The Best Track Day Performance Upgrade

/in , /by

Spending $1000 on your car can be fun when it means adding some power or improving the handling. When you are considering spending that on safety equipment it just isn’t very exciting. After fighting G forces at Roebling Road Raceway in a couple of the high speed corners I decided it was time for a harness system and HANS device.

Schroth Quick Fit Pro Harness

After doing a ton of research and reading on the forums I settled on the Schroth Quick Fit Pro harness system. Schroth doesn’t make the harnesses for the M2 but the system for E90 BMWs fits the car without any serious modifications. Since I use the M2 as a daily driver, the big benefit of the Quick Fit Pro system is that it is easy to take in and out of the car. All that remain in the car are a couple of anchor points.

Installing the anchors in the back seat is super simple. Just pop the rear seat bench out, unbolt the existing seatbelt anchor point, add the harness anchor, bolt both back into the car, feed the harness anchors up from behind the bench and snap it back into place.

The anchors for the front seat require a bit of modification to the car. There are plastic covers that snap over the OEM seatbelt anchors. I managed to break the posts that snap these into place on both sides of the car when I pried them off. It doesn’t really matter as they won’t snap back in once the harness anchor points are installed. I also had to grind down one edge of the cover so the anchor could come out under the cover. I wrapped a rubber band around lip of the cover to help it grip the carpet so the cover would stay in place since the posts no longer reach the holes to snap back into place. So far the covers have stayed in place, even at the track.

Schroth Super Sport HANS Device

Since I was using the Schroth harness system I went with a Schroth Super Sport HANS device. It works nicely with the harness straps and was priced competitively. It also came with the mounting brackets for my helmet so no nickel and dime fees for all the parts you need to make this work.

Not knowing much about this, I quickly figured out that the degree associated with HANS devices has to do with the seating position in your car. 20 degrees is what people need for an upright seating position like a street car. I also learned that the size has to do with your neck size. Think dress shirt sizing and that will help you pick the right size for you.

What Makes A Harness & HANS The Best Performance Upgrade?

As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, at Roebling Road Raceway I was fighting the G-Forces on the car to hold my self in place. With the harness and the HANS device I am now anchored to the car. I don’t have to hang on the wheel for dear life and can concentrate on driving. I also have a better feel of what is going on with the car, allowing me to make minor adjustments and improving lap times.

In my journey so far, this is the best money I have spent on any type of parts for my car.

Dinan Cold Air Intake

/in , /by

After using an Injen Cold Air Intake on my old BMW M235i I was hesitant to do this upgrade. The Injen helped the M235i breath better but the constant “psssst” of the turbo waste gate bleeding off pressure quickly went from cool sounding to annoying. During Memorial Day weekend Turner Motorsport had a sale on all Dinan products so I ordered the Dinan cold air intake for my BMW M2 to try that unit instead of re-using the Injen.

The Dinan cold air intake re-uses the bottom half of the OEM air intake box and replaces the OEM filter with Dinan High Flow Filter. The finished install is very similar to the OEM setup with a filter inside of a sealed box. I was hopefully that this would keep the boost noise to a minimum and I was right. In daily driving I notice just a slight uptick in engine noise, but nothing intrusive.

The installation is relatively plug and play. It took me 2-3 hours from start to finish. I found it easier to remove the base of the OEM air box to replace the existing clips with the smaller Dinan clips. While I had the base out of the car I gave it a thorough washing to help the adhesive foam seal stick better to the base.

In the M2 or in a convertible 2 series there is some extra bracing that needs to be cut so the Dinan air filter box cover will fit into place. The install kit comes with a rubber gasket to finish off the cut edge of the brace which I highlighted in red in the image. The instructions are pretty straight forward on where to make the cut. I marked the brace with some blue painters tape to give me a nice straight edge to follow. A grinder with a metal cutting wheel made quick work of this and I used a fine grit sandpaper to clean up the edges before putting on the gasket.

By the seat of my pants it seams like the car is breathing better but this upgrade isn’t going to throw your head back with extra power.

Removing The iPhone Warmer

/in , /by

BMW does a good job of keeping up with the latest tech but sometimes that tech doesn’t last long. My 2017 BMW M2 was ordered with the Executive Package. At the time, wireless charging was relatively new and having a way to securely lock your phone in place inside the armrest while it charged seemed like a cool new feature. Shortly after 2017 phones grew in size and wireless charging got faster.

The wireless charger in the M2 has earned the nickname as the iPhone Warmer as it heated up the phone more than it would charge it. As phones have grown, the locking mechanism that holds a phone in place has become obsolete. Only the smallest of modern phones will fit. Since I typically get the biggest phone I can I decided to remove the charger and install the center console mat that would be in a car without wireless charging.

There are tons of how-to posts online. I found this thread on a F30 BimmerPost helpful as it has some good pictures and links to videos.

The steps for removing the wireless charger in my M2 were similar:

  1. I used two trim removal tools at the front of the wireless charger to pry it up. This took a lot more force than I anticipated so pry hard!
  2. I ended up separating the wireless charging cradle from the base, but this is no big deal, I just continued to pry until the entire tray popped out.
  3. This is wired to a couple of connectors that you have to access through the vents to the backseat at the base of the armrest.
  4. To remove the rear AC vents I used a trim removal tool and gently worked to snap that out. Prying about 1/4 of the way in from either side put the trim tool on the plastic tabs holding it in place.
  5. After putting the AC vents to one side I was able to easily access the two wires that needed to get disconnected. The one on the right is simple to remove as you just slide the grey lever to the left and pull the connector out.
  6. The smaller connection with the pink tabs gave me some fits as it isn’t obvious how to get these apart. I used a small flat head screw driver on the tab at the end of the connector to help release this connection.
  7. I tucked the loose connector with the pink tab back into the mounting bracket to keep it out of the way.
  8. From the center console you can pull the wires through to fully remove the wireless charger. You may have to push the AC vent tube to the left to make room for the connections to get through but I didn’t have to remove it as some suggest.
  9. Once the wires are past the vent they pretty much pull right out and all you have to do is snap the rear air vents back in place and drop the rubber mat in the center console and you are done.

Not sure why I did this other than it cleans up the inside of the center console so if I ever to decide to use it for something it will be ready…