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      08-01-2012, 06:32 PM   #45
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After getting back from Bimmerfest I attend the monthly EuroSunday event where I got to showcase all my new parts and upgrades. I still was running the Powerchips software at this time and still had issue of the car running way to rich.





In August of 2007 I did my first indoor photo shoot of the car and with my girlfriend at the time. Sadly that story did not have a happy ending but in the end was for the best as I meet the true love of my life in the following years. Sadly though this photo shoot is still part of the cars story.












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      08-13-2012, 03:38 AM   #46
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epic build!
your car put mine in full of shame. lol
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      08-17-2012, 07:07 PM   #47
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The end of the year I did one more photo shoot for a fall calendar. These are some of the best images I have of the car in its older configuration. 2007 Was also one of the last years I would do any modification to the car for quite some time. This had to do mostly with how life throws curve balls at you and not always helping you achieve your goals.




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      08-18-2012, 11:42 AM   #48
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any exhaust clips? and everyone has great service from ess im sure they are just busy and get back to you soon
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      08-19-2012, 07:10 PM   #49
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Great update! I hear their ESS SMG Software does wonders. Hopefully you are able to feel the differences as time goes by.

I have heard mixed things about ESS and customer service, so you're definitely not the only one. I have personally tried contacting them directly to ask questions and inquire about their services, only to not get any responses many times. Chances are they were probably incredibly busy and looked over my messages since they do cater to a very large client base.
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      08-20-2012, 11:54 PM   #50
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Loving your M3 build! Awesome guide for me as I am in the process of replacing some parts step by step.

For the CSL Trunk, did you order it from a local BMW dealership or a vendor?
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      08-21-2012, 10:09 AM   #51
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2008 Going Through the Motions

2008 would be a year of meets and drives and nothing in the way of upgrades. Other than the right mounting bracket of the muffler breaking and having to be re-welded, it was just a year of life not cars.

The first set of images I have from this year are pictures at the local dealer during the BMW club annual dinner. These make for some great images when looking back on them now. I need to get back there again for more images.











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      08-28-2012, 12:23 AM   #52
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I did the CSL SMG software update myself. The shifts are a little crisper from what I've noticed.
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      08-28-2012, 09:59 AM   #53
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I never get tired of looking at E46 M3's. The car looks eerily similar to what I want to do with my E92 eventually, including yellow BBK's. Good to see that the combo works so well.

Keep us updated, would love to see how the car turns out!
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      09-02-2012, 11:55 PM   #54
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One of the best rolling shots I have of my car was taken at a EuroSunday event in the Bay Area. I do not know when the date was but it still is a great shot of the car.



Next set of images I have are of a photo shoot at the Aerospace Museum of California in October of 2008. This combined the two loves I have of flying and sports cars. A bit of trivia for those out there is the F14 Tomcat in the pictures is one of the F14’s used to film the movie Top Gun.



















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      09-03-2012, 06:48 AM   #55
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Great update! The steering must feel great.
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      09-04-2012, 07:11 PM   #56
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2009 Only Events

2009 was a sad year in regards to my normal routine of things. I was no longer organizing big meet and drives as well as just doing EuroSunday events. The only drives I was doing at this time was the drive after EuroSunday. This was mostly due to the now ex-wife kind of putting a damper on such activities. All the images I have are from EuroSunday events throughout the year.

















I did manage to squeak one upgrade in which was to go to Discovery Automotive Race Software. This was to replace the rich running Powerchips software. The “DA” software seemed to work well and I ran with this software for until 2013.

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      09-06-2012, 02:36 PM   #57
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      09-10-2012, 09:29 PM   #58
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I noticed you used Castrol EDGE and not TWS. Is there a difference between the two?
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      09-10-2012, 10:55 PM   #59
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2010 Only Events

This year was the same as 2009 with no major changes and just events. I have picked some of the best images I have from 2010’s events.









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      09-12-2012, 10:02 PM   #60
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2011 Out of the Fog

After so many years of not doing meets and drives I finally came back around and started doing them again. This was mostly due to the fact the girlfriend of the time liked doing these activities with me so it made it easier to organize these events. I still was organizing the EuroSunday events but now doing my own drives as well. Before we get to the drives, here are some of my favorite images of the EuroSunday events of that year.







In March of 2011 I ordered the Samsco intake elbow and AFE intake scoops. These were the first upgrade to the car in years sadly





On June 1st 2011 I did my first track day at Thunderhill. It was a fun experience but I realized that the track was not my cup of tea. Yes it is fun but I was getting more bored as the day went on. This could be because I drive the track like back roads and trail break in so I am not fast on the track. Oh well.







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      09-19-2012, 07:28 PM   #61
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One of the drives I organized in 2011 was a drive to Livermore down mines road. This is one of my favorite drives of Northern CA.



In October of 2011, the girlfriend and I decided we wanted to say we have driven down ALL of HWY 1 or PCH. We took a week of work and hit the road. We had no plans, no pre-defined stops, just the open road and a map. All we knew was we wanted to stop at Disney Land and end up in San Diego. Other than that, it was all up in the air. If you have not done the PCH drive from SF to San Diego then you are missing out. Once you get to Monterey heading south you really hit some amazingly beautiful country. It is well worth the time off to take trip. We did the northern section in April of 2012 to complete the northern and southern sections. Below are the Images of the car on that drive.

The images start at the split of HWY 5 to Monterey where the GF drove to the start of HW1. From there the images are shots going down HW1 all the way ending in San Diego.















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      09-26-2012, 07:22 PM   #62
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The last images I have for 2011 was a drive I lead up HWY 1 to Biscomb Road. This drive is a full day of driving along the California Coast and some very fun off the beaten path back roads. The images are at a fuel stop and check point for the drive.



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      09-27-2012, 07:16 AM   #63
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Car looks great as always!

Turns out there's a DynaPack location 15minutes away from my place. I thought about going there to do some runs for fun but they charge a bit, haha...

Did your dyno operator plug in some numbers and calculations to make sure the dyno measures power correctly for your car?
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      09-27-2012, 09:49 AM   #64
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2012 CSL Path Determined

If you have been reading this, build thread I believe I have brought you up all the way to January 2012. I hope that all the scrolling and reading to this point has been interesting and well worth the sore finger. I have included summary of the car in its current state as of 2012.

Engine & Exhaust
AFE Stage 1 Intake
AFE Air Scoop
D/A Race software
Samco Intake Elbow
Supersprint V1 Stepped Headers
Supersprint V1 S Race cats
Supersprint Center Sections W/Resonator
Eisenmann Race Exhaust 83mm tips
Rouge Engineering Under drive Pullies
Ignition Solution Plasma Coils
Turner Motorsports Oil Cooler Kit

Suspension
TCK E46SD E46 Smart Design DA Coilover 500/600 springs
TC Kline Camber plates
OE Strut Tower
Eibach Sways with polly bushings
Ground Control Lower rear control arms
Ground Control hybrid control arm bushings

Transmission & Drive line

Ground Control Differential Bushing limiting kit / nylon discs
Power Flex Tabs
UUC Tranny mounts hybrid (red)

Brakes
STOPTECH Yellow BBK
StopTech Stainless Steel Brake Lines
Axxis Ultima Break pads
Motul RBF600 Gold now / was blue to start

Exterior
BMW CSL Carbon Fiber Roof
BMW CSL Trunk
BMW CSL Rear Diffuser
BMW Euro bumper with/custom molded in CSL splitters
BMW LED Taillight conversion (no led module)

Interior
Hardwired Valentine V1
UUC SMG Peddle set

Wheels & Tires
BMW CSL 19 Rims
Michelin Pilot Super Sport 245/35/19 & 275/30/19 – Filled with nitrogen
Turner Motorsports 10mm front spacer (needed to clear the calipers)
BMW CSL 19 rim front spare
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      09-27-2012, 10:38 AM   #65
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Quote:
Originally Posted by m3dragon View Post
Yes. The owner who did the dyno does turning for several race teams such as the Flying Lizard Porsche race team and one of the Mazda Speed 3 teams. He also does dyno tunes so I think he did things right.

Only issue we had was we could not get past 2nd gear for the dyno runs. SMG was being a pain.

DynaPack from what i researched and talking to the shop owner is actually a better way to get numbers. Example is if someone straps one side of the car down harder than the other side you can get some discrepancies. Maybe only 2 hp but it is not perfect. Neither is the DynaPack but for my car it works.
Nice!! Sounds like you found a good shop. Hopefully you sort everything out with the SMG.

I have been told, as well, that DynaPacks are the best to tune on simply because of how consistent they are as you said. After seeing that you decided to use a DynaPack, I am actually strongly considering using one for the time being to see what I gain with a couple mods I have planned up. Then ultimately heading to a DynoJet to compare to my original baseline results.

So when's the plan to get everything installed and tuned?
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      09-27-2012, 02:20 PM   #66
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The start of 2012 I did my second track day at Thunderhill. Like the last track day I had fun but by the end of the day I was just not feeling being on the track. Maybe it is because I love my car to much or I want to see a different turn. In either case I will go back but I am in no hurry to do so.













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