[OG Shark]

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PROJECT 223 - '19 M2C

Classic story of boy meets BMW, boy falls in love with BMW, boy opens motorsport shop so he and his friends can build fast BMW. Always been a car guy but didn't first get on the track until about three years ago - and it sort of spiraled out of control from there to say the least . Long story short we are now actively racing an E92 M3, building another one (more faster please), turning an OG M2 into a dedicated track monster, and also have a couple of other fun projects in the works. What was missing though was a street/track hybrid - a car I can drive to the track, put down some fast laps, and then comfortably drive home. Since we already have the S65 covered and an N55 on the way an S55 build made the most sense. And since I missed driving my OG M2 on the street an M2C build was the obvious choice.

Why call it Project 223? Overlooking the obvious of me just being a huge nerd there is a reason for 223. My home track is the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX (awesome track for anyone that hasn't been there). COTA can provide a good point of reference for comparison to others due to the wide range of cars & drivers that track there. In my experience sub 2:30 laps times in a street car out there is very quick. Low 2:2x's in a street car is just downright fast. Project 223 is me wanting to see what it takes to get this platform to that level - running consistent 2:23.xx's or lower at COTA. But I absolutely do not want to sacrifice street manners just for the sake of lowering lap times - the car mush remain comfortable and reliable. That is the main priority above all else.

As a part of this build we will be documenting everything we do with this car. We established baseline lap times and impressions in stock trim at COTA a couple of weeks ago and will be doing the same at another local track here shortly. Each area of upgrades will see the corresponding retesting - lap times, power, etc. This way we have a blueprint for what works (or does not work) and what it takes to get to certain lap times.

The plan is to focus on a few main phases:

Brakes, Wheels, & Tires
Aesthetics & Safety
Suspension
Power
Aero

Some of the parts still need to be decided on and some are still in design... but for the most part we have the plan together for where we are going with this build. Want to try to make this car as bulletproof as possible so nothing but the best will go on it. Also want to keep it as simple as possible - make the prep for a track day as easy and quick as we can. Working with some great people and manufacturers on this build - really excited to get it going!

We did it!!! COTA goal accomplished here

[OG Shark]

Proposed Build Specs

Interior
Cobra Nogaro seats
Brey Krause seat mounts
Safecraft harnesses
OG Shark Motorsport half cage
OG Shark Motorsport rear seat delete kit
M2CS Alcantara steering wheel
3D Design aluminum shift paddles
Various iND alcantara & carbon fiber bits

Exterior
M2CS carbon fiber trunk spoiler
iND HS front reflector set
Acexxon rear reflector insert

Suspension
OG Shark Motorsport / Inertia Lab spec Nitron setups

Wheels & Tires
Signature Wheel SV601 - 18" x 10"/11" stagger
Signature Wheel SV603 - 18" x 10"/11" stagger
Signature Wheel SV504 - 18" x 10"/11" stagger
Yokohama Advan A052
Pirelli DH

Brakes
Essex / AP Racing Radi-cal 9668 front
Essex / AP Racing Radi-cal 9451 rear
Ferodo DS2500 (street)
Ferodo DS1.11 (track)
Castrol SRF

Engine & Cooling
Wagner intercooler
Wagner front radiator
Wagner side radiator
Mishimoto DCT cooler
Flex fuel tuned by Bend Calibration via Ecutek

[OG Shark]

[OG Shark]

[jelenp]

Awesome build in the works! Just wondering why did you chose Signature wheels over the regular Apex, BBS, etc? I felt like I was one of the only people running Signatures on my M2C so it's cool to see another one on them.

[Anonymoose]

Looking good. I'm jelly of the Essex kit.

[Rumbloki]

My first subscribe.

[inTgr8r]

Really looking forward to this build.
Your goals line up perfectly for how I plan to use my car.
I've been there with borderline street legal (should be trailered) builds and don't want to go there again.

Your preliminary list looks great!
The only thing that I noticed was no light weight front hood?
For me, I think I'll do that before peeling off my slick top for a CF roof.

Sub'd

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by jelenp

Awesome build in the works! Just wondering why did you chose Signature wheels over the regular Apex, BBS, etc? I felt like I was one of the only people running Signatures on my M2C so it's cool to see another one on them.

Thanks! I've been running Signature Wheel's track series SV502 on my race E92 M3 for awhile now & been very happy with them. Also run them on my OG M2 (that bronze set in the COTA pics came from there). The wheels have been great & the people are awesome to work with.

[Anonymoose]

What type of ho are you putting down with the tune? Any track issues with the added hp?

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by Anonymoose

Looking good. I'm jelly of the Essex kit.

Thanks! Yeah the Essex/AP kits are awesome - run them on all our track & race cars. No fade & being able to run 18s

Originally Posted by Rumbloki

My first subscribe.

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

Really looking forward to this build.
Your goals line up perfectly for how I plan to use my car.
I've been there with borderline street legal (should be trailered) builds and don't want to go there again.

Your preliminary list looks great!
The only thing that I noticed was no light weight front hood?
For me, I think I'll do that before peeling off my slick top for a CF roof.

Sub'd

Exactly - just not at that point where I want to beat myself up driving around a race car on the street & I think with this platform we definitely don't have to & can still be very fast on the track.

Funny you mention the roof - we actually made a game time decision on Friday and this happened...



Going to use the RKP on the OG. Since we are full caging it & easier to finish out the welds with the roof off it makes more sense to go back with the CF roof there. So the M2C oem roof is safe (for now).

On the hood - I do happen to have another hood laying around...

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by Anonymoose

What type of ho are you putting down with the tune? Any track issues with the added hp?

Still stock right now. I still need to get a baseline set at my other local track (hopefully this week) before we start doing anything else besides the brakes. And then will be addressing the suspension before we add power. I have everything ready for the engine except for a couple of Wagner coolers which should be here soon.

Not quite sure where we will end up at power wise at the track yet. No issues is the priority and then we will push from there. The goal is to find that sweet spot between performance, reliability, and heat management to be able to push hard for a typical full track day type session.

[Anonymoose]

Originally Posted by OG Shark

Thanks! Yeah the Essex/AP kits are awesome - run them on all our track & race cars. No fade & being able to run 18s

Exactly - just not at that point where I want to beat myself up driving around a race car on the street & I think with this platform we definitely don't have to & can still be very fast on the track.

Funny you mention the roof - we actually made a game time decision on Friday and this happened...



Going to use the RKP on the OG. Since we are full caging it & easier to finish out the welds with the roof off it makes more sense to go back with the CF roof there. So the M2C oem roof is safe (for now).

On the hood - I do happen to have another hood laying around...

Did you have issues with the stock brakes fading? I'm running a 21 m2C with ferodo D.S 1.11s and the car had more brake than I had in me. I really like the Essex to run 18s for sure. The tire options I have in 19s stink.

It's either an R compound tire, ps4s or cup 2s

[Anonymoose]

Originally Posted by OG Shark

Still stock right now. I still need to get a baseline set at my other local track (hopefully this week) before we start doing anything else besides the brakes. And then will be addressing the suspension before we add power. I have everything ready for the engine except for a couple of Wagner coolers which should be here soon.

Not quite sure where we will end up at power wise at the track yet. No issues is the priority and then we will push from there. The goal is to find that sweet spot between performance, reliability, and heat management to be able to push hard for a typical full track day type session.

Sorry for all the questions but why Wagner over CSF that everyone else is running? Cooler mods are the next thing going in after my seats.

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by Anonymoose

Did you have issues with the stock brakes fading? I'm running a 21 m2C with ferodo D.S 1.11s and the car had more brake than I had in me. I really like the Essex to run 18s for sure. The tire options I have in 19s stink.

It's either an R compound tire, ps4s or cup 2s

I believe that in stock trim & on MP4S just upgrading pads & fluid would likely have been sufficient. But knowing where we are going to take this car it didn't really make since to push it even in stock form. COTA is very hard on brakes, I would likely switch to slicks at some point during the weekend after getting a baseline, and also would be taking passengers with me. Was already too close to the point where I wasn't comfortable pushing the oem that far.

[Anonymoose]

Originally Posted by OG Shark

I believe that in stock trim & on MP4S just upgrading pads & fluid would likely have been sufficient. But knowing where we are going to take this car it didn't really make since to push it even in stock form. COTA is very hard on brakes, I would likely switch to slicks at some point during the weekend after getting a baseline, and also would be taking passengers with me. Was already too close to the point where I wasn't comfortable pushing the oem that far.

Thanks this is helpful. I'm still dialing mine in. I normally run at CMP in kershaw which is also a pretty brake intensive track. How fast you can change pads on the Essex may push me to get them sooner rather than later. I bet I can sell my oem silvers could at least pay for the fronts.

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by Anonymoose

Sorry for all the questions but why Wagner over CSF that everyone else is running? Cooler mods are the next thing going in after my seats.

Originally Posted by Anonymoose

Thanks this is helpful. I'm still dialing mine in. I normally run at CMP in kershaw which is also a pretty brake intensive track. How fast you can change pads on the Essex may push me to get them sooner rather than later. I bet I can sell my oem silvers could at least pay for the fronts.

You're too fast - I can't keep up!

With Wagner I have seen through others the improvements...

Yeah definitely a big benefit is how quick the pads are swapped. And running Ferodo's both street & track it is nice not having to rebed after each swap too.

[Rumbloki]

Looking forward to review of CS R wing.

[OG Shark]

Testing in stock trim is now complete & we have good baselines to work off of. Everything on the M2C was stock and to oem specifications except for the Essex/AP brakes, Ferodo 1.11, and Castrol SRF. Tires were oem spec MP4S as well.


Circuit of the Americas
Best Lap: 2:36.38
Conditions: Sunny, 84*F
Weight:
HP:

Impressions: Going in I was cautiously optimistic of getting into the mid 30's in stock trim so was very happy to see we were on target. The car is very nimble and user friendly even despite the shortcomings of the oem suspension and alignment. Had the expected not enough front grip on entry and not enough rear on exit but could still be managed well enough. High speed dampening was ok - not great but not terrible either. Turbo lag took a bit getting used to being primarily used to tracking a S65. Heat management was a mixed bag. On one hand I was pleased that it handled the heat as well as it did - definitely an improvement vs oem cooling on E9x M3s. Typically required only one cool down lap during the middle of a session in order to get engine and DCT temps back to being happy. The DCT would noticeably start lagging and the shifts would become sloppy. On the other hand though the cooling components will need to be upgraded in order to maintain pace throughout a full session - especially as the car gets quicker. When we switched out to slicks after establishing the stock baseline I would have to run a cool down lap at least twice during a session. The ambient was pushing 100*F by that time but that is something we definitely have to contend with and factor in here in Texas. Seats - the competition seats are awful on the track. Not being able to easily run Schroth QFP is definitely a negative. The angle of the headrest makes for a pretty angry neck by the end of the day as well.


Harris Hill Raceway
Best Lap: 1:27.38
Conditions: Sunny, 92*
Weight:
HP:

Impressions: Harris Hill Raceway (San Marcos, TX) is my local track - we do a lot of testing out there. The best lap was in line with expectations here as well. The car performed pretty much the same as it did at COTA except for one major area - high speed dampening. Despite being repaved early last year HH still has some bumpy areas. The oem high speed dampening in particular was not up to task here. This track is not as hard on a car as COTA but still experienced some heat issues with the DCT.


Overall
All in all I was very pleased with the car in stock trim. I was hoping the oem cooling system would be able to keep up for a full session but not surprised it wasn't able to (especially at COTA). Such a fun car to drive even when it doesn't want to turn or give you anything close to decent grip on the exit Still it definitely punches above its weight class and should be a great platform to build off of.


Next Step: The build finally begins - Suspension & Wheels/Tires! Back to Harris Hill for testing of the new suspension - both with the oem spec MP4S and also with the new wheel/tire setup. Also going to the dyno to see where the power level is at and putting the car on the scales.

Sneak peak of the new wheels & tires...

[Wolfman’s Brother]

Love everything about this thread. Keep going!

And thanks for the content.

[Dr.Mark]

This thread is great. I can't wait to see where it goes. I have a 21 HS M2C that I took to the track for the first time last weekend. I have M performance suspension and Apex staggered wheels with Bridgestone Potenza Sport tires 265/295 to start. Vorshlag camber plates and Porterfield track pads.
The car performed well. It was only in the 60's at the track so cooling was not an issue at all during 25min sessions.

[ihbase]

"I was hoping the oem cooling system would be able to keep up for a full session but not surprised it wasn't able to (especially at COTA)."

How are you thinking about addressing the cooling? Do you think it is an airflow issue, a cooling system capacity issue, or both?

Thanks for all the information.

-Michael