Here she is looking down at Malibu
This is the car
"stock"
First Frame crack... thats next too the swaybar.
Second frame crack, inner wheel well.
Here is the car post work done. This is in a 180 degree turn at around 60mph (hitting rev limiter) The car is about to get into a drift as you can see by the rear right wheel coming off the ground. This pix is after the rear swaybar endlinks broke off the lower control arms, so there could be more body roll due to that. The endlinks broke right before this event. Sadly this is the only pix of the car post work.
Auto-x is a great way to beat up your car and distroy things. I've spent thousands of dollars insuring things won't break, but sadly they still do. If my love affair for this car did not exist, she'd be replaced with a bloody Lotus Elise years ago! Sadly, the M Roadster is here to stay in all of her broken glory!
Well, it was time for me to grow up a bit and face facts: If I wanted a "real" sports car, why not get a fun 2 seater convertible? I decided on a whim, not knowing what I was getting into, to purchase a 2000 M Roadster on the spot in January of 2004. Looking back on this horrible decision, I realize that it was basically my love for BMW's which made me buy the car. The speed, the look, the love... the M Roadster is what BMW is all about. At that point in time I was not racing cars and a convertible sounded like fun!
I purchased the car January 3rd 2004 for $19,500 with 78k on the clock. It was a rough decision and I did talk them down a lot from there original price of $24,500. I'm sure if I had talked MORE, they would have lowered the price just to sell her, but I was happy with that price at the time. The car was in very good condition, but not excellent condition. All the usual things happened within the first week of ownership: door seals leaked, frame was cracked, seat belts got stuck... yea "usual" things huh. The dealer did not disclose the frame damage too me and too be honest, I'd love to sue them over it. Sadly I got screwed again and was stuck with the car. Not knowing the frame damage would come back to haunt me later in life.
One and 1/2 years too the day, it was time to start the upgrade process and make this M Roadster really sing. My goal on this car was to make yet another sleeper, but this time do it with MUCH more money. After discussing with some people the possibilities of conversing her too Euro spec, I realized that was out of the question due to emissions and DOT regulations. My second plan is what I ended up sticking too during the entire process. Make her handle like a million bux first, then work on the speed of the car later.
Step one was suspension re-working. Taking a turn away from Blistein, this car was going to get Koni dual adjustable suspension from TC Kline. The D/A dual adjustable coil-over system would be complemented with 500front/600rear springs. TC Kline's camber/caster plates would be installed, so would there mono-ball rear shock mount. TMS built and modified racing E30 lower control arms would help round out the front suspension. In the rear TMS poly lower control arm bushings were installed along with aluminum rear subframe mounts. This adds a bit of noise too the ride which is just fantastic! For sawy bars, H&R still makes some of the best bars around. 28mm front was eventually all that was installed, the rear bar is unnecessary with the D/A coil-over's.
After talking with Paul over at Strong Strut, I decided to do the entire Strong Strut kit in the car. This includes a very nice front strut tower brace, rear brace butt brace and side body braces. This kit would end up costing me a pretty penny, but was worth every one of them. The car immediately turned into something completely different. The best way to put it is; without the body brace, the car is 3 cars in one, with the body brace its 1 car. The front brace is one amazing piece of engineering because of its simplicity and how well it works. Taking the brace off makes the car understeer like crazy and the steering feels much more numb. The side braces are also very crucial and is the key element to making the car feel like one.
The last phase of suspension was to fix the rear cracking/frame issues. In conjunction with Jacks Auto Body in Van Nuys California, he and I came up with a new way to fix frame damage which would allow the car to look stock underneath. This was a huge undertaking and was a large pain in the butt. Over the course of 6 weeks, the car was disassembled and bit by bit the frame damaged was cleaned up and this new "H" frame was installed. This new frame is actually welded into the current existing frame. Its very simple to manufacture and once welded in, it connects too other pieces of body which the original frame was never connected too. This way the new frame is substantially more ridged then the stock BMW frame.
Once the suspension was completed, we started working on the braking system. BMWs have excellent stock breaks, but without changing out the front wheels, there are limitations on how much you can upgrade the braking system. After a full caliper re-build, we decided to just install Axxis Ultimate pads all the way around and Euro floating rotors in the front. We also installed UUC SS break lines and clutch line. Switching over the fluid too ATE blue was our last phase in the breaks and the end result was astounding. Before the brake job, the car would run out of breaking potential after about an hour of heavy canyon driving. This was getting annoying, especially because the clutch was also getting soft and unresponsive. After the change over, the car not only stops faster, BUT there is hardly any break fade! Even after hours on the track, the break fade is very minimal and stopping power is only reduced by a few percent. I've been very impressed with this upgrade and the Axxis brake pads.
Phase 3 of the project is still under construction. My goal has been to fix the oil pump, fix the cooling system and re-build the motor and drivetrain to accept and produce MORE horsepower without resorting too any boost. I decided to break it down into 3 phases: Phase 1 is bolt-on fixes (intake manifold, pulley kit, water pump, ect...) Phase 2 is internal fixes (clutch, drivetrain re-balance, fluid switch over) Phase 3 is head re-construction (cam's, solid lifter valvetrain, port/polish, intake manifold, software)
We immediately started on phase 2 and installed a UUC motorwerks light weight flywheel and ceramic racing clutch/1000lbs pressure plate. This helped with clutch engagement and power handling. Of course we replaced all the bushings before re-assembling the tranny. On top of the tranny we installed a Rogue short shifter and linkage. Rogue tranny mounts and new flex disk. The driveshaft was removed and professionally rebalance, which removed much of the standard BMW drivetrain wobble. Both tranny/differential fluids were changed over too redline performance gear oil to help keep tempretures under control.
After phase 2 was a success, we started working on phase 1, which was way easier. Rogue power pulley kit, fan delete, Stewart water pump, thermostat, aluminum cover, Dinan air intake, high flow S50 manifold/VAC adaptor and High flow MAF. The entire job only took an a afternoon, but the software needed for the MAF was not available, so it was removed until phase 3 could be completed.
So right now, phase 3 is on stand by. Its been very hard to raise the $5000 needed to complete phase 3 and at this point in time, the car runs great, so its hard to justify the cost. I'm assuming sometime in the spring 08' to have finally raised the needed money and begin the long process of upgrading the motor. Its a straight forward job, but it just takes a long time to complete. Swapping out the head for a VAC racing head and cam's with around 280 intake/260 exhaust, solid lifter valve train and a few bottom end updates like bearings and possibly arrow connecting rods... I really want the motor too continue to run correctly and not wear out too quickly, so there is still some debate on the subject.
The car currently rests on original chrome M Roadster/Coupe 17" wheels. I really like the look of the original wheels, or I would have already replaced them. The rubber is BF Goodwrench P/S sport, which are pretty decent and cheap. Running 255/40/17 in the rear and 225/45/17 in the front. For weekend excursions and a few auto-x a month, the car does pretty well. I'm gonna invest in wheels/tires for track days at the end of 07' before the phase 3 work. I'm also investing in a truck to carry my motorcycles too the race track. That will also allow me to carry wheels too the track for the car and open up the possibility of running race slicks for the 08' season.
Of course the car has other upgrades; iPod adaptor, MB Quart speakers all the way around and Roadster sound subwoofer. Obviously head lights have been upgraded too halogen's and there have been many other minor upgrades as well.
So thats the story so far! Its been very costly and not too much fun to upgrade. My dream of building a "ultimate M Roadster" may never be fully complete due to lack of money. But in the short term, the car is still a sweet ride and boy can she sing! Sadly at this moment in time the car is not in "perfect" working order. She has been suffering from an odd rear lower control arm/subframe issue, so it makes the car handle like poo. Once this is fixed, the work on the car will continue.