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130i Clubsport

10K views 54 replies 13 participants last post by  Graearea 
#1 ·
So after years of deliberating and dithering I've decided to finally commit to 'enhancing' my 130i into what I am calling my Clubsport 130i.

So the potted history to this point is that I acquired a 944 Turbo as a track / weekend car but got a bad one. After a year and a bit of expensive labour i decided on a reliable 130i to replace it as a track / fun car. I'd always wanted a Cayman S but had never found myself willing to commit the readies.

So I got this car from Bird's with just over 60k in the clock and the full set of bmwp bits - brakes, intake, exhaust. I then had them fit the quaife and birds arb's for collection. I ran that set up for a bit, doing the odd track day, by which time I had decided finally to get myself that Cayman S. Had to make a difficult decision here - keep the 130i or the e91 335i touring we had (54k). We both decided on the 130i which suddenly became the family car. Wife hated the rear suspension whence the opportunity arose to fit the B1 Springs and shocks. That left her happy. Me, however, not so after a track day at Brands where the front end was just too soft for my liking. Hours of research later I happened upon a chap in the states who was some major engineering whiz (fel1x) who created this epic study on suspension and in particular the right spring rate for the 135i he had. Whilst he had Ohlins, I didn't have that budget so after making the rough assumption that the two cars weighed the same, discovered that Meister R's entry level coil over had the same spring rates so I got them for a handy discount from this forum on the basis that it was only £600 if it didn't work. They did, Problem solved.

After a year and a bit of the missus running the 130i and treating it poorly, with a very excellent stripped out ep3 in between for a Ring trip and a few track days, I got her an e53 x5 after she bent a shock and hub on the 130i by running into a kerb at 30.

So, what to do? I've a nice Porsche sitting in the shed for weekends etc, and I miss the rawness of the ep3. The answer is to rerun the 130i to its original intention of a track focused car, just not as raw as the civic. I want some comforts and some safety. Hence a caged yet carpeted 'Clubsport' feel with a radio and air con. Let's see how long it stays like that but that's the current plan.

So, it's got some decent running gear already which I'm happy with. The things On the immediate do list are:

Bucket seats (have one in, second required)
Rear cage (booked for 15th Feb)
Harnesses
Stud conversion
M3 rear arms (on way from Germany - front four already on)
Make a rear seat delete ( really not sure how much interior to put back and or take out)
Bonnet vents (met an e46 engine builder who recommended the N52 gets a shed load of cooling if it's being tracked)
MPS4 tyres for road and wet track days (got this weekend in the 208m's)
Cup2's for dry and damp track days. (Got this weekend on the ultraleggeras)

The wish / lotto list is :

Cae shifter (mmmm)
Splitter and rear wing (for some presence- we're all a little tarty)
Single mass lightened flywheel (came across a chap on the Facebook forum tracktime with a n52 powered z4 who fitted one and said the improvement on in gear acceleration was epic)
Brake cooling
Remap?
135i y-pipe (noise regs?)

So this weekend I began by stripping the rear interior so I can plan the cage install with the chap doing it. Who knew the rear carpet weighed 6kg?! And who knew how good the n52 sounds at full chat without all that sound deadening between you and the exhaust. [emoji106]

And as we sit here today I have what is perhaps the worlds first 1 seater 130i[emoji23][emoji23] I really need to Find a second bucket seat pronto. A few pics of the weekends work.





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#2 ·
Rustle said:
So this weekend I began by stripping the rear interior so I can plan the cage install with the chap doing it. Who knew the rear carpet weighed 6kg?! And who knew how good the n52 sounds at full chat without all that sound deadening between you and the exhaust.
Nice work, my car will be going in a very similar direction one day.

For my own research, is the fuel pump a bit noisy now?
 
#6 ·
marco_polo said:
Rustle said:
So this weekend I began by stripping the rear interior so I can plan the cage install with the chap doing it. Who knew the rear carpet weighed 6kg?! And who knew how good the n52 sounds at full chat without all that sound deadening between you and the exhaust.
Nice work, my car will be going in a very similar direction one day.

For my own research, is the fuel pump a bit noisy now?
Not that I could tell on my 20 min run last night. There's so much new road noise to listen to, and unusually a bit coming through the centre console now the carpet & insulation's gone from under there.

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#7 ·
Poormans said:
Regarding what to keep and what to remove: I'd try and keep the balance of the car right, over weight reduction.
Indeed. The rear cage will add some weight back over the rear axles - no idea what it will weigh yet and I didn't bother weighing what I removed aside from the carpet. I'm not imagining it'll change much from stock in the initial configuration. Think it'd need a proper diet and some lightweight panels to make a measurable dent on the scales.

I may well get it corner weighted so I'll post the results if I do.

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#8 ·
Graearea said:
How far are you going to go? Are you gonna get all the noise insulation out?

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The current spec is 'clubsport' so I intend to leave the front stock for now and put some floor coverings in the back once the cage is in. I'm still driving it to track and the odd trip to Germany so want it liveable for now and able to take spare wheels, tools, and jack with me.

Only problem is my gut keeps saying full strip, plexi glass, a/c delete, carbon bonnet etc etc (the works) so I'm having a hard time restraining myself. It's all fun and discovery at the end of the day so I'll take my time, assess what works and what doesn't, and go from there.

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#9 ·
Subscribed.

Love the idea of 2-seater Clubsport spec (ala Renaultsport R26R/275R, Porsche RS etc).

Keen to hear more details on the Meister R coilovers.
 
#10 ·
Love it ! Maybe speak to my pal Paul Mumbrey he makes seat delete kits for e92 m3's I'm sure he could make something fancy for ya.

I'm still tempted to go for a more hardcore suspension setup kw club sports or ohlins both a good few quid tho

What happened to the other seats you had ? Thought you had a pair ?

Looking forward to seeing how the car ends up .. good choice of tyre by the way.

Also a few of us I looking to book Bedford in feb if your interested 17th feb £119

 
#11 ·
markhurley said:
Love it ! Maybe speak to my pal Paul Mumbrey he makes seat delete kits for e92 m3's I'm sure he could make something fancy for ya.

I'm still tempted to go for a more hardcore suspension setup kw club sports or ohlins both a good few quid tho

What happened to the other seats you had ? Thought you had a pair ?

Looking forward to seeing how the car ends up .. good choice of tyre by the way.

Also a few of us I looking to book Bedford in feb if your interested 17th feb £119

Cheers Mark. I spoke to Paul about the cage as he does lovely work but a little pricey for what I was after. Didn't think about the seat delete although it was offered as part of his package. Im quite keen to see what I can do myself with some glue and plywood[emoji23]

The car goes to the cage builder on the 15th Feb so I'll miss that day unfortunately.

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#12 ·
markhurley said:
Love it ! Maybe speak to my pal Paul Mumbrey he makes seat delete kits for e92 m3's I'm sure he could make something fancy for ya.

I'm still tempted to go for a more hardcore suspension setup kw club sports or ohlins both a good few quid tho

What happened to the other seats you had ? Thought you had a pair ?

Looking forward to seeing how the car ends up .. good choice of tyre by the way.

Also a few of us I looking to book Bedford in feb if your interested 17th feb £119

I did have two pole positions, but turned out they were part of a batch that were faulty and subject to a recall. I found the harness slots a little low also so swapped them back to the seller for a single SPG XL and some cash. It's a very expensive seat to match for the passenger side so I'm going to have to put something cheaper and mismatching in there for now.

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#13 ·
Rustle said:
markhurley said:
Love it ! Maybe speak to my pal Paul Mumbrey he makes seat delete kits for e92 m3's I'm sure he could make something fancy for ya.

I'm still tempted to go for a more hardcore suspension setup kw club sports or ohlins both a good few quid tho

What happened to the other seats you had ? Thought you had a pair ?

Looking forward to seeing how the car ends up .. good choice of tyre by the way.

Also a few of us I looking to book Bedford in feb if your interested 17th feb £119

Cheers Mark. I spoke to Paul about the cage as he does lovely work but a little pricey for what I was after. Didn't think about the seat delete although it was offered as part of his package. Im quite keen to see what I can do myself with some glue and plywood[emoji23]

The car goes to the cage builder on the 15th Feb so I'll miss that day unfortunately.

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Paul's a good mate of mine but I don't use him because he's too expensive, he does make a nice job tho,
Shame you can't do the 17th,
What's the ride like on the coil overs compared with the birds suspension?
I'm thinking of going down the pole position seat route , some people just bolt the standard passenger seat back in saves a few quid for the time being personally I would want them to match.
 
#14 ·
markhurley said:
Rustle said:
markhurley said:
Love it ! Maybe speak to my pal Paul Mumbrey he makes seat delete kits for e92 m3's I'm sure he could make something fancy for ya.

I'm still tempted to go for a more hardcore suspension setup kw club sports or ohlins both a good few quid tho

What happened to the other seats you had ? Thought you had a pair ?

Looking forward to seeing how the car ends up .. good choice of tyre by the way.

Also a few of us I looking to book Bedford in feb if your interested 17th feb £119

Cheers Mark. I spoke to Paul about the cage as he does lovely work but a little pricey for what I was after. Didn't think about the seat delete although it was offered as part of his package. Im quite keen to see what I can do myself with some glue and plywood[emoji23]

The car goes to the cage builder on the 15th Feb so I'll miss that day unfortunately.

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Paul's a good mate of mine but I don't use him because he's too expensive, he does make a nice job tho,
Shame you can't do the 17th,
What's the ride like on the coil overs compared with the birds suspension?
I'm thinking of going down the pole position seat route , some people just bolt the standard passenger seat back in saves a few quid for the time being personally I would want them to match.
To be fair to the Meister the ride is fine on soft. It's more compliant than M-Sport on soft imo, but not as good as Birds. It's hard to compare though as the spring rates are massively higher on the Meisters than either of those. They compare well with the kw clubsport on the front but are 15% higher on the rear. What I find is this isn't an issue except for some very square edges, but it really helps control on track as the car is held stable by the springs. Suits me anyway.

I'd love the seats to match too but needs must at the moment (and the signal is over £800[emoji15]) and I can't be arsed carrying that heavy passenger seat back from the shed!! I'll source a cheap bucket for now as I want harnesses in for both seats.

Oh, my ring trip is 6th to 8th April in case you're over there as well. [emoji106]

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#15 ·
marco_polo said:
Rustle said:
So this weekend I began by stripping the rear interior so I can plan the cage install with the chap doing it. Who knew the rear carpet weighed 6kg?! And who knew how good the n52 sounds at full chat without all that sound deadening between you and the exhaust.
Nice work, my car will be going in a very similar direction one day.

For my own research, is the fuel pump a bit noisy now?
Ran the car again this evening and yes it is noisy. But you only notice it when you're stationary. As soon as you move the road noise drowns it out, as does the radio even on a low volume. Sounds odd. I'm used to pumps that make a ticking noise, this is a constant sort of 'whir' that alters with throttle application. Space age is how I'd describe it.

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#16 ·
Great project. Will be really interested to see what weight you get it to, thinking there's probably a lot of weight that can be removed even if still keepin clubsport spec :)
 
#17 ·
git-r2 said:
Great project. Will be really interested to see what weight you get it to, thinking there's probably a lot of weight that can be removed even if still keepin clubsport spec :)
I can't see this becoming lightweight in this course of work. Reckon the cage will offset the rear interior removal plus whatever I put back and I'm doing nothing to the front yet. Will run car in this spec for this year, reassess and go from there. But yes, 200kg out of one of these would be great. I suspect it'd need composite panels and lexan glass to get to that.

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#18 ·
Went and saw my cage builder today. All is planned and details agreed and build starts on the 15th Feb. It's going to be built to MSA spec so that if I do decide to extend it in the future the rear part is already to spec - and frankly that should ensure it works if needed. Between now and then I'll be getting some harnesses and a second bucket seat in.

The more I look at the rear the more I become confused about what to put back and how to finish it. Anyway, plenty of time to resolve that conundrum.

Now, to order harnesses and find a second bucket seat.

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#19 ·
Not much had happened to the car specifically, though have acquired a few bits and pieces.

Sparco carbon seat & side mounts courtesy of babyBMW member SamP.
Sabelt 6 point harnesses & tow straps (though not sure I'll get the tow straps to fit the oem towing eye holes)
Various seat and harness fixings arrived and waiting more.
M3 rear arms have arrived
Service bits all ordered for diff, gearbox, oil changes plus filters, plugs etc will al arrive next week. Luckily the Fuchs oil specified by quaife is also suitable for the gearbox so that makes getting the right stuff in he right hole easy. (Ooo err captain)

I discovered this week some oil leaks from the usual suspects of rocket, valve tronic, and oil filter housing so they are booked in for corrective surgery on Tuesday. That's an unexpected bill but necessary.






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#20 ·
The one seater proved quite effective as an emergency chariot for one of the dogs. I'm sure there's a joke somewhere about a sub-woofer [emoji23][emoji23][emoji190]


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#22 ·
Rustle said:
The one seater proved quite effective as an emergency chariot for one of the dogs. I'm sure there's a joke somewhere about a sub-woofer [emoji23][emoji23][emoji190]


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:lol2:

Those parts should make a difference. Did the seats just bolt in ok? How is the positioning?
 
#23 ·
Rustle said:
The one seater proved quite effective as an emergency chariot for one of the dogs. I'm sure there's a joke somewhere about a sub-woofer [emoji23][emoji23][emoji190]


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The main seat I have fitted with vac billet floor mounts and their anti sub and lap belt mounts. Good kit but very expensive. It's still fiddly but I've done it a few times now so getting there.

The passenger seat I'm not so sure on yet and would like to do cheaper. I've seen that Sparco do an e87 specific sub frame so I might grab one of those. The air vents and subs in the floor get in the way of where id like to fit the harness lap belt eyelets. The vac solution avoids this issue as their lap belt mount sits above those vents which is good, so something to suss out.

The next struggle will be how many resistors I need to isolate the air bags and sealer belt tensioners. I may be able to run both harnesses and oem 3 point with a bit of cunning so just airbag in that situation. I should just get a proper coding cable and software.

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#24 ·
This week I had the rocker, valvetronic, and oil filter housing replaced by Lee Shannon BMW in Bentley. He Did the cabin filter, plugs, and oil change as well. What I really liked was that he cleaned the entire engine bay down. It's cleaner than when I bought it!! Nice chap too.

I fitted a new bmwp air filter today, installed the passenger seat lap belt eyelets, and did the belts for the drivers seat.

Frustratingly I can't fit the eyelet and the pretensioner on the tunnel side so I've had i forego the idea of running the three point belts and the harnesses. The VAC stuff works well although I had to relocate the lap sub bar as the clips were fouling the subwoofer. Still don't know how I'm going to fit the passenger seat as I don't yet have a subframe, and I don't fancy splashing out £250 on the vac floor mounts.

Goes in for he cage this weekend. Started fanning up a rear seat delete but realised I need the cage in to really work out how I want it.



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#26 ·
Poormans said:
Someone will be here shortly asking for that old filter :lol2:

Looks way too pretty for becoming a track car, or is it just me?
I'd better fetch it out of the bin then!!

It's a bit rough around the edges and has no options whatsoever so it's kinda made for this - which is why I got it in the first place, just that it's taken me 3 years to get around to it. Still under 72k on the clock mind.

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