M2 chassis tuning help needed

[Steve Rance]

Hello gentlemen. I will be looking to sharpen up the geo on my M2 shortly. Probably just a tad more camber, caster and toe changes initially. Can anyone point me in the right direction for decent adjustable lower control arms and top mounts? Also, are there any proper race teams running M2’s? They would be my starting point for the geo.

Thanks in advance

[ftypical]

You’re converting it to a track car already?

[stevesingo]

The wishbones, tension struts and hub carriers are the same as F80/82 M3/4, so you can be less specific is your search.

A cursory google turns up these...

http://www.splparts.com/2014-f8x-m3-m4/

[Steve Rance]

stevesingo said:

The wishbones, tension struts and hub carriers are the same as F80/82 M3/4, so you can be less specific is your search.

A cursory google turns up these...

http://www.splparts.com/2014-f8x-m3-m4/

Thank you. Much appreciated. I’ll have a look and see what the F80/82 tuning guys are up to also.

[Steve Rance]

ftypical said:

You’re converting it to a track car already?

No, it may get the odd track outing but I think a little geo change will unlock a lot more fun from the chassis. I bought an M2 purely for the handling potential. I’ll leave the power train. It’s fine for the road.

[Slippydiff]

Steve Rance said:

Hello gentlemen. I will be looking to sharpen up the geo on my M2 shortly. Probably just a tad more camber, caster and toe changes initially. Can anyone point me in the right direction for decent adjustable lower control arms and top mounts? Also, are there any proper race teams running M2’s? They would be my starting point for the geo.

Thanks in advance

Hi Steve, pretty sure Parr will do a geo tweak for you. If not, get in touch with Matty at Fearnsport. He tweaked my 1M Coupe and transformed it.

There was another thing that made a simply staggering difference to the 1M Coupe, ditching the standard front brakes for a set of AP 6 pots and fully floating discs. The standard 1M stuff weighs a TON, the big cast iron single pot sliding calipers, cast iron caliper mounting brackets and boat anchor discs had no place on the 1M Coupe (less of a problem with the M2 as one would hope the alloy 4 pot calipers are light (ish) but the AP stuff was featherlight in comparison, and the reduction in unsprung weight was shocking.

Prior to the brake swap, the front end was really harsh over cats eyes, with the AP's the ride was transformed, but the steering feel and the car's willingness to turn in was the real revelation, and it's ability to maintain it's line over mid corner bumps was scary

[Steve Rance]

Skippy that’s most helpful. I was and am still torn between the 1m and M2. The mileage and fact that the M2 is the newer car swayed it for me but as a driving proposition a part of me will always hanker for a 1M.

I should have known that all roads lead to back to Porsche in the end...!

ThNks again for the advice. Did you still have the 1M? By the way, your old Gen 1at Henry’s very nearly became my DD....

[joedesi]

Litchfield has recently released a suspension tuning package for the M2

Theres a review of it on autoexpress or autocar recently.

May be worth checking it out

[Steve Rance]

Looks like it's damper/spring combination. The damping control is reasonable but not great to be honest, but there are bigger gains to be had initially by just a geo change. Even with all aids turned off, The diff is so good and chassis so capable. There's a lot more to come. I think that BMW are missing a trick by concentrating on harnessing and deploying horsepower rather than unlocking the surplus chassis performance potential that the M platforms currently have. To do that, you need the ability to change the geometry.

[stevesingo]

The AST kit from litchfield looks like it has adjustable top mounts for more camber, can't see a provision for castor adjustment. I'm sure there are some avilable somewhere.

[Slippydiff]

Hi Steve, I’ve had a couple of 1M Coupes. More info on them here :

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83...

I’m tempted by an M2, but haven’t taken the time to testdrive one yet. I think I’d go for the recently announced Competition version if I were to go the M2 route though.

The 1M Coupes were great cars, and once fitted with decent seats, brakes and a decent geo setup, became even more fun. A set of Michelin SuperSports (instead of the standard fit PS2’s) would have improved things further still.
Many upped the horsepower, though I never felt the car lacked in that department.

[Mitch911]

Those seats look great Slippy, don't suppose they are sat in your garage?

I have a similarly modded 1M, plus Akra exhaust (great noise and more weight saved) and some 'light' engine tweaks. Its a great machine, can be comfortable and reasonably practical, then an absolute animal when you want it to be.

[ant man]

Having had my M3 set up by a qualified chassis dynamacist, I would only ever have a car set up by a professional and qualified expert from now on. So many so called experts are clueless when it comes to suspension and would have no idea about the dynamic load index or ideal rake for a car.

OP - I don't know where you're based but Sam at TDI in Essex is fully qualified and very helpful.

[Slippydiff]

Mitch911 said:

Those seats look great Slippy, don't suppose they are sat in your garage?

I have a similarly modded 1M, plus Akra exhaust (great noise and more weight saved) and some 'light' engine tweaks. Its a great machine, can be comfortable and reasonably practical, then an absolute animal when you want it to be.

They went on to do duty in a TT RS Mitch, then I removed and sold them I'm afraid (and they're NLA)

[Mitch911]

Slippydiff said:

Mitch911 said:

Those seats look great Slippy, don't suppose they are sat in your garage?

I have a similarly modded 1M, plus Akra exhaust (great noise and more weight saved) and some 'light' engine tweaks. Its a great machine, can be comfortable and reasonably practical, then an absolute animal when you want it to be.

They went on to do duty in a TT RS Mitch, then I removed and sold them I'm afraid (and they're NLA)

They must have been pissed about that