RTAB's anyone?

So, with the refreshed stock suspension and the upgraded brake system I started getting comfortable with the cornering and general handling balance of the car. One nice thing about long wheel base cars is that when they start to rotate, you have plenty of time to catch the back end before it comes around on you. So far the M3 has proven to be a lot of fun, though it tends to loose rear grip rather easily.... well... sometimes anyway. In fact, there were a few times that it let go when it should not have (based on corner speed and throttle angle). This got me thinking that it was probably time to replace the Rear Trailing Arm Bushings. Worn RTAB can cause unexpected changes in rear toe angle along with a mushy corner "set" on entry.

Once again I took advantage of UUC's "Buy Your Own Dam Present" sale and picked up a set of upgraded RTAB's.

Old Vs New:


To make the install a little easier I picked up an MIS RTAB tool:


Over all the install was not too terrible, I probably spent an average of 2.5 hours per side. The results are fantastic, no more uncertain corner set on turn in and a much more planted rear end. Still need to get a good alignment but I'm waiting till I replace the front control arms and install the TreeHouse front control arm bushings, hopefully in the next week or so.

UUC Evo3 And DSR Install

UUC had a big sale around Christmas time (15% off with free shipping) so I took advantage and picked up what is arguably the best short throw shifter on the market, along with the dual shear selector rod.

Here is a pic of the old, sloppy, stock stuff:


And the new, baller, UUC parts:


The install was a bit of pain due to the tight confines under the car. I'm happy to say it made a huge difference in how the car shifts, no more slop and a much more precise gate feel.

Power steering leak sorted

I finally got around to fixing the power steering leak a few weeks after Christmas. It was fairly straight forward as it just involved a new fluid reservoir, new supply, and new return line. Not even worth taking pics.

Cold Start Issue Sorted

So, after some head scratching, poking, and prodding I finally noticed that I could smell raw fuel after flipping the throttle plate a few times... I had also noticed that when attempting to crank the car cold, I would often get a manifold backfire. I finally decided to pull the injectors and do a leak test. This is done by leaving the injectors in the rail and placing some white notebook paper under the tips and then pressurizing the fuel rail and letting the setup sit for a while. Well, it didn't take long for me to notice number 6 was dumping fuel while the others were nice and dry:



Another trip to Harrison for a new injector latter and the cold start issues were sorted out!

Finally got some decent pics

So,
I finally took some time off from working on the car long enough to get out and drive it and take a couple decent pics:

Catching Up Again

Well,
It's been a while since I posted an update. Suspension work is done, for now anyway. Brakes are awesome, no noise, good stopping power, still need to bed them in before my first track day on December 12th. Sadly this will also be the last track day till the new year.

Since the last update I have managed to:

• install my wideband (replaced stock sensor with LC-1 and wired analogue output into stock ecu harness)
  
• send the injectors out for cleaning and flowing
• re install cleaned injectors
• replace fuel filter
  
• replace the valve cover and plug gaskets (plug holes were full of oil)
  
• install new plugs
• install my innovate LMA-3 for data logging
• change out the trans fluid from whatever was in it to Redline MTL
• spend about a week clay baring, polishing, sealing, and coating to clean up the paint some
  

Car is running well, though a bit lean up top for my liking... like 14:1 lean :( On a related note, it has also developed a warm and cold start issue, has to crank a while before it fires. Given that there was no rail pressure when I pulled the injectors, I think the check valve in the fuel pump assembly has gone bad and is allowing the fuel pressure to drain off when the car sits for a bit. New fuel pump assembly will be here Wednesday. Still need to tap one of the injectors and a manifold vacuum source to round out the data logging. Should have that done by the weekend along with the fuel pump.

New Struts and Shocks

As previously mentioned, the shocks and struts were shot when I picked up the car. I assume they were original to the car so they were probably 40,000 miles past due for replacement. I found a great deal from bavauto and go the front struts for $159 each and the rear for around $100 each. Since the factory bump stops were also falling apart on the rear and gone on the front, I picked up a set of boots and bump stops from Harrison. I managed to get them all swapped out late this afternoon. Looks like I'm on schedule to have it back on the ground Thursday after work.

Front Pic:


Rear Pic:


The replacement bulbs I ordered for the on board computer (OBC) showed up about 30 minutes ago. I swapped out the bulb over the clock portion of the OBC, turned the key on, and sure enough, clock works perfectly now. As I suspected, the memo function was turned on (indicator for the memo function is in the clock portion of the display) so that was causing an anoying tripple beep at the same number of minutes after the hour, every hour....

Tomorrow evening I will rebuild the brake calipers and get everything bolted back up and ready to bleed the system.