Scott's E92 Drag Build

mcleansc

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Sep 22, 2019
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My goal is to see how fast I can make my E92 on stock turbos in a 1/4 mile. I'm relatively new to the platform so all advice is welcome. I'll start with a brief history.

I've come from a '97 Silvia Kouki, initially buying the E92 as a daily with no idea of the capability of the N54 or the community behind it. I kept it stock and really enjoyed owning a car that, although I'd spent a lot on maintenance, started when it was supposed to and gave me no headaches. I drove it 1000 miles around the coast of Scotland and did my first ever drag day at Crail (Scotlands only drag strip) and it performed flawlessly. I ran a 14.3 @ 101.6mph and had an absolute blast.

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I broke the Silvia, sold the shell and went about making the E92 FBO + XHP Stage 3, inlets/outlets (RB) and Precision Racework's ignition system with a DocRace intake manifold waiting to go on. I also fitted polyurethane engine and gearbox mounts, 60ShA and 75ShA respectively, while I had the subframe off for my oil pan gasket.

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While carrying out logs for Ken I kept running into problems. It basically went; flash the car, try a log, run into a problem. It spent a lot of time off the road and at one point was abandoned at work. Gaffer wasn't happy at finding it sitting here after a nightshift, and was even more pissed at helping me push it into the yard ha.

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The lack of reliablity and a change of jobs meant I had to have something more reliable, so, like the fate of the Silvia before it, it's home became my lock up. I bought a low mile Skoda Citigo as a cheap and cheerful daily. You can drive dull cars if you have a badass (at least to you) project car.. That's the rules isn't it?

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Having another daily relieved a lot of pressure and I got all the niggles sorted, my tune sorted and the car hasn't skipped a beat since. I had the car dyno'd (Dynapack DAQ5) once Ken and I were happy with the final revision of the tune and it put down 430WHP and 717NM at the wheels on 99 RON. However, as you can see those peak figures were caused by a boost spike @ 4250RPM so those figures aren't an exactly accurate figure (it was a problem with the dyno not the map).

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While on the dyno we noticed the rear brakes were dragging, so a caliper rebuild was number 1 on the winter list. I stripped the calipers and soaked them in Bilt Hamber Deox C to get rid of the 12 years worth of dirt, grime and rust they had accumulated on the Scottish roads. After 2 lots of soaking they came out good as new and I put a wee coat of silver paint on them along with new seals, sliders and pistons. I also removed the aircon compressor and lines in the engine bay (condenser will be removed when I'm fitting an ally rad). For anyone looking to do the same all you need is a Gates 7PK1700 belt. The pic isn't from my car but it's what I used to route my belt.

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And that is pretty much where it stands. I currently have a buyer for the entire interior so that'll be going over the weekend and I'll probably rebuild the front calipers. At some point I'll be looking to squeeze the DocRace manifold in with the OEM-ish location inlets (RHD joys) and the next big purchase an E85 compatible fuel pump and lines.
 

doublespaces

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Oct 18, 2016
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Welcome Scott!

Thank you for sharing. If you're willing to gut the car out then you could run aim for 10 seconds:
 
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mcleansc

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Sep 22, 2019
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Thanks for the warm welcome. I wasn't too sure if it would be hardcore enough for the forum at the moment so it's appreciated. It's a work in progress and I thought this is a good way to document it while learning from people way more knowledgable than I and hopefully helping others.

Thanks for the link and yeah, the plan is to gut and cage the car by the end of the year. I want to keep the car insured and MOT'd so I can drive it whenever I feel like it, but it will become more and more a dedicated drag build as time progresses.

I have been thinking of removing the OEM oil cooler to shave a bit more weight off (and because it's free). My thinking is; it isn't a daily, Scotland isn't hot - so even if I wanted to take it a wee drive it should manage(?) and they initially came without one. What are people's opinion on that?
 

SJ_1989

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Aug 7, 2018
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Illinoisssss
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2008 E90 335i
Welcome! Once the weight reduction bug starts it's hard to stop 😁 . There's definitely a lot of weight that can be taken out of these cars. It's all the little things that add up, just depends how far you're willing to go!
 
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mcleansc

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Sep 22, 2019
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Welcome! Once the weight reduction bug starts it's hard to stop 😁 . There's definitely a lot of weight that can be taken out of these cars. It's all the little things that add up, just depends how far you're willing to go!

I think we've actually spoke on Instagram regarding removing the ABS. I'm actually currently removing the seats. They weigh a tonne!
 

doublespaces

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Thanks for the warm welcome. I wasn't too sure if it would be hardcore enough for the forum at the moment so it's appreciated. It's a work in progress and I thought this is a good way to document it while learning from people way more knowledgable than I and hopefully helping others.

Thanks for the link and yeah, the plan is to gut and cage the car by the end of the year. I want to keep the car insured and MOT'd so I can drive it whenever I feel like it, but it will become more and more a dedicated drag build as time progresses.

I have been thinking of removing the OEM oil cooler to shave a bit more weight off (and because it's free). My thinking is; it isn't a daily, Scotland isn't hot - so even if I wanted to take it a wee drive it should manage(?) and they initially came without one. What are people's opinion on that?

We all have different skill sets and areas of strength in terms of knowledge. I know people who make 700whp but can't drive or spell or fix their own car. So no matter if your car makes 300hp or 1000hp, we can always make room for more enthusiasts. There are many more readers who have more modest builds but they are likely afraid to post, I wish that weren't true! The build process is the best part to document.
 
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SJ_1989

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Aug 7, 2018
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I think we've actually spoke on Instagram regarding removing the ABS. I'm actually currently removing the seats. They weigh a tonne!

Oh, hey I remember! The ABS system, by the time you remove everything including brackets, actually weigh a decent amount. Like I said, it all adds up.

Yea, front seats are a bish. I'm trying to pack two in a Uhaul box at the moment to ship out to the east cost :tearsofjoy:

The build process is the best part to document.

Agreed. I remember reading other build threads in the past, getting excited to see their updates, and wishing I had my own someday. Now that I do I figure I'd pay it forward! Unfortunately, a lot of the folks have moved to social media the last few years. I'm an engineer so I like documentation lol.
 
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Rob09msport

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Oct 28, 2017
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09 335i msport le mans 18 x5
Thanks for the warm welcome. I wasn't too sure if it would be hardcore enough for the forum at the moment so it's appreciated. It's a work in progress and I thought this is a good way to document it while learning from people way more knowledgable than I and hopefully helping others.

Thanks for the link and yeah, the plan is to gut and cage the car by the end of the year. I want to keep the car insured and MOT'd so I can drive it whenever I feel like it, but it will become more and more a dedicated drag build as time progresses.

I have been thinking of removing the OEM oil cooler to shave a bit more weight off (and because it's free). My thinking is; it isn't a daily, Scotland isn't hot - so even if I wanted to take it a wee drive it should manage(?) and they initially came without one. What are people's opinion on that?
You should remove and sell the housing and cooler to put towards mod money.
 

Torgus

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Nov 6, 2016
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ACF 6466 E92 + METH
We all have different skill sets and areas of strength in terms of knowledge. I know people who make 700whp but can't drive or spell or fix their own car. So no matter if your car makes 300hp or 1000hp, we can always make room for more enthusiasts. There are many more readers who have more modest builds but they are likely afraid to post, I wish that weren't true! The build process is the best part to document.

I agree. I appreciate a quality build. Not everyone wants to make 700-1000whp with their N54.

I should probably update my thread speaking of which...I do have that fancy new suspension etc...
 
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mcleansc

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Sep 22, 2019
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E92 335i
To keep the car on the road as much as possible I advertised the interior before removing it. My previous project sat in the garage in an undriveable condition which caused me to eventually fall out of love with it. I tried doing too much at once and lost direction, I want to be better organised with the E92. So I got a buyer for the carpet and dash and out it popped today. Having a narrow lockup isn't ideal so I had to improvise.
IMG_20191025_165921.jpg IMG_20191025_165934.jpg

The front seats weigh an absolute tonne. I was also quite surprised at the weight of the carpet.

Plan is to cage the car and buy some Kirkey seats before Christmas, these are the ones I'm gravitating towards:


I'll be going for a simple ally dash similar to SJ_1989, promise I'm not just copying you ha.
 

mcleansc

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Sep 22, 2019
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E92 335i
Yea, I just shipped both of them in a 24x24x36 box. Poor UPS driver lol.



Haha, no problem! Unless you want to drop some serious coin on a carbon fiber dash 🤑

You know what, I prefer the look of the aluminium dash. That's totally not me rationalising the fact I could never afford that 👀

Before you decided to go standalone were you going to code out all the errors you get from disconnecting the airbag stuff and what not? Or just live with it? I'd also like to get rid of the mountain of wiring in the cabin as well.

Now I know what you mean about not being able to stop looking for ways to reduce weight once you start.
 

SJ_1989

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Aug 7, 2018
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Illinoisssss
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Before you decided to go standalone were you going to code out all the errors you get from disconnecting the airbag stuff and what not? Or just live with it? I'd also like to get rid of the mountain of wiring in the cabin as well.

Was going to just live with it. I would leave all the modules, sensors, etc in place to start off with. Then one by one start removing modules until you start having issues the DME or CAN system. There's plenty of other places to remove weight from first IMO (i.e. sunroof, battery, lightweight wheels, sound deadening, HVAC, etc).
 

doublespaces

Administrator
Oct 18, 2016
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Thank you for doing what was necessary.

BTW: I also just realized he was talking about himself in the third person, "Edwin happens to know a few things". I always thought he was saying "Everyone". Also, thanks to Murder Inc blowing up at the time, Ja turned down the role and we got Ludacris instead.
 

mcleansc

Specialist
Sep 22, 2019
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E92 335i
Progress has been slowwwwww. Although it pays 50% more my new job has me working all kinds of wacky shifts that I'm just not digging, leaving me no time to do much of anything.

The cold weather also hasn't helped as the garage isnt heated.

Managed to fully strip the interior, I kept the HVAC so I could have some heat and to remove condensation from the car. Any tips for removing it would be appreciated as it'll soon be getting whipped out.

I bought a NRG slim boss and fitted it to a Works Bell Rapfix 2 I had laying about (from my Silvia days). Bought a cheap but well built wheel from Driftworks in the UK and got it all set installed. I also bought the Bimmergeeks Protool app to code out airbag faults and have a wee play.

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I've also purchased a RB stat delete plate intending to loop the in and out ports so I can delete the OEM cooler.

Heading back to Crail in February, will be interesting to see the kind of time I put down.
 

mcleansc

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Sep 22, 2019
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E92 335i
So not a lot of progress on the car. The girlfriend and I are looking at getting a house so most of my time has been spent renovating our flat. I'm also a firefighter so no 6 month paid leave for me during lockdown/furlough 😞

I bought and took delivery of the cage. I went for a T45 Custom Cages weld in. Weighs in at 60kg. I've yet to have it fitted but below is a picture of what it will look like:

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There's a lot to it and the front comes through the bulkhead and attaches to the turrets so it will be an expensive number to fit, hence the delay 😞

Welds aren't easy to come by in the UK but I managed to find a pair of 15" 12J Draglites and did a buy:

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I was initially hoping to use the 315/60/15's but they are too damn big 😂 325/50/15 will work better. The only issue is they are 3.5" backspacing. I can get custom overfenders made but I'm worried it'll look like a roller skate so we'll see. They were a total steal so even if it doesn't work out I can re sell them.

That's it for the big stuff, I have a few other small things on the go that I'll take pics of and upload as I finish them.
 
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mcleansc

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Sep 22, 2019
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E92 335i
I also forgot to mention I had a rather tacky (that I secretly love) side exit exhaust fitted. I was about to pull the trigger on a VRSF Race Exhaust but being in the UK shipping was painful. I contacted a custom shop and asked them to route the shortest exhaust they could for weight savings. Cost me £300 (around $385). I wanted it routed pointing down under the car, but the shop wasn't too keen on having potential flames shooting out it under the car where the fuel lines are and what not, so we went side.

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Photo from Scott.jpg


Photo from Scott (1).jpg
 
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