E86 Front Triangulation Braces Retrofit

[heinzboehmer]

I really want to do this! Thanks heinzboehmer, and everyone that contributed to this. Lots of good ideas.

Our track car has the IHKA and cabin air intake removed - so I’m in that camp.

Cars like yours and bigjae46's are the perfect candidates for this, since you get to skip the hardest part of the project!

Couple hours to bond the windshield mount in, then just bolt the rest of the parts in and done.

[siamkazi]

Cars like yours and bigjae46's are the perfect candidates for this, since you get to skip the hardest part of the project!

Couple hours to bond the windshield mount in, then just bolt the rest of the parts in and done.

oh man, what's the hardest part outside of these items? lol, was just talking to bigjae46on the carbon pieces, want to make sure i got everything.

[OldRanger]

oh man, what's the hardest part outside of these items?

Many/most track-dedicated cars have the heater/ac and cabin air filter housing removed. For me - that brings the project into reach.

[siamkazi]

Many/most track-dedicated cars have the heater/ac and cabin air filter housing removed. For me - that brings the project into reach.

Ah, thank you! I'm going to keep the cabin air filter housing etc. so will get those printed out via the files provided

[heinzboehmer]

oh man, what's the hardest part outside of these items? lol, was just talking to bigjae46on the carbon pieces, want to make sure i got everything.

Yep, the HVAC plastics are the hardest by far. The geometry is weird (or rather designed for injection molding, not 3D printing), so it's not easy to get quality parts. The gaskets are especially tricky to print.

The other components are easy cause you just pay someone to do the hard part for you and then receive a completed part in the mail

[siamkazi]

Yep, the HVAC plastics are the hardest by far. The geometry is weird (or rather designed for injection molding, not 3D printing), so it's not easy to get quality parts. The gaskets are especially tricky to print.

The other components are easy cause you just pay someone to do the hard part for you and then receive a completed part in the mail

Gotta hand it to you, my brain can't comprehend how you created this to the point where I can just simply pay someone and get a part and just bolt it on

[bigjae46]

Drove 7 track sessions this past weekend. The front end is SOOOOO much better!

[Obioban]

Drove 7 track sessions this past weekend. The front end is SOOOOO much better!

People talk about the front end on the e9x m3 being better than the e46– front end triangulation hasn’t made me wonder if that’s actually due change in setup, as commonly attributed, or if it’s actually due to chassis stiffness

[bigjae46]

People talk about the front end on the e9x m3 been better than the e46– front end triangulation hasn’t made me wonder if that’s actually due to the multi link setup, as commonly attributed, or if it’s actually due to chassis stiffness

My guess is the E9X's front end being better has more to do with stiffness which I would think is mostly in the subframe. The E9X is basically a tubular aluminum figure 8 with 6 attachment points, the E46 is just a straight bar with 4 attachments.

It is still a macpherson strut design. The E9X M3 tension bushing lasts FAR longer than the E46 FCAB. Still have the same dynamic camber issues - both platforms need similar levels of added negative camber.

I think the rear suspension is the big step change. Especially the limited slip unit when it was new.

[heinzboehmer]

People talk about the front end on the e9x m3 been better than the e46– front end triangulation hasn’t made me wonder if that’s actually due to the multi link setup, as commonly attributed, or if it’s actually due to chassis stiffness

I bet chassis stiffness is a huge part of it. Even the non-M, "soft" E9x/E8x cars feel much sharper up front, compared to a stock E46 M3.