08-23-2019, 05:56 AM | #134 |
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Well you're experiencing reverse cultural shock...
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08-23-2019, 08:08 AM | #135 | |
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Yup, definitely a real thing.
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09-07-2019, 10:40 AM | #138 |
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Fronts yes, rears are a lower spring rate. I thought their suggestion would rattle my teeth out.
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09-07-2019, 11:38 AM | #139 |
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06-16-2020, 01:45 PM | #140 |
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So - what have I been up to for the past ~9 months?
Basically just going to and from work, 10 hour days 5 days a week. Extremely busy. Then Covid hit and I wasn't able to take the train to work anymore so I started driving (mileage paid thankfully) and put over 5,000 miles on the car doing 90 miles a day in the car. Did an oil change in my garage, installed my oil cooler guard finally (have some thoughts on that I'll post later) and now I am... On my way back to Korea. I finished my 1 year reset as of June 14th and we have tickets booked for the 19th. Car went on a container on the 5th, so should be ready for me once I finish quarantine on July 5th. Lots of plans for the car - stay tuned!
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06-16-2020, 02:07 PM | #141 |
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Drives: 2018 M2 LBB - 6MT
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This is probably the M2 that sees the most distance covered despite what the odometer says. Very cool that you bring it with you wherever you go! Been following on IG as well. Safe travels
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06-16-2020, 11:48 PM | #142 |
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LOL true. 22k miles by boat, 20k miles on the car.
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08-08-2020, 10:47 PM | #144 |
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Camber Plates and Brake Pads
Camber Plates and Brake Pads
After driving ~10,000 miles on the Ohlins I realized I really need camber plates - for two reasons. First, I feel a camber plate is a lot better and robust than stock top hats, and second because I was getting some spring bind that is usually mitigated with camber plates. I also was using OEM pads with ~40,000 miles on them, so it was time for a change. So yesterday I got I drove up to my friends shop, which is brand new and triple in size compared to their old shop. Their shop car is a M3 CS that's been completely stripped and turned into a "GT4" race car. It's still street legal, so I took it for a drive and it was absolutely bonkers. Stage 2, 550hp, catless with Akrapovic exhaust, it's tons of fun. Not what I would consider to be a daily driver, however. The other shop owner has a Schirmer inspired M2 Competition, famously "built in a day." Check out more photos of the build here: https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nh...016&navType=tl Great, so now let's get started! I went with Millway camber plates and EBC Yellow Stuff pads, along with some Motul brake fluid. Some quick notes about the shop itself, they've put in a showroom to display some of their most popular parts that they sell, which when you start to add up you start to realize... There's some $$ here. I should also mention they have a shop GT2RS. I just so happened to be there during lunch, so we ate in the showroom that looked out over the cars being worked on. No lunch is complete without dessert either! And we're done! All cleaned and buttoned up! I am beyond impressed with the change in pads - going from end of life OEM pads to mid level "track" pads (well to be fair EBC YS pads are mid level, not all out track pads) is night and day. I'm upset I didn't do this earlier. With proper bed in, there's no squeal but I'm sure I'll get some squeaks as transfer material wears off. I'll just re-bed as appropriate. As for my spring bind noise, seems to be all but eliminated. Happy with the results so far, but I'll know more once I get it aligned in the next few days. More mods coming - have another visit planned beginning of September for a big mod, and a track day in September as well!
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09-07-2020, 07:37 PM | #145 |
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Akrapovic Exhaust
Akrapovic Exhaust Install
On Monday I decided to install what I've wanted this entire time, an Akrapovic exhaust. For a long time I was thinking I would do an AA mid + Akra axleback, but the more I thought about it the more I felt that the full Akra exhaust is what would be best. Plus, it shed 38.4lbs, bringing my total weight loss on the car down to 103.81lbs. Officially in triple digits! I found a great deal with my friends over at Basic Performance so I braved the typhoon and headed up there. Thankfully I arrived in one piece. Since I went with the full exhaust the sound kit is also included. I think this is important because the flaps do not stay fully open all the time in sports +. This way you can ensure that the flaps are fully open, all the time, so you can make people's ears bleed. I also looked around for a new desk chair in their chair department. Anyway time to get to work! Out with the old! Side by side comparison. I also decided that I wanted the rear diffuser as well - because it has gotta match. I chose the matte finish because I wanted to match the tips. Before you install the exhaust you have to get the sound kit installed, which was more work than I thought it would be, and involves taking apart the trunk to get to everything but never fear, we got it working. But, time to break for lunch - gotta eat! Finally time to install the exhaust! There is definitely something to be said about Akrapovic's quality, fit, and finish. It's amazing what they accomplish with their factory capabilities, and everything is just so seamless. I am so happy with this exhaust! My friend HONGCHUMZI here on Bimmerpost stopped by and took some amazing photos to finish off the exhaust install! Final verdict: No sound clips and I don't think I'll post one. What it sounds like on video is not what it sounds like in person. I think cameras only pick up higher pitches so it doesn't capture the depth of the tone. With that said, It's at least 15-20db louder than stock. I really like the exhaust note. It is deep, but as you go through the rev range it has an actual tone to it, and of course if you do a quick throttle jab or something like that you can elicit a rasp but in general the tone is quite nice. This sounds weird but the particular tone that's "new" to me sounds like the titanium exhausts that ASM makes. Hard to describe. Anyway, if you get a chance you should listen to one. Since there is less restriction the cracks and burbles are A LOT louder - and they last longer. I can also tell a difference in sound with MDM mode, that I didn't notice before. Sports+ also sounds different now with the exhaust flaps in the "always open" position. In short, it's an amazing exhaust! It's well made, nice to look at, lighter, and sounds better than stock! Wholly happy with my purchase!
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09-11-2020, 12:08 AM | #146 |
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Car is coming together very nicely! Are you considering the spoon rigid collars? Im thinking of getting some and the shop your going to seems to be installing a lot of them and advertise noticeable improvements.
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09-11-2020, 04:56 PM | #147 | |
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However I have some things I need to take care of first maintenance-wise before I dip into any more "fun" parts lol! Two big issues for me right now are my paint and my suspension. For my paint, I deeply regret not spending a little money to wrap the front bumper. Now I have rock chips and all that. I also have some hard water spots that I need to get buffed out, it's been terrible weather over here for the past three months or so - we had 57 straight days of rain and 3 typhoons in 14 days. Rain plus brutal sun plus rain again just means that all this gets baked on. I've washed as much as I can but it's hard to make it to the car wash in a torrential downpour. So my plan is to get the front bumper + high touch areas wrapped next month, and I'm going to re-do the ceramic coat with a more hydrophobic product. For the suspension, it's really driving me nuts - getting the pops and clicking noises when turning at low speeds. I'd say it's even gotten worse with the camber plates. This all boils down to using the stock bearings, I need to put in some needle bearings to reduce / eliminate the friction between the spring and the top hat. I'll do that sometime next month along with an oil change. One those are done I was thinking about maybe getting some aero in the spring, looking at a Lightweight front lip and maybe getting a wing but I'm really torn on that. I'm also wanting to get some 18" Volks or at worst 18" Apex's. Above all else I really need to get some seat time at the track. My work has me limited on outside activities (basically since I'm overseas they have more say on what I can / cannot do in light of "safety") due to Covid, so I'm hoping once the case count is back under 100 I can make it to the track. Ultimate goal.
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09-18-2020, 01:34 AM | #149 |
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09-25-2020, 08:06 PM | #151 |
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It's not too late to get it! I highly recommend it - I got the matte diffuser to match the exhaust tips.
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10-12-2020, 08:09 PM | #152 |
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Oil Change
Yesterday I got my oil changed, and switched from Motul X-cess to Motul 300V. I'm also changing on 5,000 mile intervals instead of the BMW recommended 10,000 mile intervals.
Two friends met me at the shop, one friend just had his Hockenheim M2C delivered and another just imported his OG M2 a few months ago from the states, which is apparently easier than I thought (just requires 26% tax...ouch). I don't think this many manual M2's have been together in Korea, well, ever! My Autumn plans with the car are to take a mandatory class at the BMW Performance Driving Center so I can sign up for Owners Track Days, which are about once a month and free! I'm taking the class this month so I can qualify for the track days next month.
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11-16-2020, 06:10 PM | #153 |
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Gyeon Quartz Ceramic Coating Application
Gyeon Quartz Ceramic Coating Application
Hello again! For starters, let me begin with paying my dog tax. Now that that's out of the way, on to the meat of this post! After two years of ownership, it was time to do some paint correction. I noticed over time two things: I was losing the hydrophobic properties of my previous ceramic coating, and I had some hard water spots that weren't coming off. Ceramic coatings don't last forever either, so I knew it was time to take it in to get worked on. Hindsight being 20/20, if I did this again I would put PPF on at least my front bumper. I took some nasty rock chips up there. I have another car for my wife coming next month and I'll make sure to do PPF on the high touch areas + front bumper on her car. Anyway, back on topic. I decided to switch ceramic coatings from the one I had previously (Vivienne) to Gyeon Quartz. What I had before was a "glass coating" which I don't think is too common in the US, and while it was extremely soft and smooth I felt it didn't provide the harder protection of a ceramic coating. I will say that the Vivienne did keep me from getting any scratches or anything like that so that was a plus. But also I think in general most coatings are similar, it's just the marketing that's different. Gyeon has great marketing so that's why I was persuaded that direction but I'm sure I could have gone with something else with similar results. I think the ceramic coating business in general is kinda "hype" but the results are great so I can't complain much. So I dropped off my car for the 1.5 day correction / coating application. I went with Mohs for this coating. Washed and prepped for the paint correction. And... I think the results speak for themselves. So. What did I learn from all of this? Well, a few things. First, I had some misconceptions about ceramic coatings and taking care of them. I thought that you weren't really supposed to put any chemicals on them, such as iron remover, as it effects the coating - I see people using iron remover to prep paint and things like that thinking it was part of the stripping process... But I was wrong on that. As a result, when they used iron remover on my car the entire car was purple from all the iron on there. This caused my coatings' hydrophobic properties to diminish. Lesson learned. Second, I thought the coating itself is what has the hydrophobic tendencies. It may have some, but most / all coatings have follow up hydrophobic coatings added on top of the ceramic coat. So for the two years I've had the car I haven't put anything on top of the coating I had... Because a friend told me that you shouldn't. But, you're supposed to. So taking these two "lessons learned" I hope I can make this coating last longer and keep my paint looking more fresh moving forward. The M2 will have a stable-mate next month when my wife takes delivery of her M340i, also in Alpine White with shadowline trim, it's our way of being "matchy matchy." I may end up stealing her car to drive to work some days. Very excited.
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11-16-2020, 06:37 PM | #154 |
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BMW Driving Center - Driving School
BMW Driving Center - Driving School
Korea has one of the best Performance Driving Center's in Asia. In fact, it may be the best. Half of it is a showroom and outside is a fairly extensive track, with all kinds of driving classes you can take. It's fairly popular too, we had to book our class over a month in advance. The center also hosts "Driver Track Days" where you can track your own car, for free. But in order to do so you have to take their entry level course that's 3 or 4 hours of car control in a 320i. So that's the class we took. Which I think is actually a good class, because it lets you work out car control in a controlled environment. No pictures during the event because you're supposed to focus on, idk, driving, so that's all I have. We did threshold braking, kick plate into a wet skidpad, drift pad, and track driving. Although the 320i's are slow on the track... All good fun and now I can join their owners track events. I'll be out there next month! Oh and obligatory Shake Shack because there's one out by the track. I miss American food.
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