New member in Charlotte

jeffmgordon79

New Member
Sep 28, 2021
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Hi fellow enthusiasts. I am a proud owner of a 2008 e90 335i rwd. I have owned it since 2009, and it has always been a weekend car (super low miles...40K!). I've always been a BMW freak, and I hold onto cars for a long time as you can tell.

My neighbor (2015 F80 owner) convinced me to get it on the track, so I did in Nov 2020 at VIR. The only mods that I had were Michelin PS 4S's (square setup on 18's), Hawk HP Plus pads (with stock rotors and calipers), Motul RBF 600 brake fluid, an Afe DCI, and a Cobb Accessport stage 1 tune. The car performed phenomenally, except for some vibrations in the steering wheel and some elevated oil temps. However, by the end of the weekend and with more experience, I was hitting 305 F oil temps and experienced heat soaking.

Now the punchline of my introduction. I'm a stubborn mechanical engineer, and despite all the folks that crap on the N54 platform, I'm determined to turn my baby into a capable track machine (only for HPDEs).

I then self-installed a larger Wagner intercooler, a Mishimoto oil cooler (I don't have the sport pkg, so I didn't have a stock oil cooler), and Stop Tech slotted disks. I tracked her again at CMP in early Spring 2021 and then at VIR in late Spring 2021. I successfully dropped the oil temps down in the 270-280's range, and my brakes no longer vibrated (determine I had warped stock rotors...the HP Plus' put some big time heat on the old stock rotors that barely had 30K (mostly highway) miles on them). My best lap time was 2:22.xxx on VIR Full.

I will be installing Ohlins "Track Day" coilovers thanks to @barry@3DM in the next couple weeks, hopefully in time for my next HPDE at VIR mid-October 2021. I decided on Ohlins because I run with 2 friends that also run them, so I'll have ample support at the track should I have an issue. I decided on coilovers because I wanted better camber and height adjustability while minimizing body role on the aggressive cornering. I don't expect it to improve lap times, but hopefully it reduces my and my instructor's pucker effect. I also just re-installed my stock airbox with a K&N high flow filter to get my intake temps down in hopes of getting oil temps 5-10 degrees lower during these 20-25 minute runs.

I know there will be colorful comments and opinions about what I'm doing, but remember that I've had the car since 2009...paid it off in 2011...still has super low miles...can be fun to drive on weekends...and I'm a sleeper at the track, keeping up with an F80 with a stage 1 Dinan tune and Ohlins coilovers (all else stock).

I plan to do nothing else to the car after coilovers other than enjoy driving it at HPDEs.