Dedicated Track Brake Pads

/in , , /by

On the advice of my instructor from my first track weekend at AMP I purchased a set of Hawk DTC-60 track only brake pads. Like everything track related, high performance track pads can be expensive. I found a set of Hawk DTC-60 track pads for the M2 on sale at TireRack. I swapped out my OEM pads for these before heading to Roebling Road Raceway for the Peachtree Chapter of the BMW CCA’s summer driving school.

Here is the YouTube video from Fatal Garage I used to help me with the install:

Like most YouTube how-to videos, it is never as easy as it looks!

Here are few things I need help with that the video didn’t cover:

  1. Pulling the pins out of the calipers was not easy and I used a pair of vice grips to help. It might be easier to use some PB Blaster or WD-40 before you try to pull the pins.
  2. My OEM pads didn’t exactly slide out and I had to really push and pull on them to move the piston back enough to get them out.
  3. The brake pad monitoring system cables on the back right and front left brakes doesn’t just pop off or snap back in without some help. I used a flat head screw driver to help pop these off and to help push them back into place on the track pads.
  4. The new thicker track pads didn’t just slide into the calipers. I was able to put my fingers inside the calipers to push the pistons in to open up the space for the new pads.
  5. The video doesn’t cover bedding in the new pads. I used this article from TireRack on how to bed in new brake pads once I got the track pads installed.

These pads are not intended for daily driving and tend to squeak. I put up with that annoyance for the few days between installing the pads and heading to the track. The Hawk DTC-60s have noticeably more bite than the OEM pads and performed great on the track. The challenge was getting used to how much pressure to apply to the brake pedal. When I wanted to lightly brake I just had to think about pushing on the pedal to get a little brake pressure.

After a weekend at the track, putting the OEM pads back on the M2 was much easier. I knew what I was doing and the components had all been cleaned so they went in and out smoothly.

Installing Wheel Studs

/in , /by

When I ordered the square set of Bimmerworld TA5R wheels for use when taking my M2 to the track, I also ordered a 73mm premium wheel stud kit to make changing the wheels a bit easier. The studs mount into the wheels where you would normal thread the lug nuts. The advantage at the track is the studs hold the wheel in place while you tighten down the nuts. This is very helpful when you are working on your car by yourself in the paddock.

Here are the tools I needed for installing the wheel studs:

  1. Adjustable Wrench
  2. Toque Wrench
  3. 17mm Deep Socket
  4. 22mm Deep Socket
  5. Brake Cleaner
  6. Wire brush
  7. Compressed Air

I have never done this before so like most things, I looked for a YouTube video to help guide me through this for the first time. I found a great video by AutoPilot that shows how to install the studs.

Here are a few tips for installing wheel studs:

  1. When I removed the OEM wheels, I sprayed the lug nut holes with brake cleaner and while that soaked in, I took the opportunity to wash each wheel.
  2. The video recommends a wire brush to clean the treads. I went into my gun cleaning kit and found a wire barrel brush that would go all the way into the treads and back out to get them good and clean.
  3. I then blew out each tread with compressed air and while they dried out I removed the next wheel.
  4. The loctite that is on the studs will give you a false sense of tightness when handing tightening each stud. After I got the studs as tight as I could by hand I put on the two nuts and tightened those together. Then used the torque wrench on the outside nut to finish threading the stud until the nut slipped a bit. Then I used the double nut technique to torque the stud to the 75ft/lbs recommended by Bimmerworld.
  5. Be careful reversing the double nut as it is easy to loosen the stud that you just torqued down.

Being new to this, I am always impressed with myself when I put the car back on the ground, go for a test drive and everything still works!

TPMS Sucks

/in , /by

At my first track weekend, I learned the hard way that the Tire Pressure Monitoring System in my M2 sucks.

I started the day at the recommended PSI in my OEM tires and by the end of my first session I was getting a warning from my car about the pressure being too high. This was a minor distraction while on the track as is any warning your car throws at you while driving hard.

For the next session, I reduced the pressure before heading out on the track and things went from bad to worse. Now I was getting the low pressure warning which also forced the car back into comfort mode, not something you want when mid-corner on a race track!

Why a M car doesn’t have a track mode that disables all the electronic nanny’s is beyond me. BMW does let you reset the TPMS system pretty easily:

After a reset you can get the car back into sport or sport+ mode, but if you haven’t built up enough pressure by the end of the reset it will put you back into “limp mode.” Or if you keep the pressure up enough not to throw a warning for low pressure then you will get the high pressure warning by the end of a session.

The sweet spot for starting PSI is a moving target as altitude, track temperature and driving conditions all impact how much pressure builds up during a session. I decided I didn’t want to deal with this again for my next track weekend so I had the TPMS coded out of my car.

For a couple hundred dollars I got Code My Car to remove the TPMS feature from my BMW M2 and code in a few other features that I couldn’t do myself with BimmerCode. One of the upgrades I got coded in while removing the TPMS was the European programming for the traction control system. This makes Sport & Sport+ modes a bit more aggressive than the US version.

I am looking forward to my next track session and not having to fight the TPMS warnings all weekend.