Silas Bonar Andrianto

E30 MERAH Video of 2nd Winton Trackday

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 08:30:00 +0000

Ok finally had time to quickly cut just the PB lap... will take a while on the highlights video...
CURRENT PB 1:47s on 2nd trackday with the E30 at winton

Link

my observation...
1. still abit messy, but alot more composed than my first trackday...
2. i think 1:46 is possible with faster driver...
3. the LSD allowing me to plant the power alot earlier and modulate the throttle easier...
4. the sweeper (big long double apex left hander), the car carrying alot more speed, and the extra modified angle on my rear spoiler stopped the car from 'bouncing' in the mid sweeper
5. at turn 4-5-6 (turn 1 is right after the S bend) the car is much more civil and i can stay on the power hence carrying more speed.
6. 4.1 final drive instead of 3.7 is more suited for a slower tight track like this... alot more much needed acceleration and sh0rt burst on the short available straight in between corners... i might have to change back to 3.7 if i start making more power...

Previous 1st Trackday 1:51s with the E30 at winton

Link

EXE TRACKDAY 20th November 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 06:32:00 +0000

thx for the photos from: Dan lee (dupra), Senk9, Andrew Squidge and Trev mcbarber

Result: Personal Best of 1min 47sec (1:47.3920) i slashed 4 sec off my previous PB (1:51.2400) on this 2nd trackday in my E30 325i. what changes is New Set of street tyres to replce the 6 years old tyres, 4.1 final drive upped from 3.7 OEM, e36 OEM clutch type LSD 25% lock.

i drove up from melbourne 5am with Dan Leet (E46 330Ci Convertible)

met one of the car for my dream list, while pumping petrol at our last stop before winton circuit, Red AE86 owned by JP Ordona

finally... at winton, pitted next to kthl is one of my other all time fave car, Z33 350z...

track is abit damp but it did dry up later on the day... i am so glad coz the forecast of the day was supposed to be 'rain', and closer to the day it changes to 'clearing up'...

briefing time... so glad exe ditch that FOB, that no one can understand when he made announcements on briefing time...

so i begin the trackday with passenger session. i had Andrew Squidge as my passenger and was trying to follow Daniel Leet E46 330ci around the track... on the straight my car was left behind, but closing in every corner and managed to stay behind him for few laps... i then ask him what time did he do (the session is not timed but he has personal timing gear) and he said 1:49s... i was so happy as that mean i am doing 1:49 too! thats all i aimed for this trackday... to break under 1:50 second...

observation from first passenger session: rubs very bad at the back, so i raised the back abit more and beat the sh!t out of the inner guard with a mallet... apart from that, THE CAR IS PERFECT at the moment! hahahaha handles even better than Shirosame (my other E30 in indonesia)...

so for the first timed session, i decided to do some weight loss on the car... i took off the: front passenger seats, front and rear bumper...

after the session i look at the time and i remember seeing 1:49s, i jumped for joy and ran back to the car... while i am re adjusting the tyre pressure, jorge came and said "have you seen your time?", i said "YES!!! 1:49!!! woohooo", jorge said "no it isn't! look again"...

i was like:

Link

i ran back and look properly this time... turned out the 1:49 was my last lap on that session, and the best lap was 1:47!!!

i remember thinking that it is possible, and said to jorge "1:49 is achievable, 1:48 if i push hard, but 1:47 is very hard... possible, but probably someone else has to drive it, i don't think i can do it"

SESSION 1
2:02.1360
1:47.3920
1:47.4170
1:47.4670
1:47.5350
1:49.0530

i did 4 consecutive 1:47s on the first session without realising it... the only thing i notice is the laptime on street tyres got slower and slower every lap as the tyres got hotter... while when i was using semis on the 350z, the lap time kinda get faster each lap as the tyres got hotter

SESSION 2
2:05.9920
1:48.2730
1:47.6200
1:48.9420
1:50.0320
1:48.7640
the group is getting busier coz alot of people move up from the slower group A. and had to overtake most car in the group too...

SESSION 3
1:54.5650
1:49.9900
1:52.8310
1:48.3720
1:48.2930
1:49.1510
this group got so busy, and i cannot get a clean lap... so i asked to be moved one group up into Group C

SESSION 4
2:04.8450
1:47.8800
1:48.2630
1:47.7260
now in group C... much much better altho the session ran short... i got 2 clean lap... race with Gerald! i had fun battle with him around the track... just wish i have more ooomph to catch him on the straight...

SESSION 5
1:51.9780
1:48.1200
1:47.8050
1:47.5920
1:47.6230
now that group C has emptied, i can finally get lots of clean lap... altho i cannot get any faster, i still get strings of 1:47s...

Overall, the car felt good but understeer abit when i push too hard. this is due to me removing the rear sway bar to reduce the oversteer from last trackday... and i lost the bolts for the rear sway bar so i cannot put it back on hahahaha i tried stealing the swaybar bolts from jimjim X5 but his X5 got bigger swaybar link bolts

last fuel pump on the way home

last toilet run on the way home, sorry kenny! sorry jorge! man gotta dump

what a scenery to end the day altho jorge told me of for taking pic with my mobile while driving... i said to him "relax, i got cruise control "

thank you for everyone's help in me finishing the car in time, mainly the diff / lsd part... and for my melly suherman for understanding my busy week and endlessly supporting me. i was going to give up on the lsd but she made me keep going... work, editing, then back to garage, then fell asleep few times in the garage, then back to photo jobs, and then editings and back to garage again... non stop for a week... altho i must say beers, lots of them, help sooth the painful process...

REFLECTION:
i would've been glad with 1:49s, but thank God for giving me the extra surprise with abit more, faster laptime...

i remember doing similar time with my 350z on street tyres... ( my 350z street tyre PB: http://silasba.blogspot.com/2008/03/350z-exe-trackday-10th-march-2008.html) i only did one 1:45.9 and lots of inconsistent 1:47s on the 350z...

i see 2 things from here... altho its just a theory which means nothing till it actually been done, it is enough to give me incentive to press forward...

1. my driving has been far more consistent since...
2. the similar street tyres lap time between my 350z and e30, with driver skill being absolut, it is possible to do 1:40-1:42s on the E30 if i put semis on as that is what i did on my 350z with semis, altho if i include the power factor, 350z has more power which mean its suffer more limitation when using street tyres hence using semis probably extract alot more than less powerful e30...

well... only 1 way to find out...

i am aiming 1:38-1:39 with this e30, Natural Aspirated and with semislick, when i am done with improving it... i know this is possible because KTHL has introduced me to someone that has done it before

compared to SHIROSAME, my indo E30, this MERAH #3 is a completely different animal... this MERAH is more agile and light on its feet, userfriendly and very rewarding when pushed to the limit... while SHIROSAME is angrier, more brutal and bites back harder...

now the photo gallery! (VIDEO COMING SOON)

PHOTOS BY SENK9

PHOTOS BY DAN LEE

PHOTOS BY TREV MCBARBER

PHOTOS BY ANDREW SQUIDGE

WHAT A BLOODY RICER!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 04:00:00 +0000

hahahaha now that i got 1 day extra, i decided to spend it doing the alignment, roll the guard and all extra bit of rices that is irrelevant to lap times and have no use at all hahaha its just deep inside i am a ricers i like useless rices within certain limit

first thing first is the clearance, i lower the back to shift the weight distribution to the back more, and roll the rear guards... thx for the guard roller tom!

put the front apron back on

oh did i say i also paint the brake caliper red? it stops faster now hahahaha

jack the car down now and checking the clearance, i test drove it to the alignment place and it still rubs so i need to roll the guard further

rear fitment after mild guard rolling

the car sits pretty straight now compared to the initial setup when i bought it where it slanted towards the front (was: front lower, rear much higher)

thx to jorge for companying me at the Traction Tyres - Rowville

size comparison of my E30 with jorge 135i

never seen so many fresh AO50 before! hahahaha

i just realise i only measure the amount of lowering from each individual corner and not measuring between 2 corner... the car sits uneven atm hahahaha

alignment done

i made 4mm toe in at the back, -2.5 camber at the front, 0mm toe at the front.

now back home for further guard rolling... a visit from shaun senk9, jason unco and bong chee

so further guard rolling and hammering, please ignore the red awesome caliper

fitment after extra guard rolling, still scrub under hard cornering if i carry stuff at the back, but i will empty the car on the track anyway... so hope that will fix it

this are the 2 wall vents that i bought off bunnings for $4 each... i need to vent of abit of heat from the engine bay from the exhaust header side... so this will do...

the reason i got the $15 dented bonnet is that it will be my trackday bonnet... first i cleaned of all the old heat shield foam thing

i tempted to shave some weight of it by cutting as much bone structure as i can... so its grinding time!!! thank you to jason and shaun for the photos and bong (chee) for the help holding the bonnet while i am grinding, also thx for the lovely grinder tom

only manage to shave 1.5kg off the 13kg total weight of the bonnet... will shave more next time when i have more time to grind

now test fit the vent on, i decided to cut more to fit 2 vents instead of just 1... mega vent for mega ricer! how fitting

drilling and riveting

now spraying it all matt black

all done and ready for trackday!!!

top view and putting the wing back on... i mean what kind of rice i am without a gaint wing

pack in all the tools, jack, stands and pit stuff to the boot and close the garage...

TRACKDAY PREPARATION IS DONE... Thank you for all the exe-crew that has been helping me to complete this preparation and thank you for indra santoso from tekno tuner for answering all my questions whenever i am stuck at some stage while building the diff

Finish up and Servicing

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 03:25:00 +0000

this time i got kenny to help me do the final stages of the trackday preparation

fill it up (thx for the pump, dan leet)

Putting the Diff back up... thank you for the help from Macgillaz as i won't be able to do it on my own yet... its pretty tricky for 1 person job but an extra person makes it so easy...

remove the bent / damaged front apron

i found further damage front previous owner... this is covered behind the front apron so i missed this when i first inspect the car... nothing structural tho... i bent this back... its just the radiator holder frame, the corner is bent, pressing the 2 oil cooler lines away from the original place. this has caused stress on the oil cooler hose and caused minor leaks on the hose coupler

hose coupler/clamp neck has minor leak inside... will order need coupler from PIRTEK next, but not now...

remove the oil cooler hoses

only to find that only one has rubber O ring and its badly worn... no wonder it leaks from the connecting end too...

i call up BMW with parts number i got from realoem.com and BMW want $14 each for it... i was shocked... so i measure it and went to PIRTEK and pick one closest size rubber oil ring for $0.90 each... and got a new fuel hose clamps too

remove the AC and power steering belts

clean the airbox and remove the AFM to be reinstalled and sprayed with carby cleaner

old spark plug, i measured the gap that was supposed to be 0.8 has become 1mm hahaha, so i change all to new NGK, for some reason the plug on M20B25 need me to unscrew the end tip the new plug to be able to fit properly (please refer to picture)

move all the parts attached to the old apron to the replacement (straight) apron i got from junkyard... (front lip and brake duct scoop, i left the front fog lights off as i never use it)

few of the clips are broken but nothing few cable ties can't fix

replacing the fuel filter and fuel hoses

after the engine oil change and oil filter replacement... now we fill up the engine oil

turn the engine on and spray the carby cleaner into the AFM... i finish the whole spray can until the afm is clean from dirt deposit

check for other leaks after the engine run for few minutes... no leaks!

now its all done and time for bleeding the brake... Thanks to Josh for the help bleeding the brake late at night after our basketball game... then put the apron back on, wheels back on and finally jack the car down!

LSD part 2 - Torque Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:44:00 +0000

time for assembling everyting back!

i wrapped the LSD in rubber sheets and use the vise to get a good grip of it... the LSD is round which made it harder to grip hence me using the rubber sheets wrappings, while the open diff has flat face on 2 sides (which made it easier to grip)

i tighten all up with star pattern with 60nm, not one next to the other... and then after they all tight, i unbolt one and put loctite on it

then i torque that bolt with 135nm, and move on to the bolt across it... and keep going until all 10 is torque up and applied loctite

i use 2 wood to press both end of the speed ring and 3rd wood as a bridge, and hit the 3rd wood with mallet... this is because to fit the speed ring, it needed to be pressed into the lsd unit straight due to the tight fitment...

speed ring installed

now put the pinion back into the housing and tighten the locking bolt with 175nm, (use the same method of loosening it to keep it from turning) and put back the locking plate in place... make sure the amount of the pinion protruding is the same with the one before you disassemble it...

put a kink back on the locking plate using screw driver (i just pressed it) to stop it from turning or coming loose

now the tricky part... i dont know how to do this properly but this is how i did it
i rested the LSD unit on top of the pinion and put both side cover panel back on, halfway... that way its still allow some movement of the LSD to adjust the position later, but still tight enough space to keep the LSD unit from falling or move out of place...

then slowly tighten both side cover and re adjusting the LSD position. keep doing that until the side cover finally flat with the Diff housing and the lsd sit nicely in its place...

try rotating it and it shouldn't have any grinding noise from the pinion rubbing the LSD if you torque and measure the pinion distance properly...

put loctite and torque all the side cover bolt 35Nm

here is my stupid mistake... i forget to order new rubber seal for both side output shaft... hahahaha so this diff will leak like a pig... oh well... will re do all the seal on the next trip... in the mean time i will keep topping up the fluid hahaha

not the diff cover gasket. you only need the OEM paper gasket, but i am abit paranoid so i also add the gasket maker stuff...

i hand tighten all the bolt cover and let the gasket glue thing settle and drid up abit before torque all the bolt up further

same thing... loctite and torque the diff cover bolts one by one, star pattern too... 35nm

put back both output flange

knock it back in with piece of wood and mallet

and give it a good clean with degreaser

WOHOOOOOO!!!! cant wait to put it back up on the car... need 2nd person to help me aim and balance the diff with the jack... will do it tomorrow

JUNKYARD HEAVEN

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0000

well, its a nice day today... a good day to visit PICK a PARTS at Kilsyth... they happened to have 3 E30 over there... but i went straight to the red one...

bingo! all panel all straights

i forgot to bring hat but luckily i have my winnie the pooh pillow case in the car, so i used it as bandana... lol

i am taking both front left and right fender, for future 'insurance'

and the front apron (mine is bent and slashing my front right tyres)

this one for tom (ChargeR)

fit all that in the micra and off we go!

FINAL DRIVE BOLTS

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:29:00 +0000

i spent half day helping cain bleed his brake on his MPS3, and we tried to replace the brake line to braided only to find it need a flared spanner to open the OEM line...

so after i am done with cain's car, i continue on with my LSD stuff... i bought a vise to hold the diff unit that kept on rotating when i tried to unbolt the final drive bolts...

the bolts are done up real tight, i supposed it need to be...

now after all the bolts are off the old diff unit, i screw them into the 4.1 final drive gear on the lsd unit... and tighten them on with by bit one across each other similar to star pattern when we tighten wheel nuts

at some point, it got stuck and i hit evenly around the side with pieces of wood and a mallet

and tighten all the bolt till the final drive gears meets the LSD unit with no gap... i haven't torque it all up... i decided to take a rest and continue tomorrow...

LSD & DIY Day - Part 1 - Disassembly

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 05:12:00 +0000

Hopeless panel beating
last attempt to bend the front bumper back to shape, and only managed to get total of 4mm... i gave up and will look for replacement front apron / bar

Removing the Differential from the car
1. unbolt the 2 half shaft/output shaft, 6 8mm hex key on each side.

2. unbolt the 4 bolt on the input flange (connected to propeller shaft)

3. use jack to support the body of the diff

4. unbolt 4 main bolt that hold the diff to the rear subframe and 1 bolt that hold the diff to the vertical diff bushing

5. carefully lower the jack and make sure the diff resting on it on balanced point... OMFG my diff is really really oil and dirty hahaha

6. quickly clean abit to make it abit bearable

Opening the Diff housing

1. popped the output flange using piece of wood as a leverage point and a crowbar or some sort as the lever... shouldn't take much force, just need to yank it...

2. open the side cover bolts. 12 in total, 6 on each side

3. open the 8 bolts holding the rear diff cover

4. hello! we can see the open diff unit now...

5. we need to prey open the input nuts lock plate. make sure you put mark on the pinion shaft and the locking nut, and measure the amount ot pinion gear protruding from the locking nut... we have to replicate this with the new pinion to save us time from shimming the diff correctly

tried with my tiny long nose pliers and this is why i shouldn't buy cheap tools hahaha

success with flat head screw driver

6. keep it somewhere safe as we will need this again on re-assembly

7. put 2 bolt and few nuts on the input flange and jam a crow bar in between to stop it from turning

8. use the thin walled 30mm socket (ATTENTION: My OTHER E30 325i in indonesia uses 32mm bolt, so i think the bolt could varies between country?) to open the input shaft main nut. i refunded the 32mm deep socket that i bought... useless hahaha

9. now need to prey this side cover open with flat head screw drivers

10. once you remove bolt side, you should be able to pull the open diff unit out of the housing... careful, its not only heavy, its slippery

the factory 3.7 final gear condition is still very good

11. now you should be able to see the pinion

12. tip the diff housing so the input pinion shaft is at the top, put aluminum plate on top and hit it with mallet until the pinion shaft came out from the housing... put wood underneath so the pinion drops on the wood instead of concrete...

13. now the speed sensor ring on the old open diff unit need to be removed coz we need this speed ring installed to the new LSD unit...

14. this step need patience... i did this slowly and keep rotating and hitting each spot with flat head screw driver evenly as the ring and the diff unit is a very tight fit

you might be able to do it faster but me and lots of WD40 did it in 45minutes of constant light hammering

almost done... everything is disassembled, all left is the 10 bolt holding the old 3.7 final drive to the diff unit, but i have no more energy left so i will continue tomorrow... i need to buy medium vise for this task too...

comparison of the LSD and open diff unit

putting the 4.1 final drive into the LSD unit

its very tight fit, hence the gap. will need to pull it closer using the 10 ring bolts which i need to take off from the old open diff unit...

the $15 bonnet which is full of dents, that i got from ebay

random pics from the whole DIY day... exe-crew came along to help, hang out, work on their cars, etc... thank you for the help, companion and general rowdyness guys special thanks to mugsee, kenny, tom, macgillaz and dez for the help... won't be able to finish so much that day without ur help...

INSPECTION AND PLANNING

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 04:07:00 +0000

i spent the day inspecting the car for any issue, planning what to be done, researching online on DIY guide, tips etc, and in the mean time Dan Leet came over with his 330Ci convertible, to do his diff and gearbox fluid...

such nice car

bought this 32mm key for the diff input shaft main bolt

the fuel filter and old hose, as i suspect from the fuel fume, is leaking

reset the front Ground Control C/O to maximum negative camber

Jacking up the car

my new favorite rear jackstand point

get the old dusty socket sets out...

Removed the front and read bumper

now, from the last year trackday, the front right tyres rub badly and the tyre got marked / cut in the middle of the tyre... i found the culprit... the previous owner must have had a slight accident that causing the front right bumper to move back slightly reducing the clearance hence cutting the tyre under load...

this is the left normal side as a comparison... it has no kink in the middle

need to put steering bump stop on the control arm as the e36 M3 arm i use with the wider tyres and eccentric bush resulted in more castor and dynamic camber hence rubbing the inside body of the wheel well

front brake pad still got alot (80%) but not much left for the rear... about 30%, it will last for this trackday but need to change the rear pad right after

raised the front suspension. from last trackday, i didn't change the setting that the previous owner set... and the car was bending over to the front, with the front bein far too low and the back sit too high to make clearance for 225 45 17 tyres he chose which is too big of overall diameter... now i am using 215 45 17 which will allow me to lower the back and raising the front to make the car more level, thus making it less front heavy and less taily...

tried to knock back the front bumper... it kinda work but after 15min of beating and only made extra 2mm clearance, i decided to call it a day

on the other hand, i won $15 from ebay... and was gonna pick it up using the micra... so i test fit the micra with my current bonnet... i am lacking 15cm of space, so i asked macgillaz to borrow his stagea to pick up the bonnet... thank you mate!

Trackday Preparation - Shopping List

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 03:26:00 +0000

took the micra to go for a 'groceries' run for the E30... what would i do without my micra check out the beautiful sunset sky

diff gasket and the gasket maker (just in case)

5 cans of degreaser

oil filter

carby cleaner for the AFM and TB

new fuel hoses

engine oil

tread locker for the diff swap / rebuild

gearbox oil

2nd LSD 25%

Diff Oil

fuel filter

air filter, which i ended up refunded to the shop because i found that the car already has K&N panel filter from previous owner! woohoo

4.1 final drive gear and pinion

now to clean up this messy garage before i can start working...

assemble the pine rack i bought ages ago for extra storage space

stack all the tires in one side

all clean... well sort of... at least abit more space to work hahaha

too tired now, will start tomorrow...

MY LSD ARRIVED FROM EBAY US

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 02:01:00 +0000

woohoooo

FEREDAL RSR

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:06:00 +0000

Thank for for Johnny from On The Run Motorsports for supplying this...

wooohoooo 215/45/17 of Federal RSR i wanted Hankook RS3 but it is waaay out of my budget... and i heard alot of good review on this RSR...

left is my 215/45/17 RE050 before we took it off, right is my new 215/45/17 RSR... clearly the RSR have more meat

one finger thicker...

the fatter tyres actually looks better in my opinion

rear right

rear left

HOLY SH!T, RETREAD!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:05:00 +0000

after driving is 'politely' for 2 days, the rear tyres making funny noise... and i went to check... HOLY MOLY!!! its a retread!!!!! and its coming off

i checked the other 3 tyres, they are fine... so im lucky its only one of them... lucky i am getting a new set of tyres soon...

THE SEARCH FOR THE TRACK RIMS

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:29:00 +0000

my budget is $700 max, i know it is not much, but the car also worth around $6-7K only... so i think 10% cap for the wheels is reasonable...

i looked thru trading post, ebay and firesport for 2nd hand BMW wheels and i was drawn to this "SUPER TYRE & AUTO" at the corner of Princess and springvale road... next to PIRTEK... they had few BMW Wheels for sale and i thought i will start from them...

when i got there, i was going to buy the 330Ci wheels coz they are pretty cheap and not that heavy (9kg each)
http://www.toptentyres.com.au/store/images/P/BMW%201%20330ci.JPG

but then at the back shelf i saw a glimpse of familiar shape and when i move all the other stack of rims in front of it, IT IS A BBS RK!!!! OMG!!! tucked away at the back... and when i ask the guy, he seems like he didn't know that it is a BBS model... he want $790 for it including 4x good 2nd hand tyres... i thought YES YES... but i had to hide the excitement... so i asked whether i can have it for $700... and he said ok...

this BBS RK one piece weigh only 7.6kg each, which is very light for its price, its a 17x8 all around ET35... PERFECT! plus he gave me a 2nd hand tyres to go with it... which i can use for daily... or sell it for few bucks

that day, the "super tyre & auto" was understaffed, and i was waiting there for 3 hours... while i was waiting, i offered to help moving some tyres and putting on some wheels on another cars to speed up their work... and i ended up putting the wheels and tyres on my car myself.... and halfway the guy felt bad and stopped me, and he said "Alright, you can have them for $600, and thank you for helping, i will take it from here", i was like "SWEEEET!!!!"

a quick test after putting the new balanced BBS RK, the car felt alot better already as compared to my 10kg each DTM wheels...

now at boxhill to meet the exe-crew for dinner... looking good

TRACK RIMS BUDGET SPENT: $600

BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:27:00 +0000

another trip back, but this one is different... i mark this as a beginning of a new era for MERAH #3... i have saved up another budget for it and i must tell you that saving up while racing with the other E30 in indo (shirosame) is not easy hahaha...

this trip is longer, and i am busier with photo work too, but means i can slip in few hours every few days to work on MERAH #3

my plan is:
- new lighter wider track wheels
- new set of street tyres to replace my current 6 years old tyres that came with the car when i bought it
- BMW LSD 25% clutch type
- higher final drive
- break into 1:49 at winton

hello dear

uh oh... when i start it, MERAH blow alot of white smokes... i thought its just due to the condensation, but the smoke remained even after running it for 30 minutes...

Link

so i went to local carshop and bought the coolant leak fix agent and the smoke kinda stops.... reduced maybe... good enough... will last for one more trackday i guess...

i marked the new beginning by taking it for a long drive and thru one of my long missed driving road... yarra bend... it just reminded me how much i love the E30 and how well it behaves on the limit even with crappy tyres i got at the moment...

Final Dinner with Bimmer Race Community

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:20:00 +0000

before i left jakarta, after my last race for this year... one of my memorable night... dinner with these racers, which i used to just read about them on articles, about their races and wins... and now sitting together with them really felt like a dream hahaha... i still don't feel like i fit as one of them, however it is an honor to finally know them and get so close in person...

(and yes, i forget to make one of the photo black and white oh well)

AFTERMATH post

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:57:00 +0000

RETURN THE RADIATOR
after the race, we returned the radiator to anggi. thank you so much anggi!!!

My Cheap Racing Glove
during the race, some people asked where i bought my gloves... i keep changing the subject hahaha, alright here it is... i am on a budget, so the workshop glove with grip finger tip would do for now... i am not a pro racer and as long as the regulation permit, i will not spend unnecessary extras on bling... at least not at this stage... i bought this Krisbow glove from ACE HARDWARE (equivalent to smaller bunnings in australia) for $10, and shaved the label

hahahahahaha .... look decent... almost

NEXT PISTON
next year, shirosame will be using this coated piston

E38 Sneak Preview
yes... i fell in love with this big boat... and i managed to fit the long wheelbase & series in our short driveway... just 5 cm clearance front and back... more of this car later... i swear its for my dad sake... not for my benefit... i swear... who need V8 anyway? (*cough* me *cough*) u know he is old and he need comfortable ride... you know...

BBS RK2

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 12:12:00 +0000

the next day... i called up indra, and requested for the BBS RK2 to be readied and prepared that same day... i am not waiting any longer... lol...

hmmm the front abit too low... i will strip those ugly body kit and return to stock soon... maybe next year...

now... BBS RK 2, 18x8.5 and 18x10

18x10 hmmmmm

came with 2nd hand tyres... i will replace them in january when i am back in jakarta to the correct size... but now at least they are not stretched... 235 front and 275 rear..

hmmmm another issue, turned out that the rear fitment wont clear the suspension arm so i would have to settle with this mismatch setup for now and ordered spacers to be made...

Spacers
the rear just need abit, but mind as well push them out as much as i can hahaha... and the front was tucked in too, so i put 25mm at the front and 10mm at the back...

Tekno Tuner made the hub centric spacer for me...

POPPED THE CHERRY :O

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 03:56:00 +0000

after the 2nd day driving it... i popped the stretched tyres... i knew it! i knew it!!! seeing the stretched setup, i was afraid it might popped of the rim... plus BMW has a high castor compared to japanese car, any tight turns mean the tyres are resting on the sideway...

i wasn't even driving fast, but i was going up a usual spiral carpark ramp which are common in jakarta multilevel carparks... this one is in senayan city which has tighter turn than usual...

something like this but tighter and about 5 level up...

so i was between level 1 and 2 when the tyre popped and all i hear was loud scraping from the wheels... i stopped to quickly check and notice a long car queue behind me... so i continue driving without front left tyre... only to find they close off the entry on level 2-4 so i had to go all the way to level 5 ouchhhhhh scrape grind scrape grind... sounds like 2 autobots making love hahahaha

i knew i should have drove up those spiral ramp sideway hahaha

so i opened the boot and look for the jack only to find the previous owner decided that it is more important to have a full audio setup at the back than a emergency kit such as jack and wheel socket...

i try calling up Indra and other car mate, but i forget that this is not melbourne and no real exe-crew here... everyone is on their own here... so the usual excuses like "going to bed", "its too late to get out", "busy", "wife won't let me" is all i heard... i don't blame them, its just the culture here... and i am thankful for that... this kind of situation reveal and sets real friend in need from the rest...

it happened on the way to a photoshoot 8pm, i had to abandon the car to quickly complete the photoshoot and at 12am midnight when the photoshoot finish, i came back to the car to fix it, only to find no jack, and my mobile battery is low, i cannot leave the car with all my heavy photo gears...

so i called up one of my old mate, Iening, which is not a car mate... i knew he would always be there, but i don't want to disturb him at first as he has baby and family now... and he quickly responded... no questioned asked and then pick up my jack from home and drove all the way to senayan city... its 2am already... i almost cried hahahaha coz that was my last battery too...

so i jacked up the car, only to find that the spare tyre are flat too... ($#@*$#(*$^@!^#@#&!!!

iening kindly offered to drive the flat spare tyres to local petrol station and pump it up while i guard the car and the camera gears... jakarta at night can be abit dangerous... which is why i don't want to leave the car alone in the dark...

anyway, all is done, on the way home me and iening had a good highspeed run on empty jakarta inner city tollway at 3am... he turned out to get into car too and bought himself EJ civic with worked up D16 engine one it...

moral of the story:
- no more stretch tyres, even if its temporary
- check the emergency equipments when i am buying a car, not just the mechanicals, defects and body
- there are many that call them self friends to have fun with... but only few remained in need...
- how i miss exe-crew...

Air Cooled

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 03:16:00 +0000

fix the air conditioner in the car... turned out it just need simple regas no leak after few minutes of checking around the system...

Raijin & Fuujin
left is Indra's Raijin (God of Thunder) E34 544i with M62B44 (4.4 V mated with E46 M3 6 speed and Big Housing LSD... making 380Hp and 450Nm ... running constant high 12s with full leather trim, audio, and roll cage hahaha

on the right is my fuujin... can't keep up with raijin, for now... muahahahaha

Downgrade

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:12:00 +0000

so i sold the 20 inch coz its bloody heavy, braking and steering suffered, and seeing how fast i chew thru tyres with my driving, i won't be able to afford sets of 20 every so often... so i ordered my self a nice BBS RK 2 Pieces 18inch from Tekno Tuner... however, due to Tekno Tuner is currently moving to new workshop, its going to take a few more days till we can locate the wheels and the buyer of the 20inch want the wheels ASAP... so Indra lend me his set of MK Motorsports Wheels for me to wear temporarily until the BBS RK2 is ready for me to use...

hmmmm this MK wheels actually not bad at all hahaha

the only thing i am worried about this wheels is it got a stretched tyres setup... hmmm gotta be careful

FUUJIN is Home

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:02:00 +0000

ok, first i should've explain the name... Fuujin is the Japanese god of the wind and one of the eldest Shinto gods... i have big plan to make this e34 goes like a wind (cough cough)

shirosame will be outside from now on...

shirosame look so small compared to Fuujin

while ottosan have pretty much the same build with fuujin... altho ottosan won't be happy to have his arch nemesis next to him...

Bought Fuujin

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 11:09:00 +0000

so i bought it... lol...

first, it need a wash... been in the workshop for a a while...

Then just a quick photoshoot at a local petrol station after i pump up the first full tank only to find some of the fuel leaks thru the fuel tank top seal and dripping out of the car...

OTTOSAN Detailing

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0000

not much happening on my indo daily... i just gave Ottosan a treat by sending him to a car detailing shop...

_________________

First Inspection

noreply@blogger.com (Silas) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:08:00 +0000

so... i got itchy again and couldnt resist...

one of Tekno Tuner's customer is selling his car and the buyer couldn't come up with the money at the required time, so went and inspect the car... i have always seen that car around but never had a closer look with intention to buy... so here we go...

Its an 1992 BMW E34 525i

Engine: was originally a M50B20 with 80mm bore, a 1991cc Linear 6 cylinder 520i 150HP 190 Nm...

Stroked up with M52B28 crank, making it 2500cc instead of 2800cc (due to smaller bore 80mm instead of 84mm), making it into 210HP and 250Nm

Body: the previous Owner customised an AC Schnitzer E32 body kit into this E34.

Wheels: 20x8.5 and 20x10 BBS RS 2 piece.

Other Extras: Multimedia Head Unit and Reverse camera. Full black leather re-trimmed interior

However, have some defects too:
1. the Fuel Tank Seal leaking
2. the Accessories Fan is noisy
3. Air Cond doesnt work
4. Oil Sump Gasket is leaking
5. the Brake is waaaay too weak for the new power
6. cross joint on the Propeller Shaft is on the way out