Discussion
e30m3Mark said:
Thanks. I'll take a look.
I also meant to ask what should ideal coolant and oil temp's be showing and oil pressure? (Grp A pump)
You will never get ideal water temp with a wax thermostat and a crank driven pump. At a cruise is should sit at about 88deg and when pressing on should only fluctuated +-2-3degs. I also meant to ask what should ideal coolant and oil temp's be showing and oil pressure? (Grp A pump)
Oil temps are also thermostatically controlled at about 90deg, but expect it to rise on track if using a lot of low gears and high revs. So long it doesn't exceed 125deg, don't worry.
Gp A manual states 4-6bar oil pressure.
Butter Face said:
Is that sign aimed at ARM? 
Well it's just about 50 yards down the road but could also be the Subaru place next door? Did make me smile though. scottos said:
Glad it's all going well, Mark! Brakes look interesting, might see if they'd be interested in knocking up a set for the 2002 further down the line! Currently going through a similar scenario but with suspension, excited for the outcome!
Scott
I'm sure they'd be able to do something, so certainly worth a call.Scott
I'm sure they'll be able to do something for you. Alternatively, WMS did a nice 4 pot conversion for my old E21 which would be ideal. You'll find it in this thread if you look back a couple of years.
I've been mightily impressed with my new brakes and just how strongly they perform, especially combined with the AR-1 tyres.
I'm going to try and get the cameras sorted tomorrow and hopefully get some decent footage on track. I've got an external microphone and am hoping to get a decent quality of sound. I'm just waiting on the adaptor to arrive. I'm intending using Harry's track day app' to overlay the footage but as I'm a tech' idiot, it'll need to be simple.
I've been mightily impressed with my new brakes and just how strongly they perform, especially combined with the AR-1 tyres.
I'm going to try and get the cameras sorted tomorrow and hopefully get some decent footage on track. I've got an external microphone and am hoping to get a decent quality of sound. I'm just waiting on the adaptor to arrive. I'm intending using Harry's track day app' to overlay the footage but as I'm a tech' idiot, it'll need to be simple.
Well I figured that it would be sensible to buy a set of slave rims and wet tyres and keep the Nankang for track days. After being messed around by the courier, blatantly lied too and misled, I threatened him with the Police and finally the rims arrived last evening. They're nothing special but the Yokohama have plenty of life left and they fir the E30 without the need for spacers. The only thing I'm not too keen on is the shade of gold they've been painted. In fact, gold wheels on red cars just doesn't really work for me. As they're in very nice condition though, I guess I will just bolt them on and see how they look tomorrow, once I have the day off. Actually the spare is still silver so I can do a comparison.
This time next week I will be at Goodwood and I'm really looking forward to getting out on track. The engine is properly broken in now and certainly feels healthy and strong right through the rev range. The Rad-Tec rad is coping well and even on the hot days we had last week, I struggled to get the coolant temp' above 90 degrees. Obviously track work is going to be harder on the engine than fast road but I'm confident that all is well. I'll be keeping a careful watch though.
The only thing still left to do, before next weekend, is the oil and filter change. I've always done a change before and after track days in an effort to maximise protection. It might be overkill but I like knowing the oil is fresh.
My insurance renewal landed on the door mat this week too. I'm covered by Aviva, who took over Competition Car Insurance (Towergate) last year. The premium has gone up to £479 p.a and the car valued at £75K. The only change of real note though, is that the Nurburgring is no longer shown as being excluded in the policy wording booklet provided by Aviva / Footman James. Happy days! (I hope anyway!)
This time next week I will be at Goodwood and I'm really looking forward to getting out on track. The engine is properly broken in now and certainly feels healthy and strong right through the rev range. The Rad-Tec rad is coping well and even on the hot days we had last week, I struggled to get the coolant temp' above 90 degrees. Obviously track work is going to be harder on the engine than fast road but I'm confident that all is well. I'll be keeping a careful watch though.
The only thing still left to do, before next weekend, is the oil and filter change. I've always done a change before and after track days in an effort to maximise protection. It might be overkill but I like knowing the oil is fresh. My insurance renewal landed on the door mat this week too. I'm covered by Aviva, who took over Competition Car Insurance (Towergate) last year. The premium has gone up to £479 p.a and the car valued at £75K. The only change of real note though, is that the Nurburgring is no longer shown as being excluded in the policy wording booklet provided by Aviva / Footman James. Happy days! (I hope anyway!)
helix402 said:
I like those wheels a lot more than your old ones.
Me too, they're way easier to clean and much, much stronger too. The splits were OK but bloody expensive and about as strong as dog chocolate.
Compo's by markbrown100, on Flickr[quote=e30m3Mark]Me too, they're way easier to clean and much, much stronger too. The splits were OK but bloody expensive and about as strong as dog chocolate./quote]
Without wishing to be antagonistic that's a bit harsh IMO - I've no affiliation to AGS but I have the same wheels on my car and they've been fine for competition use. Interestingly mine are magnesium, so theoretically weaker than yours where/are being alloy.
Simply put they're a motorsport wheel which is not designed for road use or for bouncing off things. Bit OTT to say they aren't strong following a crash.
Compomotive TH's are a good looking wheel, but exceptionally heavy.
Without wishing to be antagonistic that's a bit harsh IMO - I've no affiliation to AGS but I have the same wheels on my car and they've been fine for competition use. Interestingly mine are magnesium, so theoretically weaker than yours where/are being alloy.
Simply put they're a motorsport wheel which is not designed for road use or for bouncing off things. Bit OTT to say they aren't strong following a crash.
Compomotive TH's are a good looking wheel, but exceptionally heavy.
Matter88]30m3Mark said:
Simply put they're a motorsport wheel which is not designed for road use or for bouncing off things. Bit OTT to say they aren't strong following a crash.
Compomotive TH's are a good looking wheel, but exceptionally heavy.
Absolutely agree, however I'm not talking about crash damage, although actually the centres were fine after that. The problem is with the barrels / lips which buckled repeatedly after just a few hundred miles regular road use. I've never had a problem with barrels / lips from either BBS or Image.Compomotive TH's are a good looking wheel, but exceptionally heavy.
ETA - I wasn't meaning any slur against your (or anyone else's come to that) wheels, but the most recent batch of lips / barrels, they just weren't up to the strength of those I have had from BBS, or more recently Image. I should have made it clearer that I wasn't talking about accident damage as I wouldn't expect any 2 or 3 piece wheel to come away unscathed in those circumstances. I take your point about their being a motorsport wheel but I am talking a matter of hundreds of miles before there were signs of buckles and it's not as if I was hitting pot holes and kerbs! Anyway, I just wanted to add some clarity but that is also why I didn't name the supplier or quote them here.
Edited by e30m3Mark on Friday 18th May 05:50
Well fingers crossed I make it out of Cornwall. Just about to head off up to Goodwood for the weekend, so just did a quick spanner and fluids check. All seems well, although I don't intend pushing on too quickly anyway. Hopefully I can avoid motorways and once at Exeter, head down towards the south coast road? I've got a satnav so should be OK.
Anyway, off we go.
Anyway, off we go.
Well the journey up to Chichester on Friday evening was great and the car was running perfectly. I had a bit of fun on the A35 with an M4 and made pretty good time to Chichester.
The next morning I headed for Goodwood via the petrol station, where I checked oil and water before getting to the circuit. I'd left my bloody tickets at home but the organisers of RR events are excellent and soon sorted things out for me. I love Retro Rides events as there's always a great mix of cars and people. There is literally something for everyone. The morning track session had some great cars including an LS1 powered E30 M3, a classic Mini with a supercharged Honda S2000 engine, which must have been one of the quickest things there?! It was incredibly quick on the main straight. I think there were about 40 cars, sent out in staggered groups of 5. It worked really well, although a few quicker cars would catch the car ahead and weren't allowed to overtake. It was still a bit of fun though.
In the afternoon it was my turn and on the familiarisation laps (x3 I think?) I saw they had added a cone chicane to the back straight. I know some people didn't like it but I quite enjoyed seeing how quickly I could get through it. Especially as it was so warm and the tyres were working really well. On my first proper 2 lap run (they were using a sprint format) I got a bit more confident in both the car and my knowledge of the corners. I have done a few sprints there in the past but the difference between the M3 and my old 325i is like night and day. I was just enjoying how much speed I could carry through the corners, especially if I short shifted so as not to unsettle the car once I had turned in. The AR-1 are great tyres and everything just seemed to really gel. I only rev'd out to 8k rpm but the engine really did sound great too.
On the second run, about 45 mins later, I pushed a little harder now I knew where I was going! Especially through Woodcote where I almost surprised myself at the speed I carried through to the exit. I'm no racing driver and only go on track for fun but I like that feeling when you know you've got a corner right. Unfortunately though, on passing the chequered flag, the dash display flashed low oil pressure and there was a clear bottom end knock from the engine. I switched it off immediately and coasted to a halt, feeling gutted. I've been here before!
We got the car back to the paddock and I scrolled through the dash display to see if there were any signs I had missed? The maximum revs were a gnats over 8k rpm and max coolant temp' was 102 degrees from memory. There was certainly nothing untoward. The coolant level was good but oil level had dropped a little bit. It was still at the top mark though. I figured I would just leave the car to cool down and come back on a transporter. If only the RAC did frequent flier rewards!
After a fitful night of replaying what had happened in my head and racking my admittedly limited brains for the possible reasons behind it, I had to risk starting the car to get it out for the transporter. Initially I disconnected the coil and wound it over to check for oil pressure, which was actually fine and healthy. Once I reconnected the coil, the engine fired and ran perfectly with no obvious knock or rattle. It was only ticking over obviously and I certainly didn't want to do anything to induce any knock, but it didn't sound as terminal as I had envisaged. Once back at ARM here in Cornwall, we got it into the workshop so we can inspect the bearings. The sump I have has a handy inspection plate so the whole sump doesn't have to be removed. The only thing the ECU showed was a momentary loss of oil pressure but the problem is not knowing why that had occurred? The sump is baffled against surge etc so I'm struggling to understand why there would be a sudden loss of oil pressure like that?
Answers on a postcard please!
The next morning I headed for Goodwood via the petrol station, where I checked oil and water before getting to the circuit. I'd left my bloody tickets at home but the organisers of RR events are excellent and soon sorted things out for me. I love Retro Rides events as there's always a great mix of cars and people. There is literally something for everyone. The morning track session had some great cars including an LS1 powered E30 M3, a classic Mini with a supercharged Honda S2000 engine, which must have been one of the quickest things there?! It was incredibly quick on the main straight. I think there were about 40 cars, sent out in staggered groups of 5. It worked really well, although a few quicker cars would catch the car ahead and weren't allowed to overtake. It was still a bit of fun though.
In the afternoon it was my turn and on the familiarisation laps (x3 I think?) I saw they had added a cone chicane to the back straight. I know some people didn't like it but I quite enjoyed seeing how quickly I could get through it. Especially as it was so warm and the tyres were working really well. On my first proper 2 lap run (they were using a sprint format) I got a bit more confident in both the car and my knowledge of the corners. I have done a few sprints there in the past but the difference between the M3 and my old 325i is like night and day. I was just enjoying how much speed I could carry through the corners, especially if I short shifted so as not to unsettle the car once I had turned in. The AR-1 are great tyres and everything just seemed to really gel. I only rev'd out to 8k rpm but the engine really did sound great too.
On the second run, about 45 mins later, I pushed a little harder now I knew where I was going! Especially through Woodcote where I almost surprised myself at the speed I carried through to the exit. I'm no racing driver and only go on track for fun but I like that feeling when you know you've got a corner right. Unfortunately though, on passing the chequered flag, the dash display flashed low oil pressure and there was a clear bottom end knock from the engine. I switched it off immediately and coasted to a halt, feeling gutted. I've been here before!
We got the car back to the paddock and I scrolled through the dash display to see if there were any signs I had missed? The maximum revs were a gnats over 8k rpm and max coolant temp' was 102 degrees from memory. There was certainly nothing untoward. The coolant level was good but oil level had dropped a little bit. It was still at the top mark though. I figured I would just leave the car to cool down and come back on a transporter. If only the RAC did frequent flier rewards!
After a fitful night of replaying what had happened in my head and racking my admittedly limited brains for the possible reasons behind it, I had to risk starting the car to get it out for the transporter. Initially I disconnected the coil and wound it over to check for oil pressure, which was actually fine and healthy. Once I reconnected the coil, the engine fired and ran perfectly with no obvious knock or rattle. It was only ticking over obviously and I certainly didn't want to do anything to induce any knock, but it didn't sound as terminal as I had envisaged. Once back at ARM here in Cornwall, we got it into the workshop so we can inspect the bearings. The sump I have has a handy inspection plate so the whole sump doesn't have to be removed. The only thing the ECU showed was a momentary loss of oil pressure but the problem is not knowing why that had occurred? The sump is baffled against surge etc so I'm struggling to understand why there would be a sudden loss of oil pressure like that?
Answers on a postcard please!
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff