[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by z3papa

There are more cost effective (read cheaper) modifications but the axiom I've learned the hard way was "build it right, once". I went through a cheaper set of Bilstein coilover conversions, TCKline SA, and ended with AST DA 4200's, losing money on each set as I progressed to better units. Torsen type diffs go open when one (inside) wheel is lifted. A friend in a similarly prepped STR Z4 chose the Wavetrac route citing longevity and analysis it would perform as well as my Performance Gearing 3 clutch only to watch side by side videos of runs me killing him in tighter turn arounds. That quite an expensive lesson to learn. An F8x is not classed in FS and won't be.....trust me. Until BMW 335i and M3 are allowed to run in STP, they might as well stay stock.

I know I probably gonna get called out for further derailing this thread But whatever, I can't help but want to clarify on some of the comments you made.

I dunno which Bilstein you had, but TCK SA are just re-valved Koni Yellow, so no surprise you find them lacking once you pick up speed. DA have better internals and I honestly think are more than adequate to most non-pro level drivers once it is dialed in correctly, but they are definitely not the best shocks out there from my experience and I don't think most E9x owner, M3 or 335i, are keen on spending $4-6k on a set of remote reservoir Motion Control or whatever... The same with diffs, and honestly, I have yet to see one late model BMW that has lifted its rear tires for the two years of tracking that I have done. Also, Wavetrac, while still is a torsen type diff, actually has a clutch pack build in to prevent from happening with total loss of traction with one of the drive wheels.

All in all, don't invest too much money in the car if you are new to this hobby. Seat time (and maybe tires and brake pads) comes first, and as you progress up the ladder, you will realize what hardware needs to be improved to fit your style of driving. Occasionally, you might just be better off getting a different car all together.

[z3papa]

I'm hardly new to this hobby and have more than my fair share of time at tracks. I suppose the best advice anyone could give to someone asking about what if any modifications to do to a person wanting to get into autocrossing a 335i is work on the nut behind the wheel, and then if you are hooked either stay in FS or get a more competitive car. Cloud9blue, since we are a stone's throw from each other, it may be our paths will cross. If that happens, we can shoot the shit and laugh about this thread.

[Taskmaster]

I want to see that race. But I think cloud9 is a HPDE and Papa is a autocrosser.

I'm just poor and enjoy cars. Carry on men.

[z3papa]

I did a fair amount of track events with my last car as it was extremely kind to wearables even when pressed really hard and was a natural UNTIL I started to really move up through groups and was busted out for being marginal on the broomstick rule. It was something I always was prepared for. When I moved to the M3, I knew I was keeping it Street/Stock legal which meant no camber plates and would chew through fronts in a day at a cost I did not want to play with. I may still get out but not at the same rate as the Z.

[Taskmaster]

Originally Posted by z3papa

I did a fair amount of track events with my last car as it was extremely kind to wearables even when pressed really hard and was a natural UNTIL I started to really move up through groups and was busted out for being marginal on the broomstick rule. It was something I always was prepared for. When I moved to the M3, I knew I was keeping it Street/Stock legal which meant no camber plates and would chew through fronts in a day at a cost I did not want to play with. I may still get out but not at the same rate as the Z.

Did you end up selling the Z3? I was curious to see how far you'd go with it... (I'm Iceman/Arkangel from Bfc)

[z3papa]

Originally Posted by TheAxiom

Did you end up selling the Z3? I was curious to see how far you'd go with it... (I'm Iceman/Arkangel from Bfc)

Short of the custom header/exhaust which presented huge issues with the 6" rule for CAT movement, my Z3 was about as built out as it got. Robin Blair aka Sunzout is still considering going to Nat's. I went to Nat's 4 out of 5 years and ran Nat'l events for 6 years with very modest results. I always thought it was the nut behind the wheel holding me back and once I got my act together, I'd trophy. As I stood in impound in 2014 with a good friend, he told me it was time to stop coming to the gun fight with a knife. He said pick the right class, pick the right car and make no excuses. I sold the Z last year after selling off $8800 of parts (originally paid $15k for the parts0 from it and bought my E92 M3. Last year I was FTDi at 12 events and ended up 5th out of 47th in FS at Nat's and sat as high as 2nd on day two. If you are wondering, Bryan Heitkotter, Pirelli World Cup driver, won the class. I think I have more I can get out the car.

[orteeze]

I wasn't able to make it to the first event. I did however reviewed the final raw times per class. I wasn't aware that a E90 M3 is classified as FS. That'll be fun trying to outrun an M3.