I decided moderately last-minute to drive at the Select Driving Club event at Atlanta Motorsports Park on the 4th… so as soon as I could get home to thrash on the car… I was home thrashing on the car. I wanted to get the passenger-side 6-point installed, and a proper seat bracket to get a seat back on that side of the car.
When I took the passenger seat out for Gridlife I was alarmed at the seat bracket that was in there. This bracket was thrown together with some scrap (not naming any names) and just didn’t feel safe to me all these years later. Heck, the submarine belt was just looped around one of the bars. I cringed when I saw it. So I ordered a Planted bracket from Enjuku to do it right. I had to modify it slightly so that I could mount the rear bolts… which was a little annoying. But I feel so much better about this setup.
I decided to put one of the old Evo’s back in on the passenger side until I can afford a matching Circuit. The fabric had worn through, so I tucked a bit of black stage towel underneath it… and while it ain’t perfect… it’s a heck of a lot better than it was!
This car has had ambulance strobes on it since forever ago… and the brain was mounted under the passenger seat right where the 6-point submarine belt needed drilled for. I’ve felt relatively certain that this thing was the parasitic draw that kills batteries in this car… so I decided to just remove the whole thing. It was not fun trying to snake all this back out.
I also picked up a new driver-side floor panel to replace whatever this one I made back in 2005 is. I’m no fabricator now… and I certainly wasn’t back then either. It’s hilariously bad… and I was excited to see it go.
Because this car still has AC… I had to modify the new panel to fit around the duct work on the floor… which took way longer than it should have. But I’m really happy with the end result.
Seats and harnesses mounted… floor panel complete. Just in time to load up for load-in.
The next day I met Austin and his buddy Mike at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame so that we could roll in and pit together.
We were just in time to see ’em loading one of Chase Elliott’s ol’ cars back in the trailer for the day.
Next day was the 4th and we were ready to go bright and early.
I did a terrible job of documenting the day… mainly because I was just trying to survive the heat. It was BRUTALLY hot. Like be extra careful hot. I hadn’t driven on this track at Atlanta Motorsports Park before… so I tried to take it easy and learn the track the best I could. I figured out pretty immediately that this track is faster’n holy heck and my car was severely underpowered for it. So I basically just picked a few spots on-track that I could tackle and just focused on those. But MAN… I was struggling out there!
Photos by: Travis Mooney ^^
There were a lot of black flagged sessions due to people going off-track. But I managed to get two solid hot-lap sessions where nobody interfered. Because of the size of the track it felt like I was out there by myself. It was enough that I felt okay calling it quits a bit early. I knew with the heat that getting loaded back up was going to take a lot out of me. So I called it a day.
It was great to get a li’l bit of hangtime with Swann… that’s twice this year, which is killer!
All-in-all… it was an incredible day. Although… I did manage to completely throw my back out unloading the floor jack from my truck. So that’s a new thing to look forward to drifting at this age.
It’s been quite some time since I posted here. Heck, this part of my site was offline for many, many years. But after what all has transpired o’er the past few weeks… it seemed fitting to fire up this side of the fence. After all… blogs still rule.
About 10 days out from GRIDLIFE Atlanta, Gregg Bucell called me and told me my application for GRIDLIFE had been approved. I was like… but I didn’t apply! I felt pretty reluctant to do it for several reasons. The main one being that I haven’t driven like that in a LONG long time. 2010 was the last time I drove Road Atlanta… and I haven’t drifted anything that fast since. I maybe get to drive once or twice a year, but ne’er as fast as Road Atlanta.
The second was financial. It’s been a slow start to the year work-wise. 27 year old me woulda sent it… while 47 year old me was trying to be more responsible. Gregg talked me into it… explaining that it was 50% for me… and 50% for my friends and family that want to see me charge down that hill again. I told him I couldn’t argue with that… and knowing how psyched Tyler woulda been was a major deciding factor. But the car needed work, and all of the safety stuff was from 2005. It would all need updating too. So it was on.
I picked up a new Circuit to replace the outdated Evo. I decided to just pull the passenger seat for the weekend until I can update that seat too. It was strategic in a sense, because I only wanted to focus on my driving without distractions.
I got the car on stands to get to work updating the 5-point harnesses with 6-points. Gregg sourced me a new pair of Sparco harnesses. I went ahead and pulled the wheels for fresh tires.
I got all of my wheels out of storage and stopped by Gran Turismo East for tires. I cannot stress it enough how amazing Kieran is… and how none of this weekend would have been possible without him and his continued support. He is seriously the best!! I truly could not do any of this without him.
I love this old poster in the shop of Road Atlanta from way back. It’s so cool knowing the history of that place… and it made me feel extra excited knowing that we would soon be getting to go drift there.
Back at the house… it pained me to pull this old sticker from the car… but I did save it. This car is truly a time capsule.
It took way longer than I’d expected… but I got the new seat mounted and new harnesses installed. I had to relocate the hand brake to fit the new seat. I’m tempted to redo that whole hydro setup altogether. I planned on re-doing the driver-side floor board… but ran out of time.
The car had a wild oil leak… which turned out to be the o-ring where the dipstick meets the oil pan. That was WAY more complicated than it shoulda been to replace. I didn’t really document this because I just wanted to be done.
I replaced the upper/lower intake boots while I was in there… and while I was doing that I broke this stupid vacuum connector:
In typical BMW fashion… I tried my damnedest to find one locally, but could not. No dealerships had one in stock. None. I hail mary’d tryna find one at Pull-A-Part early Wednesday morning and saw this thing:
There weren’t any connectors… but I did scoop a fresh set of amber tails and an emblem for cheap. Not what I intended, but glad I found.
I had to overnight that $2 connector from 4 different vendors just to increase my odds of getting one on time. In the meantime I had to ziptie a temporary fix just so I could get the car on the trailer in time for tech. The car would not start and run without that vacuum hose connected.
All loaded up for Road Atlanta.
Made it in time and passed tech with flying colors.
I pitted with the ol’ Koruworks crew for the weekend… which made me VERY happy.
Austin was my pit crew for the weekend… and was MVP for SURE. More on that later.
I got a PROPER aluminum vacuum connector just in time.
We had MANY wristbands.
Drivers meeting.
My parents came out which meant the world to me. Their love and support is everything… and they’ve always been THE most loving and THE most supportive!! It was so great to get to share this weekend with them.
It was go-time… and I was a nervous wreck. It had been 16 years since I’d driven Road Atlanta… and I just don’t get to drive at this level anymore. It was an overwhelming and intimidating place to be trying to knock the rust off.
Knowing I had updated all of the safety bits in the car was a huge relief though. For a long time I haven’t taken the safety stuff very seriously. I don’t know if it’s wisdom with age, or what… but I’ve turned a corner on that and want to take it seriously moving forward.
It was so crazy to be gridded back atop that hill. E’en crazier to be surrounded by SO many BMW’s. That is quite a difference between way back when and now.
I totally fumbled the first few attempts. I was SO in my own head that I wasn’t concentrating properly. I hit the windshield wipers at one point. Spun the keyhole. I was scared out of my mind. Once I got past the first turn it was like riding a bike. But that initial entry was going to take some work.
After the first session… I was a mess. Anxiety was spiraling, and I honestly felt like I’d bit off more than I should have. That Road Atlanta was NOT the place to be remembering how to drive at that level.
Austin, though… did something I will never forget. After that first session he asked if I needed anything… that he wanted to run to the house real quick. Unbeknownst to me… he had convinced GRIDLIFE to let him run. So between sessions he ran home and got tires, came back and put his car through tech… and then he pulled up behind me in line for the second session. It was an audible sigh of relief from inside my helmet. Austin has been in my rearview running my door thousands of times. It was exactly what I needed to realize “you’ve been here before… you’ve got this”. And from that point… it was ON.
Each run got better and better. I kept biting off just a little more with each run… and things were starting to come back to me. I opted out on drifting the full course, because I just wanted to get back to the top of the hill to practice the old FD layout. And Austin was behind me every time. It was THE BEST. I also truly enjoyed grip racing that track. It’s such an incredible place!!
This photo that Travis shot is everything. My Dad with the thumbs up… and Austin right behind me as we barrel into the keyhole. Everything I’ve done in life is in pursuit of making him proud. This is such a special moment.
The love of my life.
I made some DriftMechaniks helmet visors for the homies. The only way to get one is gonna be to drive together. I surprised Sebastian and Gregg with theirs, which was super special! Austin got one as well, DUH.
We took a stroll through the FD pits.
And a quick stroll through the GRIDLIFE pits.
Ashley and I with Kieran and Austin. I could NOT have done any of this weekend without each of them! REAL TALK.
Sunset 10/10. I picked up a HANS from Jim Downing himself. It’s a bit of a story… but it was his personal HANS… and the last one at Downing Atlanta. I feel honored to have it and to be the one using it. Now that I’ve used a HANS, I won’t ever NOT use one. I honestly cannot believe I’ve gone this long without one. In my humble opinion, they should be as mandatory as helmets out on-track.
After the halftime show was over it was time to watch the big boys… so off to the Rowdy VIP.
Rowdy VIP… of course… wouldn’t happen without Marlow.
I’m happy I got to see Tuerck on his farewell tour.
This was Ashley’s first time experiencing Formula Drift… AND Road Atlanta. I’m o’er the moon to get to share this world with her. She is my favorite person, and I love that she appreciates all of this as much as she does!!
The level pro drifting is at these days is absolutely mind boggling compared to how it was back in the day. It is WILD. It’s almost unrecognizable in a strange way.
The questionable calls ain’t changed a bit though!
The finals were James Deane vs. Vaughn Gittin, Jr… with Vaughn coming out on top.
And that about wraps up my weekend at Road Atlanta. This was easily one of the best weekends of my life. I felt very emotional, and felt like I really overcame something to get back out there and bomb that hill again. I felt like Tyler was out there with me cheering me on and helping me through.
It was everything. The friends… the family… it was all just… everything.
One things is for sure… I will move mountains to do this again next year.
Back in May, I picked up a new daily… a Hellrot Red 1993 BMW 325is. My friends Alie and Jeremy were moving out west and needed to sell this beaut! It just to happened, that gas mileage in The Destroyer™ was bleeding my wallet dry, and I needed something slightly more fuel-efficient. That put me in the right place at the right time to pick this car up cheap!
I immediately snagged some Raceland coilovers and slammed the hell out of it on a old set of Racing Dynamics.
I have some funny plans for this car that are light years from happening. For now I’m just enjoying some gas-savings and having a fun daily again! This car has humbly reminded me how good I am at driving like an absolute maniac. Kindred spirits we are… kindred spirits.
Before I dive into what is the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me… let me preface some history.
Back in October of 2010, two friends of ours, Axel and Martin, came stateside from Germany for a visit. During that week, there happened to be a drift event up in Nashville. My car at the time, had a shattered ring-and-pinion, but I wanted them to drive while they were here. I had a rebuild kit from KAAZ overnighted, and got a new pumpkin from Stricktly German. Matt Foerst got the KAAZ rebuilt, and back into the new carrier. Axel got the diff back into my car while I was busy finishing freelance work. A very VERY important facet to this story is that… at the time… I was knee-deep in the worst financial turmoil of my life. I had been struggling to stay afloat as a freelance designer, while still falling deeper-and-deeper into debt from drifting. But with the car freshly patched up, we made a last-minute dash to Nashville. To shorten the story up, my first run of the morning, the car’s rear-end was already making a clunking noise. Something broke. There I was, maxing out my last credit card so we could drive at this event… and the car broke on the first run. I drove back to the pit, and told the guys “Fuck it. We came here to drive and that’s what we’re going to do… if it blows up, it blows up. Let’s have fun today no matter what”. And we did. All day. The noise got worse with each pass, and by the day’s end… the car was indeed… very broken.
When we got back to Atlanta, I decided to park the BMW in the garage, and take a break. I needed to get my finances out of the gutter, and that obviously was not happening with it in the picture. The thing is… I never intended that break to extend into the hiatus that it did.Fast forward to present-day, 2012. I am working an awesome full-time job, finances are doing much better, and in the meantime, the starter died on the car, so I took it up to Koru, where I planned to work on it at least one night a week.
The only problem is, that with work… I could barely find the time to actually work on fixing the car. Good intentions only go so far, especially when it comes to turning wrenches (read: they don’t turn themselves). Now. Let me introduce you to my dear friend, Kyle Boyce.
I’ve known Kyle since 1992, when we were best friends in middle school. Like many childhood friendships… Kyle and I lost touch for many years after I moved away, but we reconnected through the universal language of the automobile… and… when in 2008 Kyle reached out to me after opening his own restaurant: Manhattan NY Pizza. Kyle told me that he wanted his pizza place to be a hangout for car guys/gals. Where any gearhead could walk in and feel at home. I was immediately on-board with this, and did my best to tell all of my friends and miscellaneous gearheads alike. And it worked. Manhattan Pizza is now a staple for speed-crazy, wrench-turning maniacs from all over Atlanta. All of my friends religiously converge there once-a-week like the gigantic family that they are.
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THIS IS WHERE THE HISTORY LESSON ENDS AND THE REAL STORY BEGINS
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Kyle calls me up, and says “WE NEED TO HAVE DINNER. Just you and me, pick a date, and lets stick to it”. He said “I know you’re busy, and I’m busy, but let’s do this PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE”. I’ve known Kyle long enough to know that when he says please more than once… that it is important. So we picked a day, and stuck to it. I arrived to the restaurant early, and found a table reserved for the two of us. Yes, that is combined weight. ;P
He brings out my usual, and we sit down and eat. Catching up on what’s been new in each other’s worlds. A few of my friends show up, for the normally scheduled “family” get-together. The whole time, Kyle is texting a lot… which I remember thinking – Kyle doesn’t usually text this much… but whatever. Then, he excuses himself, and goes into the kitchen.Then… one-by-one… in a single-file line… ALL of my friends come out from the kitchen. All wearing the same black t-shirt that had the funny beard-skull illustration that Patrick/Tyler made of me on it… reading SAVE THE SAPP. Nobody said anything to me, most barely even looked at me… and everyone sat down. I’m definitely thinking “WHAT. IS. GOING. ON. HERE?”
Kyle then gives a short speech, which can be Cliff’d along the lines of “We know your car has been broken, and you still come out to all the events and shoot video… which we love… but we love you, and we miss driving with you. So we’re having a drift intervention. We stole your car, had a fundraiser, and fixed it behind your back without you knowing.” At this point I hear my lovely 2001 BMW 325Ci’s unmistakeable exhaust note revving up outside as it pulls up to the restaurant.
Cliff’d Cliffs: STOLE CAR, RAISED MONEY, FIXED CAR BEHIND MY BACK, THESE PEOPLE ARE THE MOST AMAZING. EVER.
I have always said that I am forever in debt to drifting for introducing me to the most amazing people I will ever meet in my lifetime… AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN. I couldn’t even say anything. I just wanted to cry. That’s right. Heavy metal crazyman… on the verge of tears. I got up and demanded a hug from everyone in the entire restaurant… holding back tears the entire time.
I basically didn’t know what to say the rest of the night. This is by far the nicest thing anyone or any group of anyone has ever done for me. Once oustide, and reunited with my Chariot of Fire… well… I guess you could say you had to see this coming. And if you didn’t, then you don’t know me and my propensity for violence on the streets.
The black ribbon atop my car, with message so near-and-dear to my heart… embodied a million-times-over by the kindness and heart behind this special evening.
The fundraiser t-shirt that paid for the parts to fix the car. The extra money raised went to buying me a season pass to attend the S2 Drift Events down at Turner. I can’t even scream at the top of my lungs how amazing this is! There is above and beyond… and then there is what all of these incredible people have done for me.
Kyle made pizza for everyone, and these were literally icing on the cake, care of my amazing Mother.
Group photo from the evening. There were several people that helped make this happen that aren’t pictured here… but everyone in this photo, and everyone involved are easily the most amazing people I have ever met. I am without a doubt, the luckiest guy on the planet. I don’t know what I did in a past life… or even the current one to deserve it… but I am very, VERY thankful to have these people in my life. SERIOUSLY. AMAZING.
I cannot thank all of my families enough (in NO particular order), DriftMechaniks, Team Rowdy, Boyce Family, Sapp Family, and the DRIFTING family as a whole. Words cannot even begin to do any of this justice… but I had to at least try.I will wrap this up with a photo of myself and Kyle. Except this one isn’t us elbow-to-elbow in the early 90’s as kids. This is of the two things that brought us back together as friends, in front of the restaurant that we both tried our damnedest to make a place for gearheads from all over to feel at home… for good food, great atmosphere, and even better memories.
Thank you, Kyle
<3
After rediscovering the magic of my photos from Africa, I remembered another photoset from long ago. After digging through notebooks of old CD-ROMs… I found another trove of images. This time… of my beloved BMW, Evelyn
From day 1, my love for this car was of exceeding proportions. The Jet Black gloss of the paint seemed forever deep, the smell of the black leather hypnotizing, and the rev of the motor… well… let’s just say that aspect was most arousing of all.
Lost in my enamour for this wondrous chisel of German engineering, I used to wander the city streets of Atlanta… forever searching for the perfect environment to compliment to car’s stunning good looks.
Armed with a (now ‘vintage’) 35mm Nikon N2000, and a 28-70mm 1:3.5-4.5 f3.5 lens, I scoured my city for cool locales, sharing an immeasurable amount of bonding time with the car that stole my heart.
Inspired by the UK magazine, CAR… I was drawn to the idea that the vehicle’s surroundings could speak at an equal volume to the subject itself. Unfortunately (for me, anyway)… in the advent of digital photography, this practice has become commonplace
Regardless, to me… there is something infinitely pure about these photos. No race-trim, no slammed stance, no battle-scars. These photos bring back some great memories when my car was brand-new, times seemed simpler, and my love for the automobile was the only inspiration I needed.
The past three weeks have been a whirlwind of chaos and awesome. Round 2 of Formula Drift has come and gone… and with it came some SERIOUS life memories. At one point I think we had 13 people staying at my house. Every night it seemed like someone new. While I am glad things have returned to normal… I can honestly say it has left me slightly depressed! So many good times, I don’t even know where to begin. Race week started a bit early… when my good friends Will Roegge and Joshua Herron made an S.O.S. call to me. Their 1974 Volkswagen van had broken down a few hours south of Atlanta in LaGrange. The ‘Westy’ is their home-on-the-road during primary photography for their cross-country documentary, “KEEP DRIFTING FUN”.
After procuring Tyler’s trailer at midnight, Wes and Lieze and I rocketed southbound for a rescue mission. Halfway there we got a call that the van started… so we met up with them on the highway just to be safe.
The Westy wasn’t running well at all… so with cue from Eugene, we took it to Barry Palmer Auto for a diagnostic eval from an air-cooled guru. The van’s motor had no compression, and was in need of a transplant.
I picked up a new roof spoiler from paint at Jeff’s Auto Restoration to replace the one that flew off in-tow last year.
My tow-hooks came back from KILLIN’ EM. Fresh hit of satin black to hide the ol’ red. Thanks Scott!!!
Picked up a few miscellaneous parts for the car. Water temp sensor adapter from TRM and a new cabin AC filter. I also snagged a new OE radiator, spark plugs, and wiper blades (not pictured).
I re-worked the wiring for the back of my gauges… including some quick-disconnects for easier maintenance.
I got frisky with The Destroyer™ and pulled the front end apart.
So I could bake the lower light housings and hit the reflectors yellow. While the grill was off, I had Jeff hit the chrome bits with paint to match the body color… and I re-wrapped the Chevy emblem with black vinyl. I also installed a 3000K HID kit from DDM Tuning.
We adopted an awesome (outside) cat. Lieze named him Meow Meow.
I had Pho for the first time.
I gave the e46 a much-needed wash before taking her to the track…
and the next thing I knew I was being bombarded with water balloons by kids in the neighborhood.
Luckily my friends Drew Fishbein and Ross Fairfield were there to catch the action for their site OMGDRIFT!
Then Formula Drift came crashing back into my life full-force for FD Pro Am. I put my game face beard on for an amazing weekend… which I will leave for another post.
The day after FD was a Southeast Drift event at Turner (more on this later). Tons of FD dudes came out to shred with us local-folk.
Then the new 2.0L motor for the Westy arrived via freight.
We took the van back to Palmer Auto where Barry and Mikey took the reigns from there to get the van back running in tip-top shape. The larger motor with mechanical lifters will make the rest of Will and Josh’s voyage on the high-seas of FUN much better.
Slowly… all my house guests began departing to their corners of the globe… leaving behind some amazing memories and awesome times. Will and Josh were the last to return to the road in the Westy… headed north to Jersey by way of Charlotte, Richmond, Baltimore and Philly. With everyone gone, and my house back it’s quiet state, I’m left to reflect on how lucky I am. Not only has this crazy motorsport taken me places I never thought possible… it has also introduced me to some of the most creative, talented, and overall BADASS DUDES on the planet. And for that… I am truly honored and extremely grateful.
<3
Got down and dirty with the foglight reflectors as well.Cracked these things open.
Hit’m with the ol’ 1-2.
Picked up a restoration kit from 3M.
This is what I started with…
This is what I ended up with. It ain’t perfect… but it is a lot better. I think I could have repeated some of the steps and got better results. I can always save that for a rainy day.
Snapped’m back together and got’m back on the car.
The sun went down so I didn’t get a good photo of the car with the fogs on. I’ll post up a full frontal shot of the car once I can source the shattered foglight bezel for the driver side.
FINALLY. A project that doesn’t turn into some kinda of vehicular-disabling, distastrous headache.Popped the ol’ yeller lenses off… removed the trim, and masked errythang off.
This stuff is AWESOME.
Hit ’em, left and right.
The color is hella vibrant… even with one coat. I did two coats for added ocular punch.
I decided to hit the back of the angel eyes that surround the high beam for good measure.
But I didn’t like how the face of the angel eyes stood out against the yellow.
So I hit them from every angle.
MUCH better.
Popped the new clear lenses back into place, along with the corner lenses and lower trim.
Headlights and high-beams on.
It looks INSANELY sick in person. I’m amazed at what a difference this makes on the car. Getting those crusty ol’ beat up yellow lenses off there probably made the biggest difference. I’m super-stoked how this turned out… even if I did just find a thread filled with e46 folks doing the same thing. This paint from Vans definitely made a huge difference, and was worth every cent!
It is that time of year again. Where I get the urge to ‘spring clean’ the car and freshen her up with some new parts. Where last year’s parts bonanza was focused on function… this year’s fiesta is looking more towards form.I picked up a fresh set of headlight lenses. 5+ years of running the yellow lamin-x film… and it is time for a change. My ‘old yellers’ are pretty haggard. They have taken beatings from cones and cars alike… have been epoxied back together several times, and the yellow film is looking more like a muddy brown these days. It will be nice to get a clean set on there.
New bulbs for the Xenons from DDM Tuning. The old set were dying, shifting the light output to a brownish green color.
In lieu of going with clear lenses… I want to hit the highbeam reflectors with clear yellow. A popular method is to use Krylon Stained Glass spray paint… but I couldn’t find it ANYWHERE. After reading some positive reviews… I decided to order some Vans paint instead. I felt better about this product… since it is designed for this very purpose.
Used set of fogs so I can finally replace the one I shattered in ’06. I need to polish the lenses up on these, and I may try and hit the reflectors with yellow as well. I still need to find a driver-side foglight bezel.
Picked up a Hamann knockoff window spoiler for an amazing price. I think it is going to look sick once it is all painted. It has way more contact with the car… so I don’t think this one will fly off the car like the last one.
Matt Foerst stopped by and helped me fix my stripped oil pan. He came armed with a HeliCoil set and had it knocked out in no time. Have I ever mentioned how much of a badass this dude is? Well… HE IS. I watched him change a clutch in my car in 45 minutes once… and he wasn’t even rushing. That same task took me and a friend 6 hours to do. Matt did it in 1/8th the time. BAD. ASS.
On a totally unrelated note… I love the HeliCoil logo. It is so stylized in its simplicity. The intersecting elements representative of the thread coils are a great element that really makes it what it is.
My oil pan stripped out tonight while doing a simple oil change. 180º thread segments were coming out with the oil. We couldn’t get the drain plug to thread… and when I finally did – that wrench just kept turning and turning and turning and turning.I’m frustrated because I didn’t HAVE to change the oil. It was probably fine. I just wanted to make sure the car was in top shape before the event at Turner.
No drifting for me this weekend.
Ugh.
The electronic complexity that lies beneath my car’s tattered metal has plagued and taunted me since I started drifting it. After a bigger headache than I ever thought possible with this car, I was FINALLY able to completely, 110% without a doubt disable the ABS/DSC without throwing the car into limp-mode. BUT HOW?!
I pulled one teeny tiny li’l wheel speed sensor from the rear of the car. That’s it. I’ve been told that pulling all four sensors works on E36 cars, but the E46 models have a stricter set of electronics, so when the car doesn’t get a speed reading, it declares that as a problem worthy of limp-mode. I encountered the same issue when I pulled both of the rear sensors (leaving the fronts). The trick here, is to only pull one. That way the car still pulls a reading from the other side, and just registers the pulled sensor as a fault… keeping the car revving like a champ.I did hours and hours of research on this subject, and found many people asking how to fully disable ABS/DSC, but never got a straight answer on how to do it. People seemed more content ridiculing those asking the question than pondering a useful solution. Hopefully this trick will help those that need to disable it, but keep in mind – I am not liable for any action taken based on this post. I needed to do this for my track car, and I would not recommend this for ANY street car. In fact, if I could have kept ABS functioning, and still keep use of my hydraulic e-brake, I would have done so. ABS has saved my ass quite a few times – even on the track.This effectively closes the chapter on my lengthy saga on this subject. I can now use my hydraulic e-brake free and clear of limp-mode. The e-brake works AMAZING. It will take some acclimation to driving without ABS, but I’m sure I will get used to it.
One thing is for sure… I can’t wait to use this e-brake at Road Atlanta in the spring!
I came across some old silk Metallica wall-hangings I had in storage, and decided to have a go at wrapping the back cushions for my Sparco Evos. I wrapped the driver-side cushion with a Pushead piece. It was the only one I didn’t mind slicing up, because I couldn’t stand the (newer sans-serif) Metallica logo on it. Because I didn’t want to cut up any of my other Pushead wall-hangings, the passenger-side wound up with the electric chair from Ride the Lightning.
I almost got the e46 impounded this evening while I was following the break-in procedure for the new differential in the empty parking lot across the street from my neighborhood. I guess a black car driving around (NOT DRIFTING) in a figure eight for 30 minutes just seemed down-right illegal to several concerned citizens, who called me in to the police. Thankfully, the officer let me off with a severe warning, and allowed me to go park the car back in my garage… where it stays 99% of the time (the other 1% being when it goes on the trailer to be taken to the track).I was pretty upset that people felt like I was doing something wrong, and called the police about it. I mean… in the grand scheme of things, that car was on its best behavior compared to what it is normally doing. Ol’ girl is capable far worse things that would probably give those ‘concerned citizens’ seizures and heart-attacks. Driving between 5-10mph in a figure eight hardly fits the bill to be worthy of concern.
Such a team effort here. Austin Lawless sourced the new pumpkin via Stricktly German… Matt Foerst got the old unit disassembled, and re-shimmed & installed in the new housing… and David Jones & Wes Pitts dropped by to help get the pumpkin bolted back up to the rear subframe! Mega MEGA thanks to all that helped get this mess sorted out!
It is too awesome to have this diff back in the car!!!
