well, i just got home from taking my E90 M3 to homestead speedway for the day. the car has no performance mods, and i was running on the stock PS2 tires. the car handled like a dream, and i was able to take corner 1 at 120mph! MDM mode helps, but can get annoying when you try to get out of a hole... now the brakes need work, they overheated WAY too easily stock. i think im going to get some track pads, and change the fluid for next time. it was so bad that i had to do a cool down lap about every 5 laps just to get them working again... also, the engine got very hot, almost 3/4 of the way on the temp gauge, is this normal? i was able to keep up with a full race-ready Z06 that was running on slick tires! pretty good if you ask me! and i thought this was funny... a stock jetta on the track?!? and here i come then i pulled in to pick up my friend beni, who was taking the pics for me. catching up to another Z06! look at all the brake dust that accumulated!!! the tires held up pretty well! and the best part... i just tracked this car, and now i drive it home... can it get any better than that???? this car is great! next mods will be track tires, brake pads, and a fluid change. then AA exhaust and software, then KW clubsports
Awesome, looks like you had a lot of fun! AFAIK, I think it's normal for your temperature gauge to be pretty hot when you're tracking it but I don't know about your brakes fading. :shead: I'm not quite sure what kind of brake pads come with your E90. If you pick up a race thermostat, your cooling should kick in earlier than OEM and should help keep your engine cooler. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Great!! Glad you're beating the shit out of it! But it really doesn't surprise me that the brakes are fading. Heavy car, only 2 piston calipers up front? Isn't enough for continued abuse on the track. The holes are mainly for wet-weather improvement more-so than keeping heat down AFAIK.
EDIT: this advice is assuming this was your first track event *ever*, as opposed to just your first track event in this particular car... My advice: 1. Regarding the engine temperatures - I'd check with your local BMWCCA chapter. Seems strange that an M3 would run hot at a simple track day. Surely there are other folks running E90s - I just don't happen to know any personally. 2. The painter's tape will help a little bit, but really, if rocks and gravel get thrown up in front of you (and they will), chances are better than even that they'll punch right through that tape. A clear bra would be a better choice, if you haven't got one already. 3. Hold off on "track tires." They raise the level of grip, sure, but there are downsides. The first is that r-compound tires are much, much less forgiving of mistakes. The second is that, since they allow for higher speeds all over the track, you'll be going faster, and as a result, you'll be hammering a brake system that you've already found a problem with. If I were in your position, first thing I'd do is chase the engine cooling problem. Once that's licked, race brake pads and fluid. Then just drive the car for several events. Good luck, and have fun! --Karl <-- HPDE instructor for many years
I have an e46 M3 and we had brake fade problems on track days as well. A lot of guys I know upgraded their brakes to Brembo, Stoptech or other high performance brands. We then found out that you can get the European OEM disk rotors (which are drilled) and upgrade the calipers and brakes to those on the CSL M3 which rivaled or bettered the aftermarket brakes. You may want to look into what the Euro M3's have as brakes and see if its a viable upgrade. I also found that my engine gets hotter than normal on track days but as long as its not in the red and you give it a proper cool down lap you will be fine.
Cool pictures and looks like a fun day :applause: Man a Porche GT 3 would be sweet....but I agree with you, there is nothing wrong with having a vehicle you can take to the track have fun and drive it back home :thumb: I'm hoping this summer I'll be able to go to the track and snap some pictures, it would be fun...wish I could participate but for the time being no sports car for me
Looks like you had a great time. Next time out make sure to swap the brake fluid for DOT 5 it has a much higher boiling point than the stock fluid. Also if they are available for your car SS braided lines will frim thing up nicely. I have to correct you on one thing, the Vette you were closing in on was not a ZO6, but actually a C6 coupe. ZO6's have massive red calipers, flared front fenders and rear quarters plus there's no way a heavy four door sedan would close in on a ZO6 without heavy mods. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, just trying to educate.:thumb:
I don't want to burst your bubble but that was NOT a Z06, just a C6. As nice as the M3 is it is not going to keep up with a Z06 given equal drivers. That said I have seen Z06's beat by race prepped Miata's. Just like detailing is all in the prep work, tracking a car is all in the driver. Looks like it was a lot of fun. I would love to get any one of my cars out on the track.
thanks for the advice Karl, however this isn't my first time on track... i have raced karts for 8 years (with a world championship win), along with Formula Renault (5 race wins) for a season. but it was my first time on a track in a street spec car. and it was a completely different animal than the formula renault, much heavier! about the tape- yea, it helped for the little things, but i found apretty big rock that got stuck in the tape and managed to wedge itself between the BMW emblem and hood (where there was a empty space under the tape, and the tape did a good job of stopping it before it got to the paint. other than that, i didnt have a single chip. as for the brakes - i think for the moment im just going to change to track pads for the next time, along with a higher temp brake fluid, and see how that goes. about the overheating - well, i was revving it to 8200 RPM (just before redline) most of the time, because i think this engine makes power all the way up to 7800-8000. but next time i'm going to try shifting around 7800-8000 and see if that changes anything. the temp was about 250, which i don't think is all that hot, because the car would have gone into a limp mode if it overheated to the point where something could be at risk of breaking... just it was almost at 3/4 the way up the gauge.
it's not the red Z06, i know the red one was a c6, the z06 im talking about was black. not in the pictures.
