March 2007

I finally ordered the headgasket and ARP studs. By the end of the month, the weather cooperated and I was able to reinstall the head. Its going to take another day or two of work to finish reconnecting all of the hoses and wires. I bought a set of euro spec headlights for the car.

I also bought another 535i 5 spd, black/tan. I was looking for a parts car and found a car too good to part out. I got it for a great price. It needs some minor work (headgasket), but I should be able to get it up and running again by the summer. Check out the Black 535i project page coming soon. Its possible that the car will recieve the supercharger setup along with some other goodies.

Febraury 2007

Managed to buy a couple of goodies. I found a set of Porsche/Brembo calipers for the Audi. I got a great deal and they work great except that I need to use spacers on the wheels.

January 2007

Nothing much to report. There was a couple nice weekends but I hadn't ordered the new headgasket, so I couldn't do much.

December 2006

I bought a Christmas gift for Redfive. A Zender rear bumper apron to match the front spoiler. I also got the head back from BPG. It will sit waiting for warmer weather.

November 2006

Nothing much to report. The head was sent to BPG in Massachusetts. The car has been sitting idle. I bought an M5 steering setup from a car with just 70k. This should make a great improvement in the car's steering feel.

October 2006

I spent most of the month tracking down the source of air in the cooling system. I replaced the thermostat, the reservoir, and the fluid several times. Turns out the head gasket had failed and combustion gases were entering the cooling system, filling it with air. So off with the head.

BTW, this engine which was built for this turbo setup only had 1500 miles on it.

September 2006

This was a busy month. I brought the car to the Reunion car show at Lime Rock Park Labor day weekend. She won 3rd in the BMW category which is impressive considering the other cars that were there. Parked next to me was a gorgeus E24 635CSi dub "666CSi - Mental". This black beauty sported a 700hp turbo M106 engine, with Fiske wheel under pulled fenders. The competition was tough.

The following week I brought the car to ICS performance in Stamford, CT to a dyno tune. It was a hot 95 degree day and the clutch was slipping pretty badly, but that didn't stop the car from putting down 340rwhp and 365rwtq on the first pass. Due to the clutch slippage, the tuning was only done to make the engine safe, not for power.

The last week of the month, I brought the car back to Lime Rock for a drivers school with the BMW CCA. This was the first time the car had been on the track since May 2002. The day had its ups and downs. First the ups. The car is tremedously fast. With the torque its possible to run the entire track in 4th gear (1:1 gearing). This gear shouldn't pull at 3000 rpm but it did. This let me go from 65mph to 145mph without changing gears. The brakes with the Perfromance Friction PF97 were amazing. It hauled the car down from 135mph (15mph faster than before) with little drama. The downs were many. There was no grip to be had. I started with track tires but they never warmed up and it was like driving on water, sliding everywhere. After the first sesssion I switched them out from my street tires, but that wasn't much better. Apply the throttle too early and the car goes sideways when the boost hits. Halfway thru the second session, the car overheated, sending coolant onto the track and the rear wheels. I spun coming into Big Bend and again in the Esses (this time at 40pmh). Turns out air got into the cooling system. I was able to bleed the system and drive home, since my track day was done. A casulty of the spin was the Zender front spoiler. It was damaged when the spun 1080 degrees and hit the curbing.