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

[robgill]

Nice update, now I have to order new button cap's 😆.

[Tbonem3]

Thanks hehe

[S3diment]

What jack stands are you using?

[Tbonem3]

Torin Big Reds. Also sold by sunex and schwaben and maybe one other company (in blue), can't remember who. $65 a pair when I got them after the HF recall.

[Tbonem3]

08/2020 to 06/2021

I had a SGT SCZA muffler that I traded away last year in acquiring the CSL wheels. I had a spare set of tips to include with it, so that I was able to retain my 82mm raw ti SCZA tips that I slashed cut ala "lemans" style Eisenmann or Supersprint sport/race tips.

At this point, I was settled with the sounds the car was making and didn't want another muffler. My rear end is pretty gutted, so I wasn't even bothered about the weight of the stock muffler, esp being so low and so far back, to balance me out. The only thing I really wanted was better tips.

So, I set out to adapt the SCZA tips onto the stock muffler. I had no clue if it would work or what type of fab/mod I would need to do, but I just dove in by drilling out the rivets on the stock tips:




Once the tips were off, I was able to see how the SCZA tips might fit on. The ID of the SCZA tips was wayyyy too big to sit over the smaller, protruding stock pipes, but it was very close to fitting over the larger stock piping that the OE tips were riveted to.

They were going to need some material removed, however, and not so little that I'd be able to do it and fit the tips all on in one sitting. Thus, I put the muffler back on the car for the time being:



I used a drum sander bit in a high power/rpm drill to open the IDs of the tips up, so that they could slip over the stock outlets. The SCZA tips secure with 3 set screws (clamping).




The thickness of the rolled exh tips, at the end, was about 3mm or 1/8". I had to take it down by half (1/16") in order for them to slip on.

This took numerous trips/efforts at my dad's house. On the last visit, I polished them:




So, several months had passed at this point, plus I bought another M3 which was keeping me really busy. Fast forward to June, 2021, I was finally ready to finish this project because I had to drop the muffler to install a GTR rear brace in the boot. I bought new suspension, partially in order to put the bilsteins on the second M3, and was trying to time the install with the GTR brace.

My next entry in this journal will be about the suspension/chassis upgrade, and that'll bring me to present day basically. Here are the rest of the photos of the exhaust tip install and muffler re-install.




Not only did I slash cut these tips and polish them (going for the OE chrome look), but I also staggered them upon install. I don't think the SCZA tip method of securing with set screws is necessarily the best, but it did allow me to install these exactly how I wanted. My trick: Get it 90% of where you want it. Tighten all 3 set screws well. Then, pull the tips in the direction you think they should move a little in order to be perfect and knock the opposite side with a rubber mallet. The force, plus your pulling, will move them just a little in the direction you want. Might take a few tries, but I'm very pleased with my fitment.

Ready

[0-60motorsports]

Those like great Tyler! Nice one

[Tbonem3]

Thanks Ejaz!

[loudspeaker69]

Looks great for a stock muffler.
The details make the difference!

[jet_dogg]

Good call on the flushness.

Always love the slant cut tips when I first laid eis on eisenmann.

[Tbonem3]

Part 2 of 3 in my big muffler/chassis project...

Part 1 was the muffler tips, and I needed the muffler out of the way (and sect 2 pipes out or at least swung out of the way) for this, part 2 - installing a DMG "GTR style" brace in the boot. I think the name for the DMG part is "COMP-V," but his and Mason and SME and Puretech Sweden's all are very similar, a copy of the brace that the E46 GTR got that ties the shock towers together and connects down to the rear 2 subframe points.

I mentioned in the last post that it started off with my wanting to buy a front strut brace with a better footprint than stock. DMG, on instagram, had done a custom order, powdercoating a bar in yellow, but the customer didn't want it, so he listed it at a discount. I like yellow, to match my calipers, so I grabbed it, and the front bar I wanted anyway (at a discount as well - for buying multiple pieces).

Here's his work (before powder):




So muffler is removed, sect 2 end is swung out of the way (loosen midpipe hangers), as I need access to the rear subframe mounts.

First step is to drill upwards with a 1/4" longboy, as straight as possible, to create a hole topside to use as a pilot for a larger hole saw.




Hello



Now you use that hole to center the 1.75" (IIRC) hole saw



I use beeswax, I didn't have any cutting oil.



Beautiful! You can see, I drilled upwards perfectly as I'm right in the middle of the "T" Tboned



A magnet is perfect to clean up all the shavings! I didn't even have to vacuum or anything.



Now, we can drill down with 1/2" bit. Had to borrow my dad's big boy drill for this. Harbor freight $20 drill-master was smokin'



All done



Now, a test fit:



Nice! Nothing's perfect, and every car is different, so even though I did a good job, the brace didn't fall into place completely:



Once side would line up, but then cause the other to be off by a bit. Luckily, I'm best friends with Archimedes.



Just used a screw driver to "pull" the end over the strut tower lip. Dollar-tree special rubber mallet was used to tap the bottom points in certain directions to center its hole over the hole in the body.

I did have to ream out the subframe bushing "caps" to accept the 1/2" bolts. I assume they're M12.




Alright, now that the bottom mounts are secured and ends are over the strut tower, I installed the RSMs and moved the last step of install, drilling the side fasteners' holes.




Two holes on each side, really simple. Installing the hardware is a little tricky, however, if you're by yourself. I had to secure one wrench against the brace or the tower wall, so that I could then go to the wheel well and tighten the nuts on the other side. Worked out ok, but a second person would be better.




Alright, so that's it for part 2. Part 3 will be about the suspension parts. I'll just mention here, before doing a bigger review later, that the increased rigidity from this brace is nuts! I already had installed a rear strut brace, which many don't bother with, but I did feel an increase there, but this is something else!

This, with the bucket seats, makes the car feel like a cup car. Fuckin love it.

[eforty6_m3]

Part 2 of 3 in my big muffler/chassis project...

Part 1 was the muffler tips, and I needed the muffler out of the way (and sect 2 pipes out or at least swung out of the way) for this, part 2 - installing a DMG "GTR style" brace in the boot. I think the name for the DMG part is "COMP-V," but his and Mason and SME and Puretech Sweden's all are very similar, a copy of the brace that the E46 GTR got that ties the shock towers together and connects down to the rear 2 subframe points.

I mentioned in the last post that it started off with my wanting to buy a front strut brace with a better footprint than stock. DMG, on instagram, had done a custom order, powdercoating a bar in yellow, but the customer didn't want it, so he listed it at a discount. I like yellow, to match my calipers, so I grabbed it, and the front bar I wanted anyway (at a discount as well - for buying multiple pieces).

Here's his work (before powder):




So muffler is removed, sect 2 end is swung out of the way (loosen midpipe hangers), as I need access to the rear subframe mounts.

First step is to drill upwards with a 1/4" longboy, as straight as possible, to create a hole topside to use as a pilot for a larger hole saw.




Hello



Now you use that hole to center the 1.75" (IIRC) hole saw



I use beeswax, I didn't have any cutting oil.



Beautiful! You can see, I drilled upwards perfectly as I'm right in the middle of the "T" Tboned



A magnet is perfect to clean up all the shavings! I didn't even have to vacuum or anything.



Now, we can drill down with 1/2" bit. Had to borrow my dad's big boy drill for this. Harbor freight $20 drill-master was smokin'



All done



Now, a test fit:



Nice! Nothing's perfect, and every car is different, so even though I did a good job, the brace didn't fall into place completely:



Once side would line up, but then cause the other to be off by a bit. Luckily, I'm best friends with Archimedes.



Just used a screw driver to "pull" the end over the strut tower lip. Dollar-tree special rubber mallet was used to tap the bottom points in certain directions to center its hole over the hole in the body.

I did have to ream out the subframe bushing "caps" to accept the 1/2" bolts. I assume they're M12.




Alright, now that the bottom mounts are secured and ends are over the strut tower, I installed the RSMs and moved the last step of install, drilling the side fasteners' holes.




Two holes on each side, really simple. Installing the hardware is a little tricky, however, if you're by yourself. I had to secure one wrench against the brace or the tower wall, so that I could then go to the wheel well and tighten the nuts on the other side. Worked out ok, but a second person would be better.




Alright, so that's it for part 2. Part 3 will be about the suspension parts. I'll just mention here, before doing a bigger review later, that the increased rigidity from this brace is nuts! I already had installed a rear strut brace, which many don't bother with, but I did feel an increase there, but this is something else!

This, with the bucket seats, makes the car feel like a cup car. Fuckin love it.

🔥 Looks so damn awesome, man. Great work!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jet_dogg]

Fuckin noice Tyler. If you were close I'd let you borrow any tool you need.

I'm hyped on getting mine installed after your confirmation of rigidity. I'm still a bit hesitant to drill the sides though because I'm a pussy.

[Tbonem3]

🔥 Looks so damn awesome, man. Great work!

Thanks Shaun!

Fuckin noice Tyler. If you were close I'd let you borrow any tool you need.

I'm hyped on getting mine installed after your confirmation of rigidity. I'm still a bit hesitant to drill the sides though because I'm a pussy.

Thanks bro

If the car is a bubble car/investment I wouldn't, but otherwise, this makes the car so much better and, either completely or in tandem with front cups, resolves further racp damage depending on driving style/ chassis setup to some degree.

[0-60motorsports]

Tbonem3 Awesome update! You need to come help me do the vince bar in Bahrain LOL

[Tbonem3]

Part 3 of 3 Dampers/springs/mounts

I'd say suspension is my favorite thing to install/tune/mod. I did at first what most do, konis and lowering springs (Tein/H&R/Eibach), but was never satisfied. Bought a set of GC coils (Konis with linear springs [450/550lb] and camber plates), and that was a good improvement, but still never felt right no matter what rebound settings I used.

Started to dive deeper into why I was never happy. Came to the conclusion that I needed monotubes and better spring rate choices (more stock like aka flat ride). I tried to buy a set of Dinan JRZ shocks, but it never materialized. Decided to modify the GC kit to accept Bilstein B6s (HD), went down to 325lb front spring (longer travel - 7"), but stayed with the 550lb rears I really liked. Also got a hotchkis front bar (medium setting)

Wow, what an improvement. So much more stout and in control. A little harsher overall, but so worth it. Goodbye konis, never again. However, the billys seems to be about tapped out with these rates. The car was a little too bouncy (my car is lighter than most though, so that effectively increases spring rate, all else equal). I felt like 325lb fronts would still nose dive a little too much, not all the time, but when really pushing it. I would also just bottom out on big G outs (dips) at higher speeds.

So I was pretty sure I wanted to move up to like 375/400lb front and 600lb rear, but I knew the billys couldn't handle that properly. So what damper would? I toyed with buying a used set of PSS10s just to repurpose the dampers, I thought about TCK D/As, but really didn't want konis, really wanted to stay with a monotube. Thought about Ohlins, but preferred to just buy dampers alone since I had spring sets and hardware already.

For me, MCS made the most sense. I wanted a premium quality, monotube damper set that would easily control 400lb/600lb. I didn't want/need compression adjustment, I just wanted the best damper I could buy to be used with my existing hardware/setup.

So I got MCS 1WNR from harrisonmotorsports (best price, no tax, no shipping $), but I also decided to migrate my GC Bilstein/Eibach set to the newly acquired 2002 steelgrey car, so I also bought a few more things: Vorshlag race plates with 60mm seat to match MCS, TCK 400lb 60mm front springs, Eibach 2.5" extra travel 6" 600lb rear springs, AKG 12mm spherical RSMs.



The MCS do not come with bumps stops. I think almost everyone with MCS is running high enough springs rates that they'll never bottom out, but I thought I'd throw some in just to help protect the damper. After install, however, it seemed like a waste of time as my measurements showed that the springs will block before the dampers are fully compressed. Oh well. I also bought Whiteline adjustable endlinks. Stocks are like 11" iirc, but you need like 9.5" for MCS (shorter body, lower tabs).

The TCK springs are really nice because they're taller than 6". If using 60mm, you actually get some good metric spring choices and can get a 6.3" or 6.7" spring, but for 2.25 or 2.5", it's pretty much 6 or 7" Well, 7" is ok for a higher ride height and/or lighter springs, and 6" is enough travel if using higher rates like 500lb+, but I'm in a funny spot with rates in the 300-400lb range. The TCKs are advertised as 6.5" - perfect I thought. Well, they're actually 6.25," but it should be enough (block height/travel) at 400lbs. The rears are 6", but I got the barrel XT eibachs that have another .25" of travel as well (600lbs at the control arm midpoint acts more like 350lbs at the wheel).

If doing it again, I'd get the metric eibachs 170mm (6.7") 70nm (400lb), but I found the TCKs, used, on ebay for $60 when they retail for $200+ so I grabbed them.



The vorshalg plates are incredible! Massive bearing, quality fit and finish. Beautiful construction and anodized colors. They, like GC, use 2 separate bearings - the main ball joint, but also a radial ball bearing for rotation (MacPhe struts rotate slightly through the camber arc).

You might remember, I don't use a CSL dipstick, but a bent stock one that is now blocked by my new DMG brace:



While disassembling things, I decided to fix that:



Fronts out. I was able to just undo the plates and slips it all out, together, since I'll be installing them, as-is, in the steelgrey car.



Passenger side in. No idea where to put the adjustment collar - I'll adjust height at the end.



Endlinks secured at the strut. I do a mock install of the sway bar at full droop here, and then check the position of the bar once on the ground, then adjust again. I set both links to the same distance, and the second link still mated perfectly with the swaybar end. I guessed how far the bar would rotate, once the car was on the ground, and pre-rotated it, at full droop. You want the sway bar ends to be parallel to the ground, once loaded.



Halfway done with the front. I install the suspension without the strut bar, to make things easier (the DMG bar is a very tight fit) then I install the brace once the suspension is loaded.



Other side



DMG brace back on. Adjusters on. Just got camber to be equal (string method) left to right at about -2 degrees or so (after making ride height equal). Will visit JMP in Canoga Park soon for alignment. Remember, height first, castor before the plates are installed, then toe (if needed), then camber last. Can't adjust height without affecting camber and toe (dynamic).



Goddamn that red and gold and black theme 🤤 Deutschland ja!

Back to the rear. DMG brace already installed as you saw in the last post. RSMs installed so that I could secure the braces' ends to the strut tower. Went with the AKG 12mm spherical RMS - going all in here. Love how much of my suspension is made in the USA/Germany - Vorshlag, Hotchkis, AKG, MCS, Harrison motorports all USA, Eibach and Vogtland VVS (TCK) Germany.



I wasn't expecting it; it wasn't shown or mentioned online, but the RSMs came with hemispherical poly "dampers." Pretty cool! I was worried about an increase of NVH with all of these more hardcore parts, so I was happy to try/test these (see it right under the big fender washer?)



Springs and dampers secured. No need to preload the shock in this case and the joint is a heim versus the common rubber bushing. Used my old 2.5" GC adjusters. I didn't need them with the 6.5" 550lbs springs as those, set on the stock rubber pad, get the car to a perfect 13" ride height depending on vehicle weight. The 600lb spring, while slightly stiffer, is .5" shorter, so I needed the adjuster in there (it's .5" thick, perfect)



Rear is now done. Last thing back here I can think to do is a Hard Motorsports rear seat delete panel I bought for Christmas. Decided against installing it now since this was a big enough job.

I was able to just slightly notch the factory hardboard "shelf" where the feet of the DMG brace are. No, I don't run the carpet liners.



Did a little refreshing back here to top it all off. 303'd everything black (rubber/plastic). If you do it habitually, your shit eventually looks brand new:




Review:

No alignment yet, but holy shit! So firm, so tight, like your bride on wedding night. I'm really happy with the 400/600lb. I took it over some very familiar roads nearby with bumps and dips and wow, it's so composed!

There's definitely some more harshness, no noise or vibrations. It's very very stiff. I feel like, with the hotchkis bar on medium, 400lb is a little too much up front, but it's most welcome when pushing it, so I'm going to leave it alone since I don't drive the car that much, but aggressively, when I do.

For my light rear end, 600lb is perfect. Can't bottom out (13") and it's not annoyingly firm. The MCS are so smooth.

I think for a normal E46 weight, like 3300lbs, 400/650 or 700 would be great. I could have gone with 350/600 and it would have been great, but I'll live with 400lb for a while. When I had 450lbs years ago, my car was heavier. It was too much then, but that was on konis.

Looking forward to an alignment. Really wish I was on lightweight 18s still, oh well.

Here it is post-install at 13.5" front & 13" rear. I'm going to lower the front just a little more to 13.25" before my alignment next Tuesday. The goal is to take out some of the rear's toe-in so that I can put back the 10mm spacer (now 5mm) without rubbing (back of tire gets flared out from toe-in).

I also did enjoy the toe-out up front, but I think I'll go back to neutral toe up front. Still gotta decide.