My 190E 2.3-16 vintage racer project

lol, 6 years ago I sold my 2.3-16v for 5k with 142'000km because no one in the ottawa region or Quebec had any interes in it, or knew what it was. I've missed it since.

Really sweet project! Although, to be period correct(DTM years) wouldn't silver go better then the orange on a dark car?
 
I'll be at Tremblant this weekend with the BMW Club of Quebec. I know it's GP weekend, but if anyone is in the area, you should stop by for a passenger ride.
 
Photos from Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant

I had the car up at Tremblant last weekend with the BMW Club of Quebec. It was GP weekend, attendance was pretty light and everyone had plenty of track time. The weather was gorgeous: sunny, dry, and not too hot. It's too bad none of you could make it out for a passenger ride.

Anyway, here's the 16v in action at my favorite track:

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You'll notice in some shots it looks like the car is smoking a bit. That's because I hadn't seated the dipstick fully and some oil was splashing onto the headers in left-hand corners. Unfortunately, that session was the one in which the track photographer took the coolest pics!

Also, in a few of the pics it looks like the car is squatting hard under acceleration and rolling quite a bit. It's funny, but it feels good from the driver's seat, so I was pretty surprised when I saw the pics. I'll have to check in with the guys from Ground Control to see what they think. May need to reconsider my spring rates.

All in all, it was a great weekend. I drove 450 miles to the track, did 7 or 8 hard sessions on the track over the course of 2 days, then drove the 450 miles back home. The car ran like a top, despite the oil leak for that one session (totally my fault).
 
I hate you. I'm jalous, I want one.

But since the 2.5 16V and 2.3 16V are approaching the 25 years. I'm going to get one from Europe for SURE.
 
Alignment

I mentioned that the car felt a bit understeery at Tremblant last month. So I took it in to a local race shop that opened recently (Bulldog Motorsports in Clifton, NJ) for another alignment. After a lengthy discussion with a couple of guys who have experience on the track with the W201 chassis, my goal was to be able to dial in between 3 and 4 degrees of negative camber up front.

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Turns out I had -3 degrees camber in the rear but only -2 degrees in the front. Plus, there was a massive amount of toe-in up front. The GC camber plates don't have a provision for caster adjustment, so we were stuck with whatever we had. Luckily, it was in the right ballpark.

We were able to dial in lots more negative camber up front, but really weren't sure what our goals should be in terms of toe. Considering the suspension design and weight are grossly in line with an E36 M3 on Ground Control suspension, we figured that would be a reasonable baseline. That meant a bit of toe-out.

This is what we ended up with:

FRONT CASTER: +10.2
FRONT CAMBER: -3.3
FRONT TOTAL TOE: +0.08

REAR CAMBER: -3.0
REAR TOTAL TOE: -0.23


I haven't tried it out on the track yet. But just driving around a few on-ramps and things you can definitely feel the front end is much, much sharper on turn-in (I'm sure the toe-out has a lot to do with this). And the car feels more neutral overall; the balance has shifted from gentle understeer to slightly tail-lead.

We'll see how it does on a real circuit: I'll be at Calabogie with the folks from BMW Club of Ottawa next weekend (July 20-22) and then at Summit Point with the BMW CCA NJ Chapter the following weekend (July 28-29).

Can't wait! :D :Woot:
 
I'll be at Calabogie next weekend crewing on a GT3 RS. I'll see you there :)
Crewing? Really? I didn't know that the BMW Club Race accepted P-cars. Did you mean you registered and will drive your own GT3 during the HPDE?

@ Emre. If your car understeers, you could reduce rear camber and increase rear spring rate. Understeer/oversteer is nothing more than the relation of grip between the front and rear. Increase one end or decrease the other.
 
Crewing? Really? I didn't know that the BMW Club Race accepted P-cars. Did you mean you registered and will drive your own GT3 during the HPDE?
There was some talk about opening up CR to other marques.

If your car understeers, you could reduce rear camber and increase rear spring rate. Understeer/oversteer is nothing more than the relation of grip between the front and rear. Increase one end or decrease the other.
I know. The rear camber-arms are fixed, so there's no way to dial it back. We're going to fab some adjustable arms over the winter. The car is very much a work in progress!
 
Crewing? Really? I didn't know that the BMW Club Race accepted P-cars. Did you mean you registered and will drive your own GT3 during the HPDE?

@ Emre. If your car understeers, you could reduce rear camber and increase rear spring rate. Understeer/oversteer is nothing more than the relation of grip between the front and rear. Increase one end or decrease the other.

My driving days are over. I only wrench :)
 
Updates

Thanks, guys! There's much more on the way. Here's what's coming down the pipeline:

  • Dual Weber 48 DCOE carbs: on the way from England
  • Genuine DTM intake manifold adapter: got it!
  • High-compression Euro engine: getting a full rebuild as we speak
  • Custom race cams: being designed and milled by Hasselgren Emgineering
  • Genuine Evo I body kit: still negotiating with the seller
  • Bigger wheels with wider rubber: depends on how soon I get the Evo I kit
  • Molded polycarbonate (Lexan) windows all around: custom order pending
I guess that's about it for now. I'll update this thread as I make more progress.
 
Getting her ready for a new season. First event of 2013 is this weekend at NJMP.

  • Replaced all the rear suspension arms and bushings.
  • Fresh Yoko R-comps. This time I'm trying the Medium compound.
  • Had a second set of R129/Evo I wheels refurbished.
  • New Toyo R1R summer tires for wet track use.
  • Fresh Brad Penn PG-1 20w-50 for the crankcase. Wix filter element.
  • Flushed the trans with Amsoil MTG 75w-90.
  • Flushed the diff with Amsoil Severe Gear 75w-140.
  • Flushed the brakes with Wilwood 570.
  • New Carbotech race pads.
  • Another 4-wheel alignment

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Ready to go!
 
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