Tyler's 04 slicktop 6spd Silvergrey MCS/Brembo/CSL/Karbonius/Nogaros/Supersprint

[Tbonem3]

Just so it might get more notice, I'm also posting here that I'm trying to organize a drive/meet this spring. Nothing grand, but something to get us started after such a long drought. Please see here, and provide feedback!

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/r...ture-pandemics (please scroll all the way down)

Little Sycamore Cyn to Yerba Buena Rd



Decker Cyn

[duracellttu]

Yes, I haven't updated this thread yet, but I found some 60N/mm (342.6lb) H&R 60mm springs on sale with ECS, so I went for it. I was looking at 336 (6kg), but felt that was a little too close to the 325lb that I already had which felt too soft. I felt 343lb was lower enough from 400lb to satisfy me. It also allowed me to go back to medium setting on hotchkis sway without bringing back so much understeer, which I'm very happy about. Car feels great, besides scraping the rear on big dips in the caynons. Now I need stiffer rears to get much closer match in bounce frequencies, which will also be more appropriate for the 13.125" ride height I have.

Good to know. I just removed my 336# Swift springs and felt they were too soft. After coming from 450# for the longest time. Trying 400# for a bit seeing how I like that coupled with 600# rears. Thanks for the feedback!

[Tbonem3]

Yes, I haven't updated this thread yet, but I found some 60N/mm (342.6lb) H&R 60mm springs on sale with ECS, so I went for it. I was looking at 336 (6kg), but felt that was a little too close to the 325lb that I already had which felt too soft. I felt 343lb was lower enough from 400lb to satisfy me. It also allowed me to go back to medium setting on hotchkis sway without bringing back so much understeer, which I'm very happy about. Car feels great, besides scraping the rear on big dips in the caynons. Now I need stiffer rears to get much closer match in bounce frequencies, which will also be more appropriate for the 13.125" ride height I have.

[duracellttu]

Just saw you post your 400# TCK springs for sale. Did you move to a softer front spring?

[r4dr]

Looks great. I had a washer at the bottom of that stack anyway because seating the yellow bushing's inner sleeve directly on the shock's shoulder made me nervous.

[Tbonem3]

I'm not sure if it's simply my age, or perhaps now daily driving an E90 M3, but I've been lamenting adding certain track parts to the E46 in recent times. You saw that I've been "de-modding" a bit. That continues now with the RSMs. I had bought some really nice AGK spherical mounts, but believed that they added unwanted NVH. Not so much noise, as the poly damper included do really keep them quiet, but there's more road noise than before, and some creaking of the body (I assume) when going slowly over driveways. While the car's purpose is still for very spirited driving, I felt the need to soften it a bit more.

So I decided that RE's rubber RSMs were the most stout rubber based mount you can buy. I was looking at TCKline as well, since their bush is rubber as well (I already had GC poly previously, and wanted rubber this time). I was also limited in my choice of mount due to the 12mm (versus standard 10mm) shaft diameter.




For race shocks, you simply don't use that bearing/collar, but you do need to source larger ID washers (7/16" sae ends up fitting perfectly, and the OD matches the bushing exactly - win/win)



Removing the AKGs (they're for sale hint hint)




I actually could have bought an RSM that didn't have the reinforcement plates since I have this DMG GTR brace, but that's ok, I wanted the RE ones. Luckily, the RE's studs were just long enough to reach through the DMG brace, and have enough for the underside nuts to fully engage.



All done.

Next, thanks to r4dr indirectly alerting me to an issue in this thread: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...es-14mm-shafts
I realized that TMS does not supply bearings to take up the slack between standard 16mm strut shafts and 14mm MCS shafts.

So, luckily, I found some perfectly dimensioned sleeves/bearings to take up that slack. I wasn't having issues, and I was very confident in the shtrut being well sandwiched by the top nut and shaft shelf, but worried mostly about my alignment angle being off if the shaft were not parallel to the strut mount wall.

AMZN link - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0?ie=UTF8&th=1



Here they are, even already have the edges bevelled!



I measured the depth of the TMS mount, and it'll take 3 of these bearings.



So I dropped the dampers. You can just see the slack or gap between the shaft and the TMS bushing (2mm).



Did a test fit. They slipped over the damper with little effort, but the OD was a tight fit into the TMS bushing.



I also noticed that with these bearing slipped on, I no longer had enough "shelf" for the damper to butt up against, under the TMS bushing. Luckily, I remembered that MSC had supplied washers with the suspension.



And those washers, obviously, fit perfectly. It will raise my front ride hieght by 1.5mm but that's ok
So now I'm ready - washers and 3 bearings.



With such a tight fit, I wasn't able to feed the damper up through the mount by hand. I had to use the jack to force it through. I went slowly, and there were no issues.



Perfect!



Now I can be sure the shaft is perfectly radially centered in the mount. This might slightly affect my alignment. There was a discrepancy in my castor angles left to right (in my last alignment), so maybe I'll get another alignment now.

Went for a drive and was very pleased with a little more compliance in the rear. Slightly less harsh, and the little bit of noise I had was gone!

[Tbonem3]

Ya, Evolve stage 3 Alpha N tune from 2017. Alpha N (hell, even map/csl) tunes can be hit or miss for people - there are different variables in play, but I replaced every maint part and sensor and my car had always performed well, so luckily, the Evolve tune worked perfectly out of the gate for me. I'm also close to sea level in a very temperate place. Haven't had a reason in 5 years to re-tune.

[0-60motorsports]

Nice update. Are you running an alpha-n tune? Who tuned the car? Any issues?

His car is already tuned for alpha n by evolve


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[discoelk]

Nice update. Are you running an alpha-n tune? Who tuned the car? Any issues?

[0-60motorsports]

Nice work on the Install Tyler. Looking really Nice as usual.

[Tbonem3]

Installing Karbonius Race airbox 10/2022

I couldn't find my original throttle body boots (which are same as CSL); I had been using the ones Evolve provides with their box for the last 5 years. My originals had many miles, so I don't mind buying new ones too much except the prices are silly. Turner(ECS) had their own set made, in the factory style, with some nice worm clamps for $100. The fit is perfect. Take care to position the engine side clamps in a way that doesn't interfere with the throttle linkage.



Main portion of manifold fitted, second set of clamps secured. Underside connections (CCV & 2 x 10mm nuts) fastened. I didn't bother with the attachment to hold the power cable.





^You can see, I've just sealed off the IAT port with duct tape for now. I'm finding a subtle, black, rubber plug in the meantime.

OE air filter fits perfectly. Unfortunately, a fellow member who also recently received a race box reported fitment issues between the filter and edge of the main portion and the fitment of the second CF portion. I had that one QC issue documented above, but luckily everything else has been perfect.



Now, I've slid in the 2nd portion aka "Race" portion. I was wondering if it was going to be similar to evolve or easier/harder. It was a little easier, surprisingly, given that it's a tighter, more perfect fit than the evolve, with a vertical "pin" system employed to retain its bottom position versus 2 horizontal tabs.

What I'm happiest about is that not one part of this race portion touches any part of the car. The evolve "trunk" touched the oil dip tube, some plastics by the MAF wiring housing, and the metal body of the car down where xenon housing is. I was concerned about the vibrations affecting the integrity and the sound of the evolve. Not a concern now, any more.



I don't use the genuine CSL CCV tubes. I simply extended the factory u.s. pieces with some black tubing and some really nice black "squeeze" clips. I know many will pooh pooh the way I've done it, but it's quite clean, and it's not terribly visible anyway with the HVAC filter housing and my DMG brace above.



All done! Really easy install when you've done it many times before and no new wiring/splicing/coding/tuning to do. I'm not even going to bother resetting adaptations. The car is already running perfectly, and the two boxes aren't very different, so I don't expect the car to feel/act any differently.



Time to drive! As expected, no change in how the car operates or feels. Note worthy: the Evolve box (and earlier Karb boxes, iirc) made a pretty distinct whistle when very light throttle is applied. I'm happy to report that this whistle is basically gone. It's a much quieter, lower note "hiss" now that is almost undetectable. I had to really try to hear it, with the window down, with little road or ambient noise. So, not eliminated, unfortunately, but practically gone.

Sound impressions (versus Evolve). The Evolve was quite loud and menacing, but I'd describe it as more of a roar versus my impression of Karbonius' box which I thought of as being a more metered sound. More authentic, cleaner. Not louder, not quieter.

Now, first hand, yes, the Karb box is a sharper, crisper sound. Not louder than the evolve, but more pronounced, less messy noise. A more distinct growl. But, to be sure, I'm splitting hairs.

In the end, as big of a deal as this mod is for people, it's a very small upgrade for me, at least in how the car is. It's no real different than before, with the Evolve. However, my main concerns were very satisfied by this move - to have a higher quality piece that has a better, longer warranty and much more confidence in. I also wanted to own something Karb made!

I still have the Eventuri scoop in my bumper to feed cold air up. I'm still using the E34 M5 IAT I'm tuned for. I secured it to a part of the headlight assembly so it's both out of the way but in the intake path. We already know the factory style airbox without flap or snorkel still gets enough cold air once moving, but I still like my setup.

[0-60motorsports]

Highly recommend HTE

[Tbonem3]

So I just received my OE CSL Intake filter and it too was not oiled. Im glad they stopped doing that as the oil ate into the red rubber and it destroyed it. Happened to two filters i had in storage. I will however spray a tiny tiny bit of BMC oil on it as our environment is sandy/dusty here.

Ya, I didn't like how much oil these things used to come with, not to mention if it caused the filter silicone to degrade.

I've decided not to oil mine at all, given my environment and use, but I would use a little like you're planning for your environment yeah.

Congrats on the airbox. What will you do for the tune?

I have been thinking about picking up one for my Z4M since ill be daily driving it. Right now seems to be the best time to get one. It is just the tune and smog that is holding me back !

Thanks! I already have a tune (from Evolve) - I'm just swapping boxes here.

I would honestly just get a canned alpha N tune from Hassan, see if it works well, then maybe do some AFR logging or even a dyno session for him to perfect it.

[Maxima SE]

Congrats on the airbox. What will you do for the tune?

I have been thinking about picking up one for my Z4M since ill be daily driving it. Right now seems to be the best time to get one. It is just the tune and smog that is holding me back !

[0-60motorsports]

So I just received my OE CSL Intake filter and it too was not oiled. Im glad they stopped doing that as the oil ate into the red rubber and it destroyed it. Happened to two filters i had in storage. I will however spray a tiny tiny bit of BMC oil on it as our environment is sandy/dusty here.