaus where I can drop my car off and have her fixed. In under 5 minutes I'm back to making diamonds. The driver insist he's a better driver when driving the truck in the left lane of a 4, sometimes 5, lane freeway in a tow truck with a Jeep on the back dragging my car. We're doing 55 mph and other drivers are not happy. Theyre flipping us off, honking, cutting us off, you name it we got it and deservedly so. The driver begins to get irritated and starts to speed up. The truck not begins acting erratically since it is not designed to be driven 70+mph. Especially when towing 2 other vehicles. We're now swerving across 2 and sometimes 3 lanes of traffic and the driver insist things are going well. I'm now biting my tongue just hoping to make it to BoostHaus in 1 piece.

We exit 280, onto 85, onto 237 and things are getting better except now the driver is complaining about how he hasnt slept in 18 hours. By the looks of his face I'd say he hadnt slept in at least 3 days. We're now getting onto 880, in the carpool lane no less, from 237 and this guy is barely staying awake so I roll down my window and start talking to him again. We're now 4 exits away from Boosthaus and he's down to only swerving between 2 lanes so I'm feeling good. I look over at the guy and say "alright man we're only a few exits away!!!!" to which me mumbles "yeah I kno......." I look over and the fucking guy had fallen asleep in the middle of talking to me. I see that we're now headed straight for the center divide and yell "WAKE UUUUUUUUP!!!!!!" I guess I scared the shit out of the guy so he sees the wall, whips the wheel to the right and we're now in a full drift. In a tow truck, with a Jeep on the back, and dragging my car across a Freeway. I brace myself and see the wall on the right side of the Freeway and figure we're going to hit it but the truck whips, drifts left, and we're now on track for the center divide again. Driver whips the wheel back to the right and were now headed for the ditch on the right side of 880 near the Mission off ramp that you can take to get to 680. For some reason I'm actually laughing. I see the ditch and brace myself again and now, were moving much more violently towards the ditch, I'm positive we're going into the ditch and the last thing I manage to think about is "I wonder how much money Im going to get out of this?" How fucked up is that? Not I hope I dont get hurt, not OMFG, not I hope I dont die. I blame society and social media for this btw.. hahaha the moment I have this thought the truck comes true and we're straight again. I couldnt believe it. It was like someone picked up their toy train and put it back on the tracks. Needless to say, I was extremely grateful and being only 2 exits away I insisted the guy stay in the right lane, drive slow and keep the windows open.

We finish the journey to BoostHaus with no further incidents and the driver is high fiving me like we just bagged our first Deer. I wait until he unloads my car and then give him the business. Let him know how reckless he was, how he couldve crashed and killed us both etc. Told the guy he needs to get off the road and go home and get to sleep. At the time it all seemed surreal and I wasnt in any sort of panic or emotional distress or even angry. I was more amazed at the day and ready for a beer and story time with the fellas.

Needless to say I missed Sonoma due to the impending repairs and the #QuestFor11's continues. I'll be out there this Wednesday, Oct 19th, and I'm pretty confident I should be able to run an 11.8 or 11.7 depending on my 60ft.

That was fun, reliving the day by retelling the experience but I have to actually get some work done today. I hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned for more as these types of adventures see to find their way to me. I've been attacked by a man with a sword, had people just walk into my home and start watching TV, had a 6'5" road raged man get out of a Datsun 510 and threaten to kill me.... ah joy. I'm sure there will be more stories to tell but I'll only share the 335i related ones here.

Have a good one folks.

[AK.]

Say.. you must've written a college essay in this thread!! Good shit, Shawn. Looking forward to more mountain runs when you get your suspension dialed in.

[Banana Clipper]

Originally Posted by AK.

Say.. you must've written a college essay in this thread!! Good shit, Shawn. Looking forward to more mountain runs when you get your suspension dialed in.

Agreed, then maybe I can keep up with you guys haha

[Banana Clipper]

Baaaaaaaaah, FML!!! Thats how I felt this past Wednesday night at the drag strip.

I wont bore you with a long drawn out update. Car is running awesome I just need a #DriverMod at this point. This was my first time launching the car at Sonoma on the new wheels and I'm not gonna lie, I went a bit soft. I could have launched the car much harder my first,fourth, and 5th run. On my second and third run I launched the car a little too hard and ended up slightly spinning the wheels which in turn led to me shifting early since I was just watching the rpms for my shift queue.

Either way, I set a new PR in the 1/4 at 12.018. I also installed the front slotted rotors, along with splitting my thumb open, and I'll be doing the rears this weekend.

Pics and video for your enjoyment:






Run 1 - 12.1x

Run 2 - 12.01 while spinning the tires, you can see the camera bounce and I was low on Ethanol, the logs are not very pretty....FML

Run 3 - 12.04

Run 4 - 12.1x

Run 5 - 12.2x

Its getting into the colder months of the year and I wont be going to the drag strip as much but should do more major upgrades. Depending on how the chips fall I could be doing as little as EITHER and LSD or turbos this winter or as much as LSD, turbos, line lock kit, and single barrel shotgun. I'm also toying with the idea of selling the Stg2 LPFP and getting a Stg3 just to eliminate the doubts I have that it struggles to keep up with E60 at times.

[MFactory]

Get our LSD and shocks on, stiffen up the rear, shave some time off those 60's and you'll be deeper into the 11's

[Banana Clipper]

Originally Posted by MFactory

Get our LSD and shocks on, stiffen up the rear, shave some time off those 60's and you'll be deeper into the 11's

Just waiting on the Mfactory coilovers to arrive and I should be ordering the LSD in about a month. Cant wait for that and 11's

[Järppä]

Nice car and good story about life whit it. Keep up good work!

[Banana Clipper]

the MFactory coilovers arrived yesterday and I had to take a trip over to BoostHaus to check 'em out. I cant wait to get these bad boys in and that blown ass suspension off





Thinking about ordering that LSD in the next week or 2 so I can hopefully have it in the car before the end of the year. I didnt realize the coilovers came with end links so now I'll either have to sell the Mfactory's or HPA's.... hmmmmm

[MFactory]

Glad you received them ok

[Socket]

Great thread mate... subbed

[Banana Clipper]

teaser update, the Mfactory coilovers are in and I've been beating on her all day. Im tired, Im drinking, I'm sore, and I just dont want to write it all up right now but I will have some updates to share, including pictures, and maybe even a video or two, tomorrow as well as a review of the MFactory coilovers from an unbiased perspective.

I want to take a minute to thank mindovaanything and the fellas at BoostHaus, once again, for their camaraderie and help on this install as well as the team at Motorsport Technique in Hayward for doing an awesome job on my alignment and taking me even though I was almost an hour late

[whyzee125]

Loving the progress and your hilariously bad luck! You're a great sport, can't wait for updates.

[Banana Clipper]

Thread updated, suspension review is above with pics and comments. Please DM me, or better yet MFactory, with any questions or concerns about the YCW's and their fitment. This is informational only, not a flame thread.

For those that are too lazy or just dont want to scroll up you can read the updated post here in regards to the YCW's and suspension overhaul - http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...20&postcount=9

no editing and unfiltered, its like a drag race, it is what it is

[Banana Clipper]

Added a small update to the YCW/suspension review including installing the M3 strut brace and I got this bad boy the other day as well:


Happy Holidays folks!

[Banana Clipper]

Small New Year bump/update:

Ordered the Stg 3 LPFP, Hobbs switch, and Single Barrel shotgun kit to resolve some fueling issues I've been having with my E60 tune. Apparently I'm the only person, that I know of, in North America that cant run E60 on just a Stg2 LPFP so these upgrades should put to bed any of those issues.

I also have some weird steering wheel vibration at speeds above 75mph, and it only starts when I let off the gas, that I think is either a wheel balancing issue or the tires themselves. I drug the tires, essentially, for the better part of 10 miles from the install of the suspension and all supporting components to the alignment shop.

The recent rains and wet roads have impaired my ability to fully enjoy the car but has also made me appreciate the car that much more. Its given me time to reflect and to look forward to dryer days and trips out to Sonoma for what should be some pretty consistent high 11 second runs in my dog shit busted up ass car, as some have said on this board, you know who you are

[ZeeVaughn]

One of the most entertaining threads I've read In a while, died laughing when you said the truck driver high fived you like you just bagged your first deer after that ordeal! Nice little build though, and nice progression at the track!

I'll have to link up with you guys at some point, I'm in the Fairfield/Vacaville area. I'm waiting on a reply back from boosthaus, I contacted him about doing a FBO/turbo install for my E92 hopefully he gets back to me soon. I get back from my deployment in 2 weeks and have all my parts that I ordered wiaitng for me, can't wait to have them installed!

[Banana Clipper]

Just another small update. Got the car re-aligned and it looks like it was needed so thats good however now the car has some weird driving characteristics to it I'm hoping have to do with the way I set the pre-load on the front sway bar. For example, while driving the initial steering wheel feed back feels 'loose' and 'sloppy' and when I run over pot holes the steering wheel jumps from one side back to the other then comes back to center. I had the car up in the air and only hand tightened the end link so there essetially isnt any preloading on the sway bar so I'll go back sometime this week and fix that. Also going to go with a skinnier tire up front. My logic with the tire change is that the size difference with the 265/35/18 in the rear is overall 4mm larger in circumference. Changing to a 245/40/18 from a 255/35/18 in the front should result in the front overall diameter being 3.75mm larger bringing it more in line with the rear and hopefully a little less harshness over bumps and driveways.

Here are the specs, which alone seem odd to me with coilovers, M3 arms, and camber plates that I can only get a max of -1.8* of camber



Any feedback or opinions is welcomed. Working on saving up for the big upgrades. Either VTT GC lites or Pure Stg2's and an MFactory LSD then I'll move onto some minor exterior mods and call it a wrap

We're also going to be doing a small dyno day this Sat the 28th, about 15 cars I believe, lmk if you're interested in going. Its $50 a car I believe at DNR in Hayward. Also, a few of us will be out at Sonoma on Sunday the 29th. Theyre going to run a TnT group for $60 starting at 8am and running till about 2 or 3pm I believe... thats a LOT of drag racing and Im hoping to jump off 2017 with 3 or 4 11 second runs

Stay dry out there people, happy New Year!