[Socket]

Great power ur making there Shane. E40 tune will really make it shine... great write up as always

[Coupes33]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

So I recently had my rims fitted and TBH been too busy to take the car for a twisty rd drive!

Last week end I got her out to do a log (finalising the 98 map) and took some quick snaps with my phone:

The tuning has gone well, and TBH I’m surprised how strong the car feels on just 98 with conservative timing and boost!

These turbos spool so fast Tim was having troubles on his initial tunes (to maintain smooth boost control in an attempt to try & rein them in from overboosting) so they’ve been different from RB’s/Pures which have bigger wheels which spool more progressively later on in the rev range.

Spool v's RB's (VTT's on the left)



My next step is to start planning to tune on E40 direct injection only.

I understand why guys go PI, but personally I don’t need 400+ RWKW I’m after responsive tune with holding decent boost to redline. I think that PI in its current guise is still somewhat crude, and its quite expensive bit of kit also!

So my plan is to start tuning on E40 DI only and I’ve got a stage 3 LPFP to go in. Tim is happy to try and see how the stage 2 LPFP goes if I wish to commence E40 tuning, but I’ll see how I go I might just wait it out until I get the stage 3 in (a strong LPFP feed into the high side fuel rail apparently assists the HPFP from crashing)

Since my car was in the workshop getting the turbos fitted at the time of the airbag & blower recall I didn’t get it done straight away. I decided to get it done last week, and it had been 6 years since I’d set foot into my local BMW dealer! (the car was under warranty and I had a starting issue yet they still charged me, vowed to never go back!)

Must say they were reasonably efficient and well organised, made me smirk when they’d said they gave it a wash and vaccumm (I’d washed it and vacced it a few days prior) and apparently the guys in the workshop say they see a lot of E9X’s but they’re all quite knocked around its rare to see one as tidy as this one. They were confused about the seats and the idrive (M3 novillo and NBT) but yeah it was great to get the old airbag out as the airbag roundel was looking ordinary (the chrome sections were looking ordinary) the new airbag cover looks really nice against the nice clean matte novillo M3 tiller!

I've got a driveday organised next weekend, so am looking to get her out for a blast!!

Your car is looking immaculate as ever Shane. Very impressive numbers on 98. 330rwkw (429fwkw) is 30kw more than mine got on the RB Classics. On E40, you should pick up another 20-30rwkw. When I ran my car on E40, the Fuel-it Stage 2 LPFP handled it ok. It was only when I changed to 100 E85 that the Stage 3 LPFP and PI was required. Have you had a chance in your drive to test whether the tyres are going to scrape on the guards or is it all ok in this area.

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by Coupes33

Your car is looking immaculate as ever Shane. Very impressive numbers on 98. 330rwkw (429fwkw) is 30kw more than mine got on the RB Classics. On E40, you should pick up another 20-30rwkw. When I ran my car on E40, the Fuel-it Stage 2 LPFP handled it ok. It was only when I changed to 100 E85 that the Stage 3 LPFP and PI was required. Have you had a chance in your drive to test whether the tyres are going to scrape on the guards or is it all ok in this area.

Hey Ken

Ahh ok Im surprised at the peak power tbh on just 98 (in mustang mode not dynojet mode on virtual dyno) but I'll try and wack it up on the rollers and get a baseline dyno run.

I honestly thought it'd be more like 40rwkw on E40 with a lot more timing and boost, but I'll wait and see

I've taken it for a blap and hit dips and speed bumps that my 19" setup use to scrub on but it was ok. I'm thinking the ohlins have far superior dampers, perhaps this is playing a part also. The real test is 100km/h in twisties mid corner and hitting a bump :-/

[DR-JEKL]

Well I recently finally got my car out on the open road, and it was such a revelation to drive with the ohlins, m3 rack, 18" rays and AD08R (great grip and much more comfort) and the VTT GC lites providing some good stonk on just a 98 tune currently..

We had a good turn out and it was freaking hot (hit over 40 Deg C in a few spots)

[DR-JEKL]

I recently posted up my M3 steering wheel for sale, I love the the feel of the soft nappa leather and the ermm no homo thick girth of the steering wheel but I find it makes my hands sweat.

Ive been considering a swap to Alcantara as the soft pile feels great and it would essentially soak up the sweat vs the nappa leather.

I'd never liked the OEM BMW performance alcantara V1 wheels with the white stitching, but recently discovered they did a V2 with a blue stripe and M tri colour stitching.

V1



V2



I love the soft nappa leather of my fox red M3 interior, but lately I've been wanting to get the drivers seat 25-75mm lower. Being 6'7 my head basically touches the roof liner almost, and sitting so high up can be annoying.

Unfortnately there's no mod out there that I could find for the OEM seats, it seems like you're best to use a low mount race seat and forego the sliders and mount it directly to the floor.

Since my car isnt driven by my wife, and its not a daily driver I have a few options.

1. Sell my M3 F&R seats and buy two new buckets and install a rear seat delete (never used my rear seat in 6.5 years Ive owned it)





2. Sell my M3 F&R seats and buy two new seats and install a standard E92 M3 speed cloth rear seat

https://www.m3post.com/forums/attach...mentid=1217462


3. Remove my M3 drivers seat and install a new seat (keep my M3 seat wrapped in plastic in storage)



To do a track day I really need to do get a lowered seat to get a helmet on to be able to drive the car.

With my physical size its extremely difficult to find the right seat and mount combo. Sparco make a discontinued EVO III seat but the harness holes are too low, and these seats mount higher compared to recaros. Also its been reported they wont fit into a E92 due to the width of the backs..

Lots of seat options out there!

Recaro Profi SPG XL RRP $1250 ea





http://www.racerindustries.com.au/af...ved-Black.html

Sparco EVO III (discontinued found one new for $700)





Cobra Imola GT (GT is bigger version) RRP $850





http://www.revolutionracegear.com.au...V=Primary&CDO=

Racetech 4009 (they make a model up to 40" waist to suit driver 6'7 but they're $1300 ea)







https://rollcage.com.au/product/racetech-seat-rt4009/

Velo GPT2 XXL (made in australia and apparently will custom make to suit your reqts!!) RRP $800





http://www.autosport.com.au/velo-gp90-xxl-seat

Corbeau RRS sportline lowmount wrapped in leather recliner (aforementioned options are fixed back and not as comfy as these ~ $1500 ea







Then theres the plethora of seat mounts, sliders, seat belt brackets to choose from and harness's if I do a track day

[Socket]

Choices choices mate

If you sell your M3 seats someone will snap them up quick

Might make it hard to sell if you go full race car though

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by Socket

Choices choices mate

If you sell your M3 seats someone will snap them up quick

Might make it hard to sell if you go full race car though

Yeah way too many choices!

Yeah they seem to get a lot of comments, anyone who sits in them always comments how nice the leather is and they've been kept pretty clean. Pretty rare for them to pop up for sale also!

Hmm yeah like you I've gone all out, too far in to sell up now...

[Socket]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

Yeah way too many choices!

Yeah they seem to get a lot of comments, anyone who sits in them always comments how nice the leather is and they've been kept pretty clean. Pretty rare for them to pop up for sale also!

Hmm yeah like you I've gone all out, too far in to sell up now...

Welcome to the dark side Shane... there is no turning back for you now

[Gee-Dog]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

Lots of seat options out there!

Have you considered one of the replica seats from JustJap? I've got a Bride fixed back rep in a track car, and after 3 years or so it's been great. I wouldn't put one in my daily, but perfect for track use. A lot cheaper than the ones you linked.

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by Gee-Dog

Have you considered one of the replica seats from JustJap? I've got a Bride fixed back rep in a track car, and after 3 years or so it's been great. I wouldn't put one in my daily, but perfect for track use. A lot cheaper than the ones you linked.

TBH I dont think Bride manufacture a bucket big enough for me? I had a look at their lowmax XL by memory and it was pretty narrow, must be 'Asian' XL not fatarse USA XL?

How is the quality on the chinese rep buckets? Probably shouldnt baulk too much as no doubt all the genuine stuff is probably manufactured in china also these days

[Gee-Dog]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

TBH I dont think Bride manufacture a bucket big enough for me? I had a look at their lowmax XL by memory and it was pretty narrow, must be 'Asian' XL not fatarse USA XL?

How is the quality on the chinese rep buckets? Probably shouldnt baulk too much as no doubt all the genuine stuff is probably manufactured in china also these days

I'm not a greyhound, and I fit into mine fine. No issues with the quality so far, but it's only used at the track.

[DR-JEKL]

I’d sold my Fox Red M3 seats a month ago (thankfully the buyer is a top bloke and will let me keep them until my race seats are in!) and was therefore 100% dedicated to buying some race seats.

In my previous posts I’d indicated all of my possibilities and had eliminated the Recaro Profi XL’s as the harness holes would be too low, the corbeau’s didn’t offer enough lateral support (might as well stick with M3 seats) and weren’t much lower, the Cobra I sat in felt OK but wasn’t right.

I’d eliminated it down to two choices Racetech and Velo GPT3.

Whilst I was in Sydney over the xmas break I managed to try a Velo Apex XL out at MSCN @ seven hills (highly recommend this shop the guys there were great!) and the seat was really well made (much better then the Cobra’s IMO) and it felt great to sit in. It was a tad too narrow across the shoulders, and slightly firm on hips but going to a XXL GPT3 would be perfect! (I’m 6’7 40” waist and 115-120 kegs)

So the decision was made to go with Velo for a few reasons.

They’re cheaper than the racetechs, manufactured in South Australia & were great to deal with and they would raise the harness holes to suit my dimensions. Velo ask for you to sit on a timber bench and measure the height from the seat to your shoulders to determine harness hole heights. (Having the harness holes at the correct height is imperative to your safety if using a harness in the event of a major off)

Velo have an ADR approval for their seats, hence they’re ‘street legal’. This will help with insurance matters more so than preventing an overzealous officer keen to slap canaries on as many modified vehicles as he can…

Velo were also happy to supply the seats at a slightly reduced price (-$100 ea) untrimmed with just the shell and foam padding.

I’d had in my mind I wanted to retrim the seats with soft nappa leather to provide that premium bespoke touch to my car and also make it appear OEM+. Price is $3000 for the two seats to be trimmed in nappa or slightly more for alcantara.

I’m still deciding on having them trimmed in just nappa leather or have them trimmed in BMW performance livery in alcantara and leather sides… (I do have the BMW performance OEM handbrake and shift boot and steering wheel so that scheme would tie in nicely)

Velo will be manufacturing the seat for me this week, and I hope to have it by 1st Feb, so I need to decide what way I’m going!

[Hoper]

[Aus335iguy]

Originally Posted by Hoper

Originally Posted by Hoper

+1 lol

[Socket]

these are going to be great Shane.... def worth the $$ to get them retrimmed

[vtl]

Heres an idea if you plan on ever tracking the car

The stock seats have the headrest which makes it pretty easy to come up with a mounting system for a camera. I find replaying the onboard videos very important in analysing how to improve my driving. Race seats are quite difficult to mount a camera to, so a harness bar or alternate mounting point is needed.

Since you already have the seats apart, would it be possible to add some threaded mounting holes on the back of the passenger seat? Then you could bolt a camera mount arm easily and securely

[DR-JEKL]

My new untrimmed Velo Racing GPT3 (XXL) 7 GPT2 (XL) arrived a few weeks ago.

Since I'm buying a matching pair I went with a GPT2 for passenger duties (I can squeeze into a XL if need be) and will be using VAC & Macht Schnell floor mounts, VAC seatbelt adaptor kit and lap belt mounting kit with sparco lateral steel fixed floor mounts (to get drivers side as low as possible passenger side will have a slider)

https://store.vacmotorsports.com/vac...lt-adap…

https://store.vacmotorsports.com/vac...ng-brac…

https://store.vacmotorsports.com/rac...ion-kit…

I went with steel fixed mounts (the aluminium one are much lighter but are generally 2mm thicker than the steel mounts due to the superior rigidity/mechanical properties of the steel mounts. This is important if wanting to get the mount as low as possible, for the drivers side I'll forego a slider to get it another 15-20mm lower also (gulp!)

https://www.sparco-official.com/…/ac...l-support.html

Macht Schnell harness receptacles if I eventually go that far with a harness (came with the MS floor mounts) https://machtschnell.com/bolt-harnes...mpetiti…

Got all the mounting gear now, just waiting for the leather to show up from Austria for the trimmer which should arrive tomorrow (I went with wollsdorf ambassador leather which is a flame retardant aircraft grade nappa leather with a smooth finish with minimal grain like the M3 nappa- wollsdorf supply all the big manufacturers with leather)

http://www.autoleder.hu/en/automotive-leather

I went with genuine alcantara (must admit the cheaper macro suede looked really nice but had a higher pile, so you could see the marks easily when you run your hands over it) and it should arrive next week for the trimmer to start work on creating the BMW performance inspired alcantara seats with grey stitching and BMW Performance stitching on the headrests for that OEM + look

I spent a few hours today to remove the sparco logo from the sidemounts, which was done just by compounding and polishing in an attempt to keep that minimalistic OEM+ look.

Hopefully in a few week the seats will be trimmed and ready for installation

[DR-JEKL]

When I sold my fox red M3 seats, the buyer needed my black 335i door cards also as he has the cinnamon brown seats and doorcards.

I had some rear M3 doorcards in storage for years now (never found a cheap front set pop up for sale) so had to buy a set. Thanks to socket we went halves in a M3 interior (he got the seats I got the door cards) and I started to fit them up recently.

The M3 doorcards are exactly the same except they use higher grade nappa leather which looks really nice (I'll miss the M3 seats!) and have the silver speaker grilles (optional upgraded speakers from standard had silver speaker trims)

The M3 doorcards were missing the seatbelt butlers, so I transferred them from my 335i doorcards and the speakers from my 335i (I have L7) and installed them to the trims.

Since I wont have any rear seats, it will probably be cheaper to just buy a M3 rear seat rather then do a custom rear seat delete with alcantara and save 10-15kg (exhaust is boomier also with rear backrests gone)...

The front door trims should arrive this week hopefully

[DR-JEKL]

Oh I almost forgot!

When I first bought my car in 2012 I was after a MT and they were rare. I went for a non m sport, not realising the full extent of the differences between it and the m sport (I thought it was just bumpers and steering wheel/gear shifter)

I hated the grey headliner, so have been on the lookout for one for years. Frustrating thing is when they do pop up they're $1000+ and delivery is difficult since its such a large item and could get easily damaged in transit. I managed to get one from a late model 2012 and the seller was a champion guy he built a custom timber box/coffin to ship it in so it wouldn't get crushed!

I had e90post royalty 'in the house' a few weeks ago, and Phil & Vince both helped me install it (the sunroof was tricky, of course Vince nutted it out) and since Phil has done this mod before he expertedly installed the new headliner without bending it or crushing it with Vince's help.

Such an awesome mod and improves the cabin ambiance so much!!

Thanks for the help guys it was greatly appreciated

[Socket]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

Oh I almost forgot!

When I first bought my car in 2012 I was after a MT and they were rare. I went for a non m sport, not realising the full extent of the differences between it and the m sport (I thought it was just bumpers and steering wheel/gear shifter)

I hated the grey headliner, so have been on the lookout for one for years. Frustrating thing is when they do pop up they're $1000+ and delivery is difficult since its such a large item and could get easily damaged in transit. I managed to get one from a late model 2012 and the seller was a champion guy he built a custom timber box/coffin to ship it in so it wouldn't get crushed!

I had e90post royalty 'in the house' a few weeks ago, and Phil & Vince both helped me install it (the sunroof was tricky, of course Vince nutted it out) and since Phil has done this mod before he expertedly installed the new headliner without bending it or crushing it with Vince's help.

Such an awesome mod and improves the cabin ambiance so much!!

Thanks for the help guys it was greatly appreciated

Happy to help mate
That sunroof took a while to figure out lol
But worth it in the end, made a big difference to the interior of the car

[Socket]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

My new untrimmed Velo Racing GPT3 (XXL) 7 GPT2 (XL) arrived a few weeks ago.

Hopefully in a few week the seats will be trimmed and ready for installation

Cant wait to see these installed

[DR-JEKL]

My Velo raceseats are almost ready, but I grabbed my centre console trim off the trimmer as I was planning to take my car for a quick blap with a mate to a local car show.

Since I have the M3 carbon leather trim pieces, I have the rear centre trim in leather but have never bought a M3 MT centre console trim as for one they're extremely rare for LCI idrive controller, and they have a few buttons that are useless on a 335i so kinda look out of place (EDC etc) and finally I have a NBT controller...

So I decided to take the plunge and do a custom trim (DIY done ages ago to house the controller) and used oem nappa leather to trim the centre console trim.

It came out quite well, but it wasn't cheap







In other news I decided to buy a E92 M3 rear seat in black nappa leather, as it would be a lot cheaper than doing a rear seat delete with alcantara etc. So Ive got one coming in transit, I'll clean that right up and then mount my new race seats which should be ready later this week

A few pics with one of the guys lovely 1M at the german day car show